Sweet Cravings (12 page)

Finally, sleep came and engulfed me, wrapped me tightly in its warm arms and accepting smile. I let it take me, snatch me away from reality, and dreamed.

And dreamed.

I was inside a stone building, and it was burning. The smoke filled my lungs and hurt like a bitch, and I coughed and coughed repeatedly. I got on my stomach and crawled as fast as I could, inhaling the dark gray smoke, hacking and hacking, not able to stop it from entering my throat and lungs and causing me unimaginable pain. My eyes watered and throbbed, and I heard the fire roar and crackle. I couldn’t make it. I wouldn’t make it. The beams on the ceiling cracked and fell in blackened scraps around me. I had to go down the steps, and down there was the heart of the fire.

I was trapped. I was going to die.

I gave up. I was going to let the fire encompass me, cloak me, take away my precious life. And just as I was about to stay still and let it all go, a hand pulled me from the rubble, from the flames, and up, outside of the crumbling house and onto the soft grass somewhere far away.

It was a man, and I saw all of him but his eyes and hair. I recognized him, this man, this special someone. But I couldn’t remember who. He was speaking, and I wasn’t hearing him. Muted words came from his lips. I embraced him and he me, and we sat in the grass tangled together, he stroking my hair calmingly; me and this strange man that I knew but didn’t at the moment.

Then I saw his mouth move and heard him say, “I love you.”

And I knew who it was. I knew who this mysterious man was. In this awkward time and space, I’d figured it out.

It was Darius.

It was nine in the morning when I woke up. I could remember every detail of my dream, and it made me shiver just thinking about it. How I gave in and then was saved. Why did I give in so easily? I should’ve fought more. I should’ve valued my life more. Stupid Lily.

I strode into the kitchen and noticed Mr. G gaping his mouth open for food. I noticed a can of fish food on the table and shook some into his bowl. He just floated in the water, uninterested in the fish food. I sighed and got some of the spoiled hamburger meat out. The little guy instantly perked up and looped around the bowl. I dumped the meat into his bowl, and he hungrily ate it as if he were starving. So, I gave him some more until he was no longer interested, and I began to assemble my own breakfast.

I made coffee and added my favorite vanilla creamer to it and ate a cup of Raisin Flakes. After I was finished washing my mug and bowl, I slipped on my dark pink robe and reclined on the couch to watch TV. It was so relaxing to be home. I shook my legs and put on my favorite pink furry slippers.

I was so excited for tomorrow. But for now, I had the whole day to myself

And it was going to be a long one.

* * * *

The next day I was so thrilled to go to the movies with Dana. I spent most of my time on the Internet, reading e-mails and exploring misfitart.com. When the time finally came to meet, I dressed in a simple outfit of a pink sweater, white jeans, and a pink plaid scarf. I decided to wear my fuzzy magenta boots, and I felt so great when I was done. I kept my wavy blonde hair down, and it fanned around my face beautifully, and I got a nostalgic feeling.

I jingled my keys in my hand and twirled them on my index finger as I went to the parking lot and got into my silver Civic. Damn, did I miss the musty smell of the old thing. As I started it up, I gasped as my throat began to burn just like in my dream. Only I had a ravenous hunger and craving for blood.

No, I couldn’t go to Darius’ while he was sick and in bed from the curse. I also really, really wanted to see Dana’s face and hug her, all the while feeling guilty about the lies and the excuses.

I was going to the movies with Dana, and that was that. She was expecting me, and I’d never chicken out on a friend. That was cowardice, and I was no coward. I bit my lower lip to keep the hunger in control and obsessed about how great the movie was going to be. During the whole drive to the theater the craving flickered inside like a raging inferno.

I loved the movies, but I always felt confined in some way. All those people watching my back made me jittery, and I always wondered if I annoyed them or not. Hearing about a mass killing in a theater also made my nerves spike, but today I was going to do this for Dana, my best friend since middle school.

As I found a parking space, I saw Dana in the corner of my eye running toward me from her green Jeep. I became so excited—with genuine excitement or for bloody food, I didn’t know. I swung my legs out, and she embraced me tightly.

“Oh, Lily, I missed you so much! How are you? How have you been?”

I smiled. “I’m fine. How are you? Oh, by the way, the goldfish is called Mr. G, got it?”

Her grin was so wide I could see all her pearly teeth and thought about my own. Were my fangs out? Should I smile as wide as her?

“I’m great!” she said. “Now come on, or we’re gonna be late! We have to choose the movie.” She grabbed my hand, and I locked the car and happily went with her, ignoring the suffocating dryness conquering my throat.

We stood at the end of the line inside the Cinema Center. Dana and I were still deciding what movie to watch. It was crowded with people, but not so overcrowded the line extended outside. There were about twenty-five people around me, elevating the feeling of being trapped.

Stay calm. You’ll get out of here soon.

I backed up a couple of steps and smacked into something hard. My eyes met with a pair of jet-black ones. The man looming over me was massive, close to seven feet, with a wide, muscled build. His skin was a dark mahogany, and his nose was smashed in, probably broken before but didn’t heal right. The only words I could think of at the moment were bear and football player. I’m betting he played professionally.

“Sorry,” I whispered and rushed to Dana’s side.

Her red hair was in a ponytail and showed off her high cheekbones. She wore skinny jeans with holes in them, a black tank top, and clogs. The holes were part of the jeans when she bought them. I didn’t understand the latest fashion trends, but Dana said it was cool. She got out of the house more than me and subscribed to all the fashion magazines she could find.

Her fingers played subconsciously with the onyx beads of her necklace. “What do you wanna see?”

“I don’t know. You pick.”

“I know! Oh, it starts in five minutes! Lil, could you please get some popcorn and a Coke while I get the tickets?”

Sigh. “Sure.”

The buttery smell of movie theater popcorn blasted into my nose when I walked to the food stand. I ordered a jumbo Coke and popcorn, and then waited near the people who collected the tickets. If there was a name for them, I didn’t know. I just called them the ticket people.

Dana darted to them and gave them our tickets. I trailed her inside the auditorium, where all the lights were off, and the screen was showing previews for upcoming hits. We were fortunate to find two vacant seats in the middle. I almost dropped the Coke when the speakers thundered loudly; it was like sitting near a space shuttle.

“Whoa. You okay?” Dana asked quietly.

My hands were gripping my ears like they would burst any second. The movie theater was loud, but not this loud!

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Damn, why did everything just get ten times louder? It was like there was a megaphone in each ear. Then it abruptly stopped. Hearing now back to normal, phew!

“Sure?”

I nodded. “So, what are we seeing?”

“It’s called
Dreams of Dusk
, or something like that. I heard it’s really good, and it got a lot of nice reviews.”

“What’s it about?”

“It’s horror, like we always see. I think it’s about a group of friends that go on a vacation somewhere in Europe and weird things happen.” She glanced at the screen and continued, “Oh, yeah! It has vampires in it. Let’s hope we get to see some blood!” She giggled.

“Cool.”
Dana, I am going to kill you when we get out of here!
Why, oh why did I ever let her pick the movie? Screw my luck.
Please let it be more suspenseful than gory, please.

Thirty minutes into the movie I struggled to stay in my seat, and my fingers wrapped around the metal arms like they were my last salvation. A young man on the screen was staring at a woman. Ominous music floated throughout the theater in hopes of thrilling the audience. I closed my eyes but soon tore them open as Dana grabbed my arm and cried, “Lily, look!”

The woman had bitten into the young man’s neck, blood dribbling onto his shirt in a slow stream. There was a gunshot, and the woman collapsed, a bullet embedded in her forehead. Almost everyone watching gasped. I concentrated my attention on my sneakers.

“Whoa! That’s nasty,” Dana commented, taking a fistful of popcorn.

I was quaking with resistance, forcing the impulse to strike someone’s vein into compliance. Dana appeared so helpless, vulnerable. I could see the heat radiating from her body in swells of reddish orange, reaching to me in warm tendrils. Under the thin shield of skin was what I smelled now; faint, but alluring. It was so close, too close.

Stop thinking about that! You just had some the day before, and it was good! You don’t need anything right now besides the enjoyment of watching a movie with Dana.

A scream from the speakers made Dana flinch and turn to me. I bit my lower lip to keep from screaming myself, and to hold in the throbbing sensation inside my throat and mouth.

“Gotta go to the bathroom,” I mumbled quickly. Dana nodded absently, and I raced from my seat to the entrance of the bathroom.

I barely managed to halt when I saw the big guy from earlier, leaning in the doorway. Oh, shit! Was he still mad about when I bumped into him? With a short breath, I started to pass him, lightly saying, “Excuse me.”

I didn’t expect him to grasp my shoulder.

My initial instinct drove me to turn around and kick my foot into his groin. He didn’t so much as blink, and expressionless eyes drilled into me like jackhammers. His skin was hard as cement, solid. I panicked when he caught my wrist and said in a low, rumbling voice, “It’d be better not to make a scene.”

I tried to keep the fury in my voice to a minimum. “Who the hell do you think you are, asshole?” I twisted sideways to yank him off, but his hold was firm.

“We’ll explain everything later. Now, I need you to come with me.”

This guy was definitely not human, and definitely not someone I could trust. What is with people grabbing me lately? Had anyone ever heard of a little thing called personal space?

Passersby gawked, some even speaking softly to each other when they saw me and Mr. Muscle. An idea clicked.

I yelled as bitterly as I could, “Asshole, let go of me! I don’t love you anymore, so stop trying! Not after you went out with Diane, fuckin’ cheater!”

His brows knit together in confusion. “What?”

“Fuckin’ prick, get off!” This time when I pulled away, it was a success. He was stunned at the sudden change in character. Good thing I took those drama classes four years ago.

I was able to sprint outside to the parking lot before he caught up. A spike in the temperature and the lingering scent of popcorn butter to the left gave him away. I was too slow to react as his fist crushed into my abdomen and knocked me back until I collided with the hood of someone’s car.

There was a slight stinging where I was hit, but no more. Had I been human, I’d be bleeding internally, and my spine would’ve snapped from the impact to the car. Now there wasn’t any kind of mark, nothing to indicate I was hurt. I guess like everything, vampirism did have a few ups to its downs.

He stepped closer to me, saying, “They said you’d put up a fight. I was too much of an asshole to believe it.”

Should I kick him where it hurts, or punch him? Maybe let him touch me, think he’s won, and then kick him. But what if he does something else? What if he has a gun or something?

A large shadow rammed my pursuer into a white truck, metal screeching and denting as the man was being smashed repeatedly against it. There was a clean, cracking sound; then silence.

Sang jumped from behind a nearby car and rushed beside me. His arms from his hands to wrists were dripping a wet, scarlet red. The navy polo and jeans he wore were, peculiarly, unscathed. With a worried frown he scolded, “Ya gotta keep closer to me, Lily. Or at least invite me along. Now I feel left out.”

“Closer to you? What am I, a pet? Aren’t you supposed to be with Darius? And what happened to that guy? Who is he?”

Sang brought his hand to his nose, sniffed, and gagged. “That guy’s blood reeks!” He coughed. “To answer your first question, yes, somewhat. Darius let me go. That guy is Ty. He works for a famous vampire, Wolf.”

I swept my tongue along the ridges of my dry, chapped lips. “Why does he want me to go with him?”

He shrugged. “Dunno, but I intend to find out, though.”

A disfigured voice intervened. “I shouldn’t’ve been so naive. She mentioned something about Darius’ pet.”

“And look what a good boy I’m being,” Sang replied with a mocking grin.

With my enhanced vision, I easily saw a staggering bulk of a man advancing at a steady pace toward us. He was between the hoods of a line of parked cars, his skin mingling opaquely with the nightly absence of light. I gasped; his body was grotesque, revolting. Where a right eye should’ve been was a gaping hole welling with blood. The cheek on the left side was bare of skin and muscle, providing a gateway to the bones beneath. His arms swung limply by his sides, perfectly broken in half at the elbows. Ty’s brown shirt was shredded into strips of cloth, which clung to his torso by thin bands of fabric. Deep gashes covered all of his limbs; one leg dragged behind him, the calf bones jutting up through the flesh and visible from the outside. There was a faint scraping noise—his dragging foot scuffing the pavement.

“I had a hunch you could do a speedy recovery,” Sang said.