A perk of being the food was that Ben never had to see the blood.
Seeing this woman, laid up in the hospital bed with her dull eyes staring right through him made Ben's soul leave his body. Her blood formed a puddle at Evie's feet, streaming from the bite wound in the middle of her arm. Ben recognized that puncture too well.
Feeling faint again, his knees buckled as Nino let go of his hand. Ben grabbed the side of the door.
"Is..." Ben swallowed, his throat dryer than stale crackers. His voice drowned out underneath the alarms and the pounding in his ears. "Is she really dead?"
"What do you think?" Nino bellowed, storming towards his niece. When she saw him coming, Evie popped off the human and took a step back, as if she had never been there at all. "You're in so much trouble."
In a flash, he was already at Ben and throwing him over his shoulder like Ben was made of feathers. Nino had faster acceleration than the first fall of a roller coaster. The only thing Ben could do was close his eyes and hold on as Nino sped through the hospital. Nino threw Ben back on his feet before he knew it. He stumbled back, catching himself again, but his stomach was still spinning.
He was dizzy and confused, looking at the change of venue and slowly putting it together that they were on the roof. They were surrounded by bright fluorescent lights, highlighting the helicopter pad on top of the hospital with the city surrounding them. Ben could hear sirens, cars, pounding bass, and the sound of his sanity in the distance.
Nino leaned down, scowling at Evie, and wagging his finger at her sullen, blood-covered face. "You know better than to do that. What would've happened if I didn't find you first?"
"I'm gonna be sick," Ben mumbled, stumbling to the corner and he gagged until he vomited everything in his stomach. He'd close his eyes, barring the nausea and just see the dead woman and he'd throw up again.
"Who knows how many people saw you—?" Nino huffed and Ben wiped his mouth, looking over to see him walking away. "You know what. We'll talk when I get back. I need to clean up this mess. Erase memories, destroy footage, and probably incinerate the body."
Ben's stomach turned. "Ugh."
"Nobody move," Nino instructed, and he was gone.
The smell of his own vomit wasn't helping Ben's nausea. Groaning, he forced himself to stand. He muttered, walking away to really nowhere. "This summer might break me. Literally."
A little puff of a sigh came from Evie, and Ben froze. He faced her back, and the sudden tension pinched his chest and twisted. They were alone. Last time Evie was alone, she killed a woman. Last time they interacted, she almost bit his fingers off. Her stillness filled Ben with dread, as heavy as cement. She could move and he'd never see her coming. This little girl half his size could kill him. No problem.
She obviously didn't mind doing it earlier.
Evie's shoulders trembled, her head hanging heavier. She sniffled. Ben's back straightened, wondering if he heard her correctly... Ben realized she was crying. Crying so quietly and stiffly as if she was doing everything to hold it back, so maybe Ben wouldn't hear her. Ben walked carefully around her. "Evie? What's wrong?"
He finally saw her face with her neck sunken between her shoulders and still covered in blood. She stained the collar of her shirt and the cuffs of her sleeves. Tears, blackened tears, spilled down her cheeks. It was the most emotion she'd shown, and this shattered Ben's idea that she was a little porcelain doll.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Hey, hey, it's okay..." Ben got down on his knees, so he'd be on her level. "Don't cry."
"I was hungry."
"I understand," Ben whispered, and despite his trembling hand, he used his sleeves to wipe her face. "Or maybe I don't. I'm not a vampire. I don't know what your hunger feels like."
"It's—it's—" Evie's voice cracked, and her face twisted, more tears squeezing out of her eyes. Ben was weak to tears, especially kid tears. "It's like my throat's on fire."
Ben nodded. "That doesn't sound fun... can I ask? I mean I don't know if this is a rude question, but why didn't you tell me or your uncle that you were hungry?"
Sniffling again, Evie calmed down a little, letting Ben try to fix her hair and clean her face. She held onto him as Ben accidentally jostled her. "Uncle Nino is already so mad at me. I didn't... I um, didn't want to bother him more and..." She eyed Ben's stitches and grimaced. "I've already caused trouble. Does... does it hurt?"
Ben smiled a little. "It did, but not anymore. Thank you for asking."
"I'm sorry."
"You're just a sorry kid, aren't you?" Ben chuckled, trying to lighten the air. She still refused to meet his eyes, picking at her cuticles down and staring at the ground. Ben sighed. Any other kid would cry right now just because their mom wasn't around. Nino was all she had, and she didn't feel like she could go to him.
That meant Ben was all that was left for her.
He agreed to receive a house, to keep Nino for himself all summer, but more importantly, Ben realized he agreed to be this little girl's person for the season. "Hey," Ben said, and offered his hands. Now she looked at him. "I forgive you..."
Hesitantly, Evie gave him her hands, and he rubbed the tops of her cold, hard knuckles with a smile. "We're new to each other, so we have to get used to each other. I don't really want to start over, but I'd like to be friends. Can't hurt to make a new friend, right?"
She blinked. So still. So quiet.
"You see..." The door to the roof opened and Nino stopped, confused by the scene and Ben shook his head, so Nino wouldn't intervene. He put his focus back on Evie with the softest smile, the kindest voice he could muster. "When I was a little kid, I didn't really have any friends. I moved a lot, and no one wanted to waste time on the kid that was going to leave anyway, and I was too shy to start anything myself, which I regret because friends take care of each other and I needed somebody to take care of me."
Evie sucked in her lips, still a little nervous.
Ben explained, "So that means if you're my friend, I'll take care of you, which means you can tell me anything and everything."
"And I'll take care of you?" She asked.
"Exactly."
"Okay. Let's be friends."
Evie smiled a little, and Ben felt a strange urge to cry. A knock on the door made Ben jump. Nino motioned for them to move. "Come on. Let's get out of here." He walked up to Evie, and she looked back at her shoes until Nino opened his arms. A sparkle of excitement twinkled in the corner of her eyes. He picked her up, and she wrapped her arms tight around his neck. They headed for the door and Ben was still on the ground, watching them leave.
Friends were nice, but family was family.
***
The moment they walked through the front door, Nino pointed at Evie and motioned her upstairs. "You. Go take a shower. Put your clothes in a trash bag and leave it by the door. I'll handle the rest, okay?"
Evie nodded. She shifted, tugging at Ben's pants. He bent down so she could cup her hand over his ear and whisper, "Is it okay if I use your stuff? Like your shampoo."
"Of course. My stuff is your stuff."
"Not all his stuff," Nino clarified.
Ben smiled. "Yes, all my stuff."
Nino sighed, but Evie nodded and ran up the stairs. Ben stood, feeling a bit better. Today had been such a mess, he assumed no one would mind if he slept the rest of it off. From behind, Nino let out a long guttural groan as he melted against Ben, wrapping him up in his arms and nuzzling against Ben's neck. He squeezed a laugh right out of Ben.
"Are you tired?" Ben used a baby voice to tease him. "Did you have a hard day?"
Nino nodded his head against his skin, and Ben grinned, suppressing his ticklish nature. He pressed his cheek to Ben's neck, before running his nose against him like he was soaking in Ben's smell. "I had to use so much magic to clean up Evie's mess."
"Oh..." Ben realized it. "You're hungry."
"Just for a snack," Nino said and picked Ben up, which made him yell with laughter. Nino dragged Ben to the stairs, squirming in Nino's arms. Nino nipped at his neck, pulling more laughter from Ben as he recoiled away from getting tickled.
"Stop! Stop!" Ben begged, smacking Nino's vice grip around his body. "Please, I'm ticklish."
He could feel Nino's lips pull into a smile as his breath tickled the baby hairs across his skin. Nino's hands acted swiftly grabbing Ben's sides and Ben screamed with laughter as the vampire nibbled and gnawed on him Nino's fingers found his armpit and Ben's fight or flight kicked in and he thrashed a little more, laughing and screaming until he was red in the face. Meanwhile, Nino was smiling so wide he might've been broken too.
Nino was right. Ben didn't know who he was when he left the city. Nino outside of the weekend was a mystery, but Ben realized he didn't really care. He liked this version of Nino. If anything, this Nino was reserved for him, and Ben didn't want to share.
The phone in Ben's pocket buzzed, and he wriggled free from Nino before they made it to his bedroom. Breathless, Ben answered, assuming it was Lincoln who wanted to know about whether or not Nino was here. To say Lincoln hated Nino was like saying water was wet. The moment they met Lincoln treated Nino like he was nothing but a mosquito buzzing around... which was oddly a good guess.
"Hey," Ben laughed a little as he swatted Nino's hands as he tugged at his clothes to bring him back. It must've been novel to hold his strength back just so Nino could tease Ben. "Can we talk later? I'm in the middle of—"
"Oh, sorry..." it wasn't Lincoln at all. Tim said, "Just wanted to call and see what you were doing tonight."
Ben tensed up, glancing back at Nino, and smiled strangely. He backtracked downstairs away from Nino's hyper vampire hearing. "Hey, Tim! Sorry, I thought you were Lincoln."
Tim chuckled. "Do you talk to Lincoln and me differently?"
"I guess so," Ben admitted. He could feel Nino follow him all the way to the kitchen. "Hold on," he said before he covered the receiver and whispered to Nino, "Hey. If you want to eat, I need to eat first or I will pass out, so..." he motioned to the fridge. "Find some food for me."
"Oh, right," Nino wilted a little and rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced around, something dawning on him. He said, "Sorry. It's been a while since I've lived with a human."
Ben froze before he could bring the phone back to his ear. Jaw dropping, Ben's usual even temper was pinched and twisted. He asked, "So, you have lived with a human before?"
Nino shrugged a little, and Ben's hands twitched to strangle him to death. This was what Ben had learned about Nino today: he was secretive, bossy, and also unbearably aggravating. Nino wasn't the only one that got to be mysterious and cool.
Tightening his grip on the phone, Ben raised his voice, "Sorry about that, Tim. I'm happy to talk to you. Thank you for taking me out yesterday."
Ben's eyes darted at Nino, but Nino had moved on to the pantry as Tim said, "The pleasure was all mine. Uh, I'm actually hoping you'd let me take you out again tonight."
"Wow. Two dates in one week," Ben joked. "You don't think you're gonna get sick of me?"
"I'm actually hoping that three times the charm and you won't try to get rid of me."
Ben genuinely smiled this time. He perked up, surprised by such a smooth line. "Tonight, you said? Um, I think I can fit you in—"
Suddenly, Nino snatched Ben's phone and held it to his own ear. Ben's eyes widened, and he lunged for his phone, but Nino was already halfway across the room. "Hello, this is Nino Ventura. Who might I be speaking with?"