28: Rapid Pulse

“Wow. Rough night?” Monty teases.

“Ugh.” I have been either unconscious or unwell for the past two Wednesdays, but today I crawled out of bed and had the ability to force myself to get up and get to work. A feat I’m not too fond of. Is this me becoming more accustomed to Gabriel’s blood. Being able to function when I hadn’t been is unnerving.

I’m almost at a month of blood drinkings and Phillip’s taunting words of the horrific outcome of those who ingest too much vampire blood over a prolonged length of time rattle around in my brain. I need to find Tessa, because my own life is starting to depend on it.

Not to mention that the longer I’m one with the vampires the more things they’ll expect of me. Tonight is assignment number one, a business meeting that showcases a misled vampire-witch alliance. I’m not stupid and it’s not hard to figure out. Phillip wants to seem like a big bad, a dead guy that can be trusted, because he has a witch and even an entire conven on his side.

I go through the work day in a fog. I whip up a few concoctions upon request and then a few more to put out on the sales floor. I take an hour or two looking for another way to track someone down that doesn’t want to be found. And then I waste some of my time doing something I shouldn’t. I ask for Monty’s help.

I initially had planned to ask her for ways of finding someone that doesn’t want to be found, but what comes out is completely different. “Can you foresee how my night is going to go tonight?” I have an excellent idea where that came from, but I can’t believe that I let the words actually spill from my lips.

Monty looks at me with thoughtful eyes, a cunning smile and busy hands. She shuffles her deck, “I thought you’d never ask. I’ve been dying, girl.”

“Don’t make me regret this.”

She spreads the cards out all face down in a arc and then with a flick of one finger flips them all over. Like before they’re all blank. She looks at peace as she gathers them all up and shuffles them again, a thoughtless gesture that brings her joy.

I cut the deck once again and once again the first card pictures a girl eerily similar to myself with her head in the clouds except this time she is rightside up instead of upside down and the foggy haze are now solid fluffy clouds. Monty notices the differences too and notes it as me having a closer connection to the dream realm.

The second card, the gruesome gory card is still present, but now instead of completely ripped in two, the two halves of myself have stringy vines of flesh that connect the two halves as if trying to stitch itself back together.

“I was curious about this one. Seems like you are starting to take a side.” Monty says.

“I plead the fifth. Next.” This is the one I’m most curious about. Is it more prominent? Will it happen tonight? Is it gone by some miracle?

Monty flips the last card over and my heart sinks. It’s still there. Death. I slam my hand down on the card before she can scoop it up and place it back on the deck like she did last time. I really look at the card this time.

It’s an above birdseye view of the girl laying in a coffin lined with a blood red material. Her auburn hair is fanned out around her pale face. The grave is not yet packed over with dirt, the coffin lid open and a headstone just above her head.

“When? How?”

“I don’t know. Death isn’t straight forward with its prediction. Most of the cards talk to me, explain themselves, but death. Death stays silent.” She sees my torment that no doubt distorts my face. She reaches across the table to retrieve her card. As she places it back in the stack as she says, “it'll be fine. I’m not getting any vibes that scream imminent danger. Death is funny like that. Always like to play with people.”

“Yeah...play with people.” It wasn’t weird at all that she’s talking about her cards as if they were people or had feelings and thoughts. They were cards, but they were never wrong.

I shake the prediction away, “I’m going to go clean some shelves. I think the mummified aisle hasn’t been dusted in weeks.

“Okay.” Monty’s soft spoken, one word response is all I need to justify my need to get away. Her sympathy makes me scared, it hurts.

The mummified section is everyone’s least favorite. Items that have been decaying and aging in tiny little vials. Not many people know what to do with most of these items and they tend to sit and collect dust.

I hide out cleaning until it’s time to go, forcing myself to pay attention to detail and not stray to unwanted thoughts. I give a shout goodbye to Monty and exit the front as she hollers a goodbye in reply.

The sun is just starting to set as I start my walk back to my apartment. It leaves hours before my unwanted adventure later this evening. So, what better is there to do other than fuss over my outfit. Something that doesn’t take too much brain power, but enough attention to detail to keep myself occupied. That death card is still lurking over me.

I spend hours rummaging through my closet trying to find the perfect thing to wear. I would love to go in my torn jeans and army jacket, but I know Phillip and Gabriel wouldn’t approve. So it’s something dressy, but not skanky. I want to impress, not seduce.

The sun’s been down for quite some time and the darker it gets the more anxious I become. Too much time to think about things.

The soft knock on my door stops my heart as well as stopping my feet from pacing. It’s showtime. I quickly open the door ready to leave immediately only to have Gabriel’s words stop me, “Are you going to invite me in?”

“No need. Let’s get this done with.” I push past him and slam the door behind me. Yesterday’s event of extreme pain and sucking on his wrist churn my stomach. I would rather not think about that right now. I’m sure more horrific memories are about to be made and I can only hope they surpass that one.

We step outside and a familiar car is waiting out front just like when Gabriel hauled me off to Phillip’s house. Except this time, there’s a driver and Gabriel seats himself in the back with me. I keep my hands to myself and Gabriel abides by my unsaid pleas of allowing me some space.

It doesn’t take long to get there, which is disappointing. I would love for it to take hours to get there leaving less time to actually be there, present in a nightclub that could very well kill me.

The vehicle stops in front of an old abandoned skyscraper that some business either couldn’t make enough money to keep open or ditched out on for a more modern complex closer to the heart of downtown. Either way, there is no mistaking that we’re in the bad part of town.

The club is well hidden, away from innocent human eyes. But there’s always passing stories about people looking to become a vampire or looking for a vampire romance and seek out Rapid Pulse. Those people usually end up as a meal and left for dead in an alley.

Gabriel takes my arm and drapes it over his own. “We have to let others know that you’re with me. We don’t want anyone to swoop in and take you away.” He pauses looking right into my eyes, '' unless you would rather spend the evening with a different vampire, maybe a blood slave?”

“I would rather be home, if I’m to be honest.” I try not to let his taunts and jokes get to me.

“Not an option, love.”

“I’m not-”

“You will be my Love for the night.” He comes to a stop, which forces me to a stop. “You haven’t been here before, so I’m gonna let you in a small secret. You have to stake claim to things or others tend to take it...aggressively.”

I groan my annoyance only slightly afraid of his words. Would some other blood sucker just step in and call us out on our fake relationship just to take me away for themself? It’s not that hard to be completely engulfed in Gabriel, especially since his blood is freshly pulsing through my own veins. But it’s also his charming golden eyes, his too tight black jeans and classic t-shirt. It’s the easy banter that we have between each other.

What have I gotten myself into? Pleasant thoughts are the last kind of thoughts that I need right now. I’m about to walk into the biggest vampire den in the city and I need to keep my wits as well as every last drop of blood inside my body.

I let Gabriel guide me up to the infamous Rapid Pulse, because my own rapid pulse is making my legs weak and my heart race. He tightens his grip on my arm as if sensing my distress. It only comforts me a little bit.

As we take steps forward, my legs get heavier and I immediately start to rethink the heels I chose. I can do this. I can be in love with a vampire, flirt with the vampire of all vampires and not have it end in bloodshed. Hopefully.