Page 45 of Nosfer-Meet You

We climb over the fence and hop down to the other side. No guard dogs, either. Not that we couldn’t handle them. It’s easy to enthrall dogs. Easy to enthrall humans, too, like the girl working the drive-in. But sometimes you run afoul of someone with a steel trap mind and you can’t break in—not really a problem with animals.

“This is … nice,” Juliette says as she wipes her hands off on her mended skirts.

I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to lie to me, Juli. I know this isn’t exactly the Rhine. But look,” I say, and hurry off toward one of the tire mountains. “This way!”

Juli catches up to me as I make a sharp turn around the tires, and I grin when I hear her gasp. From here, you have a clear view of the river. And across the river? Pinecrest Hills. So close, yet so far. The neighboring city is covered in verdant trees as far as the eye can see, and rumor has it, it’s home to gangs of werewolves and shifters. Not my kind of people, but we’re considered cousins, I guess. Sorta.

Juli steps up beside me and asks, “What is that place? With all the lights?”

“Pinecrest Hills,” I answer her, and close the gap between us so that our arms are touching. “It’s a spooky place, full of monsters and scary ghosts.” I wiggle my fingers at her as I put emphasis on the word spooky.

Juli looks up at me, and her eyes widen. “Is that true? Or are you teasing me again?”

I let out a bark of laughter. “I’m teasing, of course. But there are stories. Loads of ’em. Never been there myself, though.”

“Why not?” she asks. It’s an innocent question, but she stares up at me with those big, round eyes of hers again. It’s enough to make a grown man forget to breathe. If one still did that, of course. Damn, she’s pretty. She must have been a vision in her human life, too.

“Because I don’t travel much anymore. I’m happy here,” I say, and clasp my hands behind my neck. “Warts and all.”

Juli tilts her head. I love it when she does that. It makes her look like a curious puppy. “Are you, though?”

I frown. “What?”

“Happy?”

A moment passes, and a cool breeze blows between us. Sure, we could get into it, about how I used to love wandering around with no goal or destination in mind. Headed up Scotland and bummed around for a bit. Then Ireland. Now here, on the island of Mystella. Wouldn’t have bothered coming here if it wasn’t for the mayor killing everyone I loved. But now I wish I’d come sooner, with Harriett and Eli. Marcus and Ava were probably doomed and past the point of saving. Those two were on a path of self-destruction. But Harriett would have loved it here. An island full of monsters, witches, vampires, you name it. All living adjacently to the humans who barely knew of their existence. Well, until recently, that is.

“Sugardove City was actually peaceful when I first arrived,” I say.

Juliette watches me curiously, and I lace my fingers through hers.

“No Helsings to speak of. No one even knew about our kind until they got the internet here in 2015 and opened their borders to the outside world. I had to sneak in back in 2000. And believe me, that shit was not easy.”

“I’ve been in the sewers for so long I didn’t even notice they were so cut off from everything,” Juliette murmurs.

“Yeah. Kind of shocking how they were the last bastion against modern times. I mean, they still have drive-ins here,” I say with an eyeroll.

“Do they not have those elsewhere?”

“They do, but they aren’t common. They’re gimmicky, I guess.”

“I see.” Juliette squeezes my hand, and I squeeze back. “But you didn’t answer my question, Scotty. Are you happy here?”

I kick a few pebbles off the toe of my boot and sigh. “Yeah, I guess so. Although, if I had the means, maybe I’d travel the world. Also, if I had someone to travel with. Don’t want to go alone, you know?” I look down at Juli, and she meets my gaze.

She smiles, and I notice the tips of her gleaming white fangs sparkling in the moonlight. “Maybe I could go with you when the time comes.”

“Oh, you’d better. You’re mine, remember?” I tease with a grin, and she looks down at her feet, smiling. My girl’s so cute when she blushes. Even if there’s no pink in her cheeks, I know. She can’t hide it from me.

This feels … right. It feels good, standing here with her like this, holding her hand. And I know that when she smiles at me like that, she feels the same.

“But uh, can you even travel? I know you’re kind of confined to the sewer because of some Nosferatu thing, right?” I ask, rubbing the back of my neck. The thought of her immolating in a burst of orange flames makes my chest hurt like someone’s just poured cement down my throat.

She nods. “I can move freely, so long as I perform a new Blood Rite before dawn.”

I have no idea what that means, but I give her a thumbs up anyway. She’s older and wiser, after all, and knows how her body works. In fact, if anything, Juliette’s been moving through the decades with an overabundance of caution, and I can’t see that changing any time soon.

“We should get back before we roast,” I say.