9

hen you mentioned that we were staying oceanfront, I pictured something different,” said Evonne. She stepped further into the room, hoping that the place had more to offer. But her first impression was right. This was nothing more than a motel room with a view. The setup was even similar to the other motels. She was hoping to see beautiful condo with separate bedrooms and a large bathroom with a Jacuzzi.
Upon entering the room, the bathroom sat off to the left and a kitchen nook to the right. Further in sat the two full beds and a round table with chairs. Unlike the motels, the TV sat in an armoire next to a long dresser and mirror. At the far end of the room, a wall of heavy curtains hung closed. Evonne dropped her bag and pulled the curtains to the side. An old sliding glass door stood between her and the balcony. Giving a gentle tug, she opened the door and stepped onto the balcony. The warm, salty breeze greeted her. Everything leading up to this moment dissolved away. She stood there, arms folded on the railing and her entire senses taking it all in. As long as she had this balcony, their room could be filled with roaches and she wouldn’t care.
Emery’s first look yielded a more honest response. “You could’ve spent a little more for a better place.”
Gabriel replied as he placed his bag on the nearest bed. “Check-in times for those places are usually during the day. This place has a 24 hour check-in time.”
Emery gave a nod. “Good point.”
Evonne’s eyes scanned up and down the beach. She saw a long, fishing pier north of the hotel. The lights along the pier shimmered over the waves below.
Gabriel joined her on the balcony, also taking in the view. “Well, what do you think?”
Evonne keep her eyes on the surf as she replied, “I don’t care that the hotel is a dump. This right here is worth it.”
“Ah,” said Emery, stepping outside with them, “spring break may be over, but you know what May brings? College students and high school seniors. Good times ahead.”
“The real madness doesn’t begin until the last half of the month,” Gabriel reminded.
“Oh, the Memorial Day Madness.” Emery smiled. “Much better times ahead. I can smell the excessive hormones and alcohol now.” He pointed to a human jogging on the beach. “Ooo. Early morning jogger. I love those health nuts.” He then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. He offered the pack to Evonne. “Want one?”
She waved it away. “No thanks.”
Emery place the pack back in his pocket.
“Why even smoke?” she asked. “It’s not like our bodies can absorb the nicotine.”
“It’s more of a habit. Our bodies can still be susceptible to certain drugs, as you found out. It’s just finding the right ones.” He took a draw off of his cigarette. “Too bad heroin has no affect. She was my favorite. I even tried using a human to filter it for me. All it did was make the blood taste funny. But I know there has to be something out there that hasn’t been stumbled on yet.”
The conversation held little interest for Gabriel. He went back inside to prepare the room for the day.
“What also affects the taste?” asked Evonne.
“Diseases, obviously.”
“Could we be carriers?”
He laughed. “Not that I know of. We’re not like mosquitoes, all buzzing about. Blood borne diseases need something living to survive in. And I think our bodies like to kill those things off. Imagine if that weren’t the case. There would be epidemics, pandemics, and every sort of ‘demic’ running rampant around the world.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Right? There’s no right or wrong about it. It just is.” He turned around and leaned against the railing. “You need to come with me to Paradise Noir sometime.”
She finally looked at him. “Paradise Noir?”
“It’s a club, a human club, where very interesting humans flock to. Think of it as a haven for human vampires.”
“There’s no such thing.”
“Au contraire.” He grinned. “They think they’re ‘real’ vampires and we are the fictional kind. Some like to play dress up, while others believe they are the real deal. Oh, I met this one guy there who called me a poser. He makes me laugh.”
“Why do you go there?”
He shrugged and took another draw off of his cigarette. “Different reasons. The humans are fun to watch, and a few of them actually partake in drinking blood. Granted, it’s not much and they’re not allowed to do it in the club. They’re just so fascinating. They also have murder mystery nights. Each one has its own theme. The 50s gangster night was a hoot. That’s actually how the club started. It was more of a nightclub where humans dressed up according to the theme of the night. But that also welcomed the underground scene.”
Evonne tried to wrap her mind around the club’s concept. “Any other ‘fictional’ vampires go there?”
“A few. But we have our own rules. No one can know what you really are, and we have to keep out of trouble. We’re shadows and nothing more.”
“I think I’ve seen a documentary on those kind of people before. It was around Halloween one year. I’ve always wondered why they worshiped vampires.”
“Oh, they don’t worship us. At least the true believers don’t. They believe they are ‘true’ vampires. And some even have homemade fangs. Those things are so cute.”
“They actually use them?”
“Nah, they’re just for show. The bacteria in the human mouth makes it too dangerous for them.”
Evonne rested her chin on her folded arms as she stared at the surf, once more. She sighed at the peace of it all. The glow of morning began to hit the horizon, casting the ocean and beach in cool blues.
“I wonder how long I can stand here,” she said to herself.
Emery leaned over the railing, looking at the horizon. “I’ve played this game before. It’s reminiscent of Chicken.”
Again, she had no idea what he was talking about. “Chicken?”
“It’s a fake out. Two cars are driving towards each other. The first person to veer out of the way loses.”
“What happens if they both veer at the same time, the same way, and they still hit each other?”
“Then I guess they’d be dead chickens. But this—waiting for the sunrise—the first to seek shelter loses.”
“Did you win?”
He flashed a quick smile. “Three wins and one loss.”
“What happened when you lost?”
“It’s like your skin starts to sting, like you’re covered in a blanket of hot needles. You know those pin things that you can press to your face and it leaves an impression?”
“I’m not sure what that is.”
“It’s like this plate with these pins—” He waved away the explanation. “Anyway, after the initial sensation, your skin heats up and starts to blister, like toasting a pig with a blowtorch.”
Evonne narrowed her eyes at him, unsure of his analogy. “A pig and a blowtorch?”
“Just something I saw on the internet. I don’t know what the sun does after that, I was already running cover when the blisters started cracking open. Nasty sight.”
“What did you lose in the bet?”
“Five-hundred dollars and I had to get a new piercing.”
“I’m afraid to ask.”
“Oh, on my penis, of course,” he answered, flicking the ashes off his cigarette.
Evonne’s eyes widened at his candidness.
“There’s different types,” Emery went on to explain. “What I have is called an apadravya. It’s like a Prince Albert.”
“Ooo-kay,” she said, uncertain at the direction of the conversation. It had already crossed the ‘too much information’ line, but she didn’t stop him. Her morbid curiosity wanted him to continue.
Emery held out his hand and made a fist. With his other hand he began to demonstrated the placement of the piercings. “Horizontally through the head is called an ampallang. But this way, vertically, is called apadravya. It’s real pleasurable for the ladies cause it reaches that special place. And having both piercings is called a Magic Cross. You wanna guess why?”
Evonne forced herself to respond. “I can imagine why.”
“You wanna to see it?”
Before she could stop him, Emery began to unfasten his jeans.
Gabriel stood in the doorway and ordered, “Both of you, inside. We need to secure the curtains.”
Emery was undaunted by the interruption. “Hey, Gabe, have you ever seen an apadravya before?”
“Inside,” he repeated.
Grumbling, Emery refastened his jeans and stamped out his cigarette. These two fuddy-duddies needed to loosen up. And here he thought fun followed this pair everywhere they went.
After they stepped inside, Gabriel and Emery removed the thin comforters from the beds and added them to the curtains. Though the curtains sealed out most of the light, the comforters acted as extra protection.
Evonne sat on the bed nearest to the balcony, silently claiming it as her own. She wanted to sleep as close to the ocean as possible. She didn’t have enough time to let it all soak in. On the long drive here, each stop at a gas station sent her skin crawling. The anticipation was the greatest she had known in a while.
As Evonne tried to sleep, her body remained awake. Evonne blamed her restlessness on her new anticipation to walk along the beach. But the conclusion didn’t fit. Her body could barely sense the morning sun, or even call out in hunger. Shuffling over the many possible reasons as to why, she quickly discovered the answer; Saros’ blood.
The strength of her blood allowed Evonne to ignore the pull of the sun and silenced her hunger. But other urges boiled forth as she lay next to Gabriel. She wanted to act on her body’s pleas, to help pass the day, but the extra guest in the room kept her hands idle. Another thought also quieted Evonne’s playful intentions. As with the blood bond she had with Gabriel, he kept her blocked, a stark contrast to the bond she once shared with Demetrius. And now in the midst of Saros’ blood, Evonne wondered if she had some type of bond with her. Could she read her thoughts now?
Evonne buried her face into Gabriel’s shoulder as she tried to clear her mind. No bad thoughts, no bad thoughts.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered.
She replied, her voice muffled against him, “It’s nothing.”
A small dog in the room next door began yapping.
“I know when there’s something bothering you,” he quietly said.
Evonne turned her head. She didn’t want to talk about this now, not with Emery “sleeping” on the other bed.
She finally spoke. “Can she find us here? I mean, find me.”
“Why would she want to?”
The dog’s barking stopped for a moment, then continued, faster than before.
“But can she?” Evonne asked.
Emery answered her. “Saros knows all and sees all. She is the epitome of a deus ex machina. When you least expect it, bam, she’s there. And if that fuckin’ dog does not shut up, I’m going to break down this wall and ring its scrawny neck!” He sat up and gestured to the wall. “Seriously! How can anyone sleep with that yapper?”
“You said you wanted to tag along,” Gabriel pointed out. “So I had to pick a place that allowed pets.”
“Oh, ha-ha.” Emery flopped back down on the bed. “I hope that dog wiggles off the leash tonight.”
Evonne looked over Gabriel’s chest to see Emery. “You’d kill a family pet?”
“Hell yeah I would. It’s just a dog. They’ll get over it.”
“You’re not going to kill the dog,” said Gabriel, keeping his eyes closed. “You kill the dog and I’ll rip out all of your piercings, starting with your new one.”
Emery glanced over his shoulder. “Is that a promise or a threat?”
“Try it and find out.”
“Well, well, Miss Evonne,” quipped Emery. “You better keep your dog on his leash. If he keeps barking like that…”
“Sorry,” replied Evonne. “He doesn’t have a leash.”

In the room next door, a small, tan dog continued barking as his owners decided to spend the entire day on the beach. The little dog was normally a quiet one, but his nerves were frazzled by a tiny fly that buzzed around the room.