Glitter & Gore [a vampire romance]

4: Blood is Thicker Than Gold

Wind whipped around me in an endless blizzard, numbing me to the bone. By the time I was dumped in a puddle of gray mud, I could hardly feel my body, not even the throbbing wound on my palm. As my eyes adjusted to the dimmer atmosphere, I raised my hand to inspect it and found the cut completely gone, no scar remaining.

"Magic," I whispered, feeling content for the first time in a while. Falling through an enchanted wormhole into a mythical realm was probably the highlight of my life, and things would only tumble downhill from here. So I let myself admire the sky, dark clouds blanketing its expanse like everyone had decided to become chain smokers.

The peaceful moment shattered when Amy appeared in the air a few feet from the ground and fell face-first into the mud beside me.

Her collision didn't sound painful, but it coated her front in a layer of sludge. A jarringly bright smile appeared on her face when she lifted it.

"Say it. Say you'd rather be locked in your parents' basement than here."

"I can't make an informed assessment yet. All we've done is lie in the mud."

I craned my neck to survey our surroundings. To the left, a dead forest reached toward us, boney branches like the fingers of a thousand skeletons. To the right, the earth dropped off into nothing, only the sky beyond visible to me from this angle. Several meters from our feet, a stone altar jutted from the ground, etched with the earth elemental symbol.

"Are you okay?" Amy poked my shoulder, leaving behind a dot of mud that she tried to swipe off and only smeared farther. "Sorry, ignore that. I need to know—the hot one didn't hurt you in the bathroom, did he? I tried to barge in there, but Hay Head stopped me."

I smirked conspiratorially. "Nice, that's what I've been calling him too. Also, the other one is not hot. He's a brainless fuckboy."

Amy sighed dreamily and kicked her feet up and down, spraying mud everywhere. "You know that's my guilty pleasure, my Achilles heel, my—wait, you're evading my question. I will kick his ass if he hurt you."

"He didn't. The basement was the worst part. I'm not meant for physical combat." I rubbed my sore muscles, and when my fingers brushed my bra strap, I remembered what he'd damaged most: my pride. "Can you kick his ass for how he undressed me?"

"I could...or I could ask him to demonstrate how insanely fast he can unhook a bra. It's an art form."

"Sure, whatever, just get yourself checked for vampire sex infections afterward," I said even though I had zero intention of letting that asswipe anywhere near my best friend. "Are you good? Hay Head didn't hurt you?"

She shrugged too nonchalantly. "He's a brute, probably can't help it."

"That's no excuse. I'll help him to an early grave as soon as I devise a new escape plan."

Groaning, she buried her face in her mud-drenched arms. "You're relentless."

"Thanks," I said sincerely, though any positive emotion died the moment our least favorite vampires descended from the sky. They punched the earth near our heads like a pair of egotistical space gods, rising above us as though they'd just accomplished some heroic feat.

Amy gaped, ready to start worshiping. "That's so not fair."

Disregarding her, Hay Head brushed some blond strands from his forehead and threw a taunting look at his friend. "Told you they'd end up in the mud, like all the humans do."

Mr. Mosquito shook his head, hands on his hips. "You were supposed to land gracefully. You failed me," he admonished me with exaggerated disappointment. The bloody wound on his face had vanished, allowing a full view of his condescending expression. When he extended his hand to me, I chucked mud at it and pushed upright on my own.