The Vampire's Pastry Chef (ONC 2022)

16 - Stay

"Wh-what?" she mumbled through numb lips.

"I need you to wash him off. He needs you." Mr Feldman waved the detachable showerhead.

Swallowing hard, Autumn took a step forward; her legs felt as if she had a hundred pounds of concrete strapped to them. She reached inside the stall for the showerhead.

"Autumn."

She looked up into Mr Feldman's dark brown eyes.

"Don't look at his face. Not right now."

On the shower seat, Corbin groaned—the first sound Autumn heard from him this whole time. A sob wracked her body and tears spilled down her face as she stared down at the top of his head. The hands that lay between his knees were thin and bonelike, with long claws that appeared ink-stained.

"I c-can't," she whispered to Mr Feldman.

The butler paused in the hallway. "You need to," he told her and ran down the stairs.

One bony hand reached up, trembling, and touched Autumn's elbow. "Sssstaaaay."

The showerhead dropped from Autumn's hand as Corbin tilted his head up. His handsome face was horribly transformed: hollow cheeks, sallow skin, and an elongated jaw that hung partially open. Fangs had replaced his canines and the rest of his teeth were jagged like broken glass. He looked like a Halloween mask come to life.

Except for his eyes. Those ocean-colored eyes pleaded with her in the mess of his ruined face.

Autumn pressed up against the other side of the stall as the showerhead continued to spray water at their feet.

"Sssstaaaay, pleaaaassse."

Corbin's head dropped and his whole upper body began to tip forward. Autumn gasped and shuffled towards him despite the heaviness in her legs. She thrust both hands up against his ragged chest and pushed Corbin back up against the wall.

"Corbin," she sobbed, running trembling fingers along his disjointed jawline. Why did I leave him there? Why didn't I stay?

"Sssstaaaay," he murmured, tilting his head into her touch.

Swallowing hard, Autumn reached down for the showerhead. She started at the top of his head, watching as the black goo sloughed down his body and swirled into the drain. As the substance washed off, Corbin began to twitch. Autumn tilted the showerhead and aimed it for the large chunk of muscle missing from his shoulder.

There was something wrong here, she noted as she aimed the spray directly into the wound. Why did it look like a broken piece of quartz? Where was the actual muscle? The blood? Why wasn't he even bleeding?

Corbin groaned and his hands twitched. Autumn glanced down to see that his fingers were changing, shifting back into their normal shape right before her eyes.

He's not human, she realized with a start. What the hell is he?

As she tried to process what exactly Corbin was, Autumn noticed that most of the black goo was gone. Leaving the showerhead on the stall floor, she squatted down and looked Corbin in the eye. His face was changing, too—jaw realigning, fangs retracting. "I'm going to get some shampoo, okay?" she whispered, touching his cheek.

She stepped out of the stall and grabbed the nearest bottle of shampoo off the floor. Squirting a dollop in her hand, Autumn got back in and set about washing Corbin's hair. He sighed and tipped forward, pressing his forehead against her stomach.

Gently, Autumn massaged his scalp, then grabbed the showerhead to rinse it off.

"Autumn."

She twisted around to see Mr Feldman standing there with a large travel mug in one hand and a fresh change of clothes on.