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Chapter 3
No Reply
Rory?” Sophie crept down the basement stairs. Andie had said her sister would wake up today, (though how she knew was a mystery.) They could finally start this crazy adventure. The quest to keep music alive! Andie had called friends from Washington who had purchased tickets for the three of them for a plane that evening- as if they had worked out how long it would take for Rory to complete the change.
“Hey hun, you in there?” She tentatively took hold of Rory’s hand and was shocked when her little sister squeezed back.
Rory slowly opened her eyes, blinking back the dim light shining above her. “That sucked,” she whimpered.
Sophie smiled down at her little sister “You’re alive! Well, sort of alive.”
Rory got up from the dilapidated couch gingerly. “Where am I?”
“The basement. We had to hide down here when mom came home. I had to leave a note saying we were staying at a friend’s house. She didn’t even call.” Sophie huffed bitterly.
“Did you expect her to?” Rory sighed.
“No but- I guess it’ll be easy for her to forget us. Easier than I thought it would.”
“You know she’s never been the motherly type,” Rory stated mater-of-factly, taking Sophie’s arm and pulling her up the steps.
“That’s no excuse! She just dumped us on grandma, and now that-“Sophie swallowed, biting back the old wound. “Now that she’s gone, mom doesn’t even care about us at all! It’s not right.”
“It’s ok. Just chill dude. You’ve been obsessing over this too long.”
“It is not ‘ok’ and it never will be. If I had a kid of my own, I would never just completely abandon them like this!”
“It’s over! Shut up about it.” Sophie growled impatiently. “It’s not like you could have kids anymore anyway. Come on, I want to see what I look like.”
Sophie let Rory’s words wash over her as she pulled her up the steps, much quicker than the average humans pace. She was right. She could never have kids of her own. She’d never thought about how much she wanted them before. She had never even realized she did want them. It suddenly felt like a rock had fallen into her stomach.
Rory dragged her into the bathroom and over to the full length mirror. “Look at us!” She squealed gleefully.
They did look rather striking. Rory’s shining gold curls bounced against her porcelain skin. Her once blue eyes, now a sapphire red looked almost more beautiful than they had when she was human. Sophie had to admit that she was impressed. She had always hated her tiny stature, but now she looked almost elfin. Her long hair nearly reached the ground and her red eyes looked huge, anime-like.
“This is pretty cool,” she said, giving a reluctant smile.
Andie stalked into the room dressed in a long raincoat and fedora. She was holding two more coats and hats along with a large red satchel. “Put these on, we’ll be pulling into London in the early morning and I don’t want you to be seen.”
Rory looked puzzled “Seen? Aren’t vampires, don’t they er, aren’t we destroyed by sunlight?”
Andie laughed, “Nope, but it’s more embarrassing then being burnt to a crisp, believe me.”
Sophie turned to Andie crossly, “It’s not embarrassing! It’s beautiful!”
“It’s stupid. There’s no point. How is this supposed to help us fit in and look human? Oh right, it doesn’t.”
“What is it?” Rory groaned exasperated.
Sophie grinned and took her hand “It’s fantastic! Let me show you!” She drug Rory back to the living room and pulled open the curtains, stepping in to the twilight.
“Look I’m a disco ball!” she said spinning slowly in the sunlight. The beams of light bounced off of her skin like light off a mirror. “Isn’t this cool?”
“It’s weird.”
“But cool right? Right?”
“No.” Andie said flatly rounding the corner and throwing the coats at her. “Stop messing around, we have a flight to catch.”
Andie drove to the airport. Speeding ninety-five through the small farm towns, snickering when Sophie spazzed out over her poor car. (“The car is seventeen years old! You are going to murder it!”)
Finally reaching the airport, Andie took them to a small jet tucked away in a secluded part of the airport.
“How on earth did you get a private jet?” Sophie exclaimed walking in to the small, posh interior.
“My friends in Washington sent the tickets. They have shared ownership of this plane.”
Rory’s red eyes widened “So they sort of own the plane?” she asked in astonishment.
“It’s not that surprising. The oldest guy is nearly four hundred.”
***********************
They touched down in London. Andie made sure the girls put on their coats and hats and the three of them stepped out into the drizzly spring morning.
“I guess we really did need this stuff,” Rory said digging her hands in the large pockets of the overcoat
They left the airport and stood under the roof out of the rain in silence until Sophie couldn’t take it anymore. “So, um how are we supposed to find Cavendish Avenue?” She asked twisting the edge of the coat nervously.
“I know the way.” Andie mumbled.
Sophie stared at her.
Andie ignored her confused look and walked into the rain to hail a cab. The girls followed her obediently, expecting the tale of a life time. She must have been around in the days of Beatle mania.
“Girls,” she began, speaking too fast for the driver to hear, “One day you’re going to experience real, blood thirsty hunger. Your bodies are, for now, being sustained by your old human selves. But one day you will have to choose between killing an easy target, such as a stupid non-suspecting human or an animal. I wasn’t always a vegetarian, or the vampire equivalent to one, which is something I have come to regret.
“When I was younger-“
“So much younger then today?” Sophie grinned, earning her an elbow in the ribs and a mean glare. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“When I was young, I was under the impression that I was entitled to whatever I wanted, and humans were certainly something I wanted. They were a game, fun to ensnare. I traveled the world seeing it all and hunting whenever I could. I took a trip to London around 1966 and-”
“Did you see them?!”
“Did you meet Ringo?!”
Andie sighed, “I met Paul a few times. He’s the only one who lived in London then-”
“We know that.”
“That’s common knowledge to a Beatle girl.”
“I’m trying to tell a story here!” They shut up. “Thank you. I would sometimes stand with the other girls outside the gates, earn their trust and show them things I had stolen. They were, of course, impressed.
“You stole from Paul?”Sophie chided.
“Yeah, and then I would take the girl who was the most impressed out for a bite and they would never be seen again. Which part do you think is worse?”
“The killing part,” Sophie mumbled looking away.
“I hope so.”
“I can’t believe you actually met Paul though!” Sophie gushed, “Was he nice to you? Of course he was. What did you say? What did he say? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“This is why.”
The cab pulled over and Andie paid him. They walked the last few blocks in the rain, Rory and Sophie chattering on excitedly, until they reached the infamous gates to number seven Cavendish Avenue.
“Is he even in there?” Sophie wined, sticking her face between the bars.
Rory laughed, “Are you just going to stand like that all day? With your head through the railings?”
“Hey, you can see a lot of the world from railings!!” The girls giggled uncontrollably while Andie stood away from them, her head cocked.
“Would you two stop? Listen, he’s coming down the stairs. You can hear his footsteps!”
Sophie froze and listened. He was going outside! He was going to see her. Oh God.
“Hullo girls,” he chirped. Andie nodded coolly, Rory gave a shy sort of half wave, and Sophie turned her head away from the gate, staring at him. She opened her mouth to say hello.
“I’m a gate bird!”
Stupid! Stupid girl! Where was her brain?!
She gasped in horror- all at once, an amazing intoxicating smell burned her nose and made its way down her throat. Her body tensed and her instincts told her to jump Paul and take him to the ground…But not in the same way she had wanted before. She had passed hundreds of humans today, why was she reacting to him so differently? She took a tiny step back.
He laughed good naturedly, walking up to her. “You’re forty years to late love, how ‘bout a photograph or something.”
“Umm…” She looked up at his face, and his smiling eyes. Terrified she looked away again. He was too close. If he moved any closer he would be touching her and -that wouldn’t go over well. Not in the state she was in.
Andie took charge, “Sophie, don’t you have an album for Paul to sign?”
She did? Oh yes, she had brought Beatles albums to listen to on the plane.
She reached into her black bag and grabbed Revolver. Paul’s hand brushed hers as she handed him the album. She shivered involuntarily.
“Sophie…That’s a very pretty name.” he winked, “You look like a Sophie.”
She tried to smile up at him, but she doubted it had been very successful. He handed Revolver back to her looking her full in the face, and scrunched up his nose.
“What color are your eyes?”
“Brown,” She answered automatically. Maybe it was the fact that he was so close to her, but she began to panic. Well they had been brown. Though…Surely he thought they were contacts. He couldn’t possibly believe they were anything but, right?
He bent down brushing her long hair off her neck and whispered, “Think they’d be much prettier then the red.” Sophie’s entire body tensed in a sudden mass of conflicting emotions. He was close enough to kiss. Or to...to bite…
She screamed at him inside her head, ‘Do you know what you’re doing to me!?’
“Though, you’re very pretty either way.” He grinned.
“Uh-I-um…” Was thank you appropriate in this situation?
She saw his eyes dance with silent boyish laughter. “I wish we could talk more, but-“ he pointed at the black town car that Sophie completely missed before. He pulled open the door, this was her last chance to say something halfway intelligent!
“Thanks for the thing- I mean that was really, um really sweet of you.”
“Anything for a gate bird,” he said, before stepping into the car with that cheeky grin on his face.
“Paul McCartney talked to me…” She clutched Revolver to her chest.
“He was flirting with you dude! Flir-ting!” Rory exclaimed, jumping a little in her excitement.
“F-flirting? You think so?” Sophie said hesitantly.
“Yes! He was, like, all over you!”
“Yeah, well I really wish he hadn’t been. I mean, it was the weirdest thing. I felt like I was going to lose it and start attacking him on the street. I didn’t know I was going to want him that way. It was scary. ”
Andie studied her for a moment, “You really do love him don’t you?”
“Yes. I really do.”
“I just can’t…Read you for some reason…normally, I’m very good at knowing other people’s emotions, you could say it’s a gift I have, but you… you’re a mystery. It’s pretty annoying. But! That’s beside the point. You obviously have very strong feelings for him, which makes me feel better about all this. Come on girls, up and over.” She jumped over the fence, landing lightly near the bushes.
“We’re breaking in?” Rory asked. Sophie’s head was still on Mars.
Andie grinned from the other side of the gates, “How else do you think we’re going to turn him exactly?”
***************************
Something wasn’t right. He was sure he had locked the door when he left that morning. The funny thing was that, the alarm hadn’t gone off, nothing was gone, and nothing even looked like it had been moved. Still. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very off.
Paul checked the house, walking into each room and flipping on the lights. Stepping into his bedroom, he looked about. Suddenly, he felt very warm and very happy. His face broke out in a slow, easy smile. “I feel nice.”
“That would be the laughing gas doing its job.” A voice spoke from behind him.
He turned. It was that girl, Sophie, the pretty one from this morning.
“Sophie! What are you doing in my room?”
“You remembered my name!” She gushed, “That’s so sweet!”
“Yeah. You were funny. I liked you.”
“You are so out of it. Do you think you could walk to the bed?” She asked taking his hand.
He nodded enthusiastically, taking a step. But- the floor seemed to be moving! “Whoa-“
“Steady,” Sophie cautioned, wrapping a thin arm around his waist, holding him up right.
“You’re strong.”
“I guess” she said distractedly, turning her head away from him. “Are you feeling alright? Are you queasy or sleepy?”
“Naw I’m fine love, a little sleepy, but you don’t need to worry about me!” He bent down slightly and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“No,” she said gently, blinking up at him. “I can’t handle that right now. You save it for later.”
Sitting down next to her he gave her his sweetest look, “Why?” Her hair looked so soft. He couldn’t resist reaching out and twisting a piece between his fingers.
“Because!” She snapped, slapping his hand away. ”Now stop it!”
“That’s not an answer.” He pouted
She sighed exasperated. “I don’t want to hurt you ok? Just try and cooperate with me. Do you know where your guitar is?”
“There’s one in the studio.”
“That’s great sweetie,” She stifled a giggled, “But is there one in your room? Or somewhere else in the house?”
Paul nodded again, and crawled across the bed, before leaning over and grabbing the guitar off the floor.
“Here’s one!” he grinned, waving it over his head triumphantly.
She snorted, “Ok! You’re going to hit yourself in the face! Is your suitcase in the closet?”
He smiled sweetly at her. “There’s one under the bed.”
She bent down, “I don’t see- hey!” She whirled around to face him. He giggled; she looked funny when she was angry!
“You are so- you’re-” She sputtered infuriated, “Probably the only person who could get away with that. But cool it!” She waved a finger at him. A butterfly would have been more threatening.
Sophie walked to the closet and slid the door open. She grabbed the suitcase and stuck in some clothes haphazardly then turned to the bookshelf to her left and grabbed the photographs sitting on top before bending down to scan the shelves, making a few quick selections and sticking them in the suitcase.
“What else?” she murmured, “Oh! Do you have an iPod or something?”
“Yup, it’s black.”
“That’s nice,” she smiled, “Where is it?”
“Charging.”
“That doesn’t tell me where it is.”
“Under the bed?” He grinned sheepishly.
“No, you’re not getting away with that more than once. Sorry.”
He pouted, but pointed to the baby grand in the corner of the room.
“Thank you.” She unplugged it, grabbed the charger, dropped it in with the other things and zipped up the suitcase before coming back to sit with him on the bed.
“Hi Sophie.”
“Hello Paul.”
“Why are your eyes red?” He asked innocently.
“They just are.” She said patiently, giving him a gentle smile and patting his knee.
“You don’t give very good answers,” he sulked.
“You just don’t ask the right questions.” She pushed him playfully on the shoulder.
“What’s the right question then?”
Her demeanor changed. A deep sorrow filled her face.“I’ll tell you, if you turn your head and close your eyes.”
He touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers, wanting to see her smile again. It was ice cold. “Don’t be sad.”
“I’m not.” Her voice shook, “I just don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re very small.”
She raised an eyebrow, giving him a little smirk. “Really?”
“I don’t think you could hurt me if you tried.”
She let out a sigh. “We’ll just see about that. Go on, turn around, close your eyes.”
He did as she asked. Sophie brushed a kiss on his cheek before carefully and shyly kissing his neck. He held her against him feeling her tremble as she grew more passionate, more hungry.
She made a feral noise, then teeth like knives cut into his skin. Suddenly, there was nothing but a sea of black pain.
No Reply
Rory?” Sophie crept down the basement stairs. Andie had said her sister would wake up today, (though how she knew was a mystery.) They could finally start this crazy adventure. The quest to keep music alive! Andie had called friends from Washington who had purchased tickets for the three of them for a plane that evening- as if they had worked out how long it would take for Rory to complete the change.
“Hey hun, you in there?” She tentatively took hold of Rory’s hand and was shocked when her little sister squeezed back.
Rory slowly opened her eyes, blinking back the dim light shining above her. “That sucked,” she whimpered.
Sophie smiled down at her little sister “You’re alive! Well, sort of alive.”
Rory got up from the dilapidated couch gingerly. “Where am I?”
“The basement. We had to hide down here when mom came home. I had to leave a note saying we were staying at a friend’s house. She didn’t even call.” Sophie huffed bitterly.
“Did you expect her to?” Rory sighed.
“No but- I guess it’ll be easy for her to forget us. Easier than I thought it would.”
“You know she’s never been the motherly type,” Rory stated mater-of-factly, taking Sophie’s arm and pulling her up the steps.
“That’s no excuse! She just dumped us on grandma, and now that-“Sophie swallowed, biting back the old wound. “Now that she’s gone, mom doesn’t even care about us at all! It’s not right.”
“It’s ok. Just chill dude. You’ve been obsessing over this too long.”
“It is not ‘ok’ and it never will be. If I had a kid of my own, I would never just completely abandon them like this!”
“It’s over! Shut up about it.” Sophie growled impatiently. “It’s not like you could have kids anymore anyway. Come on, I want to see what I look like.”
Sophie let Rory’s words wash over her as she pulled her up the steps, much quicker than the average humans pace. She was right. She could never have kids of her own. She’d never thought about how much she wanted them before. She had never even realized she did want them. It suddenly felt like a rock had fallen into her stomach.
Rory dragged her into the bathroom and over to the full length mirror. “Look at us!” She squealed gleefully.
They did look rather striking. Rory’s shining gold curls bounced against her porcelain skin. Her once blue eyes, now a sapphire red looked almost more beautiful than they had when she was human. Sophie had to admit that she was impressed. She had always hated her tiny stature, but now she looked almost elfin. Her long hair nearly reached the ground and her red eyes looked huge, anime-like.
“This is pretty cool,” she said, giving a reluctant smile.
Andie stalked into the room dressed in a long raincoat and fedora. She was holding two more coats and hats along with a large red satchel. “Put these on, we’ll be pulling into London in the early morning and I don’t want you to be seen.”
Rory looked puzzled “Seen? Aren’t vampires, don’t they er, aren’t we destroyed by sunlight?”
Andie laughed, “Nope, but it’s more embarrassing then being burnt to a crisp, believe me.”
Sophie turned to Andie crossly, “It’s not embarrassing! It’s beautiful!”
“It’s stupid. There’s no point. How is this supposed to help us fit in and look human? Oh right, it doesn’t.”
“What is it?” Rory groaned exasperated.
Sophie grinned and took her hand “It’s fantastic! Let me show you!” She drug Rory back to the living room and pulled open the curtains, stepping in to the twilight.
“Look I’m a disco ball!” she said spinning slowly in the sunlight. The beams of light bounced off of her skin like light off a mirror. “Isn’t this cool?”
“It’s weird.”
“But cool right? Right?”
“No.” Andie said flatly rounding the corner and throwing the coats at her. “Stop messing around, we have a flight to catch.”
Andie drove to the airport. Speeding ninety-five through the small farm towns, snickering when Sophie spazzed out over her poor car. (“The car is seventeen years old! You are going to murder it!”)
Finally reaching the airport, Andie took them to a small jet tucked away in a secluded part of the airport.
“How on earth did you get a private jet?” Sophie exclaimed walking in to the small, posh interior.
“My friends in Washington sent the tickets. They have shared ownership of this plane.”
Rory’s red eyes widened “So they sort of own the plane?” she asked in astonishment.
“It’s not that surprising. The oldest guy is nearly four hundred.”
***********************
They touched down in London. Andie made sure the girls put on their coats and hats and the three of them stepped out into the drizzly spring morning.
“I guess we really did need this stuff,” Rory said digging her hands in the large pockets of the overcoat
They left the airport and stood under the roof out of the rain in silence until Sophie couldn’t take it anymore. “So, um how are we supposed to find Cavendish Avenue?” She asked twisting the edge of the coat nervously.
“I know the way.” Andie mumbled.
Sophie stared at her.
Andie ignored her confused look and walked into the rain to hail a cab. The girls followed her obediently, expecting the tale of a life time. She must have been around in the days of Beatle mania.
“Girls,” she began, speaking too fast for the driver to hear, “One day you’re going to experience real, blood thirsty hunger. Your bodies are, for now, being sustained by your old human selves. But one day you will have to choose between killing an easy target, such as a stupid non-suspecting human or an animal. I wasn’t always a vegetarian, or the vampire equivalent to one, which is something I have come to regret.
“When I was younger-“
“So much younger then today?” Sophie grinned, earning her an elbow in the ribs and a mean glare. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“When I was young, I was under the impression that I was entitled to whatever I wanted, and humans were certainly something I wanted. They were a game, fun to ensnare. I traveled the world seeing it all and hunting whenever I could. I took a trip to London around 1966 and-”
“Did you see them?!”
“Did you meet Ringo?!”
Andie sighed, “I met Paul a few times. He’s the only one who lived in London then-”
“We know that.”
“That’s common knowledge to a Beatle girl.”
“I’m trying to tell a story here!” They shut up. “Thank you. I would sometimes stand with the other girls outside the gates, earn their trust and show them things I had stolen. They were, of course, impressed.
“You stole from Paul?”Sophie chided.
“Yeah, and then I would take the girl who was the most impressed out for a bite and they would never be seen again. Which part do you think is worse?”
“The killing part,” Sophie mumbled looking away.
“I hope so.”
“I can’t believe you actually met Paul though!” Sophie gushed, “Was he nice to you? Of course he was. What did you say? What did he say? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“This is why.”
The cab pulled over and Andie paid him. They walked the last few blocks in the rain, Rory and Sophie chattering on excitedly, until they reached the infamous gates to number seven Cavendish Avenue.
“Is he even in there?” Sophie wined, sticking her face between the bars.
Rory laughed, “Are you just going to stand like that all day? With your head through the railings?”
“Hey, you can see a lot of the world from railings!!” The girls giggled uncontrollably while Andie stood away from them, her head cocked.
“Would you two stop? Listen, he’s coming down the stairs. You can hear his footsteps!”
Sophie froze and listened. He was going outside! He was going to see her. Oh God.
“Hullo girls,” he chirped. Andie nodded coolly, Rory gave a shy sort of half wave, and Sophie turned her head away from the gate, staring at him. She opened her mouth to say hello.
“I’m a gate bird!”
Stupid! Stupid girl! Where was her brain?!
She gasped in horror- all at once, an amazing intoxicating smell burned her nose and made its way down her throat. Her body tensed and her instincts told her to jump Paul and take him to the ground…But not in the same way she had wanted before. She had passed hundreds of humans today, why was she reacting to him so differently? She took a tiny step back.
He laughed good naturedly, walking up to her. “You’re forty years to late love, how ‘bout a photograph or something.”
“Umm…” She looked up at his face, and his smiling eyes. Terrified she looked away again. He was too close. If he moved any closer he would be touching her and -that wouldn’t go over well. Not in the state she was in.
Andie took charge, “Sophie, don’t you have an album for Paul to sign?”
She did? Oh yes, she had brought Beatles albums to listen to on the plane.
She reached into her black bag and grabbed Revolver. Paul’s hand brushed hers as she handed him the album. She shivered involuntarily.
“Sophie…That’s a very pretty name.” he winked, “You look like a Sophie.”
She tried to smile up at him, but she doubted it had been very successful. He handed Revolver back to her looking her full in the face, and scrunched up his nose.
“What color are your eyes?”
“Brown,” She answered automatically. Maybe it was the fact that he was so close to her, but she began to panic. Well they had been brown. Though…Surely he thought they were contacts. He couldn’t possibly believe they were anything but, right?
He bent down brushing her long hair off her neck and whispered, “Think they’d be much prettier then the red.” Sophie’s entire body tensed in a sudden mass of conflicting emotions. He was close enough to kiss. Or to...to bite…
She screamed at him inside her head, ‘Do you know what you’re doing to me!?’
“Though, you’re very pretty either way.” He grinned.
“Uh-I-um…” Was thank you appropriate in this situation?
She saw his eyes dance with silent boyish laughter. “I wish we could talk more, but-“ he pointed at the black town car that Sophie completely missed before. He pulled open the door, this was her last chance to say something halfway intelligent!
“Thanks for the thing- I mean that was really, um really sweet of you.”
“Anything for a gate bird,” he said, before stepping into the car with that cheeky grin on his face.
“Paul McCartney talked to me…” She clutched Revolver to her chest.
“He was flirting with you dude! Flir-ting!” Rory exclaimed, jumping a little in her excitement.
“F-flirting? You think so?” Sophie said hesitantly.
“Yes! He was, like, all over you!”
“Yeah, well I really wish he hadn’t been. I mean, it was the weirdest thing. I felt like I was going to lose it and start attacking him on the street. I didn’t know I was going to want him that way. It was scary. ”
Andie studied her for a moment, “You really do love him don’t you?”
“Yes. I really do.”
“I just can’t…Read you for some reason…normally, I’m very good at knowing other people’s emotions, you could say it’s a gift I have, but you… you’re a mystery. It’s pretty annoying. But! That’s beside the point. You obviously have very strong feelings for him, which makes me feel better about all this. Come on girls, up and over.” She jumped over the fence, landing lightly near the bushes.
“We’re breaking in?” Rory asked. Sophie’s head was still on Mars.
Andie grinned from the other side of the gates, “How else do you think we’re going to turn him exactly?”
***************************
Something wasn’t right. He was sure he had locked the door when he left that morning. The funny thing was that, the alarm hadn’t gone off, nothing was gone, and nothing even looked like it had been moved. Still. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very off.
Paul checked the house, walking into each room and flipping on the lights. Stepping into his bedroom, he looked about. Suddenly, he felt very warm and very happy. His face broke out in a slow, easy smile. “I feel nice.”
“That would be the laughing gas doing its job.” A voice spoke from behind him.
He turned. It was that girl, Sophie, the pretty one from this morning.
“Sophie! What are you doing in my room?”
“You remembered my name!” She gushed, “That’s so sweet!”
“Yeah. You were funny. I liked you.”
“You are so out of it. Do you think you could walk to the bed?” She asked taking his hand.
He nodded enthusiastically, taking a step. But- the floor seemed to be moving! “Whoa-“
“Steady,” Sophie cautioned, wrapping a thin arm around his waist, holding him up right.
“You’re strong.”
“I guess” she said distractedly, turning her head away from him. “Are you feeling alright? Are you queasy or sleepy?”
“Naw I’m fine love, a little sleepy, but you don’t need to worry about me!” He bent down slightly and gave her a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“No,” she said gently, blinking up at him. “I can’t handle that right now. You save it for later.”
Sitting down next to her he gave her his sweetest look, “Why?” Her hair looked so soft. He couldn’t resist reaching out and twisting a piece between his fingers.
“Because!” She snapped, slapping his hand away. ”Now stop it!”
“That’s not an answer.” He pouted
She sighed exasperated. “I don’t want to hurt you ok? Just try and cooperate with me. Do you know where your guitar is?”
“There’s one in the studio.”
“That’s great sweetie,” She stifled a giggled, “But is there one in your room? Or somewhere else in the house?”
Paul nodded again, and crawled across the bed, before leaning over and grabbing the guitar off the floor.
“Here’s one!” he grinned, waving it over his head triumphantly.
She snorted, “Ok! You’re going to hit yourself in the face! Is your suitcase in the closet?”
He smiled sweetly at her. “There’s one under the bed.”
She bent down, “I don’t see- hey!” She whirled around to face him. He giggled; she looked funny when she was angry!
“You are so- you’re-” She sputtered infuriated, “Probably the only person who could get away with that. But cool it!” She waved a finger at him. A butterfly would have been more threatening.
Sophie walked to the closet and slid the door open. She grabbed the suitcase and stuck in some clothes haphazardly then turned to the bookshelf to her left and grabbed the photographs sitting on top before bending down to scan the shelves, making a few quick selections and sticking them in the suitcase.
“What else?” she murmured, “Oh! Do you have an iPod or something?”
“Yup, it’s black.”
“That’s nice,” she smiled, “Where is it?”
“Charging.”
“That doesn’t tell me where it is.”
“Under the bed?” He grinned sheepishly.
“No, you’re not getting away with that more than once. Sorry.”
He pouted, but pointed to the baby grand in the corner of the room.
“Thank you.” She unplugged it, grabbed the charger, dropped it in with the other things and zipped up the suitcase before coming back to sit with him on the bed.
“Hi Sophie.”
“Hello Paul.”
“Why are your eyes red?” He asked innocently.
“They just are.” She said patiently, giving him a gentle smile and patting his knee.
“You don’t give very good answers,” he sulked.
“You just don’t ask the right questions.” She pushed him playfully on the shoulder.
“What’s the right question then?”
Her demeanor changed. A deep sorrow filled her face.“I’ll tell you, if you turn your head and close your eyes.”
He touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers, wanting to see her smile again. It was ice cold. “Don’t be sad.”
“I’m not.” Her voice shook, “I just don’t want to hurt you.”
“You’re very small.”
She raised an eyebrow, giving him a little smirk. “Really?”
“I don’t think you could hurt me if you tried.”
She let out a sigh. “We’ll just see about that. Go on, turn around, close your eyes.”
He did as she asked. Sophie brushed a kiss on his cheek before carefully and shyly kissing his neck. He held her against him feeling her tremble as she grew more passionate, more hungry.
She made a feral noise, then teeth like knives cut into his skin. Suddenly, there was nothing but a sea of black pain.