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  “And now I feel like I’ve been challenged.”

  We sat at my favorite table at Café du Monde as she stared at me drinking a café au lait and having a beignet,

  “I thought vamps couldn’t eat…I’m starting to wonder about what other tricks you’ve got up your sleeve,” she sat with her arms crossed now. I grinned as I said,

  “Last night wasn’t enough?”

  “Oh please I was out of my head and not thinking clearly. Chris is a long lost friend of mine. When he said to meet him at that club – well I knew it wasn’t going to be an ordinary night.” I downed the contents of my cup as she took a sip then looked to the sky, the horizon was growing a light shade of gray.

  “Looks like you won’t have to worry about the sun – it’s going to rain.”

  “Well I didn’t say I could predict the weather.” She leaned in as she said,

  “Either way I’m intrigued by you.” I got to my feet as I pulled on my jacket and looked down at her,

  “Are you coming with me?”

  “No, unlike the other girls that follow you around – I have a job to go to.” I nodded as I recalled work being something I used to know something of.

  “Can I call you later?”

  “No and you can’t send me a Christmas card later on. I told you before I left that I didn’t want anything more.” She stood up and turned away from me as she walked away. I watched as she headed down Decatur. I turned back as I ordered another coffee and sat back down. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I dialed Chris’ number as I sat for a moment listening to a hip-hop tune replace the ring. I stared into the phone and cursed technology,

  “This better be good,” growled a voice on the other end.

  “Now you have to tell me who that wreck of a girl was that you sent me home with.” I heard him clear his throat as he managed a laugh,

  “Rent! I didn’t think I would hear from you so soon…” I could hear a voice in the background whisper,

  “Well he isn’t known for longevity.”

  “I heard that! Who is with you?” I could imagine him lying somewhere in a room with one of my former girlfriends,

  “Uh…it’s just me and Harper here. We must have forgotten the time…look was she bad?” I thought a moment as I recalled not making it past the foyer of the house before we were undressing.

  “No, I just wanted to get to know her better. She seemed like she was a smart girl.”

  “And smart girls know when to walk away Rent. Believe me, she’s not the girl for you.”

  “Oh really? So you know what I need?”

  “Yeah and she’s not the one that you want. She’s Harper’s friend, ow! Listen I gotta go…Harper isn’t playing nice here.” I shut the phone off, I knew well enough that Harper had no real friends.

  “Rent!” I stopped outside my home as I looked to see Carter standing outside his dark sedan watching me. He walked over with his arms over,

  “Brother, how have you been?” I embraced him as I patted his back,

  “Never been better, yourself?”

  “I’m good,” I knew I had to shield my thoughts from him. It would not be good to let him in on my last encounter with Aerin.

  “I thought I would visit you, we didn’t get to talk much at Octavius’ party.”

  “Well, it was a crazy night. I actually left before everything got started. I caught up with Harper and Chris.”

  “Yeah, they make a good couple.”

  “I knew Chris was holding back the truth the last I talked to him. Harper’s good for him.” He nodded as we headed toward the house,

  “You know we’ve stood on your porch and you haven’t asked how Aerin is.”

  “I didn’t think it was right to ask.” He smiled as we entered the house, I flipped on the lights to the foyer and looked around. I noticed the room had been tidied from the night before. I had to give much thanks to the women that cleaned the house, especially picking up after myself. I stepped into the parlor where I dropped onto a leather sofa,

  “So Carter, what’s the real reason for the visit?” He stood at the fireplace as he broke into laughter.

  “Do I need a reason to visit my friend?” I stared at him standing in his dark suit, his blond hair combed back from his face. His light blue eyes seemed like pools from where I sat. His smile faded as he said,

  “Rent…I know about your secret.”

  “I have many secrets my friend and you knowing one is not much to say.” He shook his head as he leaned forward,

  “No, I know the one you’ve been keeping under wraps so to say. I think you might want to share it with everyone.”

  “If you’re implying that I’m some sort of person that fell from grace…”

  “But you are,” he said in a low growl. I moved forward in my seat as I glared at him,

  “I never thought you’d be the kind for gossip, Carter.” He managed a smirk as he stepped forward,

  “So why have you escaped death so many times?” I shrugged as I said,

  “I guess I’m lucky.” He let out a growl as he threw his weight onto me. The chair fell back onto the floor as we struggled onto the hardwood floor. I felt his hands grip my arms as he shoved me against the ceiling of the room. My back slammed against the chandelier as I fell back onto the floor. I started up as he grabbed the back of my shirt and tossed me across the room. I landed behind the sofa as I felt a rush of energy flow through me as I pushed myself from the floor.

  “You don’t want to do this Carter.” His face had grown dark and his eyes seemed to get dark,

  “I know I want to expose you for the fraud you are. You’re not like us! You lied all these years!” I surveyed the room and recalled that I had never kept a stake within the first floor. I could think of one that I kept in the bedroom. I turned my back on him as I ran toward the stairs. He rushed at me and soon we fell over the table in the foyer knocking it to the floor. I heard the wood crack under our weight. I could see the slivers of wood in the corner of my eye but I felt his weight on me tearing at my shirt. I fought him off until he shoved his knee into my chest and soon had his knee on my throat. I stared into his face as he whistled and the front door open. I managed to see two men with long hair rush in with a dark bag that was pushed over my head. I struggled against them as I felt them binding my wrists with thin chains that burned against my skin. It was the first time I had felt bindings that tore at my skin.

  “The silver is burning him,” said a deep voice from behind me, “are you sure that he isn’t one of us?” I could hear a slap hard across skin and knew Carter had dealt his punishment. I felt them drag me along the floor until I was lifted onto a cool surface and rolled along the walk. I struggled against my bindings but was jabbed with an electrical device that burned.

  “Get him in the van before anyone sees us.” I heard a door slide open and suddenly was lifted and shoved into the van quickly now. I cursed inwardly and made a silent plea for Octavius,

  “Brother if you can hear me now, find me.”

  The van seemed to travel for a long while. We were not in the city anymore of that I was sure. I thought about the girl from the night before. I should have been more forceful and made her stay the day. I cursed at myself for having returned home. What had made me want to go home? My wrists burned and I could not for the life of me recall ever having been bound by silver. It must have been something new that the slayers were using these days. I wanted to laugh at the thought of Samara’s people using new techniques to chase us down. We were doing a fine job of killing our kind.

  The van stopped and the doors were slammed open. I felt hands begin to pull me from the floor of the van, I didn’t have the strength to fight anymore.

  “Pull the cover off,” I heard Carter’s voice bark from behind. The cover was pulled off and I was staring around a room filled with a small group of people. I didn’t recognize anyone and knew they must have been former followers of Klaus. I could feel the animosity in the s
mall space. I looked down to see my shirt in shreds. I looked to Carter as he moved before me,

  “You’ll pay for this.”

  “I’ll pay? Rent, you’ve been hiding a huge secret from all of us – you’re family. Look closer Rent the people in this room would love to see you torn apart.”

  “No, you would love to see me torn apart. You’re still angry about what happened to Aerin.” He cursed as he walked over and gripped my hair in his hands,

  “I’m insanely angry that you used her and dumped her. And then had the nerve to cry to Klaus that she was insane. You buried her in ice! You wanted her to vanish as if she meant nothing to anyone. I’m her father, Rent.”

  “Well you’re both crazy enough to not see that it was over a long time ago.” He cursed as he stomped around and pulled the binding off and shoved me off the chair. I landed hard onto the pavement as I heard a collective gasp all around. My back exposed they all stared down at the wounds that spanned my shoulder blades. I shielded my face as I felt hands on my back now,

  “It was true…the rumors were true…he isn’t one of us!” I stared at the wounds already healing on my wrists as I looked up to Carter’s face. He was smiling now as he backed away,

  “I’m only putting the rumors to rest, my dear friend.”

  “You’re dead to me, Carter.”

  “As will you be soon.” He waved and disappeared into the crowd. I pushed my body up from the ground as I sat up and looked around,

  “But I’ve seen him feed from others!”

  “What is he then?” I looked down to my bare feet as I moved away from the crowd that had gathered around me. I felt someone grab my arm as I shrugged them off. I raised my hands as I blocked their voices and headed for the exit,

  “Hey, we aren’t done with you yet!” I shook my head as I pushed the doors open and stepped out into a bright light shining in my face. It took a moment to realise it was a pair of headlights and Octavius was waving to me. I walked toward him as the doors shut and I heard a blast as I dropped to the ground. I felt the heat at my back as I crawled toward him,

  “…the hell! Octavius what was that?” He shook his head as he pulled me toward the car,

  “I’m thinking Carter was planning on having you blown to bits in that place.”

  “There were people in there…mostly old followers of Klaus.”

  “Former followers of Klaus, where’s Carter?”

  “He left…” Octavius narrowed his eyes as he pointed toward a car parked in the shadows. I looked around realising we were in an industrial area outside the city. It was familiar as we had dumped bodies here from time to time. I looked to Octavius as he had taken off toward the car, I could see Carter stepping out of the passenger seat and coming toward us. I could see something catch the moonlight and knew it was a weapon.

  “He’s got a knife,” I called to Octavius as he nodded toward me. I watched as he raised it and tossed it in our direction. I ducked as it stabbed the ground beside me, I heard his growl as he was landing before me. I landed a punch in his jaw as he struck me in the chest. The blows came faster now as we moved along the dirt floor. He threw his weight on me as we collapsed to the ground, I caught sight of Aerin running toward us,

  “Rent!” I didn’t look up as I felt large hands pull me off as I kicked him in the chest. I looked up to see Octavius behind me, I jerked out of his grasp as he rushed toward us now pulling a stake from his jacket, I shoved Octavius away as I felt the blow of the sharpened wood in my chest. I looked down as I shook my head,

  “I’m not like you,” I reached for the stake as I pulled it out and dropped it to the ground. His eyes were large full aware that it was over. He turned to Octavius as he shook his head,

  “You should be dead!” I watched Aerin with the silver blade in her hand walking toward us. He turned to face her as he whispered her name. She shook her head as she raised the weapon and brought it down on his chest. He fell forward onto the ground as his mouth opened to scream from the pain. There was silence now as she walked toward us,

  “Aerin…” I reached out as she pressed her hand over the wound in my chest. I held onto her as we walked toward the car, I looked back to Octavius as he talked into his phone and delivered instructions.

  “It’s best you not see this,” he said to Aerin as she nodded. We got into the car as she found an old track jacket in the backseat and placed it over the wound,

  “You’ll need to feed.” I nodded slowly as she offered her wrist, I shook my head.

  “Octavius has packets in the mini bar,” I nodded to the small bar set up in the back of the car. She opened a compartment and pulled out an empty plastic bag and offered to me. I took it from her as I looked back and watched as Octavius with one swift movement removed her father’s head. I watched as it hit the ground and his body collapsed into the dirt. She followed my gaze as she sat silently. I reached out to touch her and felt she was frozen.

  “Aerin?”

  “Give me a minute…” I nodded slowly as I looked back to Octavius drop the dagger he held to the ground and head toward the car. I looked down at the empty bag as I tossed it away. I sank back into my seat as I looked to her, I could see the tears in the corner of her eyes as she looked away from me.

  “There’s a number in my phone, dial it.” I was well aware that the times had changed and we had an emergency service for blood delivery. Her fingers cold with death could not generate movement on the screen as I managed to show her how to use her t-shirt to get it to work. She nodded as she scrolled through the phone list and dialed the number.

  “Stay with me.” She looked back as she whispered,

  “He’s not there anymore.” I managed to pull myself up as I looked at the empty lot.

  “I told you it was different for everyone.”

  “I need a car at Second and Camp,” she said into the phone as she said, “O positive will work.” She hung up as she ran her cold fingers over my hair, “Thank you.”

  She nodded as Octavius climbed into the drivers seat,

  “Shall we go home, Rent?” He looked to see her sitting beside me then said, “I’m sorry, Aerin.” He looked to the empty packets and realizing his mistake turned on the car and sped away from the lot.

  “No, he deserved it. I know what a huge secret it is and the damage it could cause everyone. My father was willing to risk it all. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened.”

  “They were grabbing me, it was like they couldn’t comprehend what they were seeing.” I looked to Octavius as he watched us in the rearview,

  “Get some rest, we’ll be back in the city soon. The blood mobile will be awaiting us.” I nodded as I shut my eyes. I could feel her lean her head on my shoulder. The pain in my chest was incomparable to the pain she must be feeling over her father. I felt badly that I had scratched that surface for my own curiosity. I wondered what life would have been had I left her to gather her memory on her own. The sleep took over and the movement of the car didn’t bother me as I slept.

  We arrived at the house as he turned into the driveway, already a dark sedan was parked at the curb. I could see the uniformed driver standing at the front door,

  “Is this some kind of joke? I got about five more visits that I’m late for.” I watched as Octavius threw him a glance and handed him a roll of bills as he snatched the cooler from the driver,

  “Get the fuck out of here before I drain you, human.” He looked back at Aerin as I staggered alongside her,

  “Take him inside.” She nodded as we stepped into the house.

  “I’m gonna file a complaint against you, asshole!” While the emergency blood units were in place the most professional people in the world did not run them.

  “Put him in the parlor and I’ll get this heated up.” Aerin was already setting me down on the cool leather sofa as she held onto the jacket over the wound. I looked down as I returned to her worried look,

  “Trust me, I’ve been through the worse
. Live fast, die young.” Octavius raced into the parlor with a mug of O positive already steaming,

  “I had to microwave it, I know how much it bothers you.” I managed a smile as I began downing the contents,

  “This helps.” Aerin got to her feet and left the room.

  “I could chase down that jerk of a delivery guy. I’m sure the price is low on scum like that.” Already feeling the blood race through my body and my wound was starting to heal slowly.

  “I’ll be fine as long as he brought enough to get me through the night.”

  “He did,” said Aerin as she returned from the kitchen with another heated mug to replace the one I had finished. I sat a moment after she handed me the second mug,

  “I could stay like this forever.” She reached down to take my hand in her own as she said, “So could I.”

  I’m standing atop the tombs once more. I look to my side and see my friend sitting on the edge of the marble.

  “It’s good to have you back.”

  “I wasn’t gone for long.” He laughed as he nodded,

  “Well for the short time you were gone – you were missed.” The cemetery was still save for the creatures that lurked in the shadows.

  “You don’t think we’re saturating the market here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I can’t walk two feet without bumping into some kid that was sired by one of us or someone we know.”

  “Do you want me to start executing the weak?” I groaned as I shook my head,

  “No but I was giving some thought to what Chris had mentioned awhile ago.”

  “Don’t suggest we move to Alaska.”

  “Ha, I don’t plan on being mounted in anyone’s office. But I do think we need a change of scenery.” He frowned as he noticed something move in the distance,

  “You hold onto that thought, I’m getting dinner.” I rolled my eyes as I crouched low and saw the lone girl leaning against a headstone. I whistled to catch her ear as she turned and smiled at me.

  “I was thinking that it wasn’t that long ago that we met here.” I looked around and nodded,

  “Yeah, strange isn’t it?” I dropped down from where I stood onto the ground below. She wore a sleeveless dark blue dress as I noticed the chill in the air,