Double Take - A.J. Cole (classic fiction txt) 📗

that explained how she’d gotten in, although the girl was frankly tired of her home being treated like Grand Central Station. Next: she’d been rude to the woman all week, hanging up on her, ignoring her calls, making snide comments about distasteful relatives – all right, that explained all the meaningful glaring. Finally: why had her mother come by in the first place? Ah, that one had no answer, so she took a deep breath, steeled herself, and cleared her throat.

“Before you say a word, young lady,” said Mrs. Martin, “I’d like to know how you got blood all over your clothes.” She held up her daughter’s shirt, the one she’d been wearing on Monday and which (naturally) she hadn’t bothered to try washing yet.

Arissa fumed. How was she supposed to answer before she could speak? Sometimes her mother’s logic eluded her. She raised an eyebrow, hoping the woman would realize the foolishness of her request.

“Well?”

Never mind. “I thought I couldn’t say a word. I mean, how can I answer you before I say a word, mother?” She was tired, cranky from fainting at unexpected moments, and couldn’t explain the stains without lying.

“Are you trying to be clever?” Mrs. Martin raised the shirt higher. “Just explain this.”

“I – all right. Remember I told you my car stalled? Well, when I went to lift the hood, the latch got stuck, I lost my balance and fell, scratching the crap out of my shoulder.”

“I figured something like that had happened, knowing how good you are at distracting yourself so badly you invariably get injured. What I want you to explain is why you didn’t bother trying to get the blood out right away. This shirt is ruined!” She dropped it on the floor, her disgust palpable.

“Wha – are you serious? That’s what you’re upset about? And why are you here in the first place?”

“Tell me, Arissa, is one of your classes this semester ‘Mastering Parental Disrespect’? Because if it is, I refuse to continue to pay the tuition for it. Now sit down and tell me what in blazes has been going on. Why have you been avoiding me all week?”

Deciding she needed to sit down anyway, the girl threw herself onto the sofa and crossed her arms. “Nothing. And the only reason I’ve been… hard to reach is because I’m swamped between school-work and work-work.” She shrugged, hoping her words sounded both sensible and convincing. “I guess the stress got to me and I didn’t feel like dealing with anything else.”

“Like your mother?”

Why did the woman always have to make everything about her? “No, Mom, like people in general. Conversations. Whatever. All I wanted was to get through the week, finish the paper that’s due tomorrow, and not get fired for terminal exhaustion at my job.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. Maybe I’ll fall asleep, she told herself, and Mom will give up and go away.

But no, that didn’t happen. The sound of a foot tapping was followed by steps approaching, and her mother plopped down beside her. Which was odd, because the woman never “plopped” anywhere. She was too proper for that. Yet there she was, plopping like an old pro. Arissa opened her eyes and turned to regard her with surprise.

“Don’t look at me like that.” The older Martin stifled a yawn. “You’re not the only one who’s tired. And dinner was awful, thanks for asking. Your cousin’s obnoxious sense of self-importance is equaled only by her mother’s insistence on turning everything into an excuse to brag about how much better they and their daughter are than everyone else – including us.”

For some reason, it had never occurred to Arissa that her parents had as big a problem with that side of the family as she did. “Wow, Mom. Looks like we have something in common after all.” She giggled.

“We do, indeed. That insufferable – ugh! I’m sorry, but I’ve never liked my sister-in-law. She comes from a family that’s nothing to boast about, but because her father won the lottery about a year before she married my brother and then died, leaving all his winnings to her, she seems to think that her unearned windfall makes her royalty.”

“And of course, she gave Trina princess lessons.” She almost added, “Hang in there until the next full moon, Mom – I’ll take care of them both!” but realized in time how stupid that would be to say. Not that she wasn’t going to consider doing it…

“The worst part is that Vic goes along with all of it.”

“Uncle Vic is okay, though, Mom. Even though Aunt Lila is a total bitch, I believe he really loves her. Don’t ask me why, but I’m sure he does.”

Mrs. Martin sighed and got to her feet. “You know, I think this is the nicest conversation we’ve had in a long time. The longest, too.” She smiled.

“I agree. Sorry for being such a pain, Mom. Seriously. And I promise to try and get the stains out of my shirt.”

“Oh, don’t bother – it’s hopeless at this point. Promise you’ll do your other laundry, and I won’t say another word about it.”

Arissa stood and gave her mother a quick hug. “I promise. Thanks for coming by.”

“Stop turning your phone off, please.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Her mother gave her a bemused smile, rolled her eyes, and left.

Too worn out to care about anything except sleep, she decided to forego the shower, television, everything. Instead, she headed for her room, removing articles of clothing on the way. Kicking off her underwear and tossing her bra at the window for no reason, she fell into bed, pulled up the covers, and in seconds was fast asleep.

Next thing Arissa knew, the alarm was going off, startling her awake. The sun was up, explaining why the clock was yelling at her; she groaned, still tired but no longer bone-weary. She flailed at the blankets in an attempt to get up, but only succeeded in getting so tangled that she tumbled, helpless, off the side of the bed, still cocooned and exasperated.

“Do you always wake up like that?”

She screamed.

“Sorry.” Leander offered an apologetic grin.

“I thought you were going to email me from now on!”

“I am. I did. But you didn’t reply so I decided to come by and talk to you instead.”

“Oh my god! When did you send it? Three minutes ago?”

“No, last night.”

“Uh-huh.” She struggled to a sitting position and leaned back against the side of the bed. “I suppose it never occurred to you that I might have gone to sleep, being mega-tired and all, remember? What time is it?”

He looked at his watch. “Seven-fifteen.”

“Crap. Look, I have to get ready for school. What is so doggone important that you had to… wait a sec. How, exactly, have you been getting in here? The door is always locked and I’m on the third floor.”

He pointed at the ceiling.

“God lets you in?”

“No, Riss, I climbed down from the roof.”

She gave him a crazy look. “On the outside of the building?”

“Well, yeah.”

“You’re a lunatic, you know that?”

“No, I’m a werepire. I can scale stuff.”

She frowned. “Wouldn’t that be un-scaling? And aren’t you afraid someone will see you?”

“Not really. I mean, so what? Who’d believe them if they told somebody?”

“Your grammar is atrocious. Okay, I can’t do this. I have to get going. I suggest you wait outside.”

“Why? Are you going to blow something up?”

“Fine.” She breathed heavily through her nose for a moment, fuming, then stood and let the blankets fall around her feet. Her bare feet. Bare – like the rest of her. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Leander? Some privacy please?”

“Uh – uh, I – uh… ”

She was as well put together as a model, if she did say so herself (and she did, frequently); Leander obviously thought so, too, if the way he was gaping was any indication.

“Leander. Hello? LEANDER!”

He gulped, turned bright pink and sat down suddenly, placing cupped hands quickly over his lap.

“Un-believable.” Arissa went to the dresser and took out clean underwear, pulled her outfit from the closet, and left the room, heading for the shower. She made sure her laughter would unmistakable even with the door shut and the water running.

Fifteen minutes later she was clean, dressed, and ready for a quick cup of coffee and some cereal before heading out to class. When she entered the kitchen, she found Leander sitting at the table refusing to look at her.

“Coffee?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a simple word, really. Refers to a stimulating beverage. Or have you already had enough stimulation for one day?” She smiled sweetly at him and grabbed the carafe from the coffee maker.

“Look, Riss, I’m sorry, okay? I – I should’ve at least knocked or something. Guess I’ve gotten used to being able to go wherever I want, whenever I want.”

“So you break into people’s homes on a regular basis, do you?” She finished rinsing out the carafe and filled it with fresh water, which she poured into the top of the machine.

“That’s not, well, not regularly. Just when I’m, I mean when there’s a full moon, and, and if, if it’s….damn.”

Arissa measured the coffee into the filter basket, humming something not even she could identify, and started the brewing cycle. “Hungry?”

“No.”

She took out a bowl, a spoon, a box of sugary cereal her mother would have grounded her for even thinking about eating, and milk. “Suit yourself. I’m starved.”

Halfway through her repast the coffee stopped dripping and she got up. “Interested?” She got up and lifted the pot at him.

Leander shook his head, but he wasn’t looking at the carafe.

“I was referring to the coffee.” Miffed, she poured herself a cup and returned to the table. Her annoyance wasn’t with him anymore. What was getting to her were her feelings toward him.

“Listen. The reason I came over was to tell you that Vlad wants to meet with you as soon as you’re done with school today. He said to tell you he’d be waiting in the parking lot. The full moon is only two days away, and he wants to make sure you’re ready for what will happen to you.”

“I see you’ve regained your command of speech. Good. So I’m going to turn into a vampire. And?”

His jaw tightened for a second. “Sort of. Actually, werepires are more dangerous than vampires, especially when they’re new, because they have the tendencies of both creatures.”

She took a sip of coffee. “’Splain, Lucee,” she said in her best Ricky Ricardo.

“We have the strength, speed, agility, powers and appetites of both, but not in equal measure as you might assume. This combination is actually more of a double-dose. That means we’re twice everything they are singly.”

“Hmm. Ummmphn.” She swallowed her cereal and tried again. “Ah. I see. So we’re twice as blood-thirsty, twice as animal-like, twice as fast, twice as strong… you’re nodding. Great. So I’m actually Arissa the Supersonic Werepire, eh? I can scale tall buildings at a single scamper, drain humans in half the time of a normal vampire, rip someone to shreds with my bare teeth, and uproot inconvenient parking meters, right? Yay, me.” She finished her meal in silence, wondering what would happen if she were ever caught.

“I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong, you know. And incidentally, most of those abilities are there even during non-full-moon days. That’s why it’s so important that you talk to Vlad. He can train you, show you how to cope, how to avoid doing what you just described.”

“I thought we had the best of both species. Didn’t someone tell me that?”

He shrugged. “We do.”

“So it depends on how you define ‘best’ I suppose.”

“May I ride with you to school?”

Why is he changing the subject? “You might. Or you could just run behind the car – I’m sure you’ll be able to keep up.”

“That’s not funny.”

“As funny as the look on your face when I dropped the blankets.”

He buried his face in his hands, groaning.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

“No it’s not.” His voice, while muffled, managed to sound