Thirst (4 page)

I had no choice
but to reach out and find it.

I shuffled up the
driveway to Peter Brannigan’s house warily, not knowing what to
expect. My grandmother hadn’t given me much information other than
his name and address, and the assurance he could help
me.

Carl strolled
along beside me; being outside in the fresh air made it much easier
for me to avoid sniffing at him like a hungry wolf. I felt a lot
more human in the daylight; the thirst was weakest in the
afternoon. The sun wasn’t particularly good for me, but I was pale
skinned and red-headed; the same could be said for anyone with my
complexion.

Peter’s house was
in a nice area with lots of families, dogs, and unnecessary
7-seaters. Safe from the other world; the one most of his
neighbours didn’t believe in. Even safer than the world I lived in,
with its dirt and crime. Going from my home to Peter’s was like
passing through a portal into another dimension. Strange, that the
person who could help me lived in the middle of a
suburb.

Uncomfortable
about suddenly welcoming so many humans into my life, I hesitated
at the door. I glanced at Carl who stood too still, staring at me
with emotionless eyes. I screwed up his life, so I had to fix it. I
rang Peter Brannigan’s doorbell before I could change my
mind.

A man answered
the door, and I found myself appreciating his appearance. He wasn’t
pretty like Carl, or as tall, but something about him seemed so
safe and solid that I wanted to tuck myself under his arm and be
protected.

He was young
enough, maybe thirty, but his eyes were old and weary. Combined
with the long scar across his chin, I just knew he’d seen more than
his fair share of trouble. He had cropped sandy brown hair, and
hazel eyes that stared into mine until I flushed red. I realised I
had been so busy crushing on him that I hadn’t even heard his
heartbeat or smelled his blood. I figured he must be Peter’s son or
something.

“You looking for
someone?” he said, his eyes flashing between myself and Carl. I was
sure I didn’t imagine his eyes lingering on me.

“Uh, yeah,
sorry,” I said, getting my head together. “I’m Ava. I was given
this address and told to look for a Peter Brannigan. I have a, uh,
problem I need some help with.” I hoped I didn’t sound like too
much of an idiot.

He stared at us
both for a couple more seconds, his eyes sweeping over me
appraisingly once more before he nodded, his face
unreadable.

“I’m Peter, come
on in.”

As soon as I
stepped over the threshold, a bright light zeroed in on me,
accompanied by a loud alarm.

“What
the...?”

Peter’s
expression turned to horror and then rage as he lifted his arm. I
stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before realising he had hit
me. Hard. My brain signals finally caught up, and white hot pain
seared through my jaw. I tried to sit up, only to see Peter fling
Carl off his back like he was possessed. He jumped on me before I
could react. Pinning me to the ground, his face contorted with
anger making him look psychotic. I was too shocked to struggle. The
siren stopped, but I was still seeing lights.

“What did you
do?” he snarled. “Force some sorcerer to make a talisman that lets
you move around during the day?” He shifted until one knee held
down my arm while the other leaned too hard on my
throat.

“What? No, what
are you talking about?” I gasped for air, panicking when I realised
his position was cutting off my air supply. “I can’t breathe, get
off me!” I swatted at him ineffectively, unable to take a good
swing.

“Yeah right,
bloodsuckers don’t breathe. Who sent you, bitch?”

His eyes
darkened, and I slowly realised he would be happy to see me die
right there on his floor. I struggled against him, frantic, and
grabbed at his shirt sleeve until it exposed Celtic symbols
tattooed on his biceps. My eyesight blurred from the lack of
oxygen; I was too panicked to find his weak spot. Just in time,
Carl pulled him off me and tossed him aside easily, much to my
relief. I sucked in air too quickly for my lungs to cope with,
setting off a minor coughing fit.

“Don’t hit Ava
again,” Carl said sternly, pummelling Peter in the stomach
repeatedly.

Good
minion.

I managed to shut
the hall door so none of the neighbours could see the scuffle then
crawled over to the men, my head still spinning from being punched
in the face.

“Stop now, Carl,”
I said. He did, but Peter jumped toward me again. Carl grabbed his
shirt and pulled him backwards before he could reach me. I tried to
act like I hadn’t just shrieked like a teenage girl.

“Just hold him
like that for a minute,” I told Carl, my heart pounding hard. “I’m
sorry Peter, but he’s going to keep hitting you if you keep
attacking me. It isn’t his fault. Like I said, I have a problem I
need help with.”

Peter snarled at
me, his face twisted with hate. He spoke a few words under his
breath in a language I wasn’t familiar with, smirking slightly. I
couldn’t understand what he was saying, but his face fell in
surprise when nothing happened.

“Look,” I said,
getting as close to him as I dared. “I don’t know what just
happened, but I’m guessing you think I’m a big, bad bag of scary.
Well, I’m not. At least, not exactly. I don’t want to hurt anyone.
I just want to be left alone. But I need help with that. This big
guy pinning you down? He’s Carl. I think I accidentally made him my
servant or something. I need it to stop. Like now.”

Peter’s eyes
pierced into mine. For a second, I was hopeful, but the hateful
sneer he sent my way snapped me back down to earth.

“Please,” I said,
my voice shaky.

“Why would I help
you?”

“Because Carl
here keeps offering me his neck, and I’m getting thirsty. If you
have any kind of compassion, you’ll help him out.”

“So drink then.
That’s what you do, right?” He sounded so scornful and cynical, I
felt my hackles rise.

“None of your
business, is it? Point is, I don’t want a servant. I want Carl
gone. Can you help or not?”

“Get off me,” he
told Carl, perhaps feeling his lack of macho at being held down in
his own hallway.

“It’s okay, Carl.
Let him go. He’ll be good.” I hoped.

Carl nodded, and
let go of Peter, who immediately stood up and tried to tower over
us. I was still too wiped to even bother standing up.

“I don’t know who
gave you my address or why you’re really here, but you need to
leave. Now.”

“You’re not going
to help,” I said, seeing the look on Peter’s face. I had no idea
how to spend another hour with Carl, never mind another
night.

“Why the hell
would I help out a vamp? I don’t know how you’re managing to get
around during the day without frying, but the alarm doesn’t lie.
Get out before I blind you with holy water.”

“I’ve done
nothing wrong, alright?” My panic made me defensive. He was
supposed to help us, not freak out on me.

“Yeah, except
enslave this poor sod,” he said, gesturing at Carl.

“That was an
accident!”

“Leave.” He
clenched his fists, his jaw tautening with anger. I knew better
than to waste my time reasoning with hatred. I was on my own. I
couldn’t believe he was ready to let Carl die. I had been so sure
he would help me, I hadn’t even imagined what I would do if he
didn’t.

Carl and I walked
home together in silence as I thought about Peter and wondered if I
could have handled it better. I wiped away a few tears of
frustration and tried to figure out my next move, but there was no
Plan B—Peter Brannigan had been my only hope.

As soon as we got
back to my place, I dove into my freezer for some ice. My face hurt
like hell. I winced as I held a towel full of ice cubes against my
cheek, sorely regretting not getting a punch in. I heated up some
leftovers in the microwave and once again made Carl sit as far away
from me as possible. My jaw made it hard to eat, but I had to chew
through the pain if I wanted Carl to survive the rest of the
day.

Carl kept looking
at me anxiously. “It’s okay,” I said, sensing he was worried about
me as part of the whole vampire-minion bond thing. “Everything’s
going to be okay,” I told him, but I didn’t believe it. I kept
forcing food into my mouth, swallowing hard to get it past the lump
in my throat, surprised by how emotional I felt.

A knock at the
door soon interrupted our meal. I was so depressed I didn’t even
remember to look through the peephole. As soon as I opened the door
and saw Peter Brannigan standing there, I backed away in horror
lest he punch me again. His lips curved upward with a grim sort of
amusement. I put on my game face and acted as snarly and
vampire-like as I could. It was kind of hard with a swollen
face.

“What do
you
want?” I said, crossing my arms and letting my fangs show
purposely for one of the few times in my entire life. He took a
step backwards in disgust. I retracted them hurriedly, not having
the energy to keep scaring him. He waited a few seconds then came
closer again.

“I followed you
home,” he said, looking over my shoulder into my apartment. “Big
lunk’s still alive, I see.”

He brushed past
me and came inside, glancing around the room and picking up a book
I had left on the coffee table. Carl watched his every
move.

“Come on in
then,” I muttered, shutting the door.

“Tiny
place.”

“Yeah, well, we
can’t all live in a big house with a white picket fence. Wouldn’t
do my reputation any good. So, did you want something in
particular? Or were you just passing through and felt like hitting
something?”

His eyes
narrowed. “I wanted to see where you live so I could kill the whole
nest. But I see you’re a loner.”

“You came to kill
the whole nest and decided to knock first?”

“Well, I knew
there had to be humans here too.”

I didn’t tell him
he would never have found my place if he meant to do me harm,
thanks to some of the protection spells scattered around my home.
Instead I shrugged and sat down to try and eat the rest of my food.
Peter smelled really good, and I was hungry. Best thing for me to
do was distract myself with human gluttony.

“Lunch for two?
How sweet,” Peter said, but he was frowning. I wondered why until I
realised that vampires probably couldn’t eat human food. I waited
for him to speak, but he was too busy inspecting the room like he
wanted to buy the place. He came across as cocky, but I caught an
underlying scent of fear. A couple of minutes later, he had calmed
down significantly.

“Listen, I don’t
know what your game is, but it isn’t fair to leave the big fella in
the middle of it, seeing as he has no control over his
actions.”

I snapped my head
up to meet his eyes, afraid to hope. He sounded deadly
serious.

“You’re going to
help me? Really?” I said, still cautious.

“Not you. Carl.
He’s human. I help humans. They deserve it.”

I lowered my
head. “Of course,” I murmured. I didn’t care about his attitude,
helping Carl would in turn help me.

“I have to warn
you; any sign of you misbehaving, and you’re dead. I’ve killed
vamps before, doing it again won’t be a problem for me,
alright?”

I nodded, but I was thinking: who
is
this guy? “So do you know what
I did? How I can fix it? Is there a spell I can do or
something?”

“I’m not sure how
you managed to do it accidentally, but I have a friend who’s in the
know,” Peter said.

“What?” I
couldn’t believe it; he didn’t have a clue either. “You’re supposed
to be the man in the know. What the hell is this? You trying to set
me up or something? Got a buddy who wants to punch a girl
too?”

To his credit, he looked momentarily
ashamed, but then shook himself out of it. “I’m a hunter. I go
after bad things. I’m not all up on the facts on vampires, alright?
I know a good bit, but it isn’t like we have a friendly little chat
before I stake them, you know? But the man I mean, he runs a
bookshop. If
he
doesn’t know
then I’m betting one of his books will help. You want to see him or
not?”

I chewed for a
few minutes. I had nothing to lose, not really. He thought I was a
full-on vampire, sure. But he didn’t know that things like holy
water and silver crosses didn’t affect me, so even if he did attack
me again, he might do something that wouldn’t hurt me. If I could
run then he wouldn’t catch me. Besides, I had to do something about
Carl.

“Okay,” I said at
last. “I’ll see your friend. But remember, if you hurt me then Carl
will hurt himself trying to help me out.”

Peter nodded,
giving me a quick smile that jerked my insides upward. I was pretty
disgusted with my reaction. Only I could be attracted to a man who
hated my guts on sight.