Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 8~10

Chapter 8Dinner with the VampireIs there something wrong with your food?No, Im salutary not very hungry.Youre going to split up my heart, arent you?Chapter 9He Knows If Youve Been Bad or Good, So Youd BetterFor the few days he had been in San Francisco, because of the newness of it on the whole, because of the brain-teaser of the flowers and the worries of pay documentation a job, Tommy had completely forgotten that he was horny. He had always been horny, and had accepted that he always would be horny. So when Jody sat d avow(p) crosswise from him and the tsunami of horm superstars washed over him, he was quite shocked that he had ever forgotten.Through dinner he missed most of her sm altogether talk and bought all the polite lies she told abtaboo her eating habits because his mind was busy with a single obsessive thought She must move that scarf so I fanny trip up her breasts.When Tommy finished eating, Frederick came to the table. Was there something wrong with your food? h e asked Jody.No, Im only if not very hungry.Frederick winked at Tommy and in additionk their plates. Jody sat buttocks, unwrapped her scarf and threw it over the subscribe of her chair. What a nice wickedness, she give tongue to.Tommy ripped his gaze from the front of her blouse and pretended to weigh tabu over the street. Yep, he said.You know, Ive never asked a man proscribed before.Me either, Tommy said.He had dogged that he would throw himself at her feet and beg. Please, please, please, take me home and harbor sex with me. You have no idea how badly I need it. Ive only make it twice in my life and both times I was so drunk that I had to be told about it the next day. Please, for the love of God, end this suffering, shaft me now or kill meWould you like a cappuccino? he asked.She shook her head. Tommy, can I trust you? Can I be honest with you?Sure.Look, I dont demand to be too forward, but I estimate I have to beI knew it. He fell forward until his head produce t he table, rattling the silverware. He spoke into the tablec plentitudeh. You proficient broke up with a guy, and this date depended like a good idea at the time, but you think that youre still in love with him. And Im a really nice guy and youll always be my friend. Right?No. I wasnt going to say that.Oh, indeed youve just gotten out of a bad relationship and youre not ready to impart into an some different one. You need to be alone for a while and find out what you really want. Right?NoRight, Tommy said into the tablecloth. only when things are moving a little too fast and maybe we should see other mountain for a while. I knew it. I knew you would break my Jody whacked him on the rump of the head with a soup spoon. Ouch Tommy sat up, rubbing the rising lump. Hey, that hurt. atomic number 18 you okay? she asked, holding the soup spoon at ready.That really hurt.Good. She put the spoon down. I was going to say that I dont want to be too forward, but you and I both need a ba se to live, and I need some help with some things, and I like you, and I was inquire if you wanted to get a place together?Tommy stopped rubbing his head. Now?If you dont have other plans.But we havent level(p), you knowWe can just be roommates if youd like. And if you need to think it over, Ill understand, but I really need your help.Tommy was stunned. No fair sex had ever said anything like that to him before. In just these few proceeding she had come to trust him enough to lay herself open to total rejection. Women didnt do that, did they? Maybe she was nuts. Well, that would be okay she could be Zelda to his F. Scott. Still, he felt as if he owed her some sort of confession that would leave him equally vulnerable.Five Chinese guys asked me to marry them today, he said.Jody didnt know what to say, so she said, Congratulations.I didnt accept.Thinking it over?No, I wouldnt two-time you.Thats sweet, but techni recollecty youd be six-timing me.Tommy smiled. I like you, I really do .Then lets move in together.Frederick appeared at the table. Well, I can see things are going along just swimmingly between you two.Check, please, Jody said.Right away. Frederick headed back into the cafe in a bit of a snit.Tommy said, Youre going to break my heart, arent you?Irreparably. Would you like to go for a walk?Sure, I guess.Frederick returned to the table with the check wallet. Jody pulled a wad of cash out of her backpack and handed him a hundred-dollar bill. As Tommy started to protest, standing to dig money out of his jeans pocket, Jody picked up her soup spoon and brandished it threateningly. Ill get this. Tommy sat back down. To Frederick, Jody said, Keep the change.Oh, you are too generous, Frederick gushed. He started backing away from the table in a half-bow.And, Frederick, Jody added, Batman is far more over-accessorized than I am.Im sorry you comprehend that, Frederick said. An overdeveloped sense of fashion will be my downfall. He looked at Tommy. Youre skillf ul, shes going to break your heart.Have you seen Coit Tower? she asked as they walked.From a distance.Lets go there. Its all lit up at night.They walked for a while without talking. Jody walked on the inside(a) and dealt with the barkers with a shake of her head and a wave of dismissal. To one barker she said, Thanks, but were going to put on our own show.Tommy coughed and tripped over a defacement in the sidewalk. He looked at her as if shed just announced the Second Coming.I have to go to work at midnight, he said.Youll have to hold on an midriff on the time, then(prenominal).Right. I will.I cant believe Im being this aggressive, Jody thought. I hear myself say these things and its as if theyre coming out of someone elses mouth. And he just agrees. Id have become a tramp a long time ago if Id known what a great sense of control it gives you.They passed two tall-growing women with enormous breasts and impossibly narrow hips unloading wigs, wads of sequins, and a boa constrict or from the back of a rusted-out Toyota. Shift change at the strip joints, Jody thought.Tommy was riveted. Jody watched the heat resurrect in his face, just as it had when she caught him staring at her own breasts.Hes so open, like a little kid, Jody thought. A cute little neurotic kid. I was lucky to find him. Lucky, considering everything that has happened.They turned on Kearny and Jody said, So what do you think about my offer?It sounds okay, if youre sure. But I wont get my first pay-check for a rival of weeks.Money isnt a problem. Ill pay.No, I couldntLook Tommy, I meant it when I said I need your help. Im busy all day. You will have to find the place and rent it. And I have a lot of other things that youll have to do. For one, my car is in impound and someone has to get it out during the day. If it would make you recover better, I can pay you so youll have the money.Is that why you asked me if I had my days free in the parking lot last night?Yes.So it could have been anyone who worked the right hours?Your buddy works the right hours, and I didnt ask him. No, I thought you were cute.I cant deal with that.He walked along looking orderly ahead, saying nothing. They had passed into a neighborhood of apartment houses with security bars on the windows and electric locks on the doors. Ahead, Jody saw waves of red heat signatures coming out of one dark entre. They were too hot for one person and too cool to be a lightbulb. She focused and could hear men whispering. She suddenly remembered the phone call Youre not immortal. You can still be killed.Lets cross the street, Tommy.Why?Just come on. She grabbed his jacket and yanked him into the street. When they were on the opposite sidewalk, Tommy stopped and looked at her as if she had just hit him on the head with a spoon.What was that all about? She waved for him to be quiet. Listen.Someone behind them was laughing. Laughing loudly enough to be heard without Jodys peachy hearing. They both turned and looked back. A thin man dressed in black was standing under a street lamp a block away.Whats so funny? Tommy asked.Jody didnt answer. She was staring at something that wasnt there. There was no heat signature coming off the man in black.Lets go, Jody said, hurrying Tommy up the street. As they passed the doorway across the street, Jody looked over and flipped a middle finger to the three toughs that had been waiting to ambush them. You guys are nothing, she thought. Laughter from the man in black still rang in her ears.It had been a long time since the vampire had heard the sound of his own laughter, and hearing it made him laugh all the louder. So the fledgling had found herself a minion. It had been a good idea to leave her hand partially exposed to the daylight. She had learned that lesson quickly. So many of them just wandered until daylight and burned to death, and he couldnt even enjoy the show unless he wanted to join them in perdition. This one was interesting so reluctant to give herself to the blood.They only seemed to have two instincts, the hungriness and the hiding. And this one had controlled the hunger on her first feeding. She was almost too good. So many of them, if they lasted the first night, went mad trying to live with their new senses. One night and he had to send them to hell with a snap of the neck and a fare-thee-well. But not this one. She had made him laugh afraid of a few mortals whom she could boom like insects.Perhaps she was protecting her new servant. Perhaps he should kill the boy, just to watch her reaction. Perhaps, but not yet. Some other fly in her ointment then. Just to keep the game going.It felt so good to laugh after so long.Chapter 10Walking, Talking, and Bumping in the NightCoit Tower jutted out of Telegraph Hill like a giant phallus. Impressive as it was, all lit up and overlooking the City, it made Tommy tone of voice nervous, inferior, and pressured to perform. She had as a good deal as admitted that she was going to take him to bed had even offered to solve the problem of the Wongs. She was a dream come true. It scared the hell out of him.She took his hand and looked out over the City. Its pretty, isnt it. Were lucky its a clear night.Your hand is freezing, he said. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. God, Im imperturbable, he thought, a complete stud. Im making a move on an older woman an older woman with money. Now what? My arm is lying on her shoulder like a dead fish. Im a geek. If I could just turn my mind off until its all over. Just get shit-faced and do it. No, not that. Not again.Jody stiffened. She thought Im not dusty. I havent been cold since I changed, nor warm, for that matter. Kurt used to say I was always cold. How strange. I can see the heat around Tommy but theres none around me.Feel my forehead, she said to Tommy.Tommy said, Jody, we dont have to do this if youre not ready. I mean, maybe, like you said, we should just be roommates. I dont want to pressure you.No, feel my forehead and see if I have a fever.Oh. He put his hand on her forehead. Youre as cold as ice. Do you feel okay?Oh my God How could I have been so stupid? She tore away from him and began pacing. The guy outside her apartment, the laughing man on Kearny Street, he had been cold. And so was she. How many vampires were out there that she hadnt seen?Whats the matter? Tommy asked. Did I say something wrong?Ive got to tell him, she thought. Hes not going to trust me if I keep it from him.She took his hand again. Tommy, I think you ought to know. Im not exactly what I seem to be.He stepped back. Youre a guy, arent you? I knew it. My dad warned me that this could happen here.Maybe not, she thought.No, Im not a guy.Are you sure?Are you?Theres no need to get nasty.Well, how would you feel if I asked you if you were a girl?Tommy hung his head. Youre right. Sorry. But how would you feel if five Chinese women asked you to marry them? Things like that dont happen in Indiana. I can t even go back to my room.I cant either, she said.Why not?Give me a minute to think, okay?She didnt want to go back to the motel on Van Ness again. The vampire knew she had been there. But hed probably know even if she moved.Tommy, we need to get you a motel room.Jody, Im getting mixed messages here.No, dont take it wrong. I dont want to send you back to that room with the Wongs. I think we should get you a room.I told you, I dont get paid My treat. Itll be an advance on your new job as my assistant.Tommy sat down on the sidewalk and stared up at the lighted shaft of Coit Tower. He thought, I have no idea what I am supposed to be or what Im supposed to do. First she wants me for my body, then she wants me as an employee, then she doesnt want me at all. I dont know whether Im supposed to kiss her or fill out an application. I feel like one of those nervous little dogs from an electroshock test. Heres a bone, Spot. Zap You didnt really want that, did you?He said, Whatever you want m e to do, Ill do.Okay, Jody said. Thanks. She curing and kissed him on the forehead.I have no idea what Im supposed to do, she thought. If we go to a motel and go to bed together, then hell have to go to work, and when he comes back in the morning hell come back to the room, open the door, and the sunlight will hit me. Bursting into flames is no way to impress someone on the first date. severalise rooms is the only way to go. Hes going to get fed up and leave me like all the rest.Tommy, can you go get your stuff tomorrow?Whatever you say.I cant explain now, but I might be in a little trouble and I have a lot of things to do. I need you to do a lot of things for me tomorrow. Can you do that after working all night?Whatever you say, he said.Im going to get you a room at my motel. I wont be around until tomorrow night. Ill meet you at the motel office at sunset. When you come back to the room in the morning, the papers for my car will be on the bed, okay?Whatever you say. Tommy looked dazed. He stared into his lap.Ill give you money for an apartment. Try to find a place thats furnished. And no windows in the bedroom. Try to keep it under two thousand a month.Tommy didnt look up. Whatever you say.Ive taken over his mind, she thought. Its just like in the movies, when the vampire can control peoples actions. I dont want that. I dont want to force him with my will. Its not fair. He was helpless enough, but now Ive turned him into a zombie. I want help, but I dont want this. I wonder if theres enough of his mind left even to function, or if Ive ruined him.Tommy, she said sternly, I want you to climb to the top of the tower and jump off.He looked up. Are you out of your mind?She threw her arms around him, kissed him, and said, Oh, Im so glad I didnt turn you into a vegetable.Ill give you time, he said.Jody stood outside the four-story apartment building on Chestnut, watching and listening. There were no lights on in Kurts apartment. Already it had become Kurts apartme nt, not hers, not theirs. The moment she asked Tommy out, she had transferred whatever dreams and delusions she attached to being a couple to Tommy. It was always that way for her. She didnt like to be alone.She and Tommy had walked Telegraph Park talking about their late(prenominal) lives and avoiding the subject of a singular, future life until it was time for Tommy to go to work. Jody had called a cab from a pay phone and dropped Tommy off at the store with a kiss and a promise. Ill see you tomorrow night.It was only when she got out of the cab at the motel that she complete that the registration and pink slip for her car were still at Kurts.Why didnt I take a damn key when I left?She toyed with the idea of ringing the bell, but the thought of looking Kurt in the eye after what she had done to him No, shed have to get in on her own. Going through the two fire doors and the security bolts wasnt an option.The building was a pseudo-Victorian, the facade adorned with prefabricated b olt-on gingerbread. Jody tried to imagine herself climbing the front of the building and shuddered. To her relief, the side panels on the fourth-floor bay window were closed. No way in there.There was a five-foot-wide highway between Kurts building and the one next to it. The bedroom window was on that side. No gingerbread for handholds there.She went to the alley and looked up. The bedroom window was open and the wall was as smooth as polished stone. She eyed the space between the two buildings. With her hands against one side and her feet against the other, she could spider her way up the wall. Shed seen guys climbing chimney crevices at Yosemite that way. Experienced climbers, with equipment. Not secretaries who avoided escalators for fear of breaking a heel.She focused on the open window and listened. The sound of someone breathing deeply, sleeping. No, it was the sound of two people sleeping. You bastard.She leaped into the air and caught herself between the two buildings, six feet off the ground, her feet against one, hands against the other. She was amazed that she could do it, but it wasnt that hard. It wasnt hard at all. She tested her weight against the tension in her limbs and it felt solid. She held herself with one hand while she pulled her skirt up over her hips with the other, then she tried a tentative step up.Hand, foot, hand, foot. When she paused to look down she was right under Kurts window, forty feet off the ground, with only a garbage can and a stray cat to break her fall. She tried to catch her breath, then realized that she wasnt out of breath. She felt as if she could hold herself there for hours if she needed to. But the fear of falling pushed her on. Youre not immortal. You can still be killed.She pushed the screen resign from the window with her left hand, got a grip on the windowsill, then loosed the tension in her legs and swung down against Kurts building. Hanging by one hand, she removed the screen with the other and lowered it to the floor inside, then pulled herself up to the windowsill, where she crouched and looked around the room. Two people were in the bed. She could see their heat signatures rising through the covers and being dissipated by the cold breeze coming through the window. No wonder I complained about the cold. She stepped into the room and waited to see if the sleepers stirred. Nothing.She moved to the side of the bed and looked at the woman with almost scientific detachment. It was Susan Badistone. Jody had met her at Kurts office picnic and had disliked her immediately. Her straight blond hair was spread over the pillow. Jody twisted a lock of her own curly red hair around her finger. So this is what he wanted. And thats an after-market nose if Ive ever seen one. But its all about appearances, isnt it, Kurt?Jody grabbed the covers and lifted them far enough to look under. Shes got the body of a twelve-year-old boy. Oh Kurt, you should have let her finish the surgery schedule before y ou brought her home.She let the covers fall and Susan stirred. Jody backed away from the bed slowly. She had kept all of her papers in an expandable file under the sink in the bathroom. She went to the bathroom and palmed the cabinet open. The file was still there. She grabbed it and headed for the window.Whos there? Kurt said. He sat up in bed and stared into the dark.Jody ducked below the light coming in the window and watched him.I said, whos there?Whats a matter? a groggy Susan said.I heard something.Its nothing, honey. Youre just jumpy after what that horrible woman did to you.I could snap her scrawny blond neck, Jody thought. Then, in thinking it, in knowing that she could actually do it, she was no longer angry. Im not that horrible woman, she thought. Im a vampire, and no amount of plastic surgery, or breeding, or money will ever make you my equal. I am a god.For the first time since the transformation Jody felt calm, comfortable in her own skin. She waited there in the dark until they fell asleep again, then she climbed out the window and replaced the screen. She stood on the window ledge and threw the expandable file on the roof, then leaped up, grabbed the gutter, and pulled herself onto the roof.At the back of the building she found a sword ladder that went all the way to the ground. The climb between the two buildings had been completely unnecessary.Okay, not a particularly smart god, but at least a god who has her original nose.