I Hope They Taste of Me Forever

When I woke up the following afternoon, it took me a second to register where I was and what had happened the previous night. I was ashamed of myself. I was such a bitch to people who just wanted to help me. Today I would apologise to them. Well, not the vampire. He deserved it.

I didn’t want to leave the room. In this room, I was safe. I didn’t need to depend on anyone else or anticipate their reactions or care about their feelings. I was the only person in the room, and I could be the person I despised so much but couldn’t stop being without having it affect anyone else. I could stay in here forever and never have to worry about what other people thought ever again.

But I couldn’t. I hadn’t eaten in two days, and I was really hungry.

Stumbling out of the room and down the corridor, I rubbed my eyes and found myself facing the three guys I owed an apology to. They looked up from the television at me in slight shock.

“Hey,” I mumbled.

“Hey,” they said back, still staring at me. I pretended not to notice and stayed where I was.

“Uh, Elle?” Joe asked.

“Yeah?”

“Um… don’t take this the wrong way, but are you okay?”

“Not really,” I answered. “I’m starving, actually. Any chance of some breakfast?”

“Sure,” Andy said, jumping to his feet.

“No, it’s fine, I’ll do it,” I said. “Just, where’s the kitchen or whatever?”

“Just through there,” Patrick pointed to a small doorway that didn’t have a door behind where they were sitting. I mentally slapped myself. 'Why didn’t I see that before?'

“Thanks,” I said. “Look, guys, I’m really sorry for…”

“Apology accepted,” Joe smiled. I smiled back at him as my stomach rumbled and I began to lose balance. “Go get yourself some food before you pass out on us.”

“Thanks guys,” they all turned their attention back to the television as I made my way across the room and through the doorway.

I busied myself in the kitchen, looking around for what I could eat. They were surprisingly well-stocked for vampire hunters, and I settled for a bowl of yogurt and muesli. As I turned around to head outside with the others, I jumped about a foot in the air as the vampire walked into the kitchen, almost running into me.

“Shit!” he swore. “Watch where you’re going!”

“You’re the one who nearly ran into me!” I argued. Usually I’d ignore it, but this guy really had a way of irritating me.

“Well maybe if you were paying attention you would’ve had the sense to move out of the way,” he grumbled, barely glancing at me as he continued to move around the kitchenette. “What are you eating, anyway? That looks like it’s been previously chewed for you.”

I watched him as he headed for the fridge, taking out some strange red-pink coloured liquid and pouring himself a glass.

“Coming from the guy who’s having salmon smoothie,” I shot back. I knew it was lame, but it was all I had.

“Ha ha,” he said sarcastically, sculling the whole glass in six seconds (so what if I was timing it?), spilling some of it on his shirt. I watched in disgust.

Licking his lips, he began to walk to the door, which just so happened to be behind me. His breathing seemed somehow heavy, and I soon discovered was cold as he leaned in close to me, close enough to whisper sinisterly in my ear.

“That ‘salmon smoothie’ is the only thing preventing me from sucking you dry, so if I were you I’d watch where you throw your wit.”

As he swept from the room, I was frozen to the spot. On second thought, I didn’t really need to go out there and interact with the others. I’ll just eat in here.

***

The next few days passed in similar style. I’d sleep through the morning, watch T.V and laze around in the afternoon, and then stay up waiting for the guys to return during the night, but I would always fall asleep before they got back. They wouldn’t let me out of the warehouse. Apparently the Dandies still wanted me, which meant I was under house arrest until the hype died down. Every night, the guys would go out to fight and see how much the Dandies really wanted to recapture me. They told me they were going to try and get my brother back, but there was something about the way they said it that made me think they were lying. Or if not lying, covering up part of the truth. Either my woman’s intuition, or my stupid paranoia. One of the two.

The vampire was an asshole to me, so I was a bitch right back. Patrick, Joe and Andy tried to make us get along at first, but they soon realized that that wasn’t happening, and just let us continue bickering. One afternoon when I woke up and walked into the main room, I heard the three of them wondering out loud if locking me in the closet with him would work at all, but the vampire obviously heard and walked in at that exact moment telling them that if they even tried it I would be dead by the time the door was opened. I shuddered when he said it, but hoped he didn’t see. I didn’t want to show any sign of weakness around him. Not that I could really do anything about the fact that he’d found me in such a vulnerable state back at the Dandy mansion and had to carry me all the way here. But I try not to think about that.

Call me crazy, but I like being able to unleash my anger and sarcasm on the vampire. I had never really had an outlet for all my negative emotions before; I had to keep my mouth shut around Matt. So this was a refreshing change.

Around six days after I woke up here, I realized that no matter how many times I asked them, they weren’t going to let me leave any time soon. I was going to be here for a while. So I decided to try a different approach. They wanted me to feel comfortable and safe here. I wouldn’t admit it to myself, let alone them, but this warehouse already felt closest to a home to me since my parents died.

“Hey Patrick?” I asked. He, Joe, Andy, and I were sitting in the ‘living room’ eating Doritos and watching television. How unnaturally normal does that sound? The vampire was still in his room, probably either sleeping or just avoiding me. Either way I was happy; I didn’t have to deal with his attitude or spark mine.

“Yeah?” Patrick replied, turning his head away from the television and towards me.

“Uh, you’re not letting me leave any time soon, are you?”

“Elle, we’ve been through this before. It’s not…”

“Safe, I know. It’s okay. I was just wondering if I could get some of my stuff, is all. You know… it’s kind of difficult living in one set of clothes… and I don’t know if you’ve realized but I’m a girl, so I have some… girl stuff… I’ll be needing…”

Patrick’s eyes widened as he seemed to take the hint. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at the mortification written all over his face. I bet he wasn’t expecting the conversation to go in that direction.

“Oh… right…” he stumbled over words, blushing furiously. That guy is so adorable. “Um, well… guys? What do you think?”

Joe and Andy were also trying to stop themselves from laughing at poor Patrick, although by the colour of their faces I guessed that they also felt awkward in this conversation. I don’t blame them, but this was the plan.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to leave…” Joe trailed off.

I rolled my eyes, but none of them saw. I knew they were just looking out for me. That idea alone made me feel so thankful.

“Maybe… maybe we should go and get her stuff for her…” Andy suggested, not keen on the idea but knowing it would be necessary.

“Uh, well, I have some research to be doing, so you guys go on without me,” Patrick said, leaping up, grabbing the laptop computer, and opening some files before anyone could argue with him.

“And I… uh… really wanted to get in some drum practice, so yeah…” Andy made his way over to the corner of the room and sat at the drum kit. So he was the drummer… I’d been wondering.

I looked at Joe, curious as to how he was going to react. He laughed, somewhat uncomfortably, stretching his arms above his head.

“Well I don’t want to go,” he said bluntly. “Pete can do it.”

“Okay,” Came a deep voice from behind me. Speak of thedevil vampire.

Wait, did he just agree to do something for me?

“Really?” Joe asked him in disbelief. “Just like that? No complaints?”

“Yeah. I’m the fastest, strongest, and most attractive,” I snorted, pretending that it wasn’t true. “And I know that if I refuse, she’ll try and convince us into letting her go, and there is no way in hell she’s leaving the warehouse. She’ll draw attention to this area and vampires will find out where we are.”

Joe nodded and returned his attention to the television. I shot the vampire an icy glare, which he returned with a smirk.

“Don’t for a second think I’m doing this for you, princess.”

“Call me that again and I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” he taunted. I was stuck. What could I say that wouldn’t result in more ridicule? Instead of answering I stood up, turned on my heel, and began stalking off to my room.

“Write a list of what you need!” Patrick called out to me as I walked out.

Walking into my room, I punched the wall in frustration. Bad move; I forgot that the walls were concrete.

“Fuck!” I screamed at the pain spreading itself through my knuckles.

But of course, who should choose to walk by at this moment but the reason for my growing frustration, smirking as his dark eyes made contact with my watery grey ones that were rapidly tearing up from the pain. Looking away when the droplets actually overflowed my eyes, he continued walking down the corridor and into his room as a drum beat picked up from the other room.

Have I mentioned how much I hate that son of a bitch?

***

Patrick had kindly wrapped up my hand for me when I regained my dignity and joined them a few hours later. The off-white coloured cloth was held tight in place around my knuckles with a safety pin and I kept myself entertained by playing with the fraying edges of the bandage. The vampire was out getting my things from my apartment – I had written a particularly long and complicated list of items that I knew would be difficult for him to find as well as the necessities, just to get him back for being a dickhead and because it would keep him out of the house.

Patrick, Joe, and Andy were all concentrating on their vampire hunting tasks, and so I was left in charge of the T.V remote that I couldn’t care less about. There was nothing even vaguely interesting on so it was switched off to a blank black screen in front of me as I looked down at my hand, fiddling with the wispy bits of string supporting it.

The quietness was destroyed by the grunting of the struggling vampire returning with my belongings. I smirked at his figure, covered by the three or four full bags he was trying to carry.

“Fuck, how much fucking stuff do you need?” he complained as he rid himself of the luggage.

“Only around half of all that, but it kept you out of my sight.” I answered, my evil grin growing at the fury in his eyes. It had worked too; he had been gone for hours.

“You bitch!”

Unexpectedly, he launched himself at me, fingers wrapping themselves around my throat. His body collided with mine as he crashed my back against the wall. He growled at me, his teeth baring menacingly as his grip on my throat got tighter. My breathing began getting difficult and I felt his now red eyes studying my face, reading me.

“Pete!” Joe shouted, but his voice sounded too distant to me. In my peripheral vision I saw the other three guys enter the scene, frozen with shock at what was going on before them.

“Give me one reason not to do it,” the vampire snarled in a whisper, his lips at my ear and far too close to my neck.

“I… I…” I gasped, my throat sore from struggling against his inhumanly strong grip.

Suddenly, it hit me. An ‘epiphany’ or whatever. I realized. Why does it matter, anyway? My life’s not going anywhere. Maybe death for me will have more of a purpose.

“Just do it,” I hissed with the little breath I had left. “Get it over with. We both know you will eventually.”

To say he seemed stunned at the words I uttered would be an understatement. They clearly had a very strong affect on him. I could see the red leave his eyes as they returned to their normal deep brown colour and he tore his fingers away from my throat. Unable to stand, I crumpled to the floor, the image of his shocked face burning in my mind. My eyes had closed involuntarily when I fell to the floor, but somehow I could still see him looking from me to the hand that had been slowly killing me only seconds before, as if I had burnt him.

Before I knew it, Patrick and Andy were at my side, their cool fingers on my face trying to revive me. I could hear and feel them there, but I didn’t have the energy to open my eyelids or respond to the questions they were tossing around. When I did manage to crack open my eye enough to see a small slit of what was going on around me, I saw Joe standing between me and the vampire, as if were ready to fight the latter off.

“Elle? Elle! Are you okay?” Andy asked worriedly when he had noticed that my eyes had opened. Unable to verbally respond, I nodded my head slowly, licking my dry lips. Joe’s head spun around from facing the vampire to look at me, fear written all over his face. But not fear for himself; fear for me.

“Elle, honey, are you okay?” he crouched down beside me, repeating Andy’s question. I gave him the same reply I gave Andy.

“Patrick!” Joe yelled, panicked. “Why isn’t she speaking?”

“I don’t know…”

I coughed in an attempt to clear my throat, before realizing how stupid that was. It didn’t feel like there was anything for me to clear, because my throat felt completely stripped of the usual moisture protecting it from the harsh wind. Now, every heavy breath felt like I was swallowing a lit match.

“Elle?” Patrick asked slowly. “If you can talk, you’re going to have to try to use your voice. Do you think you can do that?”

I nodded slowly and opened my mouth.

“I’m okay.”

My voice didn’t sound like my own. It was hoarse and raspy, barely understandable. I felt humiliated, and I buried my head in my arm. I didn’t want to speak again. I begged the others with my mind not to make me talk, tears welling up in my eyes no matter how hard I tried to stop them.

“Patrick, make her some of that honey stuff you made for me when I got that really bad bout of the flu,” I heard Joe order. It was quite strange hearing Joe taking the reigns on anything, and I silently told him how thankful I was.

I couldn’t believe it. I’d been living here a week, and already I trusted these guys with my life. Well… not all of them. But I trusted him to one day be the cause of my death, and that seemed to balance out. I heard Patrick shuffle away as he obliged, and I felt Andy scoop me up off the floor and bring me into my room. He laid me down on my bed and stood up as Joe sat down beside me and began stroking my hair out of my face, his fingers feeling freezing against my burning forehead. The realization that Joe was looking after me so tenderly when I doubted even my brother would if he was here was harsh to me. I just couldn’t picture Matt here in Joe’s place right now. But Matt did care about me, right? He was my brother. Until a week ago, he was pretty much all I had.

When Patrick walked in with a thick, golden-coloured substance, I looked up and realized that the vampire was lingering at the door, frowning down at his fingers and glancing at me every so often.

“Have this,” Joe said softly, taking the honey-like stuff from Patrick and getting a spoonful ready for me.

I opened my mouth and swallowed the bittersweet substance obediently. I grimaced slightly at the bitterness, but the soothing effect it had immediately on my sore throat was enough to make me smile slightly. Once I had consumed the entire small tub of the stuff, Patrick went back to the kitchen and the room stayed completely silent and still for the next few minutes. Joe stayed by my side, running his fingers through my hair, and Andy stood concerned at the foot of my bed. The vampire was still at the door, looking at me somewhat nervously. After a few minutes, he was the one to break the silence, speaking for the first time since it happened.

“Elle…” he croaked. I turned my head to look at him, as did the other two occupants of the room.

Was that… did he have tears in his eyes?

“Elle, I’m so sorry. I didn’t… I never meant to… That wasn’t me, it wasn’t…”

“It’s okay,” I rasped. “I know. Just please, don’t make me speak anymore.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but Patrick’s voice from the other room interrupted.

“Pete… Come here. We need to talk.”

I heard Pete swallow and shuffle out of the room, his head bowed.

Wait. Did I just call him Pete? After he tried to kill me?

This world is one fucked up place.