Heartbeats

Chapter Eleven

“Hey Jacie. I really wanted to—“

“Charles Rice you are a dead man,” I growled, cutting him off. “I don’t care if I have to turn into a freaking immortal to kill you. I will. I want to do it with my own hands.” Deep breath. “Where are you?”

Silence.

Silence.

Then, “I’m in your room.”

“What? How?” I squeaked a swear when I almost missed a turn.

“It’s pretty easy for a person with skills.”

“Yeah Charles. You’ve got mad skills.” Sarcasm. “You’re an idiot. What are you doing with Tesla?” I hit the brakes when I saw red and blue light flashing in the distance ahead of me, taking twenty off my speed to bring me to the limit, as well as putting the phone on speaker and throwing it into the passenger seat.

Charles made a noise of protest, probably responding to the sound of the mike hitting the seat, before asking if they knew what was wrong with Tesla.

“No.” I forced a smile and waved at the officer as I rolled past him, and when he was out of sight I floored the gas. “They were working on it.”

I barely braked fast enough to escape hitting the gate that secured our neighborhood. I punched in the four digit code and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel as the old gate reacted lazily.

“Yeah, well, Jace—sorry, Jacie, we got it. Adelaide knows what’s wrong with him.”

I zipped right in when there was enough space for me to pull through, and my breathing patterned faltered at his words. “What?”

“I’ll tell you when you get in your house. I value my life, and I know you won’t kill me if I have valuable information. Talk to you then.” The phone chirped, and I was a bit stunned he had the guts to hang up on me right now.

I once saw a PSA where a little girl, mangled from a car accident, explained how if someone hits a person with their car going forty miles per hour, there’s an eighty percent chance they’ll die.

I was probably going sixty.

When I got in the house it was overly warm, the thermostat reading eighty-five degrees. Since it was almost ten my mom was probably passed out, and Tess was spending the night at a friend’s house to work on a project.

I dropped my things on the love seat, and, out of routine, grabbed an orange soda from the kitchen. My heart was racing, so I took a moment to calm down, taking a sip.

Then off to my room.

The door was hesitant to open, and when it did I stood in the doorway and glared at the vampire lounging on my bed, watching my television, petting my dog. I almost crushed the can of soda in my hand.

“Hey Jacie,” he greeted casually. Careful to not knock the incoherent dog off the bed, Charles stood and made his way towards me, his steps more reluctant than normal. He stopped just over an arm’s length away.

So I guess he did value his life.

“Don’t waste your time with a ‘Hey Jacie’,” I spat. “What the heck is up with you kidnapping my dog?” The feel of carbonated citrus burned my nose as I took a long chug from the can.

Charles shifted uncomfortably. “Okay. It isn’t natural; I feel I should warn you about that before we start.”

My eyes became slits. “You honestly think I would care? Charles, I hate to break it to you, but you aren’t natural; you’re a vampire. Even if you weren’t a bloodsucker, you’d be enough of a butthole to not be normal.” I couldn’t tell if he flinched because I called him a bloodsucker, or because I called him a butthole, but it cracked my anger. “Just get on with it,” I sighed in a softer tone.