A Vampire's Rotten Heart

What She Took

I gave a stern knock to that wooden door.

"Coming!"

The door creaked open, then slammed shut.

The voice behind the door became quiet.

"Oh! It's you. You're alive."

I crossed my arms and clenched my jaw. "What the hell was that back there?"

I grabbed the doorknob and forced it open.

"You coward! I trusted you!"

"What? Was I supposed to endanger my life for a man I just met?"

I stepped inside and curled my lip.

Estrella backed away. I could hear her heart rate rise.

"Oh, hey! Are those... new teeth? I think I see a couple more in there!"

     There was a little blip of motion behind her.

    "Spud!"

    "Mew?"

    I ran right past her.

    "What the hell did you do to him?"

    He was dressed up in an oversized witch hat with a little cloak and the tiniest boots I'd ever seen.

    "I was... uh... training him to be my familiar."

    "Dress up your own damn cat!"

    "I thought you were dead!"

    I looked at Spud's little face. He had grown a bit since I saw him last.

    "Now let's get this nasty little costume off of you, eh?"

    Spud jumped onto my shoulder. I started unbuckling those boots. Shoes don't belong on cats.

    "Now... let's see... what else..."

    I looked towards Estrella's magic room.

    "Wait! No!"

    I laughed and ran over there. Inside was a huge, empty cauldron, surrounded by shelves filled with jars of various dried herbs and miscellaneous ingredients. Wilikers was lazing in the corner.

    I walked up to one shelf and began sifting through the jars.

    "You quit that!"

    I spread my wings to make a barrier between me and her.

    She ran up to me and grabbed one of my wings, trying to pull me away. I resisted and kept searching.

    "Stop! You're gonna break something!"

    And break something I did. I didn't see what it was, but I certainly heard the shattering of glass!

    "Get out of my house!"

Finally, I found what I was looking for. A jar filled halfway up with teeth.

I snatched it, knelt down to the floor, and dumped them all out. I dug through them until I found what I was looking for. A small, sharp, pearly white fang.

I stood up and put it in my pocket.

"Well, it looks like I'll be going now," I said with a smile.

Estrella whined.

"What are you even going to do with it? You made a mess for nothing!"

"I'll figure something out."

I grabbed Spud off my shoulder and gave him a kiss, then headed out.

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you, too!"

I slammed the door.