Love Bites

I gingerly opened the front door, looking over my shoulder like I was expecting my siblings to be here or Kellin to leave. We were greeted to loud music, Marilyn Manson’s voice caressing our ears as he screamed something about God being “JUST A STAH-TISS-TICK”. Oliver came twirling into the front hall with a broom in his hands as he swung his hips to the music.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Oliver yelled, happily sweeping the wood floors. Kellin and I glanced at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles. Oliver spun around to stare at us and probably would’ve blushed if what little blood was left in his body would let him. “What’re you doing here?!” he gasped. “You weren’t supposed to be home for a while! And Kellin!”

I yanked Kellin inside as Oliver pulled a remote out of his pocket. The music turned down some so we could talk. “I wanted to be sure that my favourite accomplice was safe from you”, Kellin said seriously, straightening himself up.

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Botswick, I’m not going to suck her dry or keep feeding on her or whatever. It was a mistake. I fuck up too, believe it or not.”

“I don’t care Oliver”, Kellin stated. “This is serious.”

“I know it is!”

“I just want to know you’re not going to eat me in my sleep”, I mumbled.

“I won’t”, Oliver hissed.

“But how do I know that?” Kellin questioned.

Oliver threw his hands out, broom still clasped tightly in his right one. “Would you like to stay here too then?” he proffered.

Kellin shook his head. “No. I can’t. I have business elsewhere.”

“Like back at your lab?” Oliver asked. “Tell me how that body’s coming along?”

The medical student grinned to himself. “I’ll have you know, Justin will be amongst the world of the living soon. I’ve found the secret to reanimating the dead!”

“That’s great”, Oliver smiled, wrapping an arm around Kellin. “You should bring him to my party next month. Unveil him in front of the community.”

“OmiGod”, Kellin gasped. “You would let me do that? On your birthday?”

“Who am I to deny a friend?” Oliver grinned, shoving Kellin out the front door. “I’ll see you then. Tatty-bye!” I stood awkwardly by the stairs as Oliver slammed the door shut and locked it.

“Seriously, Thorne”, Oliver sighed. “Do you really not trust me enough to keep bringing people over?”

“I think you can answer that”, I mumbled.

Oliver picked at his lip and shrugged. “I’m cleaning”, he said, like I couldn’t already have figured it out. “The house gets dusty fairly quick and since the locals are too superstitious to come here-“

“For good reason-”

“Yeah, yeah, good reason. I have to clean it myself. Stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours, alright?” he asked. I nodded and flopped down on the couch. Oliver tossed me the remote before leaning over me. “And Thorne? You taste amazing but unlike other vampires, I know it would be rude to abuse my guests in such a fashion.”

I frowned and shifted a little. If I wasn’t staying at Oliver’s house, would he try to eat me or suck all my blood or whatever vampires do? Supposing that was the truth, then that meant I couldn’t leave the house without a constant fear of him hunting me down. Silently I tried redirecting my thoughts onto the television as the undead creature tidied up his home around me. It was kind of weird watching him. The same guy who bit me earlier and transformed into some freaky caricature of himself was now dusting off his fireplace mantle and washing the windows. At this point I was used to seeing him behave like a self-indulgent lord so watching him act as a domesticated house wife was…amusing.

“What’s so funny?” Oliver questioned once he heard me giggling. I shook my head as I tried stifling my laughter. “Haven’t you ever seen a man clean a house?!”

“I haven’t seen an egoist like you clean a house”, I scoffed.

“Well pardon me”, Oliver said. He sat down in an arm chair, perpendicular to where my feet were on the couch. “Take off your shoes you twit. What the bloody Hell is this shit?”

I didn’t think about the fact that I had changed the channel to something really lame while I was laughing about Oliver. Immediately I started to blush as Oliver tried prying off my cowboy boots. “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding”, I mumbled, watching him inspect the heels. “It’s kind of gay.”

“Disgusting”, Oliver hissed to himself after he clapped my shoes together and dirt fell on the floor. He looked back at me and shrugged. “Well if it’s gay, why are you watching it?” he asked.

“Because”, I replied, shifting into the pillows. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

“Because is a stupid answer. Why are you watching it.”

“I like the dresses”, I said.

He smiled. “Well, what’s so special about them?” he asked as his eyebrows came together.

I rolled my eyes and changed the channel quickly to Scooby Doo reruns. “Everything.”

“What is everything?”

“They’re big”, I murmured. “And sparkly. And the bodices are pretty.”

Oliver stood up and lifted my legs before sitting down where they had initially been. “There has to be a real reason”, he stated simply, straightening my legs out over his with one hand as he snatched the remote up and turned the channel back with the other.

“I can’t. It’s stupid.”

“Thorne, it’s not stupid”, Oliver sighed. “What’s stupid is you not telling me.”

He locked eyes with me, clearly wanting me to tell him but he didn’t use his mind control trick. I relented anyway though. Something about Oliver was just…trustworthy. “I want a dress like that”, I sighed. “I’ve always wanted one. I wanted to be Cinderella or whatever with the big pumpkin carriage and the royal prince but instead I got torn jeans and dirty nails and ugly hair…And I probably smell like embalming fluid.” I tried laughing it off though. “But we don’t always get what we want so it’s not a big deal.”

Oliver frowned some. “Did you not go to prom or whatever it is that kids these days do?” he asked softly.

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “No, um, I couldn’t afford to go. We had to take care of Ma and Dad, you know, before they…left.” My face grew hot, like I was about to cry so I fought it. “But I don’t regret it. I would’ve stood out there anyway and it’s way more exciting trying to get away with breaking the law than being crowned prom queen.”

“No it’s not”, Oliver laughed. “No, you have a buried desire to be a princess for a night since it’s the one thing all girls experience that you never got. I’m throwing myself a birthday party soon. You should be my date. We can get you the big, sparkly, pink dress if you want.”

“I don’t like pink though”, I said awkwardly.

Oliver shrugged and grinned. “Then we’ll get you a gown in a colour that you do like.”

I melted a little inside. I probably should’ve been pissed since he bit me and kind of scared since he basically insinuated that he liked the taste but at the same time he was kind of sweet. He kept making amends in only the ways that he could. “That would be…really amazing”, I smiled awkwardly.

Oliver beamed. “Good. Then that’s what we’ll do”, he said, going back to the TV like he needed to take notes. He stared at it intently before gripping my shin. “Thorne, what happened to your parents? I don’t believe I’ve met them.”

I clenched the arm rest. “Stupid stuff, you know? Um, Dad was in a construction accident and Mom got lung cancer.”

“Sounds sketchy”, Oliver muttered. “Everything in New Orleans happens for a reason.”

“Yeah, well maybe this reason was so we could learn to take care of ourselves.”

“Or maybe it was another reason”, he mused. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, not wanting to discuss either of them further or the idea that it wasn’t just bad luck, the bad luck that had plagued the Craigs family forever. Oliverstared at the TV, not saying anything until he cleared his throat.

“And Thorne? You don’t smell like embalming fluid.”

Notes

I just kind of realized something that I didn't do when I initially wrote this and shit, the ideas it's given me.

Anyway, I hate to be this person, but since I feel like these sites are dead, don't be scared to comment :O or rate and subscribe