Blood Candy (8 page)

Candy’s eyes shot up and she blurted,
“Nothing.” She wasn’t sure why the question made her react that
way. She shouldn’t have been ashamed about her feelings.

“Right. I’ve known Jimmy for a long time and I
can tell he’s head over heels for you. Don’t go breaking his
heart.”

“I didn’t plan on it.” Candy thought for a
moment. “To be completely honest, I’ve never liked a werewolf
before. I never even knew they existed until last night. It’s kind
of exciting.”

Felicia laughed so enthusiastically, Candy’s
cheeks flushed again.

“What? Some friend you are to laugh like
that,” Candy said.

“I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you or him.
Look, Jimmy is a great guy. Really, he is. I’ve just never heard
anyone talk about him like that. And I’ve never heard anyone call
him a werewolf.” Felicia had to stifle more laughter.

Feeling now that Felicia was laughing at her
for saying something so juvenile, Candy headed towards the bedroom
door. Felicia caught her by the arm.

“Don’t be mad,” she said. “I didn’t mean it.
I’ve known Jimmy for a long time and I haven’t ever seen him in
love before. At least not like this.”

“I do like him. I promise I won’t break his
heart,” Candy said.

Were-Jew yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
“What are you two doing up there?”

White Paul chimed in, “And can I
watch?”

“Let’s go,” Felicia said. Skinny as she was,
she had to jump up and down to get into her jeans. “We need to get
out of here.”

Chapter Six

Medium Dave tried to get in touch with the
Mullin Family while everyone else prepared to evacuate the Kennel.
Aside from the Pinto Jimmy and Tinch had been using, the rest of
the Misfits shared a black SUV sporting far too much chrome.
Considering the dump they lived in, Candy wondered how they could
afford a car like that. White Paul put a few duffle bags crammed
with supplies into the back of the SUV.

“We don’t need the video games,” Melvin told
him.

“But we need all of the role playing books?”
White Paul countered.

Melvin didn’t have a response. He and White
Paul had torn Candy’s cell phone apart, effectively destroying it,
which upset her to no end because she was positive Rupert wasn’t
tracking her through it. Then again, as Were-Jew had said,
“Vampires, specifically the big families, have access to vast
resources. We can’t rule out the possibility.”

Medium Dave strolled back over to the rest of
the Misfits and gave them the news. “They’ll meet with us tonight.
They said they can help us with the Brits. They know what to
do.”

“So we’re really going to walk into a vampire
nest?” Were-Jew asked Melvin. Candy waited for the answer. She
didn’t think it was a good idea either.

The leader of the Misfits pondered the
situation for a moment, his eyes darting around behind his glasses.
“I’ll go,” he said. “There’s no reason to risk everyone. I’m the
leader and it’s my responsibility.”

“You take this way too seriously,” Felicia
said, rolling her eyes. “We all go or none of us go. Misfits stay
together.”

“I made my decision.”

“Screw that,” White Paul said. Without his hat
on, his thick hair stuck out everywhere. “I’m going with you. I
have to see one of these vampire families with my own eyes.
Besides, if they try anything, you’ll need some muscle.”

Candy sighed and leaned against the SUV while
they argued. She felt bad that they had to leave their home, and
about them arguing over who should go meet with the vampires. This
was all her fault. Jimmy put his arm around her shoulder, making
her feel a little better. Medium Dave glanced between everyone as
if he had something to say.

“Shut up guys,” he said in his soft spoken
tone. After repeating himself three more times they finally shut
their mouths and looked at him. “I have to go. They agreed to meet
me and Candy.”

Candy pushed herself off the car and shook her
head. She had no intention whatsoever of meeting a vampire family.
She shivered thinking about it.

“Candy’s not going. I’m not letting her go to
a vampire nest,” Jimmy said.

“That’s the deal,” Medium Dave said with a
shrug. “Candy has to go.”

Jimmy stared at the ground while chewing on
his lower lip. “This is a bad idea. We’re not doing it. I’d rather
hide out than bring her to the vampires.”

“They’re not like other vampires,” Medium Dave
insisted. “They can help us. They want to help us. They don’t like
the Brits.”

White Paul raised a skeptical brow. “How do
you know these vampires?”

“I just do.”

White Paul didn’t like that answer. “Nobody
‘just knows’ vampires, Dave. I can tell when you’re hiding
something.”

“I’m not,” Medium Dave said without the
conviction to convince anyone. “I know Chester and his
mother.”

“His mother?” Candy said.

Medium Dave’s face turned red. He was shy and
quiet for the most part and it frustrated him being put on the
spot. Melvin tried to draw attention away from him.

“It doesn’t look like we have a choice,” he
said. “And Felicia’s right—we all go together or we don’t go at
all. Where are we meeting them?”

“Providence.”

“Then we should get going. We’ll be on the
road for at least a couple of hours.”

The Misfits made their final preparations to
leave, making sure they had everything they needed out of the
Kennel. Medium Dave made another phone call and then informed
everyone that they could crash at his parent’s house near
Providence while they were out of town. Melvin approved the plan
and they set out.

Jimmy, Candy, and Medium Dave rode together in
the Pinto while everyone else had the privilege of riding in the
comfortable SUV, which followed behind in case the old piece of
junk broke down. Medium Dave was the only one who had ever been to
Rhode Island before. According to Jimmy, he was born and raised
there before joining up with the Misfits.

Jimmy took them onto the interstate and they
rode in silence for a while. The Pinto, of course, didn’t have air
conditioning. The lowered windows rattled incessantly. Candy
couldn’t take the racket anymore and rolled her window
up.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea that I go?” she
said, her nerves on edge. As far as she was concerned, she never
wanted to have anything to do with vampires again. She didn’t care
if these vampires wanted to help, which was strange in
itself.

“You’re not going,” Jimmy assured
her.

“She has to, Jimmy,” Medium Dave said from the
back seat.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I spoke with . . .” Medium Dave
trailed off for a moment. “I spoke with someone close to the family
who knows how to get in touch with them. He insisted Candy needs to
be wherever they decide to meet us.”

“Why didn’t you just talk with one of
them?”

“They sleep during the day,” Medium Dave said
as if that should have been completely obvious. “They’ll call me
once they wake up.”

Candy thought about the situation. She put her
hand to the wound on her neck, covered now with a single band aid.
It still felt a little weird and it tingled if she pressed against
it too hard. The vampire who did that to her had already found her
once, found her cell number, was close to finding her a second
time, and he had also been in her dream. She just wanted this to
end.

“I should go,” she said reluctantly. “I’ve
already put you and your friends through so much. It’s not fair to
them. They had to leave home because of me.”

“This isn’t anything we’re not used to,” Jimmy
said. “We’ve always been at odds with vampires, especially the
Brits. This is what we’ve been preparing for.”

Candy shook her head. “How do you think this
makes me feel knowing it’s my fault? Don’t try to sugarcoat it,
Jimmy. None of this would have happened if it wasn’t for me. I’ll
go.” She swallowed, unsure if she wanted to say it.
“Alone.”

“You are
not
going alone.” Jimmy turned
to face her. There was no leeway in his eyes. “I’m here for you and
I’m going with you. We’ll get this all settled and then we can
return home.”

“I told you I have to go,” Medium Dave said.
“They don’t know you and they won’t meet you without
me.”

Jimmy peered at him in the rearview. “Are you
sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Melvin called Jimmy and told him to get off at
the next exit so they could hit up the mega-store in town. They
needed to get some supplies, but they didn’t have much money. They
ended up arguing for fifteen minutes outside in the parking lot
over what they needed. Once they had finally come to a decision,
they split up into groups. Felicia and Candy went to the women’s
clothing section together.

“Here are some shirts,” Felicia said. She
grabbed a few for Candy and herself. “Get a pair of shorts or two,
or jeans if you want. Make sure to grab a pack of underwear
too.”

Candy hoped this would be over soon; the idea
of buying a pack of panties for the road wasn’t appealing at all.
The thought of being back home with her own closet full of clothes
was sounding really good.

Nearly an hour later everyone converged at one
of the checkout aisles. Felicia yelled at the guys for not getting
deodorant and toothpaste while they were back at that part of the
store and she had to go get it herself. They crammed their new
supplies into the SUV; mostly snacks and the things Felicia and
Candy had bought. Jimmy and Medium Dave snagged a few bags of chips
to eat in the Pinto.

The trip to Providence took nearly two more
hours. Medium Dave gave directions to his parent’s house in a
suburb about thirty minutes away from downtown. Candy was surprised
when they pulled into a well kept middleclass neighborhood. She had
expected a trailer park, figuring his parents might be poor. But
the neighborhood was full of big houses and even bigger lawns, and
she wondered why he left here for the shack the Misfits called
home. Jimmy pulled into the driveway of a house with a white picket
fence and bright green grass.

As everyone exited the cars and stretched out,
Jimmy pulled Melvin aside, but not far enough away that Candy
couldn’t hear them.

“We decided that me, Candy, and Medium Dave
are going,” he said. “There’s no point endangering everyone and
Dave thinks they won’t meet with us if we all go.”

Melvin sighed, clearly conflicted, and then he
nodded. “White Paul’s going with you. For safety and because he
won’t shut up about it. The rest of us will follow in case you need
back up.”

The house they stood in front of was like
every other on the street: Two stories with a big lawn spotted with
a few trees. Flowers and trimmed bushes lined the walkway to the
front door. Medium Dave invited everyone inside, which was just as
nice as the outside, if not a bit stuffy because no one had been
there for weeks. At his insistence, everyone made themselves at
home in the living room while he went to turn on the air
conditioning. The living room had matching furniture—sofa, love
chair, and recliner—and a big flat screen television.

“I never knew his parents had a house this
nice,” Were-Jew said.

“Me neither,” Felicia said with an
appreciative look around.

“I wonder if they have anything to eat,” White
Paul said. He headed towards the open entrance of the kitchen but
then paused at the door to the back yard. “Holy shit, they have an
in ground pool.”

Felicia hustled over and pulled down hard on
the blinds. “Nice! I wish I brought a swimsuit, or bought
one.”

“That’s what we need to be spending the money
we don’t have on,” White Paul said. “Besides, we don’t need
swimsuits. You and I can party in our birthday suits later
on.”

“In your dreams.”

White Paul shrugged and went over to the
fridge. “Suit yourself.”

Candy was looking out the window in the living
room when she noticed a table lined with framed portraits. In one
of them, a middle aged woman with brown hair and a worn face smiled
in a brass frame. She must have been Medium Dave’s mother. She
looked pleasant enough, if not very tired. A photo to the right of
that one showed a teenaged Medium Dave sporting the same docile
face on an even skinnier body. Next to that was the recent
graduation photo of a young woman in tassels and robe. She
resembled Medium Dave in pretty much every way—the same hair and
eyes, the same gaunt face, and the same thin lips. She could have
been his twin. Candy had to lean close to see the next photo of a
seven or eight year old boy sitting on the back of what looked like
a moose. She squinted at the picture; it was indeed a moose and the
kid was crying his little head off.

“That’s my father,” Medium Dave
said.

Candy backed away from the table and nearly
knocked over a picture. She glanced back at the photo of the kid
sitting on the moose and noticed the one next to it was a photo of
a young man in a Navy uniform. The man in the photo strikingly
resembled Medium Dave and she presumed it was his
father.