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I am in deep trouble.
Chapter Four
I’m riding in a car with a vampire who seems to have a death wish.
Not only that, but I have no idea where I’m going, and I’m now a murderer. Oh God, poor Colin. The police didn’t seem all that upset that I killed him, focusing more on the fact that I was an undocumented vampire. My shiny new ID is sitting in my purse, which was returned to me when I was released.
Zane drives like a lunatic, and honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t crashed. I suppose that’s the benefit of vampire reflexes. I’m hoping that we’ll arrive at the halfway house soon, and I won’t have to fear for my life any longer. He attempted to start up a conversation when we got into his black luxury sedan, but I was so lost in my own thoughts that he simply let me sit in silence. After that, I was so terrified of being flung out of the car that I’ve been bracing myself in the seat and praying that we get there soon.
A buzzing in my lap makes me jump and slam my hand down on whatever terrible beast is trying—a crunching sound greets me, and with a wince, I glance down to find my mobile now a smashed pile of electronics. Fantastic. I pick it up gingerly and pray to whatever god might be listening that it still works. Tina’s name is on the cracked screen, but when I try to accept the call, nothing happens other than the screen slowly going black.
Something flashes in front of my face, and I flinch away from it, my new reflexes so fast that I smack my head against the window in the process. Cursing, I rub at the pulsing spot on the back of my head, and I slowly realise what I’m looking at. His pale hand is extended, and in his palm is a mobile.
“Here, use mine.” Even though he’s facing straight ahead, I can still see the smirk on his face. He finds my pain amusing.
Looking at him with suspicion, I slowly take it from his hand like I’m afraid he might bite me. “Thanks…” I’m not sure why he’s being nice to me. This is a stranger who clearly didn’t want to mentor a baby vampire, yet his attitude seems to have done a one-eighty.
My phone isn’t responding at all now, but thankfully I know Tina’s number by heart. Quickly typing it into the keypad, I press call and bite down on my lip as I wait for her to pick up. I’m feeling pretty guilty that I’m only just thinking of calling her now, but that is cut off as the call connects.
“Yes? Emmy?” Tina’s voice rings out, loud and laced with panic.
That breaks me. Hearing how upset she is and how much she cares for me causes all of my defences to fall away. “Tina!” I cry out, my eyes stinging with tears that won’t fall.
“Where are you? Are you okay?” Her voice hardens as she gets down to business, always putting my safety first. “I called all the local police stations and none of them had any record of you, so I figured they took you to a special vampire prison or something.”
This is a typical Tina response. She is so organised and practical. I would have been freaking out so much if the situation were reversed and not have the first clue where to look for answers. Knowing that she always has my back fills me with warmth. Even when I murdered my boyfriend in our flat and turned out to be a vampire, she’s still there for me.
Now that she’s asked the question, though, it opens a dam of emotion within me, the words surging from me without control.
“I was arrested for being undocumented. Did you know that I have an ID card now that tells everyone what race I am? I’m a freaking vampire, and because I killed someone, I have to go to a halfway house for training and to learn the rules. They only let me go because I’m an orphan and I didn’t know anything about vampires. My social worker is a troll, a literal troll, and I can’t cry!” Finally taking a breath, I lean back against the seat, resting my feet on the dash and pressing a hand to my face.
“Oh, Emmy, that’s okay, you’ll cry when you’re ready.”
She attempts to comfort me, but I just laugh, no real humour to the noise. “No, Tina, I literally can’t cry.” I poke my eye, trying to invoke some sort of reaction, but other than it hurting, nothing happens.
“It’s a vampire thing,” Zane comments, looking uncomfortable at my show of emotion.
“Wait, was that a man in the background?” Tina asks, her voice suddenly a much higher pitch than usual as her natural protective nature comes to the surface. “Who is he? You sound like you’re in a car. Are you going to this halfway house now? Where is it? I want to see you.” She lists off her questions at a pace so rapid that I almost can’t keep up.
“They won’t let a human into the halfway house,” Zane comments, listening in on my conversation again. “I can’t believe one of your friends is a human. You know we eat humans, right?”
Turning to glare at the handsome vampire, I place a hand over the speaker of the phone. “You can shut your mouth and stop listening to my conversations.” Returning back to my talk with Tina, I take a deep breath and try to remember what Dorine told me. “I have to be assessed to see how much of a threat I am. The voice you hear is Zane. He’s my nosy vampire mentor.”
From the corner of my eye, I see him grin and glance in my direction, but I refuse to look at him. Instead, I flip him off and try to hide the goosebumps on my arm as his low chuckle fills the car.
“They won’t let you in to see me,” I continue, hoping my voice doesn’t betray me and let on that the gorgeous vampire gets under my skin. “However, I’m going to do as I’m told, and I’m hoping I’ll be released after a couple of days.”
There’s a long pause as she absorbs everything I tell her, and I let her without interrupting. None of this is easy to wrap your head around. I am still struggling to believe it, and I’ve been living it. I hear her sigh, followed by her soft footsteps as she pads through our apartment.
“Emmy,” she starts, and I brace myself for whatever hard hitting question she has for me. “You really have a troll as a social worker?”
Laughing, I tilt my head back and stare up at the ceiling, unseeing. “Girl, you would not believe the night I’ve had.”
“This isn’t a social call. We’re almost there.”
I can practically hear him rolling his eyes, and I know I’ve tested his patience long enough. “Tina, I have to go. I’m so sorry about everything. I’ll hopefully see you in a couple of days.” A thought suddenly occurs to me, and my eyes widen with horror at the realisation. “Oh, what do we do about the body?”
I am a terrible friend. I left a dead body in our apartment, and I didn’t have a second thought about how Tina must be dealing with it. She never liked Colin when he was alive, and I’m sure she likes him even less now that he’s decomposing in my bedroom. Currently, I’m going away and leaving her to sort it all out.
