Kissing Corpses (6 page)

It said three words. “For your boyfriend.”

I ran to my bedroom and shut the door, examining the package for an address. It wasn't mailed. It had been hand delivered. I shoved the box in my closet and sat down on the bed. Who knew that I was seeing Rawdon? Who knew what he was?

It occurred to me that I wasn't the target. The odds of someone stalking me figuring out that my new beau of three and a half days was a vampire, were very slim. It was far more likely that someone who already knew he was a vampire, had found out that he was seeing me.

My head pounded and I laid back against the pillows. I was in way over my head. I had let myself rush into a relationship with an honest-to-God vampire.

There was a knock on my bedroom door. Geneva peaked in. “Was someone at the door?”

“I was just getting fresh air,” I said.

Geneva was half-dressed for her job at the library. She was wearing slacks and a tank top and was holding a sweater in her hands. “Oh,” she said. “Shouldn't you be in the shower?”

“Not going to work. Too tired.”

“Hmm, wonder why,” she said with her eyebrows raised.

“Not now, Gen.”

“Alright, Grumpy McGrumperpants. Go back to bed. I'll see you when I come back from work.”

She shut the door. I rolled onto my stomach and shoved my head under my pillow. It didn't help. All it did was make it harder to breathe. I finally wriggled back under my still-warm covers and curled up in the fetal position. It took me twenty minutes of listening to Geneva slamming cabinets and worrying about the package before I could fall asleep.

When I finally climbed out of bed, it was one in the afternoon. I made a PBJ and ate it in front of the television while I watched a home improvement show. When my lunch was gone and the show was over, I was forced to think about my predicament.

I had hoped to spend a few nights by myself, getting back into a reasonable sleep schedule and catching up on my reading. Now I knew I was going to have to call Rawdon tonight. If the package had come from another vampire, I didn't trust that I would be safe. Were all vampires as nice as Rawdon? His maker hadn't been.

At three there came a knock on the door. The irrational thought that it might be Rawdon passed through my mind before I remembered that the sun was out. I smoothed down my hair before opening the door. My little brother, Noah, was standing on my doorstep with a large fast food bag in his hand.

“Oh, sis. The not-showered look doesn't even work for Ke$ha.”

“It's a sick day,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“Gen called at lunch, said you were burning the candle at both ends because of some guy who rescued you from a mugger.” Noah pushed right past me and set the bag of food on the coffee table. “What have you eaten today?”

“Peanut Butter and Jelly,” I answered. “You don't need to be here.”

“Here. I got you grilled chicken. Eat it. PBJ is not enough.”

“Peanut Butter has protein,” I said.

“Fabulous. So you'll be twice as strong. Sit down.”

Noah and I, despite being nearly four years apart, are mistaken for twins all the time. He has the same flushed lips, thick lashes, and ghost-white skin as me. He has Dad's blue eyes, though, and he highlights the tips of his hair. When we were kids it was pretty easy to tell that I was older, but differences in age become less distinguishable as you get older.

“So tell me about this Rawdon guy. Gen says he's cute.”

“He's very well dressed,” I said. “You'd like that.”

“And?”

“And he's British,” I added.

“How are his teeth?” Noah asked, crinkling his nose.

I imagined Rawdon smiling with a set of those cheap plastic fangs that kids wore at Halloween. I hadn't actually seen his fangs, I realized. Were they retractable? “His teeth are nice.”

“So when do I meet him?” he asked.

“I don't know,” I said. “He's really busy during the daytime.” I unwrapped the chicken sandwich and took a big bite. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to tell Noah about Rawdon because I wasn't incredibly proud of how last night had gone. I had been a virgin when I met Cody and we had dated for a year before things became physically intimate. I had known Rawdon for three days and I had already hopped into bed-- or rather, the shower-- with him.

I reached in front of Noah to grab my glass of water from the coffee table. He put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me.

“What's on your neck?” he asked.

I froze. Had Rawdon bitten me? I had spent so much of the previous night slipping in and out of awareness. What if he had bitten me while I was in my head.

“That is one enormous hickey,” he said.

I sighed in relief.

“You'd better put some concealer on that one.” He made a face.

“Oh, like you've never had a hickey,” I argued.

“You're my sister. I'd rather not imagine you sucking face. Thanks.”

“Oh but I just needed to get over it when I walked in on you and your roommate--”

“Enough of that,” Noah said, shoving a french fry towards my face. “Eat.”

I pushed the fry away and took a gulp of my water.

“Anyway, if this guy is going to be a serious thing, I'll have to meet him.”

“I don't know if he's going to be a serious thing,” I said.

“Oh?”

“It's complicated.”

“How complicated?”

“He... he's very busy. And my work hours aren't very flexible.”

“If he's really into you, he'll find the time.”

I shrugged. It had been really fun, the first couple of dates, to have someone so into me. Now I was wondering if he was more into me, than I was into him.

“This reluctance to date Mr. Perfect doesn't have anything to do with Cody, does it?” Noah asked.

“Don't you have class?”

“Just remember, you dumped him.”

“This has nothing to do with Cody, alright?” How could I explain to Noah that I wasn't sure about my future with Rawdon because
he was a vampire.

“And no,” he added before taking a long sip of his soda. “I don't have class. It's Tuesday. I have absolutely nothing to do.”

“How nice.”

We finished eating in silence. Noah knew me better than anyone on the planet and he had ordered my sandwhich just right-- no pickles and mayonnaise instead of ketchup and mustard. My headache faded to the background with a little food and water in my system. I was caught up on sleep, but I had the feeling that I would have a hard time getting rest at an appropriate hour that night. Then there was the problem about the UV gun in my closet.

“Everything alright?” Noah asked as he bagged up the papers from our lunch.

“I got pistol-whipped three days ago. It's gonna dampen my mood for a while.”

“Alright,” he said. “Well, I'd better go. I may not have class, but neither does Tim.”

“He has a girlfriend,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Beard. Trust me. I can tell.”

“Well, good luck with that.”

“And good luck with your new flame. Maybe you should take a few days to clear the headache and then give him another chance.”

I nodded, but I knew that I wouldn't be giving it a few days. If someone else knew about his secret, and they were involving me, I had to speak to Rawdon as soon as the sun went down.

Half an hour until sunset, I was on the verge of a melt down. The anxiety of waiting was driving me up a wall. I had eaten an early dinner of toaster waffles and turkey sausages, reorganized the pantry, and folded an entire load of socks and underwear. I finally picked up my phone and dialed the one number I should have taken off of speed dial.

“Hello?” Cody Hunt answered the phone.

“Hi... uh... Cody...”

“Kendall?”

“Yeah. It's me. I'm not on your caller ID?”

There was a heavy sigh on the other line. “No, I removed your number two months ago so I wouldn't call you next time I had too much to drink.”

“Oh. Well... I was wondering if you had my green sweater around your house somewhere. You know, the one with the belt?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Kendall,” his voice got sharp, “I moved into this house in June. You dumped me in August. There's no way you left a heavy sweater here.”

“It was kind of cold and wet in June.”

Another sigh. There was a long break before he spoke again. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you're okay,” I said.

“I'm fine. I'm great, actually. Three months. I was pretty okay with never hearing your voice again.”

Ouch. “You don't have to be mean.”

“It's not mean. I'm not going to pine over someone who dumped me for the rest of my life. I'm a grown-ass-man,” he said. “So why are you really calling me. Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine,” I said. I looked out the window. The sun was starting to duck behind the horizon. The street was cast in an orange glow. “Really.”

“Great.”

“It's good to hear your voice,” I added.

“Listen, Kendall. I have to go, okay? I have dinner plans.”

“A date?”

“On a Tuesday?”

“You never know.”

“It's not really your business anymore. I have to go, Kendall. Bye.” He hung up.

I thought that calling him would make me feel better. It didn't. The last time we had spoken, he hadn't sounded nearly as angry. I guess a lot had changed since August.

I realized that I still didn't have a phone number to call Rawdon. I knew his address, though, so I tried dialing information. There was no land line listed for the address. By the time that little investigation had failed, the sun was completely set. A knock came at the front door.

Geneva beat me to the door. Rawdon was standing on the stoop with a red rose in his hand.

“She called in to work today, you know,” Geneva informed him. “You've gotta let the poor girl get some sleep.”

“I'm fine,” I said, pushing past Geneva.

“You don't look ill to me,” he said.

“Just tired,” I replied.

Rawdon bent down and kissed my cheek with his cold lips.

“I'll put this in water,” Geneva said, taking the rose delicately with two fingers and heading off to the kitchen.

“We need to talk,” I said to Rawdon the moment Geneva was out of ear shot. “A package came this morning.”

I took his hand and guided him to my bedroom. I shut the door and locked it to avoid any interruption from Geneva.

Rawdon stood at the foot of my bed and watched as I opened the closet and pulled out the box. I had thrown the wrapping paper away, but kept the bold tag.

“This was on my doorstep this morning when I called in to work,” I said, dropping the box on the foot of the bed. Rawdon looked down into it. His nostrils twitched, and then he made a sound like a short hiss. When I looked up at his face, his fangs were bared.

I had not seen his fangs until this moment. Most people expect vampire fangs to be the canines. At least, I did. I was surprised to find that instead of elongated canines, he had sharp incisors. He looked like a snake, ready to attack.

“Your teeth...”

Rawdon put his hand over his mouth. When he moved it away, his teeth looked human once more. “Sorry. I had a moment... I guess I got defensive.”

“I didn't realize it would be those teeth,” I said. “Movie vampires always have long canines.”

“Like dogs? Yes. That's a misconception. Dogs can do it because of their elongated snout. It would be rather hard for a human mouth to bite any of the major arteries with the fangs so far back,” he said. “Except maybe the wrist. But neck and thigh would be hard to reach.”