Blood and Apples: An Annora Park Novel: Book One

Chapter Two: Follow the Blood

    The inside of Walkers "humble abode" isn't much better than the outside. All dark wood, some of it painted black—I mean, who the fuck paints their entire house black, right down to the furniture? If I didn't know better I'd say he was either Pagan or a freaking serial killer—as it is—the man is in need of serious psychiatric help.
"Walker, you realize you may as well be living in the graveyard next to you, the way your house is set up." Hell, I'm afraid to sit down, the furniture might bite me, that or swallow me down to Hell.
"What? You have something against the color black, Annora dear, you, of all people?"
"Again, stop with the dear, shit, and no, I don't have anything against the color black, per se. Hell, I'm wearing black, aren't I?" I look around, and clear my throat. "But uh...this...don't you think this is a little much?"
    Walker looks completely befuddled by my statement. "Darling, you, better than anyone, should know that black is perfect, and the only way to go. It doesn't show blood when spilled."
    Okaaaaaaay then. We'd officially crossed over from crazy to downright fucking twilight zone weird. "Walker, if you're trying to make me feel welcome, then, you're failing miserably." If possible, Walker appears saddened by my words to him. Go figure.
"Oh dear...too much?" Walker says quietly.
Too much? Try a tsunami of cray cray, but then who's counting. "Well, since we've established that your home looks like the Adams Family Residence, and gotten all of the niceties out of the way...can we get down to business?" I ask.
"What, no tea, coffee...cake?"
Huh? Is he asking me, or offering? My confusion must show on my face because he busts out laughing again. God. This had been a mistake. Coming here had definitely been a colossal mistake. Well, Annora, you sure as hell have learned your lesson.
"I'm asking you, would you like some tea, coffee perhaps? I think I may even have some cake." Walker finally says.
Hmmmmm....cake. God I fucking love cake. No. No. Bad Annora. No cake from the fruitcake in front of you. Knowing walker it would grow fangs and claws and eat me for having the audacity to try and consume it.  "Uhm, I'm good, thank you."
   "Oh, but it's delicious cake, darling.  I baked it myself."
   "You bake?" And I instantly think of what he might have put in the batter...can we say...blood? Eeeeewwwww.
   Walker laughs.  And damn if he doesn't have a good laugh, well, it's a sure sight better than the maniacal guffaws from earlier.  "No darling, mother made it."
   At that, I smile, a genuine smile.  "How is Mrs. Romanoff doing?"
   "Leanore.  You know she'd kill you if she heard you refer to her a Mrs. Romanoff.  You're practically family, darling."
   Now wasn't that a scary thought.
"Now, you're sure you won't have any cake, darling."
"Seriously, Walker," and I plant my hands on my hips, "...what the fuck? First with the 'dear' and now darling? What are you playing at? What's your game?"
"You wound me, darling. No game. I'd never play games with you," his eyes twinkle then with an all too familiar light, "...unless of course you'd want to..."
    OH. MY. HEAVENLY. GOD. Walker's flirting with me. In the only way that Walker knows how to flirt—crazy. How the hell do I always end up so fucked—and not in a good way either.
"Walker..."
"Oh fine, fine, be a party pooper."
Party pooper, did people even say that anymore? Well, obviously, since Walker just said it to me. "Walker, listen, I've had a really really long day. And I just want..."
"Quintinimime..." Walker finished for me.
What the actual fuck? He's a mind reader now? "How in the world did you—"
Walker sighs deeply then. "Darling, I haven't seen you in close to a year. And if I recall correctly, the last time we spoke you said that even the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse wouldn't be enough to drag you back to my house of horrors and my loving presence...or am remembering the situation incorrectly?" He finishes bitingly.
    Oyyyy. Yeah, I had said all those things...and more. Shit. Well hell, it's not like I'd expected needing to hit him up for my drugs when I'd gone off on him. And, well, we'd both just gotten out of a rather sticky and stressful situation, try altercation, and I'd been beyond pissed off—okay and maybe I'd blamed him a little...a lot, too for getting us stuck in it in the first place.
"Okay...so maybe I did say..."
"Maybe?" And he lifts one eyebrow.
Ass. He was going to make me admit it. And eat a great big helping of crow while doing so. "Okay, so I DID say those things. Listen...I was little irate at the time and."
"Darling, this isn't shaping up to be a great apology."
UGH! Fine. Fucking fine. "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm fucking sorry that I said those things to you. There, are you happy now?"
Walker's face is overtaken by a breathtakingly beautiful smile and he nods. "Incandescently so. Magnificently so. Overwhelmingly so."
"Okay, okay, I get it. You're happy I fucking apologized."
"Darling, you do realize you swear like a seaman."
"A seaman?"
"You know, those humans who work on fishing vessels."
I give him a curious, befuddled look, and I know, because I can feel the furrowing between my brows.
"Oh jeez, you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Nope," I pop the the P, and snort. "But then, I rarely understand half of what you say, Walker."
Walker grins. "Yes, but isn't that half the fun?"
I'd give another name to it, but whatever. If he wanted to think his crazy talk was fun, then well, it was his brain, and he had to live with it.
   "Soooo....about the..."
   "Pills." Walker smirks.  "Yes, yes, darling, I have some."
   I let out the breath I didn't even realize I'd been holding in.  Relief floods me in great waves.  God.  Oh God.  Thank God.  I wouldn't have to go to the Conglomerate.
   "But...I have conditions, darling."
   FUCK.  And here it comes.   "What's your price, Walker."
   "Oh, darling, don't look so glum.  You keep that up and your face is going to end up permanently set like that.  I promise, nothing that'll kill you."
   Ohhhh and that made me feel sooooo much better—not.  "Out with it, Walker."
   "First, I get to call you dear, darling, sweetie, sweetheart, sweetums...basically any pet name I devise for you whenever I want, and you can't say anything to the otherwise.  You most certainly can't call me an ass, or any other lovely pet derogatory name you have for me."
   Oh God, it was worse than I thought.  I'd rather eat broken glass than agree to this. I grit my teeth but give a curt, perfunctory nod. "Fine," I spit out through clenched teeth.  "That it?"
   "Oh no...you didn't think it would be that simple did you, darling girl?"
   Simple? Letting him call me sweetie, darling, dear, and sweetums (eeewwww) was simple?  Hell, hearing the endearments from his mouth made me want to stick a red hot poker through my ears.  Simple, yeah right.
"I want in."
What? "You want in?"
"Yes."
"In what?"
He breaks into a Cheshire smile and says, "Well...I want in, in so many ways. But at this moment the in I want is to the case you're currently working on."
Ignoring his crude innuendo, I begin to fiercely shake my head. Oh no, no, no! Hell no! Where did he come off telling me he wanted in on my case. He didn't work with the police, he had no clearance, he had almost zero experience, plus he was a crazy ass motherfucker and there was a good chance that he and Garrett would end up killing one another.
"That would be a hard NO, Walker."
"Then no pills, Annora." And his voice is just as hard as mine.
Shit. Shit on a fucking stick. "Walker, you don't have clearance to..." My mouth drops open when from his pocket he produces a small plastic case which houses an official looking document. What the actual fuck? Where had he gotten that? "What? Where, How?
"You're stammering dearheart."
"You're stalling, assho-Walker." I spit out.
"The Captain was all too happy to have two Treaders on the case, my dear girl."
"Walker, you can hardly be called a Treader." It's petty and a little mean of me to say, but true nonetheless.
Walker rolls his eyes and sighs. "Oh I know, I know...I'm a very, very, very small fish in the pond that you swim in, and you're the great White Whale. But I do have other talents, my sweet. Lots and lots..." he winks again, "...of other talents."
Hit me sideways with a fucking stick. He had the document. And I couldn't go against the Captain. Well, I could, but it wouldn't be pretty, and probably produce a headache that would require even more of the precious pills I was currently negotiating for. "You realize it's going to be hell, right?"
"Darling, it'll be a gas. We're going to have so much fun, just like old times."
Oh we had to be remembering the old times differently, because I certainly didn't consider the memory of having my shoulder nearly torn off fun. "God, you're going to fucking kill one another." I mutter, clearly not low enough though because Walker frowns then and makes a moue of distaste.
"Are you still seeing that wet blanket kid, darling."
"If you're talking about Garrett, my PARTNER, then yes, we're still seeing each other....I mean it's kind of hard not to see him when we fucking work together. And he's not a fucking kid, Walker."
"That...is not what I'm referring to, and you know it."
OH and now I'm mortified. How in the world did Walker know that Garrett and I had slept together? "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, Walker."
"Don't play dumb with me, darling. It doesn't suit you. Are you still fucking the kid?"
"You're disgusting."
"Are you kidding? I'm delightful, my dear. Just a tad blunt, an acquired taste."
"Yeah, well then I definitely haven't acquired it."
"Oh..." Walker smirks, "...but you have...you just don't know it yet, sweet."
Okay, okay, the police frowned on murder. But maybe just a little maiming? Could I maim the bastard?  "Not that it's any of your fucking business, but no, I'm not sleeping with him." Anymore...
   "Good, good, that's very good."
   And I was just a glutton for punishment, wasn't I, cause I just had to ask.  "Why the hell does it matter to you, anyway?"
   "Because I don't share, darling."
   What. The. Actual. Fuck?  "You don't share?" I repeat stupidly.
   "Well, that's not exactly true.  I'll share, but only when the person I'm sleeping with has another partner or partners that are an even match.  Otherwise, it's a waste of time, and just ends up being messy. That kid, I mean, really sweetheart? That kid is no match for you. I bet you ate him up and spit out his bones for breakfast. Oh, and wait, now he's a...what do humans call it...a 'stage nine clinger'? I'm right, right? Make my day darling and tell me that I'm right."
   Well he had the messy part right.  Garrett and I were definitely a shit storm trash dump of messy.  But that was neither here nor there.  It still wasn't this assholes business.  And no matter how hot he was, there was no way I was getting involved in his brand of crazy.
   "I can tell you're thinking about it."
   "No, I'm thinking about the fact that if I killed you right now, buried you next door, you'd just be another body in that plot of death you call your neighborly heaven...and that no one would miss you.  Then I could just take the pills and be on my merry little way." OH MY GOD! Verbal diarrhea.  Had I just told him I was thinking about killing him and burying him in the backyard?  I square my shoulders, preparing for the attack, and am shocked stupid when Walker breaks out into peels of laughter.
   "You see...darling, that's why we're perfect for each other.  We're both blunt to the point of total crazy, and we get one another. Match made in heaven, yes?"
   Try the bowels of Hell. "Now there's where you're wrong, Walker.  Frankly I don't get you at all.  I think you're madder than the Mad Hatter mixed in with a little Ted Bundy to boot."
   "Oh, and again, you wound me, darling.  I'm certainly no serial killer.  I mean, I only kill people deserving of being killed."
   "Oh, and that eases my mind so greatly." You see? Madder than a Hatter.
   "Dear, you can't tell me you haven't killed your fair share?"
   Well, he had me there.  The difference...every death weighed heavily upon my already tainted, stained soul.  I don't think Walker was losing any sleep over his kills...in fact, I got the distinct feeling that he enjoyed murdering people, things, creatures, anything that he felt needed killing, as he said.
"Walker, we are NOTHING alike. And we certainly don't have any kind of understanding. In fact, we're so far from understanding each other we may as well inhabit different planets. Actually...now that I think about it, you do live on a different planet, try universe, it's called the WalkerVerse, and trust me when I say that you're the only inhabitant currently living there." I watch as Walker's smile only grows wider and wider until it threatens to split his entire face. Jesus. What's the fucking deal? I insult the shit outta him and he gets off on it, at least he seems to get off on it.
"Three dates." He finally says, smile still firmly in place.
What now? "Huh?"
"I get to call you whatever I want. You let me work on this case with you...closely, you let me work closely with you. And....I want three dates, Annora."
Wow, calling me by my Christian name, now we were getting serious it seems. Hell. Dates? I didn't date. As if picking up on my thoughts Walker laughs and says. "I know, I know, you don't date sweetheart. But that's only because you haven't met anyone worth dating before. Trust me, I'm going to make it worth your while, darling." He smirks. "Come on, what are you afraid of, sweetheart...it's only three dates...of my choice, of course. I get to set everything up."
"This is blackmail you know," I spit out.
"Oh that is such a harsh word, sweetheart. And that's hardly what this is. This here is a mutually beneficial arrangement between two consenting adults."
Consenting my ass. I close my eyes and scrunch up my nose. I really, really, wish I could breathe fire right about now. I'd fry his ass. "Do I have a choice?"
"But of course, darling. You always have a choice."
"Not if I want those pills though, am I correct in assuming."
Walker laughs. "Correct. But think, darling, think about what you'll be getting. We seal the agreement right now, and I'll hand over my entire stash of Quintinimime."
"How much are we talking about?" Like hell was I agreeing to this shit for a measly few pills.
"I have over two hundred on me, right now, my dearheart."
Holy shit! What the actual fuck? How did he have so many pills? The Conglomerate hoarded those pills like they were gold. "Jesus Christ, Walker, how—"
He shoots me a sly smile and shrugs. "Well, one, I don't need them, remember you said it yourself, I'm barely a Treader. And, well, I have my sources."
Holy Hell. I wanted those sources. Hmmm...maybe if I agreed to this shit, these stupid dates I could get the name of his source. "Fine, fine, you have a deal." I hold out my hand, frowning when he shakes his head and snorts.
"Do you think me stupid, darling?"
"What are you talking about? No I don't think you're stupid. Crazy as fuck, but hardly stupid."
"Then why do you think a mere handshake will do?"
I frown. "Uhmmm...normally people shake on it, you know, like to seal the deal?"
"Oh, but we're hardly normal people, are we, darling?"
I roll my eyes. "What do you want now, you greedy bastard."
"Already breaking our deal, sweetie?" He says, but he's smiling as he speaks.
"You said I couldn't call you asshole or asshat in return to the oh-so-annoying endearments you keep spitting out at me. And if you meant I couldn't call you any derogatory name, anytime, well then you should have made that clearer, PLUS, we haven't sealed the deal yet, so all bets are off til then."
Walker laughs a great bellowing laugh and shocks me when he takes both of my hands in his. "Oh so right. You are absolutely correct, dear. Now, as to what I want...we are not shaking hands to seal our arrangement. We're going to blood bind."
FUCK! I'd feared that that was where he was going with this shit. "Walker I don't—"
"It's a blood bind, or nothing, Annora."
"Damn it, you really are a piece of work. Fine." I yank my hands out of his and glare at him. It pisses me off when he only seems even more amused by my irate actions. "I trust you have everything...considering this idiocy is your idea." I watch as Walker brings his hands to the hem of his shirt and begins to pull it up. "Whoa, whoa now, Nelly." I say, and he laughs. Two seconds later he's shirtless, and as much as I might hate the arrogant crazy ass, he has a damn fine chest. I barely manage to tear my eyes away from the sculpted perfection of his chest to see him pull an ornamental dagger from a holder hooked on his belt. "You have another thing coming if you think I'm taking off my shirt," I say dryly.
"Oh and here I thought I'd get a show," Walker grins, "...No...no worries dearheart, you can leave your shirt on...for now." And he winks.
I groan. I know where this is going. "You're having me take it from your heart, aren't you?" Well, at least the placement of his heart.
"Such a smart cookie." Walker nods. "Oh yes, dear, and I want your neck."
"Oh come on, seriously? What about my wrist."
"No, it's the neck or nothing. And then...well, the kiss."
Kiss? What fucking kiss? "Walker you're deranged if you think I'm going to kiss you."
"Blood bind, darling, remember."
"Yes, I know what a fucking blood binding is, you arrogant jerk. I also know that we take each other's blood and then share it. Hell we could spit it into a cup and drink it for all the difference it makes."
"Oh heavens," Walker shudders. "That's just disgusting, darling. You want us to spit into a cup and drink...that's just..." he shudders again.
"Oh, so cutting each other, and drinking each other's blood doesn't weird you out and isn't disgusting, but the thought of sipping from a cup gives you the willies?"
"Annora..." And now his voice hardens, and I stiffen. "I will cut myself over my heart, you will drink. I will cut the side of your neck, and then I will drink. We will hold a small amount of each other's blood in our mouth and then we will share it with each other with a kiss. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," I say dryly. When he holds up the dagger and places it to his chest I give him a look filled with every inch of loathing I feel for him at this moment. "I'm going to make your life a living hell."
The look on Walker's face is almost manic and he snorts. "Oh I expect nothing less, my darling girl...I expect nothing less."