Page 78 of Into The Light

“Which one should we take, Emilia?” I turned to her. She scanned the room and then settled her stare into the corner. A big smile stretched across her face as she pointed. “That one.”

Mark and I followed her finger to the Hemi Cuda convertible. She pulled me down the stairs and we wound through the endless cars until we arrived at its side. Soft blue paint wrapped around the contours of the classic muscle car, its flawless sheen glistening in the bright lights.

“The 1971 Hemi Cuda,” I said, stepping back to appreciate the sleek lines that had first caught my attention five years ago when I’d bought it.

“This little beauty set us back over a million,” Mark said. “And he’s never even driven it.” He rolled his eyes. “I have to hire someone to exercise the cars every few months.”

“This is the one.” Emilia slid a hand along the shiny metal and peered inside at the leather seats.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take the Ferrari or the maybe the Aston Martin?”

She shook her head. “Nope. This one. I want the convertible.”

The thought of riding at her side with the wind blowing in my hair and the sun beating down on my face sent my human heart racing.

“Hold on, let me grab something.” Mark ran through the cars and up the stairs, returning a minute later holding three sets of sunglasses. “We’re gonna need these.”

I took the sunglasses from him and examined them. “Never thought I’d be needing these.” I laughed.

“I’m driving!” Emilia hopped over the door and landed in the driver’s seat. With a grin, I did the same, reaching my hand across the divide and letting it settle on her leg.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this!” Mark hopped into the seat behind us.

“Ready?” Emilia looked at me and slid the key into the ignition.

Squeezing her thigh, I nodded. “Let’s do this.”

She turned the key and the Hemi V8 rumbled and roared through the garage. She slid it into gear, and we crept forward to the ramp that wound out from the underground garage. When we reached the top, Mark pressed a button on his phone, and I squinted as the sunlight poured in through the lifting door.

I looked at my sunglasses then slid them on my face, turning to smile at Emilia and Mark as they did the same. Emilia revved the engine and stepped on the gas. We tore out into the sunlight, Mark screaming with his hands in the air as we launched out onto the driveway.

“Whoooo hoooo!” Emilia mirrored his shouts as we skid around the corner.

My grin was so wide I thought my newly fragile human skin might tear. When we spun out onto the road and hit top speed Emilia took her hand off the shifter and twisted her fingers into mine. Our matching smiles lit up brighter than the sun beating down on us. The wind twisted and twirled my hair and I squeezed her hand tight, never having felt so alive in my life. If this was living, I was ready to suck every last drop of joy from this world. And I was going to do it at her side.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Aiden

“Well?” Emilia asked as Mark’s stare burned into the back of my head. I closed my mouth around the burger she had given me and felt my human teeth cut through the layers. Warm juice flowed into my mouth and I moaned when it mixed with the other flavors all somehow piled into one bite.

“Mmm...” I mumbled, my mouth full of my first bite of food in six hundred years. “This is amazing.”

“See!” Emilia laughed and slapped Mark in the arm. “I told you McDonald’s was the way to go!”

Mark rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Just wait until he gets his first bite of Kobe beef. Then we’ll see who wins.”

I couldn’t believe the sensations the flavors sent through me. I started making noises that mimicked Emilia when she ate, and I realized now why she made them. “This is so much better than I ever expected food to taste.”

Sitting in the convertible outside McDonald’s under the baking sun, I devoured the burger and felt the newfound hunger rumbling in my belly subside.

“Here, a milkshake next.” Emilia pushed the paper cup with the straw into my hands. Looking it over, I furrowed my brow while I studied it. “Just put it between your lips and suck.”

“That’s what she said,” Mark whispered and chuckled behind me.

Emilia shot him a look and then doubled over in laughter. “Well played, friend.”

I wrapped my lips around the plastic tube and drew a long suck. I could feel the resistance at first, and then the cold substance moved into my mouth. It startled me, such a sharp contrast to the hot blood I had consumed all these years. The shock of the temperature subsided, and I got a trickle of the incredible sweet flavor on my tongue. I’d never tasted anything like it.