So I'm a Vampire... Now What? - Book 2 (Original Version)

Chapter 10.2 It's a Wonderful Life

"You said no?"

"I said no."

"I'm sorry, but are you fucking nuts?"

"But I didn't just say no," I responded as if it was obvious. Frankie didn't look too impressed with me and Natalie was trying to calm Benjamin who looked as if he was about to cry.

"Can you please just cut the drama and get to the point?" Frankie sounded exhausted.

"Hey! I'm telling a story here. I have to make the key points as dramatic as possible for you guys, otherwise, I'm just stating facts."

"He told her that she had to train all of us and then she told him to fuck off," Stanley said quietly. He didn't look impressed, just haggard as if he hadn't been sleeping. "Isn't that about right Bob?"

I refused to let him steal my thunder.

"Well, yes, she did tell me to fuck off--"

"I'd tell you to fuck off too if you came at me with that," Stanley muttered.

"--BUT! And this is a big 'but' here, she did say she'll think about it, which is about the same as a yes."

Dead silence.

Benjamin was the first to speak and there was an exhausted outrage in his voice.

"If we weren't on Skype right now, I'd almost punch you. I wouldn't actually do it, but I'd want to really badly."

It was about 10 AM and I had been unable to sleep after the events of the previous night. I was exhausted from the sheer relentless onslaught and marvelled that it had all happened in the course of one day. That kind of shit can leave you wanting to sleep in and hide from the world for while in case it was somehow planning on repeating itself. You know that old Chinese curse/blessing "May you live in interesting times"? That's exactly how I felt. I just wanted it to stop so I could sleep.

Jaime's dad's death and Louise's return had been one hell of a way to cap off the night and had left me more anxious than anything. I had considered going back to Jaime's place after I left Louise, but exhaustion and the need to be selfish and not deal with anybody else's problems for a while had been overwhelming.

Besides, the offer of having someone to actually finally teach me all of the stuff I didn't know about being a vampire was too exciting, even if I had tried to negotiate to get my friends included.

I had crawled out of bed and realized that Skype was an actual thing and people didn't leave their houses to have face to face meetings anymore. I had been planning to get the guys together at the church and tell them the news, but I had really been too excited to wait.

"Look guys, we're in this together. There's no way I'm leaving you guys behind."

"How sentimental," Natalie said, "totally not like you at all."

"Just meet me at the church tonight, okay?"

They all grumbled assent and I turned off the phone. Then I went to deal with the mess that was my apartment and my life.

***

Claude showed up around 2 PM and in typical Claude fashions, he showed up bearing offerings of food. This time it consisted of a mango drink that wasn't a smoothie but had a substantial number of mango chunks that you got a mouthful of whenever you sucked on the enormous straw. It was from one of those bubble tea places around the city, but it was the one he really liked and had been excited to share with me.

"You can't stay here," Claude said as he surveyed my wrecked apartment. He sucked on his not-smoothie as he looked around. I eyed the brown paper bag in his hand.