American Monsters

“Do your principles hate pillows?” Amber asked. “One night where you can sleep in a bed, behind a locked door? One night when you’re safe? Are you really going to turn that down?”

“Safety does sound nice …”

“Come on,” Amber said. “I’ll even get you a room with a shower.”

“A shower?” Clarissa said, skipping back to Amber. “For realsies?”

“For realsies.”

“Golly!”

They stepped into the manager’s office and Amber got Clarissa a room key.

“Meet you for breakfast in the morning?” Clarissa asked, swinging the keychain around her finger.

“We’ll probably be gone by then,” Amber said. “We tend to leave early.”

“Oh,” said Clarissa. “Well, okay then, so I guess this is goodbye.”

“Guess it is.”

They looked at each other.

“You’re a really nice person, Amber.”

“And you’re pretty cool.”

They hugged, and Clarissa went to her room and Amber strolled back to hers. But, right before she slid the key into the lock, she heard the fluttering of clothes from somewhere above.

Glen.

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AMBER SHIFTED AND CLIMBED on to the Catching Z’s roof. She saw him watching her, pale in the saturated night. Thin. Had he always been this thin? She couldn’t be sure. The weak breeze didn’t stir so much as a strand of his brown hair. His face, frozen now in his eighteenth year, was mournful.

She moved towards him and he turned.

“Stop,” she commanded.

He hesitated, one foot over the edge of the building.

She bit her lip, and reverted. All horned up, she had a tendency to shoot her mouth off, but something like this required a little more empathy. “Why are you doing this?” she asked gently. “You’ve been following us since Cascade Falls. You followed us to Alaska and back. I’ve checked online. I’ve seen the reports in the towns we’ve passed through. I know you’ve been killing people.”

Glen didn’t move. Didn’t turn. Didn’t answer.

“Milo thinks you’re following us because Varga’s dead, and you don’t have a – a vampire family. Is that true? Is that why?”

She moved a little closer. “Glen, you helped me in Desolation Hill. You took care of Kirsty. Thank you for that. But you can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep killing and you can’t keep following us. You helped me, but I can’t trust you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re going to do – if you’re going to help me or attack me. Maybe if you’d talk to me, you could make me understand.”

Glen offered no response.

“I don’t know what it’s like to be where you are right now,” Amber said, softening her voice. “Milo says … he says vampires don’t have a soul. Glen, if he’s right, I have no idea what you’re going through.”

A whisper passed on the breeze. She couldn’t be sure where it came from.

“I want to help you,” she said, “but I don’t know how. I don’t know if I’m able. Glen, I don’t even know if this is still you. I want to believe it is, but I’ve got no way of telling if you’re here because you feel you belong with us, or if you’re just obeying some vampire instinct. Help me. Talk to me.”

A moment passed, and Glen stepped off the edge and vanished.

Amber waited to see if he’d return, but after a few minutes she started to feel silly, and she went to her room and locked the door.

She showered, finally washing away the last of the bogle juice, and put on shorts and a T-shirt. She sat with her back against the headboard, iPad on her lap, and logged into the Dark Places forum.

TempestROCKS said …

Anyway, I gotta go to bed. Peace y’all!

Sith0Dude said …

Night, Temp!

Mad Hatter99 said …

Bye!

Ima gonna go 2.

The Dark Princess said …

Hiya

Sith0Dude said …

Don’t go, Hatter, there’s no one else chatting. I’ll be all alone.

Mad Hatter99 said …

Princess! Welcome back! Haven’t seen you in AGES!

The Dark Princess said …

Been busy! How you doing?

Sith0Dude said …

Hi, Dark Princess.

Mad Hatter99 said …