Taste

Not too long after I arrived home, I got a text from my sole friend, Arden. Apparently, he wanted me to head to his with all my newspaper clippings.

I scanned it approximately three more times before I replied. If I said anything other than 'okay', then he'd know something was wrong.

Like, I get it. Friends are supposed to be perceptive, and note changes in behaviour and such, but my God, Arden would put them all to shame. It's like he has a super radar, or a hidden cam. He seemed to know absolutely all that I did, perhaps too much.

Giving me the address, I hoped to sprint straight to my room when Tam popped her head around the kitchen corner.

"Hey girlie, come here a sec, will you?"

Quickly kicking off my shoes, I entered the kitchen, only to be startled by the extra body in the room.

"Oh, hi Darren."

Grinning, he leaned back on the counter as he watched my sister stir dinner in the pan. The burn of onion made my sinuses twitch.

"He got us ingredients to make fajitas, or a stir fry, whichever you prefer." Her voice started off as strong and clear, but as she went on, it got more... raspy, and sweet.

I pulled at the frill of my shirt, awkward just standing there, doing nothing.

"Um, sorry, but I just arranged to–"

"Meet and kiss a certain Matt Simmons?"

In the second that my jaw dropped, I noticed a slight change in atmosphere. One of them being, my immediate crossed arms showed it was not a subject I was keen on exploring. The other, my sister realised her mistake and the smile fell from her face, replaced with an unsatisfied scowl.

The final one was muscle spasm visible on Darren's face, by his eye. He itched it quickly enough that if I wasn't vigilant, I would've missed it.

The burning stench of the onions filled the room before the voices did.

"Err, Matt and I aren't exactly on speaking terms right now." I pointed out.

She nodded. "I don't blame him, you're a handful."

Flicking her ear playfully, I waved goodbye to both of them before I left the room. Once I was in my own, I got dressed into a simple black outfit and leather jacket. Not very practical if I had to move a lot, but it was better than a stupid skirt.

Shouting out to Zach that I'd see him later, I only slightly caught his reply before I was trotting down the stairs, two at a time.

Slipping my boots back on, I reached to tie my hair up when Darren's shadow was shown approaching.

"You be safe, you hear?"

Saluting quickly, I bolted back out of there, using my phone GPS as a map to Arden's lair.

*

Looking between my mobile and the tall building in front of me, I was aware of the looming darkness. My screen told me it was nearly six.

The house standing tall a road away from me looked like the epitome of a supernatural hangout. Black panelled and looking as if it had seen better times, it didn't stray far enough away from the stereotypical trope you seen on your TV.

In the front garden, there were an array of broken headstones and dead grass, topped with a colossal hanging tree that I feared would drop a branch on my head as soon as I stepped foot into the place.

I'm telling you, this would be any Goth's dream house.

I, on the other hand, couldn't control my sudden outburst of shakes.

Unclipping the gate, the shrill squeak of the metal caused me to wince. It seemed this place really wanted to revel in what made humans quiver.

Strolling up the stone path, the crunch of the gravel underneath my feet was in time with the ripple of the clouds above us. The sky was turning black, darker than it had ever been, at least that's how I remembered it.

Coming to the colossal double-doors, they just screamed death, pity and disease. That, most likely, anything behind it I wouldn't like. I didn't think I'd ever been so intimidated before, and I hadn't even met his sister yet.

I knocked just once by the time the door opened, to reveal Arden in what I assumed to his casual wear. All black.

"I was wondering if someone had snapped you up," Smiling, he gestured with his head. "Come on in, I promise we won't bite."

Feeling the joke, I sniffed out a light laugh, apprehensively stepping inside.

It didn't disappoint. The walls were high and panelled, red curtains draped over the windows and there were lights mantled on the wall made to look like candles. The main colours were as predicted, bloody red, black and shining gold. From just the first look, already I was spluttering out giggling.

Taking my coat and hanging it up, he briefly touched my elbow in a signal to follow.

I did, taking in my surroundings as we went. The place was definitely spacious, with ceilings even to put the Sistine Chapel to shame. Unluckily for me though, there was not a spider web in sight.

He took me to the library. The entire room was an advert for your local bookstore. Shelves that climbed to the top, with slide ladders and only a singular white computer on the desk in the center of the room. However, it was contaminated with printed newspapers clippings.

"Wow." I couldn't tear my gaze away.

"Oh yeah, Nena likes to buy a new book every time that she travels. We have two of these things." He appeared bashful, but I was still fascinated.

"Is your sister single?"

Laughing again, I finally tore my gaze away and met him at the table. Looking down, I didn't notice that I was only a few inches away from him, though the fresh scent of pine should've been a hint.

He tapped a piece of paper on the table, fingertips sticking slightly.

"Did you hear?"

Reading the paragraph, I was once again filled with despair and loathing. My past few days of care-free, breezy attitude was brought to an abrupt halt.

Hundreds of citizens gathered outside Yasmin Blake's, 15, family home on Sunday morning in Bamford, Hope Valley. Hours previously, Blake's body was discovered by her father in their conservatory, surrounded by rose petals. It's believed she is the twelfth victim of serial killer, The Carver, despite not displaying any of the usual markings.

While the rest of the article dealt with the aftermath with her family, I stood back to think. I averted the vampire's eyes if I could.

She was fifteen. Fucking fifteen. If this was the work of The Carver, then I'd kill him myself if I ever came across him. The poor girl hadn't even had the chance to live yet, and he'd ripped it all away from her in an instant.

"She wasn't drained of blood, Emmy. If this was a vampire, then this wasn't out of starvation or survival," When I raised my head, he steadied our gazes. "This was entertainment. It was a bit of fun."

Biting my lip to refrain from spilling my stomach, I then clutched onto the edge of the mahogany.

Why in the world had I agreed to research into these killings with him?

"It's disgusting." I whispered.

"Yeah..." He trailed off, putting it back in place with the rest of the files. All twelve of them lay there, facing us without providing us a single decent clue.

How were we supposed to help anyone else in danger if all the cards were on the table?

Nobody was off-limits, it seemed. We thought they were all adults, at least. People deemed to "know better" than to make whatever mistakes they all mad in common. Now, all the stars had been misaligned, throwing in a girl who was barely even a teenager. One of the patterns had now been tossed out of the window.

The only other relation was gender. All women. Whoever this degenerate was, he sure was a misogynistic asshole.

"Emmy?"

Looking up, I gazed upon Arden's beautiful face. I hated that he was so unbelievably good-looking. It made me think I shouldn't dare associate with him, as if I didn't deserve to even be in his company.

If he was a Prince or a Lord, it wouldn't surprise me. Though not much would, at this point, anyway.

"Why did you invite me here? To make me sick, reading a girl's gruesome death."

He blinked, shaking his head softly. "What? No. We said we were going to research together. I'm not going to let you do it on your own."

I gripped the wood harder. I didn't want to lash out at him, especially in his own home. Besides, he was right. Diving into this alone would be foolish, he was protecting me, as much as I didn't need saving.

I wasn't his damn damsel in distress. If I wanted to think for myself, then I would. Who gave a fuck what he thought was best?

"All I asked for was an opinion. I didn't ask you to barge in on my project."

"Project? I didn't realise that you had rights to working on this."

I groaned, catapulting myself away from the table. I knew that if I stayed then I was going to rip the computer from the cables and hurl at him.

So, I paced, cracking my knuckles as I ransacked my brain for a way out of this conversation. The last thing I wanted to do was insult him in his own home (I could be rude, but I wasn't a total bitch).

I didn't know what to do here. Vying for a change in subject, I scanned the newspapers again.

But I ended up just grinding my teeth, angered at the thought of a fifteen-year old dying for no reason.

"Fucking fifteen, Arden. The girl was probably thinking about her GCSE's, not becoming somebody's Sunday night of perverted fun." I spat, my thumb cracking louder than any of the others.

"I know..."

Before I could stop myself, I became warm with rage. And when I was furious, that merged with the ugliest cry in the world. If I couldn't handle it.

And, when it came to teenagers dying when they bloody well shouldn't, I definitely could not.

"Do you..." I trailed off, finding him close to me again. He was offering himself if I needed it. "Do you think she pleaded? Do you think it hurt?"

Before I could break down, he gently took my arms and guided his head until it was in my line of vision. Everything about him was soft. Features, voice and touch. He was like the feather of a lone white dove.

"Emmy, it doesn't matter now. She's found peace. She's all right."

Calming me with breathing exercises, I did so within a few minutes. My world expanded and enveloped him in, ensuring he knew he was welcome anytime.

Being with Arden, it was different than when I was with Matt. In the presence of a vampire, I felt challenged and unsure of our outcome. But Matt was...

Well, that was something else entirely.

I didn't think before I wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing him to me. Arden was much taller than I was, so he made a grunting sound as I pulled him down. However, before he had the chance to reciprocate or push me off, I released him from the prison.

I didn't think he minded, but I also didn't want to cross any unspoken boundaries.

"Hello, cutie patootie."

Flipping around, I was stunned at the extraordinary vision in front of me. A girl dressed in a modest blue leather dress and thigh-high boots was quickly approaching. On her face, she piqued a naturally bushy eyebrow.

"Brother, you mentioned she was adorable, but I didn't think we were hosting to the goddess Aphrodite herself."

Winking, she deliberately let her eyes rake all over me. And, suddenly, I was self-conscious.

Especially since she was calling me cute. When she was here making the entire world's hand-selected most beautiful women look like trash. Sincerely, I'd never witnessed a more terrifying display of desire and wonder. There was no way she was from our world.

Sporting an array of purple shades in her bed-head hair, she immediately lit up the whole room. Her full lips were sealed in a thin coat of gloss, but the only other layer of make-up on her was the perfect cat-liner, which highlighted her natural amber eyes.

I quickly found that I was dumbstruck. I bet she was used to this kind of treatment.

"Emmy, this is my sister, Nena. She's been dying to meet you."

"Irony and all."

Choking out a breath, I went to shake her hand but she just grinned, pretending to look sheepish.

"Hmmm, I do wonder if..." Then, sharing a fleeting look with Arden, she retracted her words. "Well, I do suppose you're hungry. I bought bacon and eggs."

I couldn't believe how starstruck I was. As she strutted off, I attempted to strike a conversation back up with Arden again, but he just shrugged.

Then he sighed, melodramatically.

"All I can say is, yeah, that's my sister."