Page 21 of Nosfer-Meet You

“Juli, that’s fucked up.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, I am aware. Thank you for pointing that out, Scotty.”

“I’m just sayin’. You didn’t deserve that,” I say. “You do know that, right? I mean, you’ve got to know that.”

When she doesn’t say anything, I start to get concerned. I take her by the shoulders and give her a light shake. “You didn’t deserve any of that. And you didn’t deserve a mother who left her only child behind to die a horrific death, either.”

Not like I’m going to say this to her face, but I’m definitely not sad about her mother’s fate. If anyone in this shitty story deserved that, it’s her, for abandoning her daughter and husband. For mistreating Juliette her entire life and making her feel so worthless. Shit. And I thought my parents were bad. I’m pretty sure my mom wouldn’t abandon me to become vampire food, though, no matter how awful she was.

Juliette waves a hand, dismissing me. “Your concern is noted but unnecessary. We should probably take a break and get you something to eat, though.”

I quirk a brow at her. “Just me? What about you?”

“Nosferatu don’t need to feed often,” she says. “A couple of times a month is more than enough.”

Oh, fucking hell. And here I was, eating three square meals a day. If I could go about my unlife for almost an entire month without needing to suck down some blood, that would be a game changer.

“Hey, quick question,” I say, and Jules lets out a soft grumble. Annoyed with me again, of course, but something’s been gnawing at me since she mentioned Akasha in her story. She nods silently, so I continue before I use up the rest of her patience. “Where do other vampires come from? Y’know, like me and my coven.”

Juliette’s brows pinch together. “That is a good question. Nosferatu were created hundreds of years ago, but your species has existed since the beginning of time, non?”

I nod. “Yeah. I’m thinking about my old as shit coven leader. Good ol’ Elias. I miss him. He was ancient.”

Juliette shrugs. “No. I do not know. Perhaps it was another God, or perhaps you are as natural as the birds and bats in the sky.”

She stands up and offers me her hand. I take it, and she helps me to my feet. I wobble back and forth, too dizzy from fatigue and hunger. Shit, and we just ate last night, too. And it wasn’t a small meal. Why am I like this? In any case, I don’t bother probing her for more info because it’s clear she doesn’t want to chat anymore and I don’t want to activate grumpy Jules.

“Come, we’ll hunt again. And perhaps you would like to tell me more about yourself, as well?” Juliette tilts her head at me in question, and I blink. She wants me to talk about myself? Ugh. No, thank you. When she continues to stare me down, I swallow the lump that’s formed in my throat. “I told you my deepest, most nightmarish secrets.”

I scrub a hand through my greasy hair and let out a long sigh. Here comes the guilt tripping, I guess. “Ugh. Fiiiiiine. Let’s hunt down some of these dorks for dinner and I’ll tell you something about myself. What do you want to know?”

As we head out of the salon and back into the piss-and-shit water of the sewers, I rack my brain for anything that could be considered even remotely interesting about my life. But there isn’t anything. I’m just … me. A fuck up. Always was a fuck up. Will probably continue to be a fuck up.

We climb the ladder up to the street, with me going first this time. Surprisingly, she doesn’t put up a fight about it.

“I had a dog named Cha Cha,” I say. “When I was eight.”

I remove the manhole cover and slip out into the crisp night air. It’s balmy this evening, and there’s a weird fog lingering. The streetlights are hazy and kind of pretty, but it’s difficult to see anything. Juliette steps beside me and dusts off the sleeves of her cloak.

“Cha Cha…” she murmurs. “What kind of stupid name is that?”

I flinch. “Um, excuse me? Cha Cha is a perfectly fine name for a dog. Damn, woman. That was kind of rude, even for you.”

Juliette grumbles and wanders off without saying anything else. Uh, okay? What the fuck just happened? I go after her, but I’m careful to stay several steps behind because I don’t want to piss her off even more than she already is. Which begs the question … why is she pissed off? It can’t be my dog’s name. My dog had the coolest name. Coolest name for the coolest fucking dog. End of story.

“Hey, what’s up? What happened back there?” I quicken my pace once I realize she’s practically gliding off the surface of the street. Another Nosferatu trick, I’m sure, but it’s making it really bloody difficult to keep up with her. “Slow down, Juli. Just talk to me!”

Juliette stops at the corner in front of a closed-up convenience store. Her hands flex in tiny fists at her sides. Oh. Oh, shit. Meltdown imminent, I think?

This might be a terrible idea, but I press my chin into the crook of her neck and wrap my arms around her stomach. It’s not much, but offering her something to ground herself with is all I got right now. I look down and notice her hands have at least stopped clenching at her sides.

A memory I’ve been trying to keep locked away in the closet with the rest of my skeletons resurfaces.

Harriet weeping in my bed. Blood running down her cheeks as she buries her face into the clean sheets. Eli reprimanding her from the doorway. The hunt had ended badly and nearly gotten everyone killed because of her, but I couldn’t blame her. I could never blame her. She was only a kid, after all. It was my job to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble. This was my fault. All me. And now she was in my bed, bleeding her heart out because of my fuck up…

“It’s okay,” I murmur into her ear. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you, Jules.”

She grunts in reply. I tighten my arms around her. Hugging her like this feels right. Can’t unpack the why behind that feeling right now, because Juliette needs me. Needs me to be her anchor right now.