The Vampire's Second Chance Part 8
1974 Words
Two weeks flew by fast. My manager hired a guy to take over for me three days after I gave my notice. He was training with me every night and was really focused and interested in learning what he needed to know.
Dennis came in every night to hang out and visit. Joey, the new guy, was friendly to him and really interested in his car. Dennis didn’t mind showing it off a little. I liked that he was getting more and more excited as my end date grew closer.
I still dreamed about him every day, but we still hadn’t made it past second base in real life. Whenever I started worrying that he was holding back for some reason, he would show up with a present for me. I knew about the biting and I told him I was okay with it, but Dennis was still concerned.
I made him promise that we’d have s*x by our one-month anniversary. I told him I wasn’t as patient as I’d hoped and I needed to be with him outside of my dreams. Dennis promised that our one-month anniversary would include dinner, dancing, and me staying the day over at his place.
He’d been to my apartment several times, but I’d only been to his house once. It was huge and had a giant yard. I brought a rawhide bone with me as a gift for Francesca. She was excited to meet me and even happier when I gave her the present.
She was a beautiful dog. Dennis had her cut and styled meticulously. A little silver bow was tied into the poof on top of her head. I could see how proud of her he was. Francesca seemed like the happiest dog on the planet.
Soon, my last night at work came. It felt a little nostalgic as I went through all of my work. The kids I took over for hugged me and said they’d miss me. I would miss them too. Maybe I could stop by from time to time to catch up with them.
Joey called in that night. He said he ate something bad for lunch and his stomach wasn’t happy. I reminded him he would be on his own when he came in the next day. He wished me good luck on the new job before he hung up.
It was the first night I’d worked alone in nearly two weeks. I went through all the motions. Stocked, cleaned, checked people out when they came in. When I wasn’t busy, I was in a little dream world. Thinking of all the things I had planned, the ways I would decorate my office, the effort I would put into getting Dennis to help me christen it.
Dennis came by around midnight. He was wearing another expensive suit. I wondered if he had any t-shirts and jeans. If not, that would change soon.
“I’m going to take you out to dinner tomorrow night as a celebration. You’ll start work on Monday night. I hope you don’t mind not having a very large break before you start work.” He smiled.
“It’s no problem. One night off is enough. It’s not like I’m going to be doing the same kind of work there as I am here. And the first day at a new job is usually paperwork and orientation stuff.”
“Mm. You have a point. I’m going to take tomorrow night off and spend it with you after dinner.”
I got excited. “Really!?”
“No s*x. I still want to wait until our anniversary. Maybe I can feed on you, though. It would give you some idea of what it’s like to be bitten by a vampire. Would you like to try that, Billie?”
“Sure. I want to be totally prepared. I’m counting our one month as a month from the night we met, you know.” I giggled.
“That’s an entire week sooner than I’d been planning.” He chuckled. “Anything for you, my Sybil. I’d better go. I have a lot to take care of if I’m taking tomorrow off. I’ll come back and see you again before your shift ends.”
“Okay, work hard.” I said and gave him a quick kiss.
I couldn’t maul him, like I wanted to, while I was on the clock. Dennis ran a finger over my cheek and smiled before leaving. I sighed and got back to work.
Around three in the morning, I heard the door chime while I was in back. I came out with a customer service smile, that quickly fell. My eyes widened.
Two men in ski masks were standing right in front of me. Like they’d known where I was. A cold chill ran through me. I’d been trained on this and it wasn’t my first robbery in the three years I’d worked there.
“I’ll get the register opened for you.” I said quietly.
“Good.” The one closest to me said.
I went behind the counter and pulled out a plastic bag before opening the register. There was a panic button under the counter. I moved my hand to hit it real quick. If I got it early enough, the police might be able to catch them sooner.
“Move your hand one more inch and I shoot, bitch.” The second man growled.
His voice sounded familiar. I froze and turned back to the register, filling the bag with all the money I had in the register. I tried to place the voice. If I could tell the police who one of the robbers was, then they’d be able to catch them sooner. It might be my last night here, but I wasn’t going to let that make me do a bad job for them.
I put the bag of money on the counter. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“All the money from your purse, too.” The first man said before turning to his partner. “Go get a couple cases of beer.”
“Got it.” The second replied.
Grabbing my purse, I tried not to gasp. I knew that ‘Got it’. I’d heard it a lot over the last couple weeks. It was Joey. He couldn’t come into work tonight because he was planning to rob the place.
Pulling out my wallet, I took the money out with shaky hands and added it to the money in the bag. I put the wallet back in my purse. I made sure not to look up again. I was sure I’d give myself away.
“That’s a shame.” The man in front of the counter said.
“Wh-what?” I asked.
“The scent of your fear changed. You recognized my partner, didn’t you?”
Scent? He was a supernatural of some sort. Dennis told me they could smell the chemical changes in people’s emotions. He also said they could smell lies.
“What are you?”
I hoped changing the subject would make him forget. If he didn’t remember, then I’d make it out of this alive. This guy was one of those who didn’t have anything in his eyes. He wouldn’t have a problem shooting me.
“I’m a werewolf. That’s not what’s important. Tell me, did you recognize my partner?” He growled.
“I did. Please, don’t kill me.” I whispered.
“Will you tell anyone who he is?”
“Not if it saves my life.” I answered honestly.
He humphed and grabbed the bag off the counter. He looked into it and gripped it closed. Then, he pulled back the hammer on the gun and leveled it at me once more.
“Wait, I told you I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“Yeah, and you believed it. What you believe in the moment, isn’t what you always end up doing. Once you’re safe, you would tell the cops and I can’t let that happen.”
It was like everything happened unbelievably fast and impossibly slow all at the same time. He pulled the trigger just as the door chimed and Dennis walked in. I felt the shot like a fiery punch to the gut.
Dennis’ eyes glowed and he snarled. My hands went to my upper abdomen. When I pulled them away, they were covered in blood. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
“Oh, look, a bloodsucker’s here to clean up the mess.” The man who shot me chuckled.
“What did you do?” Joey asked as he looked at me in horror. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
“I lied. Let’s go and let the vampire enjoy his meal.”
“You shot my girlfriend.” Dennis growled.
I started sinking to my knees, so I didn’t see what happened next. I heard screaming, punches, and disgusting crunching sounds. I pulled my phone from my purse and almost dialed the emergency line, but I thought it might be bad. I dialed Officer Martinez instead. He was a supernatural.
“Hello?” He answered.
“It’s Billie. Help. I was shot. It was a werewolf.” I whispered.
“We’re on our way, is he still there?”
Dennis took the phone from my hand. He put it up to his ear.
“This is Dennis Lyons. Who are you?”
He pressed on the wound on my stomach. I hissed at the pain.
“I took care of them. Billie’s been shot. I don’t know. I don’t think so, Officer Martinez…. Yes, I’ll try to keep her alive until the ambulance gets here.” Dennis said.
I could feel him stroking my hair. It was getting harder to breathe. I just wanted to sleep.
“Stay with me, Sybil. Don’t leave me alone again.” He murmured.
I chuckled breathily. “It figures. Things were finally getting better.”
“They’ll keep getting better. We’ll get you to a hospital. You’ll be fine.”
It went dark for a little while, and I felt someone shaking me. It was hard to focus. I tried to open my eyes, but they didn’t want to open.
“Where’s the damned ambulance?!” I heard Officer Martinez shouting.
“There isn’t any more time. Sybil, my love. Do you want to be with me forever?” Dennis asked.
I couldn’t speak, so I nodded. That was what I wanted. It was what I wanted more than anything.
“She doesn’t understand what you’re asking, vampire.” Martinez growled.
“She can get mad at me in thirty years, then.” I heard Dennis whisper.
His lips were on my neck. I felt as if he was kissing me there. It reminded me of the dreams he gave me. I smiled as he pulled away.
“Here, Sybil. I want you to drink this. It’ll make you feel worse for a bit, but then you’ll go to sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be all better and I’ll be right there.” Dennis told me.
I felt something being pressed to my mouth and liquid pouring in. It was cool and metallic. Part of me didn’t want to drink, but another part did. I felt like I needed it so bad. I drank deeply, until my stomach protested.
Pain spread through my entire body. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. All the while, Dennis held me to him and whispered that everything would be fine.
It felt like I was sinking. Falling away from the world. My life played like a movie in my mind. I experienced it all over again. Then everything went dark and I was locked away deep inside myself.
- Writer
