It seemed as if she dodged the chives, which was good considering that I wasn’t actually attacking her. But at least she will now know not to sneak up on me.
“Sorry,” was all I said as I yanked my dagger from her shoulder. She winced a bit but nodded anyway.
“That’s okay. Drew wasn’t lying when he said that you were a fucking badass. Sorry for sneaking upon you like that, but it’s how I get around. I’m a creature of habit.”
“Aren’t we all?” I mumbled as I wiped her blood from my dagger. A few inches lower and she would’ve been dead. I wonder if Drew would’ve believed me if I told him it was an accident? “Where is he anyway?”
“He stopped in Derile to check on the others who are guarding the vampires in that warehouse. Do you know that they feed them on animal blood?” she whispered the last part with disbelief on her face as if it was an abomination.
“How awful,” I retorted sarcastically.
“Anyways, I came back because I wanted to talk to you.”
She had my attention now. “Sure. About what?”
About how she purposely ruined Drew’s and I moments earlier? I was still pissed. I didn’t even feel bad that she was bleeding now because of me.
“I know you don’t appreciate that I showed up like this today.” No shit. “But you are really important to Drew, and so you are important to me too. I want us to get along. I usually show up unannounced at his home, whether he’s here or in Ireland.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Her cheeks suddenly began to redden underneath the dim street light. Weird.
“And I’m sorry for interrupting earlier. I swear I didn’t know.” She giggled and dropped her gaze from mine, looking embarrassed.
She was either the best liar in the world or telling the truth.
I didn’t know which one to accept just yet.
“But I know we can be really great friends if you give me the chance to start over on the right foot. I can't have you hating me forever right?” she asked with a slight tease, but mostly serious.
“I don’t hate you,” I told her honestly. Hate is a strong word. I might’ve greatly disliked her but not hate.
“Right. But I have eyes. I know you aren’t fond of my presence.”
“Well yes.” I was also very straight forward and bare-faced. It took a while to warm up to others, so she simply had to join the line. “Did Drew put you up to this?” I finally asked when the thought crossed my mind.
“No,” she replied. “In fact, he doesn’t even know I’m talking to you. I know it would mean a lot to him if we get along though. That’s if you’re willing to.”
The tiny fact that she was doing this of her own will and not because Drew asked her to kinda scored a few points for her. The others tend to like her, which only meant she wasn’t a bad person. She seemed sweet but badass at the same time.
Maybe we could get along. Maybe.
“I’m willing to. I don’t try to be a bitch you know?” I said and she laughed. However, I kept my face straight.
“Wait, you're serious?”
“As a judge.” I shrugged.
“Oh. Well just so you know, I dig your personality,” she whispered playfully as if she was telling a secret, and it actually evoked a chuckle from my chest. “See. I know you had a little human in you.”
I scoffed as I rolled my eyes. “Says the vampire.”
“You’ve got a point,” she added with another laugh. She had such a nice laugh.
“So, how did you and Drew meet?” I asked. I was genuinely curious and I was too upset to ask Drew earlier.
She sighed with a small smile on her face as she sat on my motorcycle beside me. I had to fight the urge to push her off, but I wanted to hear the story and so I contained myself.
I am far too mean.
“I met Drew on one of my trips to Ireland.”
“Drew mentioned that you travel a lot.” He told me earlier when I went all ‘jealous mate’ on him.
She nodded. “I do. I don’t like to stay at one place too long. I move from a new home like every year or six months.”
“Don’t you get tired?” I asked in shock. I could never do that.
She shook her head with a light chuckle. “I love it. The world is so big and so beautiful. There are so many places that I’ve yet to explore.”
“Okay Dora the explorer,” I teased and she playfully nudged me with a laugh of her own.
“Anyway. I was in Ireland. It was my first time there and I was looking for a place to stay. Turns out, Ireland is fucking hard to settle in,” she complained and I resisted the urge to laugh. “And so I went to a motel to crash for the night.”
“Drew was at a motel?” Maybe I don’t know him that much, because Drew doesn’t seem like a motel person.
“I know, odd right? He was sitting in the parking lot with his head against a car. I knew he was a vampire, so I was actually going to kill him.”
“Vampires don’t like other vampires so much huh?” I scoffed. One would’ve thought they would look out for each other.
“Not in general. But I liked to keep myself scarce. At that time, I was being hunted by my awful ex-boyfriend, and he used any vampire to get to me.”
“Gosh that’s awful.” I actually felt bad for her. “Is he dead?” I might’ve been meddling, but she nodded anyway.
“Yea. Drew and I ended him a couple decades ago,” she said and I nodded. Drew and her really do go way back.
“He was the reason why I learnt how to be so quiet and sneaky, and that was exactly what I was doing when I was moving to kill Drew. But then something stopped me. He looked so…sad.”
Her face was so broken and her eyes were distant, as if she was remembering the moment like it was yesterday.
“I had never seen a creature with eternal life looking so miserable before.” Her voice was almost a whisper and she sounded pained. It actually made my heart break too.
What had Drew been through?
“When I nudged him, he was barely awake. I took him to my room and watched him all night, just wondering what could’ve happened to him. I could tell that he was a new vampire too, and I was right. When I met him, he had only been changed for six months.”
“Wow, you’ve known him for a hundred and fifty-two years,” I mumbled. How do I compete with that?
She nodded. “I helped him get back on his feet. I helped him heal from whatever dark past he had, I taught him all I knew and more. He’s even become a better vampire than I ever was. He’s pure hearted and kind. I’m not.” She hung her head when she said that, but I didn’t meddle.
“When he learnt that I wasn’t staying, he was crushed. But he got over it. He was already back on his feet by then.”
“You saved him,” I mumbled in an almost inaudible voice. “You-you saved his life.”
“He’s a vampire. He couldn’t die.”
“I know, but you saved him.”
No wonder he adores her so much. She made him the vampire he is today. And here I was hating on her for the bond that they shared, when I didn’t even know the half of it.
For the first time in a long while, I felt bad.
“We saved each other,” she said after a while. “When I returned to Ireland, running from my ex boyfriend, Drew was the one who decided that I had been running for far too long. Turns out, all I needed was a solid plan and a little help.”
“Good for you.” I was genuinely happy that all worked out well for her.
“Yep. I wasn’t planning on staying here in Consok. No offence, but it wasn’t always my most favourite place,” she said and I simply waved it off. “I wanted to see Drew and meet you. But now that I know what’s going on, I’ve decided to stay and help.”
“Thank you. We need all the help we can get.”
She nodded with a smile and we fell in silence again as I processed all that she told me. Drew is a hundred and fifty-two years old, but before those years of being a vampire, he was human. Something happened when he was human, or maybe it was when he was just turned into a vampire. Either way, maybe I wouldn’t have had him today if it wasn’t for Veronica.
Well, when they said don’t judge a book by its cover, they weren’t lying.
“Now.” I heard her speak again, this time sounding excited and her eyes were sparkling. “How on earth is Drew so fucking lucky, to score a mate who is a princess!” She laughed and I found myself laughing too.
Eh. Maybe friends aren't so far-fetched after all.