Vampires, Eh?

Chapter 5

"This is Calvin and Huxley," Drew introduced the other two vampires to Anna. "They've been with us for years."

"Decades," Calvin said as he flipped in the blade. "It's been well over a century since I met you."

"You two killed Jess," Anna said.

"Sorry, but we need to feed," Calvin said. "You will experience that soon."

Anna swallowed hard against the lump that was forming in her throat. Jess so carelessly made out with Calvin, not knowing that it would result in her gruesome death. Anna should have pulled Jess off of Calvin. Jess would be furious, but at least she'd still be alive.

"I'm not staying here," Anna said. "I have a midterm in a couple of weeks. If I miss it there's no way I will pass my class."

"You're dropping out of school," Rhys said.

"What?" Anna asked. Her eyes widened. "No, no, no. I am not dropping out of school. This is my last year before I get my masters. I've worked too hard to lose it now."

"You're not going to need it anymore," Rhys said.

"I have a scholarship," Anna said. "I have been doing nothing but studying for the past five years. I'm not throwing that away."

"We can't stay here," Drew told her. "We can't stay anywhere for too long. It becomes too suspicious."

"Then I'm not staying with you," she said. "I am staying in school."

"Didn't you hear me earlier?" Rhys said. "You are going to die if you don't stick with us. Vampire hunters are going to tear you apart. Do you know what happens to a vampire when they die, Anna? They don't go to heaven. Their souls are cast to the depths of hell. You may think this is bad, but there's a fate much worse waiting for you if you think you can go alone."

Anna opened her mouth to argue back, but she was unsure of what to say. Her grandmother had taught her about vampires all throughout her childhood, but she never mentioned what happened when vampires died. Anna never thought she would have cared, vampires were soulless bloodsuckers, but she also never thought that she would be in this situation.

"We're going to show you how to survive," Drew said.

"I'm going to teach her," Rhys said. "I already told you I'm taking responsibility for this."

"Wait a minute." Anna held up her hand. "You're taking responsibility for me?"

"Exactly," Rhys said.

"It's nothing bad," Huxley said. "It just stops you from going off on a murderous rampage. That's a sure-fire way to get a Nightingale hot on your heels."

"What?" Anna asked.

"There are groups of people who make it their mission to eliminate vampires. The Nightingales are a family of vampire hunters," Drew said. "We're always moving because they become suspicious of us."

Anna nodded as she tried to process all of this info. She thought she knew so much about vampires. She knew how to kill them, but never anticipated that she would be one. Was she now going to have to go against everything she knew? One thing was for certain, she did not want her soul to be sent to hell.

"We're going to go to your house," Rhys said. "You need to get some of your stuff."

Anna bit down on her lip, but for only a few seconds because of the pain that spread across her gums. She looked around at the others to see them all staring intently at her. She did want her clothes, books, and photographs. She needed her pictures of Jess so that she could hold onto Jess's memory.

"Fine," Anna said.

"Let's go," Rhys said.

He waved his hand to motion for her to stand. Anna got up onto her feet and Drew followed.

"I'm coming with you," Drew said.

"No," Rhys said. He turned and snapped his fingers. "Hux, you're coming along."

Huxley jumped up from the couch. He held two fingers to his forehead and saluted Rhys.

"Aye, aye, sir," Huxley said.

"You need to stop doing that," Rhys said.

Huxley nodded his head. Rhys walked out of the room, and Anna felt compelled to follow him. He went to the front door and handed Anna's purse to her. He picked up Anna's high heels from last night and handed them to her. She rolled her eyes and snatched the shoes away from Rhys. It was ridiculous to wear those heels when she had a dress to go clubbing on. It was even sillier to wear them with Rhys's basketball shorts and T-shirt.

"Shouldn't you put your shoes on?" Huxley asked Anna.

"I'll go without," she said. "Jess forced me into these things. I'll probably break an ankle if I wear them."

Huxley shrugged his shoulders before opening the door. Rhys stepped outside. Anna hesitated as she got closer to the door. Rhys turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"Isn't the sun going to hurt me?" Anna asked.

"Pure myth," he said. "We like vampire hunters to think that."

Anna struggled to not let her jaw drop. She was always told that vampires can only come out at night and they will burst into flames if they are in the sun. She was never on alert for vampires during the day. How many had she passed in broad daylight without realizing?

Anna tightened her grip on her shoes as she stepped outside. Rhys climbed into the driver's side of his car and Huxley got into the back. The rocks of the gravel driveway cut into the soles of Anna's feet. She hurried over to the passenger's side of the car and got in.

"That probably would have been less painful with your shoes on," Huxley said.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Just take me home."