Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Three
I was being watched.
From the moment I left the house with Horst, Jak, and the Nereid twins... all throughout the drive to the Walmart in Wilmington, our destination, I'd had the creeping feeling that I was being watched. I knew it was okay to be a little paranoid after everything that had already happened with Jasper and previous vampire attacks, but I had a gut feeling that it wasn't just paranoia.
I'd come to recognize the feeling of supernatural eyes on me, some primal instinct warning me that a being much more dangerous than myself was honing in on me, silently observing... sending the feeling of an ice-cold chill rushing across my skin when there wasn't a breeze to be seen. Nobody else seemed to notice, not for the entire car ride, which was about an hour and thirty minutes long heading south southwest along the ocean.
They didn't notice even after we'd parked and gone into Walmart.
More eyes settled on me once I was indoors, the stares of normal every day people seeing something unusual and doing their best not to seem rude while they ogled. I could feel those stares on me, and see them on me, and it made me uncomfortable because even beneath all of those gazes I could still feel the one that made my hair stand up.
I chose to stay alert and pretend like I was oblivious.
I hadn't heard any telltale warning signs yet, but I was focused, listening for them while I shopped. People stopped dead in the middle of the Walmart grocery isles to stare at the two of us as we rolled our shopping carts past them. I saw people staring at my hair, at my face, everywhere I glanced was someone casting odd looks at me.
Horst grumbled under his breath as he awkwardly hobbled his way across the stained linoleum tiles, wearing blue jeans that made his legs look crooked and deformed.
His crutches were hanging off the side of the cart, but he drew just as many stares as I did. I kept an eye on him as I browsed the shelves, ignoring the blatant gawking. To the outside world, he looked like he had polio and I probably looked like someone with albinism.
"Why the fuck does everyone wait until the last minute when they know this holiday exists?" Horst grumbled, snatching a bag of rice off of the shelf and twisting around to see me trailing behind him. "Why are there so many people here this late at night?"
I gave him a smile over the huge box of stuffing I was examining.
"Its Walmart, kiddo," I chuckled, putting sixteen boxes into the cart, "and to be fair, we're also here at a bad time."
"Yes but... fuck," he griped, steering his way around a chubby middle-aged woman with an 'I-want-to-speak-with-your-manager' haircut who blatantly looked down her nose at us. "There are a lot of people and these carts suck at turning."
I knew what he meant. My own grocery cart had a rickety wheel that kept turning sideways every few feet, annoying me with each rotation. I'd kicked it back into place several times during our run through the isles, hoping each time would be the last until it finally turned again.
"Just grit your teeth and bear it," I sighed, pushing my hair back to keep it out of my eyes. "We've still got a lot of shopping to do. Feeding seventeen people would be difficult even under normal circumstances, but seventeen people with appetites like our families? We'll need a lot of food."
"True. What sort of vegetables should we get?" he grumbled, scratching at his oversized beanie before he sifted through some huge jars of cranberry sauce. "Do we need this? Cranberry sauce is Thanksgiving food right?"
"Yeah, grab it, I'm the one paying," I said absently, immersed in reading the instructions on the back of a box of cupcake mix. I nearly dropped it when someone rudely elbowed me aside, hard enough to make me stumble. Pain shot through my broken arm and I winced. "Ow."
Horst saw the whole thing and whipped around to face the overweight man who'd done it.
"Oi!" he snapped, and the big guy turned to reveal a grey handlebar mustache sitting atop pudgy lips. Beady eyes looked at him with contempt. "That was rude and unnecessary!"
"Then tell your slut she shouldn't stand in the middle of the isle, you dumb nigger," he retorted, smiling in a 'what-are-you-gonna-do? Cry?' sort of way. My jaw dropped. Horst's eyes bugged, but then he looked vehemently pissed. He clenched his fists and bunched his shoulders, but because I saw the warning signs I quickly stepped in front of him, clenching my fists.
"Get lost, jerk," I said seriously, nodding at the isle with an authoritative stance. "I believe your insulin medicine is calling, so go take your racism somewhere else."
"Excuse me?" he snapped. "What did you just say to--"
I lunged forward in a flash, drawing my hand back and swinging it towards his face, stopping just shy of his cheek. He stumbled backward, gaping, but I kept my stare cold and clear.
"It wasn't a request," I said coldly, drawing my hand back in a threatening manner. "Get lost, Bitch. Otherwise I'll slap you across the mouth for real. Don't think I won't."
He seemed ready to open his mouth again until a presence filled up the space behind me and a hand came down on the shoulder not covered by a cast.
"Is there a problem?" Jak asked, looking between the three of us in poorly leashed anger. "What business do you have with my children, Sir?"
The overweight man immediately went red and muttered something I didn't catch before quickly pushing his cart away. I glowered after him before glancing at Jak, who was holding a loaf of bread with a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He looked like a domesticated badass.
"Thanks," I muttered, patting his arm before taking hold of my cart again. "I haven't heard racism like that since the late thirties. His foul mouth really caught me off guard."
"The pussy took off the moment Pop confronted him!" Horst cackled. "Racist or not, he's just a lil' bitch!"
"Steer clear of people," Jak warned, giving us reproachful stares before trotting off, "and don't draw anymore attention to yourselves. Regardless of the situation at hand."
"Fine, but he started it," Horst muttered.
"Well, it's the Sunday before Thanksgiving. What did you expect?" I asked, walking ahead with my cart. "Most people these days are entitled idiots who just want to get their shopping done."
"Yeah well, they don't need to be racist assholes."
"True, but twenty years from now he'll be dead and you'll be thriving," I said simply. "Getting mad at a guy like him isn't worth your time since his days on this planet are numbered. Yours aren't. But, if you're still mad later, you can piss on his grave after his diabetes kills him."
Horst stopped pushing the cart and looked at me in surprise. "That was a surprisingly cold and dark suggestion coming from you."
"Duh. I don't spill tea when it comes to intolerance, honey," I snorted, tossing my hair and giving him a knowing smirk, "I throw the God damn cup."
Horst seemed confused, which wasn't surprising since the remark was from an internet-based culture that had died out years before his time, but he followed his father's instructions well enough after that. He barely made a noise through the vegetable section, grabbing a whole three bags of potatoes while I snagged some lettuce, broccoli, Portobello mushrooms, tomatoes, carrots, and all kinds of other things he had little interest in.
I picked out some yams and grabbed multiple ears of corn before returning to the cart, humming cheerfully as I set everything down. I spotted the Nereid twins near a stall with more fresh vegetables and saw Jak wandering around refrigerated bins filled with hams.
Horst's gloom lifted as he spotted the turkeys not too far away from us.
"Now we're talking!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together; he looked ready to force his way through the crowd of people and battle over the biggest ones he could find.
"We need enough for sixteen people," I reminded him. "Make sure you--"
"I didn't tell you how to choose the rabbit food!" he called. "Don't tell me how to pick a turkey!"
I gawked, then laughed and stood back with my own cart, leaning on the handle as I smugly watched him inspect the tags on each turkey. After a few minutes he hobbled to another bin with the less popular brands. The kid got a smirk like he knew something all the other people clawing for the big brand turkeys didn't, and after a minute of deliberation, he hefted five of them out of the bin. I raised an eyebrow when he walked toward me with a huge grin on his face.
"Twenty-four pounds," he crowed, triumphantly dumping them in his cart. "Fuckin' yeah!"
My eyes went large. "Horst! Eighteen pounds would have been plenty!"
"But we gotta have leftovers!" he said, bouncing happily. "I mean, we gotta! It's Thanksgiving!"
"That's still a lot of leftover meat, kiddo!" I scoffed. "Can you even eat that much turkey?"
"Hell yeah!" he gushed, eagerly nodding. "I mean, I'll definitely try to stop before I get the meat sweats, though. Everyone hates it when I do since it supposedly makes me smell weird."
"Ew!" I squealed, swatting at him. "Gross!"
"I know," he chuckled, hunching the arm I was smacking, "but if I overeat you can just lead me to the pillow room, throw a blanket over me, and let me sleep it off. Now, what's next on the list?"
I lowered my arm and shook my head, fighting a laugh. "I don't know if I want to tell you."
Horst's eyes were as bright as his smile when he lowered his sunglasses to look at me. "Is it pie?"
"Yeah, it's pie alright," I sighed, letting him waddle ahead of me with his own cart. "Come on."
Like he needed me to prompt him into action.
He slid through the mass of people and found the rack of baking items full of pie crusts and cookie mixes, frostings and baking chocolate. While he was looking around, I pulled out five cans of pure pumpkin and some evaporated milk, a few bags of pecans, pure maple syrup, and a few spices. I dumped my treasure into the cart as Horst made it back to me.
"Pie crust?" he asked, holding them up. "You're making it from scratch, right?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna try to, anyway," I admitted, looking at the shelves. "I've never made a pie from scratch before but this is a special time of the year. Plus, my biological family members are coming and I really, really wanna make a good impression on them."
"Cool, I'll go get some pie filling," he exclaimed. "We need anything else?"
"Whipped cream," I chimed, pointing toward the frozen food section. "And those frozen yeast roll things if you can find them. Those can be amazing treats if you put some glazed icing and cinnamon sugar on top of them."
He paused when I grinned, bouncing as I shopped.
"I would say you're way too happy about this," Horst drawled, looking me up and down, "but it's funny to watch you in full-blown shopping mode. You're like a kid on Christmas."
I looked at him, a small smirk pulling at my lips. "You know you love it."
"Yeah, I do," he said simply, "but only because I love you."
I jerked, looking at him in genuine surprise, half expecting to see a teasing grin on his face.
Instead, he was the epitome of seriousness. Flat faced, earnest gaze... he was being honest.
"Really?" I asked, caught completely off guard by the admission. "You... you love me?"
"Yup," he said, nodding once; then he floundered, eyes growing wide as something visibly occurred to him. "I mean, not in a weird way, or anything! Its just, you've done way more for me and my Pop than anyone else ever has... why wouldn't I love you?"
"Horst..."
"Agh, enough being sappy!" he squawked, awkwardly pushing his cart away. "Back to shopping! I'll get the pie stuff! You get whatever else you need to get!"
I watched as he took off toward the frozen food but I could feel the warmth of his confession spreading through me, thawing out the fear and ice with blooming pleasure. I smiled, face softening, eyes fluttering halfway closed as I happily lowered my gaze to the ground.
I had people who loved me.
Kimberly may have been gone for good, but I wasn't alone with my sorrows.
I didn't have to be alone anymore.
Just knowing that made me feel lighter, more at peace, and I let out a sigh as a weight left me. Humming to myself, I raised my eyes, tossed my hair over my shoulders, and happily worked my way through the store. I caught sight of Horst a few aisles down raising a bag of frozen rolls and smiling. I gave him a big grin and a thumbs up before pushing my cart towards him.
I looked at all the angry or flustered shoppers around me and then back to Horst who was now also holding two cans of whipped cream and wagging his eyebrows suggestively.
"Got them!" he called. "Want them in your cart or mine?"
"Yours!" I called back, checking over the list of things I'd written down along the way; I realized after a moment that I'd forgotten to snag some canned green beans. "Hey, Horst? Can you watch my cart for a few minutes? I need to grab some green beans since we forgot them."
"Eh, sure," he called, pushing his cart over to mine, "but I should probably go with you."
"What?" I asked. "Why?"
"Well, with all the stuff that's been happening lately, I don't think Pop or Sebastian would be too happy with me if I let you wander off alone," he said slowly. "Hell, even I don't like the thought of you being by yourself around here. Sticking together seems safer to me, you know?"
I hid a frown since even then I felt like I was being watched.
"Thanks," I said, patting his arm with a grin, "but I also have to pee. It'll only be a second and I'm pretty sure I can handle it on my own. Just wait here for me and things will be fine, okay?"
Horst seemed nervous by my suggestion but when I tilted my head expectantly he sighed.
"Ah, whatever, go for it," he murmured, rolling his eyes. "Just don't go giving people heart attacks and make sure you come back right after you're done takin' a piss. We'll go get the green beans together, okay? I really don't like the idea of leaving you alone, even if we are in public."
"Sounds like a plan," I chirped, giving him a two-fingered salute. I trotted away from him, weaving through throngs of people and cutting down several isles towards the public bathrooms. My smile faded once he was out of sight and the hair on my neck stood up.
Someone is watching me, I mentally noted, keeping my eyes straight ahead. Were we really followed all the way here? I don't have bad vibes and it doesn't feel malicious, but still...
I sighed as I walked into the men's bathroom, slinked over to the urinal, and unzipped my jeans. I heard someone drawing toilet paper out of its container in one of the stalls behind me but took little notice and just did my business, not really thinking or caring.
Just as I flushed and zipped my jeans back up, the door opened and I came face to face with the pudgy Vernon Dursley-looking asshole who'd been spouting racism at us earlier. He seemed shocked to see me standing there, and then venomously pissed, getting all red in the face.
"What are you doing in here?" he demanded, looking me up and down. "This is the men's bathroom! You don't belong in here! Get out!"
"Excuse me?" I demanded, raising a cold, indifferent eyebrow; I fought to keep my temper in check and glared him down. "I'm aware that this is, in fact, the men's bathroom and that's exactly why I'm in here. Because I do belong in here."
"Are you mentally ill?" he demanded, jowls waddling as he gestured at the dirty stalls, "or are you one of those filthy voyeurs who gets her rocks off by performing stunts like this?"
"I think you're confused," I snorted, folding my arms and sassily cocking my hip. "For the record, asshole, I'm a guy so with all due respect... stop fucking talking to me and go wash your hands."
"You know what? I'm gonna call security," he snorted, smirking as his piggish eyes lit up. "We'll see what they have to say."
Instead of wasting my time, I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and snatched the I.D. card that Sebastian had created for me. He seemed confused until I tapped the information.
"See this?" I asked, thrusting it under his nose. "Yeah, that little word on the card itself? Right underneath my name? See how it says Male in bold? There's your damn proof so get out of my face. If you wanna look like an idiot, go ahead and call the store's security. I mean, if I really have to, I will gladly drop my jeans so the issue can be dropped. Do me a favor and get. Lost."
"That isn't you," he said flatly, and I stared at him. "That isn't you in the photo. The woman in that picture has brown hair and looks far more normal than you."
"Thanks, Dipshit!" I sneered, nodding in an exaggerated manner. "You're not entitled to any sort of explanation and I don't owe you diddly squat, but just so yo know, there are some incredible inventions that smart people made called hair dye, mascara, and eyebrow pencils!"
"Bullshit," he said, furrowing his brows. "That sounds like a load of absolute--"
"I don't care what it sounds like," I said lowly, finally losing my temper. "Get away from me."
He didn't listen.
I grit my teeth and tried to turn away so I could walk over to the sink, but he grabbed my cast--the fucking cast keeping my broken arm in place--and jerked me back around. I stared at him when he roughly shoved me against the wall, glaring at me, red-faced.
I wondered, for a second of sheer insanity on my part, if he'd lost his damn mind.
"You're not a boy," he sneered, "and you're gonna regret pushing my buttons today."
I blinked, then blinked again. "Are you fucking serious right now?"
He drew back slightly. "Excus--"
"Get your hands off me," I said in a dangerously cold tone, narrowing my eyes. "I don't know what sort of gall you have to try assaulting me in a Walmart bathroom, but I swear to God and all of his angels that if you don't get your filthy, unwashed, pudgy little fingers off of my body within the next ten seconds that I will rip your double chin right off your fat neck with my damn teeth."
"You wouldn't da--"
He cut himself off when I bared my fangs, showing him just how sharp they were. He jerked away from me almost on instinct, staring straight at my mouth as I glared through a cold fringe of white.
"That's right, keep going," I sneered, waving at him. "Buh-bye! The door is right there!"
"What the hell?" he whispered, inching towards the door. "What's wrong with your teeth?"
"Nothing," I said with a wicked little grin, licking the tips of them for effect. "Surgical implants that I bought for this very reason. If you touch me again, I'll rip your throat out. End of story."
He fell against the door, then pushed it open and fearfully rushed out.
I glared after him, still fuming, but then my bravado collapsed and my knees nearly buckled. I wobbled over to the sink and put my hand on it to steady myself. I took a deep, shaken breath and let it out again, trying to calm my ruffled nerves... and then, another stall opened.
I twisted to see a very tall Hispanic girl with a cute haircut pulled into pixie pigtails looking at me with arms folded across her chest... but there was something about her face... did I know her from somewhere...? I frowned when her eyes widened in surprise, lips parting in an 'o' shape.
Behind her, a rather butch Latin guy with a soft-looking goatee and long black hair slicked into a tight ponytail poked his head out of the stall as well, adjusting the front of his jeans.
"Hold up," the girl said, tilting her head to the side and looking at my hair; those dark eyes of hers lit up and she clapped, pointing right at me. "No way! You're that lucky bitch who snagged the guy that bought off my favorite club! I knew it! Damn, I never thought I'd see you again."
A flashback of the girls I'd run across at the club's bar during my first date with Bash hit me.
"You're the Spanish girl who was partying with her friends!" I gasped, stunned. "The one with the cute haircut who hated it because she thought it was botched! Your friend even looked at my own hair to determine if I was using extensions, right?"
"Yeah! That was us!" she gushed, skipping over and patting my arm. "Small world, huh, Chica?"
"Yeah," I sighed, nodding; I noticed that she was looking over me with curiosity, and after a second she poked my eyebrow before touching my eyelashes. I leaned away, frowning as I asked, "what are you doing?"
"You look totally frosted," she said, and I blinked. "How'd you do that to your eyelashes and eyebrows? It's weird."
"Marie Antoinette syndrome," I said absently, casting a glance at the guy she'd been in the stall with; his dark eyes were fixed on me, staring, and although the intensity within them made me a little uncomfortable it was nothing compared to the effect my wolves' eyes had. "It's a long story. I'd rather not go into it right now."
"Fair enough," she murmured, looking me up and down. "So... you're really a boy, too?"
"Yup," I chuckled, turning and flipping on the sink; I soaped my hands up and washed them fervently, wanting to get back to Horst. "I know its probably hard to believe, but its true."
"So, you're gay," she said, matter-of-factly. "You were out on a date with Tall, Dark, and Hung at that club and I know there ain't no way he didn't smash that fine ass you got."
"Eh, yeah... he and I are actually in a relationship now," I mumbled, embarrassed, giving her a tired smile while I dried my hands. "By the way, who's your friend?"
"Him?" she asked, glancing at the silent man who was watching us talk. "He's my boy toy."
I paused, raising an eyebrow. "Please don't tell me you were just... you know, in that stall."
"I'd be lying if I said we weren't!" she laughed, adjusting her skirt. "We kept it quiet, though. The fatty in the stall beside us didn't even know, but it got hella gross after he came so we ain't doing it again."
She turned and looked up at him, saying something in Spanish; he responded in turn and nodded before looking at me and inclining his head, looking a little more friendly and far less tense. I wondered at that, since Spanish was a language I didn't actually speak.
"He don't speak English," the girl explained, breaking away from him; she pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of her pocket, leaning over the sink and using it to scribble something down. She grinned after a moment, then stood up and held the paper out. "Anyway, my name's Tammy, and this is my phone number. Give me a ring if you ever wanna hit some fun parties!"
I stared at the paper, confused.
Why is she giving me this? I wondered, but then she leaned forward and brought her red lips close to my ear. A prickle went down my spine and I tensed, suddenly feeling like something was extremely off, that I had to back away from her, that something was wrong.
"You've got nothing to worry about," she murmured, inhaling deeply before murmuring, "wolf lover."
My blood ran cold and she pulled away, smiling at me, but her eyes weren't calculating.
There was no malice.
If anything she seemed intrigued, brown irises glinting with genuine curiosity.
She raised her hand, subtly taking mine and putting the paper in it.
"Call me!" she happily chirped, making the cell phone gesture with her thumb and pinkie. Then she snagged her boyfriend's hand and led him out of the bathroom with a delighted spring in her step; her purple-streaked black pigtails bounced as she left, miniskirt clinging to her thighs and fishnet stockings as she danced her way out.
Quite suddenly, I was alone.
I stared at the empty bathroom door, then glanced down at the paper which held her number, as well as something else... a note. I frowned and tilted my head, reading it.
'Don't worry, Lucky B, your secret is safe with me,' it read. 'Have a happy Thanksgiving and be sure to call me. For reals. You're the first vampire I've ever met and wanna gossip. Werewolves don't like me or my kind, they just tolerate our presence, but I don't think you'd be all that biased since you're dating outside of your own species. Yours truly, a VERY sexy mermaid.'
I blinked, rereading it a second time, and then a third, and a fourth.
Then my eyes bugged and my jaw dropped open.
"She's a mermaid?!" I cried, shocked to my core. "No fucking way! Seriously?!"
I could hardly believe it, but I pocketed her number anyway and left the sour smelling bathroom behind. I fully intended to start walking back to where Horst was waiting, but an odd chill ran down the base of my spine and I found myself looking over my shoulder, scanning the crowd.
I saw nothing out of the ordinary, people ringing up their items, people holding shopping carts, people going about their daily lives. Throngs of living bodies moving to and fro, dealing with their own stuff, their own situations, all of them wearing different faces and clothes.
I sighed through my nose, about to keep going, when I heard it.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound echoed all around me, preventing me from pinpointing the direction it was coming from. It was a slow clap, and several other people paused to look around as well, confused.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Chills ran down my back. The steady clapping felt more threatening than a horde of vampires, especially since I couldn't see who was doing it. I slowly turned in a full circle, listening carefully and even tilting my head, cupping both hands to my ears, trying to hear over the people... over the beeping of cashiers ringing up products being sold.
Over the talking and conversations and general cacophony.
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap.
I stopped fretting and backed away, fully intending to run back to Horst, eyes darting from person to person, from face to face. Another shiver ran down my spine as the distant clapping continued, coming from nowhere and everywhere, loud enough that many others noticed.
"Stop!" I cried. "Just stop it!"
Eyes turned to look at me all over the place, conversations dying on tongues, and for several seconds there was near to complete silence in the store.
The clapping stopped.
I waited, tense and ready to move at the slightest sound.
And then--Click... whir.
My eyes bugged and I whipped around, spotting an ominous figure clad in a black hoodie staring at me from behind the corner of the store's entrance, holding an old-fashioned camera. He disappeared the moment I spotted him, vanishing in a cloud of mist.
I felt my stomach sink.
Who the fuck was that?! I mentally screeched, whipping around and bolting. I need to tell the others and we need to get the hell out of here! We need to go, now!
I fought to stop trembling as I rushed towards the place I'd left Horst, wondering who the hell had been peering at me from the safety of the corner. I hadn't been able to see his face but I knew from the height and build beneath his clothes that it hadn't been jasper.
The guy I'd seen was much taller and bulkier than him... more brawny than slim.
Someone else had been watching me.
I just had no idea who.
However, even in light of the circumstances, I wasn't going to let it ruin Thanksgiving. Anger and determination slowly overwrote the fear electrifying my nerves, and I grew hotter and hotter, temples pounding as I went from being scared enough to cry to full-blown enraged.
I was tired of this shit.
Let the fucker photograph me if he wanted. Next time I saw him, I would confront him directly and walk right over, demanding to know why the hell he was fucking with my head. Depending on his response, I would either kill him myself or I would incapacitate him and let the wolves take him prisoner for questioning. If anyone dared to show their faces on Sebastian's property...
"Don't fuck with my Thanksgiving," I hissed to myself, stomping towards the frozen food isles with a red sheen over my eyes, "or I will fuck your entire life up forever, I swear to God."
Whether anyone could hear me was debatable, but I meant it.
I was finished.
Weak or not, frightened or not, I was done with this stalker's fear-mongering. Even the smallest mouse, when backed into a corner, could bite someone viciously and I was in the farthest, darkest corner I'd ever been pushed into. If he came back and tried this bullshit, this mouse was going to bite him right in the ass.
Hard.