Chapter Thirteen (Xed)
"You know, he's not half bad when he's asleep."
I gave Hunter a disinterested stare before glancing behind me to see that Newell had fallen asleep on the back seat of the vehicle. He had taken his jacket off to use it as a blanket, his backpack settled under his head as a pillow. I had no idea how he could sleep with Hunter's strange, twangy music playing.
I looked back ahead, frowning as Hunter pulled off the road and into a very large parking lot with a prominent sign that read the place we were in was called a rest area. It was a large domed building with many windows and dozens upon dozens of humans milling around. I could smell the hot greasy fastfood, car gas being pumped into the vehicles, and sweat. I could feel the discomfort and drowsiness in the air as Hunter parked a good ways away from the building, closer to a patch of woods that ran a good few miles behind us. I gave him a questioning look as he turned off the car, glancing at me before smirking.
"I'm human. I need to eat and Doritos ain't gonna quench the kinda hunger I'm feelin'." He replied, making me frown in confusion until I saw him stare out the window at a woman who was leaving her black motorcycle behind, her long black hair tied back into a ponytail. She paused momentarily to glance over her shoulder, catching sight of Hunter and I. Hunter gave her a mischevious smirk that made the woman smirk back. She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and sauntered toward the rest area, her well developed hips swaying.
"Yeah, I'm starvin'. Try not to eat anyone or I'll have to lock you in." Hunter said without looking at me, kicking his car door open and scrambling out. I frowned, watching him shut the door and take off after the woman. I turned back to look at Newell, who was curled up now, sleeping silently.
I was actually glad he was sleeping. I could tell that he was beginning to suspect something was wrong with his memories, and he was bound to ask me what happened. If he found out what I had done to wipe his memory, he would hate me and probably leave me.
I had nowhere else to go in the world and there was nowhere else I would rather be than beside Newell every step of his life.
I sat back in my seat, trying to ignore the clenching in my gut that indicated that I was hungry. And yes, I was starving, but not for the same meal Hunter had referred to. I was craving blood, bones, and cartilage. My stomach ached and growled deeply for food, but I couldn't attack anyone here. Someone was bound to notice and I usually only ate whenever Newell ate, but he had drank a couple of the blood bags Alaric had given him already. He should be satisfied until midnight and I wasn't sure I could last until midnight.
It didn't help that humans kept passing by in front of the car, all of them laughing and talking, completely unaware that I was watching them the same way a shark watched a seal before going in for the kill. Thinking about it only made my stomach ache further. Instincts told me to simply turn on Newell and devour him, but when I looked back at him, the hunger in my belly was squelched at the sight of him sleeping so peacefully.
My heart began to ache now as well as I forced myself to turn away and sit in my seat stiffly. I wanted more than just something to eat now and a voice inside my head told me to attempt Hunter's way of satisfying the sexual itch in my pants, but I couldn't speak like Hunter could and I had no doubt that human women were not very particular to a man who did not speak or offer any sort of foreplay.
They wanted commitment, a relationship after sex. I did not. I simply wanted to sate an animalistic need that quite honestly didn't want them. I wanted Newell, but that was and forever would be impossible. Newell was too small, too fragile. Even if he did somehow, by some miracle, accept me, we could never go as far as I wanted to go. Newell would break in my arms. I might even kill him and the thought made my throat clench. My hunger ceased.
It was mostly the fact that Newell did not accept me in that way. Newell had informed others, not myself as I was forced to listen in on his conversations to learn more about him, that due to his condition, he very rarely had sexual needs. And while I highly doubted it considering the way he would shift uncomfortably whenever he found something that aroused him, it was still his way of saying that he would never want to taint himself. And Newell had nothing he could truly call his own, except his purity.
And I would not take that away from him.
I wasn't worthy enough to ruin someone like him, not when I was trying so hard to get those wounds of his to heal... Even though it seemed that they would never close.
I sighed, tilting my head back against the leather seat, placing a hand over my face before running it through my hair. I was restless and being left alone with my thoughts was not something I enjoyed, considering my thoughts always wandered back to Newell.
I heard the sound of the leather seat scrunch and the back door click open, making me blink and turn to see Newell getting out of the car. I frowned, confused for a moment until I saw that his eyes were closed and he was still asleep.
I kicked the door open and got out, heading over to Newell's side and catching him by the shoulders, causing his eyes to fly open. He blinked repeatedly, looking baffled as he stared up at me before looking around quickly.
"Where are we?" He demanded, brushing my hands off his shoulders. I frowned, then looked around and pointed at one of the signs. Newell followed my indication and made an expression of annoyance.
"Of course," He muttered, then suddenly shivered, folding his arms tightly over his chest, "Where's my jacket?" I reached into the car, taking his jacket out and placing it on his shoulders before closing the door. He pulled his jacket on properly and looked around again, frowning. He reached up to rub at his eyes before blinking again.
"My head is aching," He said, "I need blood." I nodded and went to the trunk, taking out my bag with the cooler in it. Newell came over, allowing me to block him from view of any curious on-lookers. He took the bag from me and punctured it with his fangs, taking deep, satisfying gulps. Watching him made my stomach clench and growl ominously. Newell heard it instantly and took a step away from me, raking me with an angry sneer.
"Do not do that while I'm beside you. The last thing I need is for you to get hungry enough to eat me." He snapped. I averted my eyes and took a step back to put enough space between us, even though I wanted to inform him that I would not eat him, no matter how hungry I became. Newell studied me for a moment, then looked away as he finished the blood in the blood bag, tossing it into an empty bag of Fritos. He crumpled it up and went to a nearby trash can, tossing it out.
"We need to find you something to eat," He decided wearily, scanning the parking lot again, "But it's going to be difficult with this many people. I would lure someone out into this area of the parking lot, but if one should come, others will follow." I just stared at him as he thought of different ways before frowning.
"Surely you wouldn't mind eating human food for now?" He asked. I tried not to make a face at that.
Human food? The greasy health failure garbage they tossed into my people's homes because they were too idiotic to use a trash can or recycle bin? I hardly wanted to even think about the idea, but my stomach tightened and growled at me. I couldn't afford to be picky now. Sooner or later, instinct would take hold of me and I would end up losing control.
I could hurt Newell.
I nodded reluctantly and Newell sighed, nodding back at me before he gestured for me to follow and I obeyed. We made our way across the parking lot to the rest area building, ignoring the odd looks we received. It probably was quite a sight. A young boy dressed in expensive attire and a tall blue-haired man that appeared more predator than guardian. I even knew that I gave off an aura that turned many people away. Maybe not everyone, I noted as a couple of women who were near a vending machine upon entering passed me hungry stares.
But I held no interest in them and kept my eyes on Newell's back as he walked in front of me. The thick scent of food filled the air, ranging from the harsh greasy and cheesy scents from one to the rich spicy scent of another. They all hung heavy in the air around me, but none were as appetizing as the sound of hearts beating all around me, blood rushing through veins. It made my mouth water.
"We'll have to try Subway," Newell said as we stood at the center of the food court, hundreds of tables and booths full of weary travelers, "Would you eat tuna?" I frowned at that. Humans ate tuna?
I nodded either way and Newell led me to the line where he ordered for me and told me to wait for my sandwich while he went to the restroom. I stood there, looking around at all the humans that stood in line for their food. Some were impatiently tapping their feet or ranting to friends. Others were more silent and willing to wait. Children giggled and chased each other around in circles. Teenagers listened to music or were violently texting with their cellular devices. Old couples milled around as if trying to take everything in before it was too late.
I tried to find Hunter in the crowd, but I supposed he would want to take his woman in private. Where he could find privacy here was beyond me, and only hoped he hadn't gone to the men's restroom where Newell had gone. I had no doubt he would rant about it when he returned.
"Two tuna foot longs?" The person behind the counter called. I stepped forward, nodding my thanks and taking the food, paying for it before finding a small empty table closest to the entrance where the bathrooms were so Newell could find me easily, although, I'm sure that wasn't even a concern anyway. I sat down and hesitantly unwrapped the sandwich, wrinkling my nose at it.
Odd. They said tuna fish, but this didn't look like tuna. I could vaguely smell it over what I remembered something to be called "mayo". It was a strong, sour smell. A few leafy greens stuck out with some red tomatos, but the sight of those made me ill. I plucked them out and dropped them on the table before taking a bite of the sandwich, trying to swallow my nausea at the smell.
The taste of the tuna was overrun by the mayo and it burned my nostrils, but I forced myself to swallow to ease the aching in my belly. I had started on a second sandwich when I had noticed that Newell had yet to return from the restroom. I frowned, slowly lowering the sandwich down onto the table. I left it behind as I made my way to the restrooms, pausing to let a couple of men walk by, both of them chuckling about something called a pig skin. I let them pass before walking into the restroom, but it was empty save for one man, who stood at one of the sinks, barely sparing me a glance.
I went up to each stall, placing a hand to push, but they were all empty and no one stood at the urinals. I looked around, narrowing my eyes.
"Excuse me," The man at the sink said, drying his hands off with a towel and turning to face me with concerned hazel eyes, "Are you looking for the little dark-haired boy that came in here? About this tall?" He made a gesture near his waist. I nodded. The man glanced around, then looked at me.
"He left with a couple of tall men just a moment ago. I thought they were his parents, but, well... I just have this bad feeling." He told me. I winced, just quickly nodding to him in thanks before I left the restroom quickly, looking around frantically, but there was no sign of Newell anywhere and the man's description of a couple of "tall men" wasn't much to go on considering there were several men here who almost reached my height.
No, no, I thought, feeling the panic making my chest tighten. I was getting the same agonizing feeling that I had gotten when Newell was with the yakuza.
I had just gotten Newell back. I was not going to let him get away from me again.
I walked out of the building, rushing out onto the sidewalk and ignoring the strange looks I received. I looked around the parking lot, eyeing each car and each person until I caught sight of a couple of tall men parked out behind a large oak tree near the area where Hunter had parked us. I narrowed my eyes, picking up on Newell's scent the longer I watched the men argue with each other.
I stalked my way over, not even slightly afraid that they would get in the car and try to leave. I would rip the door right off its hinges if they so much as thought about it. One man noticed me first, his eyes widening as he smacked his friend in the chest and gestured to me. The second one whirled around, glaring daggers at me. Instead of backing down, he cocked his head up to look at me cockily, his hand resting over his jacket pocket in a warning that he had a gun, but a gun would not affect me.
At least, not unless it was Hunter's gun.
"Don't even think about it, merman," He threatened darkly, flashing a pair of dangerous looking fangs that were very much vampiric, "The humans will call the cops and they'll swarm the place." I ground my teeth together, wanting to tell him that I was hardly afraid of human authorities. They couldn't find me. I wasn't even in the country legally, nor did I get here legally.
Newell and I had jumped on a cargo ship from Europe to New York. A long, sickening journey.
"Michael, maybe this is a bad idea." The second vampire whispered, only to be whacked in the nose, making him yelp. Michael narrowed his dark eyes on me dangerously, casually flipping his hair out of his face and folding his arms over his chest.
"I'm not scared of you," He told me, even though he had to tilt his head to look me right in the eyes, "And I'm not handing over your pathetic little ingrate either. So if you don't want any trouble, then leave." His tone was pissing me off and I curled my lip to bare my teeth at him. I saw the flicker of fear go through his eyes, but to his credit, he didn't back down. His friend, however, took a couple steps back until he was against the trunk of the car, swallowing hard.
"Michael." His voice was strained.
"Shut up, Krik," Michael snarled suddenly, making his friend wince before he faced me again, "We're starving because of you, you pathetic waste of skin. I don't drink animal blood and I won't drink blood out of a plastic bag. I am what I am. And what I am is a predator. I need money if I'm going to cover my track and turning this little shit over will get me by." I growled low in my throat, warning him that I couldn't possibly give a care in the world about his situation.
If there weren't so many humans milling around, I would have torn into them right then and there, but I could faintly hear Newell's voice in the back of my head, warning me not to do anything stupid or make anything worse.
"I'll kill you if you don't shove off." Michael threatened past clenched teeth, his fangs bared and muscles tense, ready for a fight. I clenched my fists, taking a step closer to him when someone cleared their throat. Michael and I snapped our heads to turn and see Hunter leaning against the hood of Michael's car.
"Who the fuck are you?" Michael sneered. Hunter raised an eyebrow before giving him a fake hiss and clawing motions with his hands.
"Your worst nightmare, sweet lips." He responded. Michael snarled at him and started to lunge at him, but I caught him by the shoulder and slammed him hard into the side of his car. Michael instantly shrieked, making Hunter and I wince as people turned and made noises of horror. Already people were taking their cell phones out to call the cops or record what was happening.
"Snap his neck." Hunter ordered, rushing past me for Kirk, who squealed in terror and took off running across the parking lot. I stared after Hunter, stunned at his suggestion before turning back to Michael, who snapped his teeth in my face. I didn't have time to waste and snapped his neck, making him squeak like a kicked puppy before he hit the pavement. I looked into the car, but Newell wasn't there, so the only logical place was the trunk. I went around to the back of the car.
"You took your sweet time." I jumped at the sound of Newell's voice and whipped around to see him standing behind me, rubbing his wrists that were chaffed from what I guessed was rope. Relief swept through me and I almost went to grab him in my arms, but caught myself and instead forced myself to stare at him as he approached me, glancing down at Michael, who was unconscious. Newell's icy blue eyes lifted and met mine. He studied me, surprising me with his amused expression.
"I must say, you make worry look attractive, Xed. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you liked me." He mused, making me stiffen. He scowled at that.
"Don't take me seriously," He returned in irritation, then walked past me to the trunk of the car, "You looked disgusted for a moment. I appreciate it." I bit hard on my tongue, loathing myself for giving him that impression. No, I hadn't been disgusted, just horrified that Newell had somehow understood me.
But I was wrong. I should have known. He would never understand, and while it was a good thing, the safe thing, it still stung.
The sound of a gunshot made us jump and whirl around to see Hunter coming toward us, hurriedly tucking his gun away.
"All righty, ladies, time to haul ass and get the hell outta dodge cuz we're about to attract every able bodied officer in the county for double homicide." He told us, rushing past us to his car. Newell and I shared quick looks before hurrying after him to the car. No one said a thing as we jumped in the car and Hunter hit the gas, squealing out of the parking lot and shooting onto the freeway again. It was quiet for a while before Hunter sighed sadly.
"Only one orgasm. One. I'm neglecting myself." He said aloud. Newell glared at him.
"While I was almost kidnapped, you were having sex?" He demanded angrily. Hunter snorted.
"Oh, please. If you're the man you brag about, then you damn well know we have needs to sate and a woman in leather is a woman for me." He informed, making Newell roll his eyes and shake his head in disgust. I averted my eyes, shifting uncomfortably at the conversation. I tried as hard as I could to avoid discussing sexual encounters, because each time the thought came into my head, Newell soon followed.
"We need to find somewhere to lay low," Hunter muttered after more silence as we drove down the high way, "We can't risk stopping at any hotels, so I'm gonna pull off at some point. Find somewhere to hide in the woods." He had just finished speaking when my stomach growled something awful, the clenching hunger pains making me wince. Both Hunter and Newell scooted away from me, making me frown.
"Don't do that," Hunter groaned, "I already don't like traveling with a non-human. And a human eater doesn't make it any better." Newell scowled at me.
"Why didn't you eat one of those vampires?" He demanded. I just stared at him before he seemed to realize I wouldn't have time to eat anything really. I hadn't even finished my second sandwich, not that I would have considering it had tasted terrible. Newell sighed, frustrated as he fell back in his seat, running a hand through his hair.
"How long are you gonna be able to hold out?" Hunter asked me. I stared at him blankly and Newell leaned forward again to speak in my stead.
"He's gone three days without food before, but his control slips away as time goes on. If we can, it'd be nice to find something for him to eat as soon as possible. And while I'm sure it doesn't make you feel any better, I'm also starting to get hungry again and the blood bags aren't satisfying it." He informed. Hunter groaned again.
"I'm stuck in a car with two hungry monsters. This is not how I imagined this road trip to go." He grunted, making Newell roll his eyes.
"You got in a car with a vampire and a merman. What were you expecting?"
"You make it sound like a bad set up for a joke. And besides," Hunter muttered dryly, "I wasn't expecting it to take this long. Why Michigan of all places? Why does Vladimir hide out there? Why not some place like Nebraska or Alaska? Nobody goes to those places."
"Because Vladimir is a Red Wings fan," Newell said sarcastically, "I don't know. Nor do I care. I'm only going to borrow some things from him before taking off as far as I can while you piss him off in a failed attempt to assassinate him." Hunter stiffened at that and shot Newell a dangerous stare in the rearview mirror.
"And why do you say that?" He asked. Newell scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm not praising or complimenting Vladimir in the least. I hate him so much that it makes your hatred look like a school girl crush. However, even I know the facts and the fact is that Vladimir is incredibly powerful. It's not just that he's a vampire or our dictator, he's also got some kind of power." He explained. Hunter narrowed his eyes at that.
"Power? Political power?" He asked. Newell shook his head.
"For one second, completely disregard all logic."
"I'm talking to a vampire and a merman."
"Well, even further."
"All right."
"Vladimir is telekinetic." Newell deadpanned. Hunter stared at the road in front of him without a word for what felt like several miles before he finally spoke slowly in a way that said he wasn't sure if he should believe us or not.
"Telekinetic," He echoed, "Like, he can see the future."
"No, that's psychic," Newell said impatiently, like a teacher talking to a student, "Telekinetic is where you can move things with your mind. You can control everything around you with hardly a thought. You can summon blasts of energy, you can make things explode. And yes, there might be some other categories of psychokinesis in there, but the fact of the matter is that Vladimir will know you're coming before you even show up. Even if you did have the element of surprise, Vladimir is naturally paranoid. He'd jump and snap your neck before even he knew it."
"And you couldn't have told me any of this before."
"I just figured you were suicidal."
"Don't insult me," Hunter snorted, narrowing his eyes on the road, searching the woods that ran along the free way every so often, searching for a place to pull off, "I'm homicidal by choice. I've done too much to want to die now and I hate wasting." Newell paused to stare at Hunter, who continued to drive in silence now. I could see a flicker of respect glint in Newell's eyes before he looked away, sitting back on the seat. No one said anything and no one brought up my hunger again, which meant I had to fight hard to keep control until I could get my hands on something to eat. I ignored the hunger pains and tried to focus on the journey ahead.
It was also a suicide run for Newell. Vladimir was not fond of Newell in the least. While the two had miraculously worked together to take down Edward, it said nothing about their relationship. I didn't know too much, but I did know that Vladimir and Newell had known each other for a very long time. I also knew that Vladimir had also tortured Newell for a long period of time. It made me loathe the man further, but he had allowed Newell to escape back in Italy, so I wouldn't kill him, unless Newell asked me too, and surprisingly, he hadn't.
I couldn't really think of a time Newell threatened to kill Vladimir in all honesty. Maybe it was pent up, or maybe I just didn't know Newell as much as I had hoped.
Hunter finally pulled off the road, pretending to pull over for car troubles when he just veered off into the trees. The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable until Hunter pulled into a place under a large oak tree, several pine trees hiding us from view of the free way. He put it into park and shut the headlights off, plunging us into darkness before he turned the inside lights on, making me blink rapidly to adjust to the sudden change.
"All right," Hunter decided, stretching in his seat, "Time to figure out how you fit three guys into a car when two of us are over six foot five." I gave Hunter a warning look, and he just shrugged innocently, turning to say something to Newell before he fell silent. I frowned and turned, slumping in relief to see that Newell had just fallen asleep again with his jacket pulled tight over himself, head resting on his bag.
"Well then," Hunter said at last, keeping his voice quieter now, "Might as well kick the seat back then." He reached to the side of his seat and reclined back, careful not to go back too far so he wouldn't hit Newell. I did the same, watching as Hunter dug around under his seat before tossing me a blanket and taking one for himself. I paused, holding the blanket before turning to drape it over Newell, who sighed in his sleep and buried himself deeper under the material. I turned back to see Hunter raising an eyebrow at me.
"You actually like him, don't you?" He asked. I said nothing to that, just averted my eyes and rolled over onto my back, listening to Hunter sigh wearily.
"Fine, fine. I can take a hint." He muttered tiredly, then shut the lights off so the car was plunged back into darkness. I wasn't sure how long I laid there, listening to Newell's soft breathing and Hunter's light snoring, the sound of a bird outside crying out every so often, a snake slithering past the front of the car. It was difficult to fall asleep with my stomach cramping up. Part of me was tempted to sneak out of the car to go off and find something, anything, to eat, but even then, it wouldn't satisfy me as much as a real human.
I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard Newell's breathing skip and become a bit labored. I frowned, turning around to see Newell pushing at his blankets. His eyes were closed in sleep, but his expression was twisted as if he were in pain. He kicked the back of Hunter's seat, and Hunter groaned, pulling the blanket over his head.
"I will skin your twink alive if he don't quit squirmin'." He grunted. I grabbed Hunter's shoulder and shook him and in the process, Newell had managed to squirm his way down to the door and was kicking at it, gasping hard. This time, Hunter shot up and threw the blanket back angrily, only to pull up short when he saw Newell repeatedly kicking his door.
"If you don't stop him, I will." Hunter snapped angrily. I glared at him, then reached out and caught Newell by the shoulder. Newell's eyes flashed open and he snarled, lunging right at me and baring his fangs in my face. And because I never used my full strength with him, he easily shoved me against the dashboard, straddling my lap and sinking his fangs into my hand. Because of my hunger, my temper shot up faster and I hissed, baring all my teeth until a gunshot went off, making Newell and I jump.
I looked up to see Hunter standing outside his car door, having fired his gun off into the air. He ducked into the car again.
"If either of you get blood on my baby, I swear to the good Lord above that I'll rip you a new one." He threatened dangerously. I glared at him quickly before looking at Newell, who managed to let go of my hand. He blinked a few times, looking around bewildered, my blood running down the corners of his mouth. Finally, he turned to stare up at me.
"Xed...? What... just happened?" He managed, reaching up to touch the side of his head in confusion. I stared at him as Hunter said exactly what I was thinking.
"That's what I'd like to know."