Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (39 page)

"Zoey!"

It was memory Kylie.
 
She ran from behind the corner, wanting to help her friend.
 
The man let Zoey drop like garbage.
 
He grabbed Kylie by the neck in a single fluid motion with one hand.
 
There was no care, no gentleness, like with Victoria.
 
He forced her to the ground and straddled her as he sank his fangs into her shoulder.
 
Her body seemed to disappear under him.
 
A small moan escaped as her legs shook.

"Am I…?" Spirit Kylie said, crying.
 
"Enjoying—?"

"It's an involuntary reaction," Alex interrupted.
 
"You couldn't help it."

Kylie turned, not wanting to watch the vampire violate her.
 
He took her blood, her control, her life.
 
Alex almost felt a tear coming on as well.
 
The vampire drank with no regard for Kylie's life.
 
Zoey lay next to her, blood pouring from her neck.
 
Her eyes stared up at the night sky.
 
It felt like the scene went on forever, but in reality only twenty seconds passed.
 
Kylie's body went still.

Alex put a hand on Kylie's back as she leaned over and cried.
 
He didn't know what else to do.

Zoey screamed as she sat up.
 
Her eyes flashed red, only for a second, before turning their normal shade of green.
 
She kicked as she scooted away, knocking over a plastic recycling bin.

Everyone involved in the memory was amazed, except Alex.

"Well," the man said.
 
"This is a surprise."

It was the first time Alex heard him speak.
 
There was a slight accent to his voice.
 
It was at odds with the behavior he displayed.
 
Even, thoughtful, almost pleasant.
 
It didn't match his youthful appearance.

"Relax, Zoey," he said, reaching for her.
 
"Please, calm down."

Zoey fought.
 
She flailed and kicked as her back pressed against the wall.
 
The man easily caught her wrists and gently ran the back of his fingers down her cheek.
 
Where she would have enjoyed the gesture minutes ago, now she only cringed.

"Do you know what a rare gift this is?" he asked.
 
"I knew there was something special about you.
 
I saw it when you danced, when you laughed.
 
But I never dreamed…."
 
He trailed off and smiled.
 
"We have a lot to talk about."

Zoey's face lit up at the sight of her best friend.
 
Kylie lay motionless, only a few feet away.
 
Her mouth opened and closed slowly, her eyelids fluttered.
 
But that was all.

The alley faded in and out quickly, like a power spike killing a TV.

"What's happening?" Kylie asked.

Alex struggled to speak.
 
"You're still alive here, but not for long.
 
The brain is going.
 
This memory won't be far behind."

Kylie took a deep breath.
 
She seemed to be handling everything better than Alex.
 
It saddened him to know they were at her last moments.

"My last memory."

Zoey held Kylie in her arms, crying into her shirt.
 
She leaned her head back and sobbed hysterically, revealing large fangs.

"Zoey, you have to drink," the vampire said.
 
"Warm blood is the best blood.
 
Your friend…she's gone."

"You fucking killed her!"

"And you'll be dead soon, too, if you don't learn.
 
Listen to me."

"No!"

The alley faded again.
 
When it returned, Kylie was flat on the ground with Zoey on her knees next to her.
 
Her face was still a mess, a mix of grieving and vampiric features that she couldn't control.
 
Her eyes turned back and forth from red to green.
 
She seemed more receptive to the stranger, who squatted next to her.

Their words were broken, incomplete.
 
The last words Kylie would hear in the living world.

"…so thirsty…."

"…more noise than I would have liked…get rid of the body…take care of you…."

The alley faded one final time, taking Zoey and the vampire with it.
 
Kylie's body disappeared.
 
Alex cast a sideways glance to Kylie.
 
Her face was passive, unreadable.
 
He knew they were back in the living realm, away from Kylie's memory.
 
Still, he couldn't resist rejoining it and running his hand along the wall, just to make sure.

"Are you okay?"

He regretted the question as soon as it left his lips.
 
She laughed sarcastically.

"Okay?
 
I'm not sure what that is anymore."
 
She squatted and stared at the spot where her body lay, where she died.
 
"What the
fuck
did we just see?
 
Why am I dead, but Zoey is alive?"

"It's not like the movies," he explained.
 
"Not everyone becomes a vampire when they get bit.
 
But it looks like Zoey is one of them."

"I tried to tell her."
 
Her voice rose.
 
"I tried to
help
her!
 
And that's what happens?
 
I get killed?!"

Kylie paced, her hands balled into fists.
 
She stared at the ground and refused to look up.
 
Various noises of rage and disgust escaped.
 
Alex was quiet.
 
It was best to just let her be.

She stopped and swung at the wall as hard as she could.
 
Her fist passed through, and her balance along with it.
 
She fell, her legs sticking out.
 
Any other time, it would have been a funny sight.
 
Alex reached through the wall to help her.

"Get off me!" she said, after he pulled her up.
 
Her expression quickly softened.
 
"I'm sorry, it's just…she was my best friend.
 
I don't know how I feel right now."

"It's okay.
 
I'm here for you, and Nate is, too."

"Did someone say my name?"

They jumped at the sound of his voice.
 
They turned to see Nate standing five feet away.
 
If Alex didn't know any better, he would have thought the ghost was tired.
 
Nate's shoulders were slumped, his movements slow.

He noticed the solemn expressions on Alex and Kylie's face.
 
He approached her, concerned, but stopped short of touching her.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.
 
"What did I miss?"

"Did you find Zoey?"

"Yeah, I caught her.
 
Actually, it's more like she finally decided to stop running.
 
Damn, that girl can
move
.
 
Can all vampires do that?
 
She ran across rooftops, jumped across buildings, fell two stories to the ground.
 
I thought she was going to parkour her way all the way to Canada.
 
If I wasn't in such good shape—"

"What about Lisa?
 
Detective Nash?"

Nate shook his head.
 
"I didn't see her.
 
I don't know where she is.
 
There's no way she was keeping up with Zoey."

"Okay," Alex said.
 
"Let's go see her."

Kylie shrugged.
 
"Why?"

Alex and Nate looked at each other.

"We still have some questions," Alex said.

"Oh yeah?
 
What?
 
What could possibly matter now?"

Alex would never understand what Kylie was going through.
 
At least not until he was brutally murdered and found out his best friend was involved.
 
He knew Kylie was hurt, devastated, but he felt she'd regret it if they gave up now.

He could think of a few questions for Zoey, but one stood out above all the others.

"How about where is the vampire that killed you?"

Kylie sighed and relented.
 
She brushed hair out of her eyes and lowered her head as she moved past them, taking the lead.

"Fine, whatever.
 
Let's go."

Nate held up his hands.
 
"Whoa, what?
 
A vampire?
 
Killed Kylie?
 
It wasn't Zoey?
 
What did I miss?
 
Can someone fill me in here?"

Nate led Alex and Kylie through Stewardtown.
 
Night was rapidly passing, but there was still the occasional car on the road, the pedestrian on the sidewalk.
 
The trio was quiet as they walked.
 
Alex didn't have the energy to try to lift Kylie out of the mood she was in.
 
Even Nate was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself.
 
Kylie kept her eyes forward.
 
She adjusted her glasses occasionally, and her lip twitched once.

After ten minutes of walking Nate pointed to an overpass up ahead.
 
The sides sloped up, were full of graffiti and broken glass.
 
Near one of the columns supporting the road above Alex could see a figure sitting.
 
Zoey sat on the other side of the column, away from the road and the eyes of a driver in a hurry.
 
Her legs were bent, her head buried between her knees.

"Hiding out under an overpass.
 
Like a troll," Kylie said, her tone laced with venom.
 
They were her first words since leaving the maze of alleys near the club.
 
"Somehow, it's fitting."

Alex took the lead.
 
Kylie and Nate drifted behind.
 
They whispered amongst themselves.
 
Alex never would have believed it, but he was once again thankful for Nate's presence.
 
The young ghost was more helpful in ways Alex never would have thought, not the least of which was making Kylie smile, even if that chore was impossible at the moment.

They could only see the top of Zoey's head, but that was enough to know she was a mess.
 
Her hair was wild, with spots of blood speckled across her neck.
 
She'd been crying, judging by the way her entire body heaved.

"I don't have any change," she announced suddenly.
 
"And mugging me isn't a good idea."

"That's okay," Alex said.
 
He reached up and felt the cuts on his face.
 
"Do you have a band-aid?"

She glanced up at the sound of the familiar voice.
 
Her eyes were green again, her fangs gone, although dried blood was streaked around her mouth. Her lip quivered, and she looked to be on the verge of falling apart.

"I
smelled
you coming, if you can believe that."

"I believe it."

"I…I almost
killed
you.
 
I'm so, so sorry."

He sat next to her.
 
He didn't realize how exhausted he was.
 
His body ached and throbbed as he slid down along the column.

"Actually, no you didn't.
 
I'm tougher than I look."

"Yeah, I'll bet.
 
Are you a different kind of vampire?
 
One with wings?"

"There's not really a word for what I am."

She nodded and wiped tears away from her eyes.

"It's not like you think," she said.
 
"There's nothing great or glamorous about it."

He glanced up at Kylie for direction.
 
Did she want to talk to her best friend?
 
Yell, scream at her?
 
Forgive her?
 
She only stood next to Nate with her arms crossed, her gaze full of hate.

"I know some of what happened that night.
 
I know you were attacked, and Kylie tried to help you."

Zoey's face wrinkled as she hid in between her knees again.
 
She sobbed, unable to speak for nearly a minute.

"He was so cute, funny, smart.
 
Kylie didn't like him right away.
 
She knew, she warned me.
 
And I didn't listen.
 
Everything that happened that night was my fault."
 
She looked at her hands, at the blood on them.
 
"I deserve this.
 
But why did Kylie have to die?"

Alex regarded Kylie, to see if the ice was breaking.
 
Nothing.

"He bit us both," Zoey said.
 
"He killed her, but I became a vampire.
 
He said it's very rare.
 
I…I didn't know what else to do.
 
I helped him.
 
I helped move Kylie's body to the river.
 
He said the water and animals would hide any trace of his…our kind."

She paused, letting her words hang in the air.
 
Nate kept a comforting hand on Kylie's shoulder, who remained silent.

"He wanted me to leave town with him.
 
He said he'd take care of me, teach me.
 
I told him to go fuck himself.
 
He just laughed and told me I'd be dead in a month.
 
I stayed in my basement, away from the sun.
 
I tried eating food, but it just tastes weird, and I threw it up.
 
I haven't eaten or drank anything in weeks.
 
I told myself I could fight it, that I didn't need to drink blood.
 
But that's a lie.
 
I was so thirsty.
 
So I did what he did.
 
I met a guy at the club and lured him outside.
 
I told myself I wouldn't kill him.
 
I would only take just a little.
 
But…."