In My Veins (9 page)

It was a hot afternoon in sunny L.A. Days like this,
I’d rather stay inside with the A.C. on blast with short shorts (that no one on
the face of Earth would ever catch me wearing), and a barely there top. But a best
friend’s job is never done.

Tiffany had a date with Daniel
later that evening and had recruited me to help pick out an outfit.

“Can you believe he asked me out on a
date?” Tiffany squealed for the hundredth time. 

“Oh no I can’t. You two have been…. What
was the word you used? Eye fucking each other for how long now?” I said quoting
her.

She did a fake gasp, “Can’t believe you
of all people said that.”

“Oh if you knew the thoughts I had in my
head…”

She laughed, “Trust me, it’s obvious.
The quiet ones are the freaks. James is a lucky guy.” She winked.

We were at the same outdoor mall I met
James in looking for the perfect pair of shoes to go with the perfect blouse and
matching bra and undies she bought a moment ago. Daniel was going to take her
out to dinner later on tonight so she was in a hurry but still said every
detail had to be perfect. “Even if he won’t see your toes, you have to have
them perfectly polished.” She said.

“What about these?” she asked holding up
a pair of black stilettos that had a rhinestone embellished heel, “too much?”

“Shoes are an accessory, no reason why
they shouldn’t be glammed up.” I said as I looked at the cute pair of above
them. Booties that would be perfect for the colder weather coming up soon.
Luckily they were on sale since no one in their right mind, besides me, would
buy a pair of boots in this weather.

I picked up the black pair and contemplated
them in the red color as well before I went to try them on. Tiffany sat on the
chair across from me and tried on her shoes too. “So… I want to go see that
coffee reader today.” She said casually.

I looked at her trying to hide my curiosity,
“Oh yeah? Why?”

“Well… when you saw her you met James.
Maybe she’s good luck or something. Come with me?”

“I swear you’re the worst when it comes
to superstitions. They’re starting to rub off on me.” I mumbled. She does have
a point though, I did meet him the same day I went to see her. “But… you
already got the date so why go see her?” I reasoned as I attempted to pull up
the tiny zipper of the black booties. James would be disappointed if he knew I
went so I need to get her out of the idea.

“Oh come on. It’s not like you’re going
to get a coffee reading. James shouldn’t be angry about accompanying your
friend there. Can’t have him bossing you around that much anyway.”

“Alright…” I hesitated.

After buying the shoes we decided to
just walk over to the café since it was nearby. Parking was horrible so taking
the car was out of the question. It took us about thirty minutes but I found
myself dragging since the guilt was snowballing the closer we got. I stood in
front of the café and tried to think of an excuse to why we shouldn’t go or at
least I shouldn’t go. James would really not be happy. I wanted to go in but
knew I shouldn’t. But his strange dislike towards Lana and his secrets had me
even more curious than before.

“Come on” Tiffany whined.

“Alright just give me a second.” I said
grabbing my phone to see if I had any messages. I looked at the wallpaper of
James and me with my arms wrapped around him and his around me,
Sorry baby…

We walked into the familiar dark café.
Tiffany looked around and took in the exotic décor and the infamous parrot that
hated me. I glared at it as it squawked at us. Or just me. We sat at the table Lana
had made me sit at last time and waited for her to make her grand appearance
she probably does for show.

“This place is kind of creepy…” Tiffany
whispered.

“Yeah. Thanks for sending me here
without some sort of prior inspection first.” I whispered back.

“Your core is strong thanks to yoga. I
knew you’d be okay.” She smirked.

“Again with the yoga as self-defense?”

Lana peaked through the veil covering
the back door and came out. She was wearing the endless amount of layers like
last time but this time was showing her tan midriff. She looked extremely
stunning again.

“Hello.” She said with her thick fake
accent, “I was expecting you.” She said looking at me. I forced myself not to
laugh at her ‘I was expecting you’ since I thought she was going to say that
last time.

“Actually, it’s my friend’s day today.”
I said pointing to Tiffany.

She sat across from us, “Too bad. I
really wanted to read your coffee after seeing your boyfriend with you.”

Okay seriously what is going on with
these two?
I was starting to think James was lying
about them not being in a relationship before.

 She laughed at me and I realized I
might have been glaring at her. I seriously needed to work on hiding my facial
expressions.

She gave Tiffany a cup of her tiny but
extremely bitter coffee and waited for her to drink it up.

She brought her eyes back to me and
smiled, “Are you sure you don’t want me to do a reading of any kind. Coffee, tea,
cards, hands…
anything
. On the house.”

Tiffany eyed me silently. I know in her
head she was probably yelling at me to do it. She was probably just as curious
to know what all this was about as I was. She told me herself she’s not a
psychic. Maybe she’s using this as an excuse to tell me what went on with her
and James. Maybe she’s trying to warn me off from him, whether it is because of
her or him.

“Come on, pick a card.” She said pulling
out a pile of cards and staring at me.

“Just do it.” Tiffany whispered and
nudged my side. Before I could think twice I pulled out the number of cards she
told me to. She smiled and looked at the pictures.

 They weren’t tarot cards. At least I
don’t think they were. They looked different. I had never seen cards like them
before in movies or the book store I used to frequent in high school that sold
those types of things. But I shrugged it off since I don’t know much about tarot
cards anyway.

She laid out the cards and thought to
herself. Tiffany sipped her coffee and stared at Lana’s card reading skills and
how I would react to whatever she said.

“Are you ready?” she asked me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be…” I said quietly.

“Someone close to you is hiding something.
A secret. It’s a dark secret.” She said pointing to a card as if it would be clear
to me to see the picture. “Someone close to you is also attempting to put you
in danger.” She said with a frown. “And the danger is either because of… or
caused by your lover.”

“What do you mean?” I asked immediately
remembering the attacks.

“Meaning your boyfriend, or lover or
whatever he is, I don’t judge, is putting you in danger. He’s dangerous and
something is literally going to try to come in-between you two.”  She said pointing
at the cards and glancing up at me. 

“I’m willing to bet that your boyfriend
is the one putting you in danger. Either that or it’s the same blood as him.”

I felt a shiver up my spine at her
‘bet’. I stood up, my guilt from before turning into anger, “I want to leave. I’ll
meet you outside Tiff.”

“Not quite done. One more card.” She
said shoving the pile of cards to me. “Pull one more out.”

I sighed but pulled it out anyway. I
handed it to her without looking at it. She slammed it on the table flipping it
in the process to see what picture it would reveal. She was wide eyed as she
looked at it. Her hands were shaky as she pushed it towards me, “Death.” She
whispered.

Tiffany and I looked at each other wide
eyed, “What?” we said in unison.

“Not necessarily yours. But…be careful. There
will be a death soon and it could be you.” She said and put the cards away and
looked at Tiffany, “Now for your coffee.”

Tiffany and I were staring at each other
still in shock as she took her coffee cup to read for Tiffany as if she didn’t
just tell me I was possibly going to die. She went on about her job becoming
more successful, a possible relationship in the making and someone close to her
being in danger. She glanced at me when she said that last part and I had to
wonder if she was making that part up or not.

I listened closely to see if she gave
her any weird findings like she did mine, but nothing bad
for her
in her
reading. No one was keeping secrets from her. No deaths in her near future. So
what the hell?

I ended up leaving the café more worried
than before, just like the last time I went to her. “Seriously I’m starting to
see why James doesn’t want me to see her.” I groaned remembering my guilt for
even seeing her again.

I dropped Tiffany at her home and wished
her luck on her date before driving off to the grocery store. I need to get
more food since I’d be sharing my home with James for however long he wanted. I
needed to pick up some of his favorites or dinner too. Basically steak…and
every other cut of beef. My boyfriend is not a vegetarian that’s for sure.

I found myself stalling in the store not
wanting to go home. It was the first night he was staying at my place. And it
was the first time I’m seeing him after seeing Lana and will probably have to lie
to him about. I sighed with the guilt and felt my phone vibrate letting me know
I had a text.

As if he knew, the text was from James.
“Baby
it’s getting late. Do u want me to pick u up?”

I smiled at his concern. Always trying
to take care of me.
“No, I’m on my way now. :]”

“Come home soon. x”
He wrote back almost immediately.

I smiled at his over protectiveness and
the cute ‘x’ he put in the end before going in line to pay for the groceries.

I had the bags in my hand and struggled
to open the door. I wiggled the knob and I was surprised when it swung open.
James had roses in his hand, “What’s this?” I asked as he brought his lips to
me and grabbed the groceries from my hand switching them with the roses. I had
given him keys already so that he could just come home when he was done with
work, but it was still a nice suprise.

“Wanted to surprise you with a date
night at home.” He said stepping aside so I could go in first.

“Date night?” I smiled and smelled the
roses. “They smell so sweet.”

“You smell sweeter.” He whispered as he
wrapped his arms around me and buried his nose in my neck making me giggle.

 “That tickles.” I pulled away and went
to get a vase to put the flowers in a vase and was surprised to see pots and
pans cooking away on the stove.

“Oh this smells good too. You’re
cooking?” I asked filling the vase with water.

“Yes.” He said as he hugged me around my
waist and rested his chin on my shoulder overlooking as I took off the
decorative wrapping around the roses. One of the roses still had a thorn
digging into my finger, “Awe!” I shrieked and dropped the roses, “There was a
thorn.”

James’s grip on my waist was suddenly
too tight. To the point where it was getting painful, “Babe you’re holding me a
little too tight.” I said looking back at him. He had his eyes closed and he
looked like he was in pain. “James, are you okay?”

“Oh… sorry.” He said loosening his grip.
He was staring at my finger wide eyed and I glanced back at the blood dripping
into the sink. He must be the type that gets queasy at the sight of blood.
“Sorry I’ll just turn on the water.”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me so that
I was facing him not letting me wash the blood off, “I’ll help.”

“It’s okay you don’t have to. It’s just
a small cut…”

Not waiting for me to finish he brought
my finger to his lips and licked the blood off. I was wide eyed,
what the
hell
. He was squeezing his eyes shut. At first I thought he was in pain but
no, he looked like an alcoholic finally getting a shot of tequila.

“What are you doing?” I asked, barely
able to get my voice out.

He kept his eyes low, “One minute… I’ll
be right back.” He said and ran towards the bathroom.

I watched him as he closed the door. I
looked at my finger and the cut was gone. Deciding to give him a moment before
I asked him what the hell happened, I placed the roses in the vase. This time I
made sure not to touch any possible thorn. I looked at my finger and the cut
was okay.

Remembering he had food on the stove I
took over the cooking so that it didn’t burn as I waited for him to come out of
the bathroom. I wanted to go see if he was okay myself but decided to just wait
till he came to me instead.

When
he finally came out of the bathroom, he looked sheepish and he kept his eyes
low avoiding any eye contact with me. We quietly ate the steak and veggies
dinner he had prepared. “It’s really delicious James…” I said trying to break
the silence.

He looked up, “Oh? Glad you liked it...”

“James what happened? You were fine up
till a moment ago. Are you okay?”

“Yeah… sorry.” he said poking at the
steak.

“Why are you sorry? I should be thanking
you, this was all so sweet.”  I said trying to make him smile. He forced
himself to smile and nodded.

I sighed, “So…tell me about your day.”

He knew I wasn’t going to let it go till
he talked to me like normal so he forced himself to start talking about his day
at work. But it was obvious he wanted the conversation to be over so he could
run off. He met with a boy band from South Korea that wants to make a debut in
America.

“How was yours?” he asked and I froze
remembering Lana.

“It was good…” I felt my heart increase
a little from the lie.

“What did you do?” he eyed me curiously.
Almost as if he knew I was hiding something.

“Nothing… hung out with Tiffany. She has
a date with Daniel tonight.”

“Oh yeah. He told me.” he said still
eyeing me as if he was waiting for me to explain my day further. My heart felt
like it was going to explode out of my chest.
Please don’t ask what else.

He looked at me trying to read me but I
couldn’t read his expression. He looked back down at his food not pushing the
conversation.

After we washed and dried the dishes
together we looked through my list of movies to decide what to watch. I had a
handful of chick-flicks that I didn’t even suggest, a surprising number of
mafia movies I didn’t even notice I had that many till that moment, and
cartoons I grew up with. He raised his brow at the cartoon.

“Childhood memories.” I laughed, “These
two were my favorites.”

I pointed to the fairy tell of the girl
falling in love with a monster. “Ironic.” He mumbled to himself.

“These seem like guy friendly movies.” I
held up a mafia movie and a vampire one.

He cringed at the vampire one, “Mafia.
Definitely the mafia one.”

I nodded and put the vampire one back. I
was thankful since vampire movies tend to be a little on the raunchier side.
That would just be awkward after that moment in the kitchen.

As we went to the living room I opened
the mafia movie case and groaned, “I misplaced it with the other one.”

“You want me to go get it?” he
suggested.

“Let’s just watch the vamp one.” I said
and walked to the put it in the DVD player.

We got into the movie but neither of us were
really paying attention. But we were pretending we were avoiding any awkward
conversations. The sex scenes were the worst. But now was a romantic moment,
the moment where the human girl finds out the guy she’s had a relationship with
for such a long time is a vampire.

He kissed my cheek taking me by
surprised. I giggled and nudged his side, “This is the best part James…” I
whined

He looked at the screen and furrowed his
eyebrows. He brought his lips closer to my ear sending a chill down my spine
before he whispered, “This is so not legit. Any normal girl would run away…”

“I don’t know… she loved him.”

“What if I told you I was a vampire?”

I thought about it for a moment and
smirked, “I’d let you bite me.”

“Don’t tempt me.” he growled and trailed
kisses down my neck. I bit my lip to prevent myself from making any
embarrassing noises.

“Seriously though… what if I were to
tell you I was a monster of some sort.”

 “Would you be unbelievably hairy?”

“No.” he furrowed his brows.

“Then I’d love you either way.” I said
and cringed from saying I loved him. I looked back at the screen and hoped he
didn’t catch it. I felt him look at me and I knew he heard me say it.

“Crap…” I mumbled to myself.

He smiled and made me look at him, “What
did you say?” he asked.

“Nothing.” I lied and looked back at the
screen.

He smirked and leaned closer to my ear
again, “I love you too.” he whispered and kissed the sensitive skin right below
my ear. I jumped in my seat from the goose bumps and he laughed at my reaction.

“I’m sorry… it slipped. You didn’t have
to say it back…” I said with a shaky voice.

“Baby I let it slip a while ago. Why are
you getting scared? I love you too.” He said grabbing my hands. The movie
becoming totally forgotten he made me sit by him again. “I actually…wanted to
tell you today.” He confessed.

I smiled at the thought. My heart felt
like it was still beating out of my chest, but in a good way. He pulled me back
in his embrace and kissed my forehead. I glanced back at the movie when I heard
the actress start making naughty noises and saw that her vampire boyfriend was
biting her.

“Let’s say you... you
are
a
vampire.” I started and felt him tense up, “
Would
you bite me?”

“
If
I was a vampire? No.” he
answered, totally confused.

“Would you be a good vampire like them?”
I asked pointing to the screen.

“I’d hope so… but is there such thing as
a good monster?”

“There is good and bad in everything.
Non-vampire humans have evil amongst them too, why judge someone by their
teeth. I wonder if there is such thing as vampires though...” I asked putting
my attention back to the movie. I played with his fingers as they tangled with
mine.

“Anything is possible…” he mumbled.

“Hmm…” I thought about the possibility.
Is it weird that I thought it would be hot to have a vampire boyfriend bite me?

 “Baby…” he started but was interrupted
by both of our phones.

We checked them and both of us looked at
each other, “Tiffany,” I said at the same time he said “Daniel.”

We laughed and answered our phones. Tiffany
said she had the excuse of going to ‘powder her nose’ so she could call me
quickly. She was having a good time on the date and Daniel was being a ‘total hottie’. 
She ended her call with me before Daniel ended his with James. She didn’t want
to be in the bathroom too long.

James hung up and looked over at me with
a sheepish smile.

“You were saying something?”

“I…” he started but stopped himself. He
looked around the room as if he was trying to remember what he wanted to talk
about or find something else to say instead. That’s when I realized he wanted
to tell me whatever the ‘dark secret’ was.

He was about to confess but couldn’t.

“James.” I said as I brought my hand to
his scruffy chin and made him face me, “You know you can tell me anything
right?”  I said looking straight in his eyes.

He nodded and turned his body to fully
face me. I took it as a cue to do the same as I pulled up my legs to sit cross
legged on the couch.

“Baby…” He started and grabbed my hands.
I had butterflies in my stomach from being so nervous about what he was going
to tell me. What was he going to tell me? What could be so bad that he was
this
nervous? “I really
am
a monster.”

I smiled and laughed, not humorously
though, “You’re joking right?”

“No.”

I stopped smiling and narrowed my eyes
at him.

“James. Are you trying to scare me or
something?”

He looked offended, “No… I would never
want to scare you. I’d never hurt you. I will always protect you… even if you
don’t want me around.” he quieted down, “Don’t forget that.”

“Prove it.”

“Prove that I would protect you? How?”

“Prove that you are what you say you
are. I know that you would protect me.” I don’t know if it was because of the
movie or the past few weeks of insanity that I wasn’t completely brushing off
what he was saying as a joke. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to believe him or if I
already did.

“How do I prove it to you?” he said more
to himself than to me. He almost looked embarrassed as he thought to himself
quietly.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“The blood.”

“Blood?”

“When you pricked your finger… and I…” he
didn’t finish his sentence. He really was embarrassed.

“Are you trying to say you’re a vampire
and you like my blood?” I asked remembering him lick the blood off my finger.

“Well… not a vampire exactly. I don’t
even know if they are real…or still real if they
were
real. But… I guess
if you had to give it a name it would be the closest to what I am.”

I wasn’t scared of him but I couldn’t control
a rush of panic that went through my body. Whether he was lying or not, is it
so safe that I’m staying in a small apartment with someone who
thinks
he’s a blood sucking vampire? Maybe Lana knew something and was trying to warn
me off. Maybe they dated and she freaked her out so she broke up with him. Or
escaped…

“Um... never mind.” he said quickly and faced
the television again.

“No… I want to hear more…” I said taking
his hand. My hands were clammy and I was shaking but I didn’t care. I still
wanted him to know I wasn’t running.  Yet.

“What…do you want to hear?” he said
looking at my trembling hands.

“I’m not sure if I totally believe you
yet. For all I know you’re tricking me and as soon as I believe you completely
you’re going to use this to make fun of me for the rest of my life. Guys do
those types of things.” I said scooting closer to him.

“Baby I’m twenty-six years old, I don’t
do that type of thing.” he smiled. I scooted closer again anyway, “You want me
to hold you after I told you I’m a monster?” He asked and was hesitating
putting his arms around me.

“You say you’re
like
a vampire.
What makes you
like
a vampire and what makes you
unlike
a
vampire?” she asked.

He hesitated, “Karina… maybe we
shouldn’t talk about this---”

“I want to know James. I have been
feeling like you’re holding something from me. I’ve told you I love you… you’ve
told me you love me. We need  to  be honest with each other.  But I don’t think
we’re ever going to make it far in our relationship if you’re not completely
honest with me…not telling me something or keeping something from me isn’t
lying, but it’s not honest.”

“You’re right…”

“So you say you liked my blood? Do you
like all blood?” I asked feeling stupid for asking. I swore if it was a joke I
was going to kick him.

I figured it was better to get closer
and show him I trust him and get him to talk. But it seemed to do the opposite.
It felt like he was scared to hold me. His arm was loose around me and I felt
like I was being hugged by a stranger.

“I guess I like the blood…” he answered,
“It…it’s not like a life or death thing for me. It’s more of a treat. When I
smell or see it I can’t control myself.” He said.

I suddenly felt a wave of panic go over
me, “You can’t control yourself?” I tried hiding my panic but it was clear in
my shaky voice.

 I felt him tense again. I must have
been worse than I thought in hiding my fear.

“How is it a treat?” I asked him.

“Like how some people love bacon and
it’s not like something they have to have. But when they smell it… they have to
have it.”

I smiled at the comparison to bacon.
Blood is like bacon to vampires. “Does it taste like bacon?”

He smirked, “No. It’s sweet to me…”

“You can go out in the sunlight though?”
I asked trying to think of all the vampire stereotypes.

He chuckled, “Yes…”

I smiled, “You’re twenty-six right?”

“Right.” He answered, not sure where I
was going with this.

“How long have you
been
twenty-six?”
I said suddenly freaking out that he might actually be three hundred.

He started laughing out loud at that question
and I couldn’t help but smile at his boyish charm whenever he truly laughed,
“Since August. I’ll be twenty-seven next August.” He said still laughing.

I felt my ears heat up from feeling like
an idiot. Thankfully the lights were still dim from the movie and he’s not
looking at me anymore. I realized he was avoiding extensive eye contact.

“Like I said… I’m not exactly what
people stereotype as a vampire. But… if you
had
to give it a name that
would be the closest to what I am.”

“Would you age?”

“Possibly.”

“So you can die…”