He stands for a moment and examines me, his hands on his hips. Then, he opens thedoor.
"Go out of the building. Perhaps it will take effectthen."
I shake my head. "I won't leave if it means I'llforget."
"Eve," he says, and I can hear the frustration in his voice. "You have to forget. You don't want the life you think you're committing to. It killed your mother. It's killed everyone like you. Now go. If I must carry you out and throw you onto the street myself, Iwill."
I cross my arms. "Fine."
"You are a brat. Perhaps I should spank you before I take yououtside."
"I'll fight you," I say, standingfirm.
"Don't temptme."
He doesn't smile. Instead, he grabs my coat and backpack and takes my hand, pulling me along with him out of the office, down the hall to the stairs. He doesn't even look at me while we descend as if he'sangry.
Then he drags me to the front door of the building. Outside, the street is deserted and he opens the door, throwing my coat and backpack on the landingand pushes me down the steps. I make it down the first two and despite the fact I've taken years of dance and martial arts and should have better balance, I trip and fall on the last step, going down on my hands and knees, scraping my palms on the roughcement.
"Shit!" I struggle to stand, looking at my injured hands. They’re scuffed and scraped. Thin lines of blood seep out of the deeper cuts. I cradle them against my body, breathing in deeply from the pain. There's just been so much emotional shit happen to me tonight, I can't fight tears and once more, my eyesbrim.
I turn around and face the door, staring through it but see only darkness. I hold up my palms to show him, because I'm sure he's standing there in the shadows of the entry watching to see if I do forget him. Well. Sorry, you prick. I rememberyou.
"You are a bastard," I say, hoping to hurt him. I wipe my eyes on the backs of my hands and bend down to pick up my coat, shrugging it on with difficulty because of my injuries, then I use my thumb to hook the strap of my backpack because I can't bend myhands.
I'm miserable as I walk down the street to the bus stop, wondering when I'll start forgetting, vowing to start my own journal online just in case he comes after me one day and makes me forget. I want a record of everything. My mother kept meticulous notes, and I realize now how important it would be to have a journal and to update itregularly.
While I'm struggling to regain control over my emotions, he walks up wearing a long black coat that resembles a cassock, a messenger bag over hisshoulder.
"Sorry to have to tell you this," I say. "But your little trick with the Vulcan mind meld didn't work. I remembereverything."
"No, it's me who's sorry." He takes my hands and examines them, clucking his tongue in disapproval. He looks in my eyes. "What kind of a prick would do this toyou?"
He bends his head to my palm and then he licks the cuts. I gasp and try to pull away, but I can't. He's so strong, his grip like iron. There's a brief bright sting from the wetness, but then his tongue soothes it and the pain is almost gone. He moves to the other palm and repeats this, his tongue following the cuts, dipping between my fingers. I'm horrified that a vampire is licking my cuts, tasting my blood. Will he now go all batshit and start biting myneck?
When he finally lifts his head, his face has changed. His eyes have become red rimmed, bloodshot, his pupils huge, his teeth sharp and long, his lips stained with myblood.
"Oh, Eve, now look what you've made medo…"
* * *
Chapter 3
"Isit better to out-monster the monster or be quietlydevoured?"
Nietzsche
"Come."
He takes my arm, pulling me away from the bus stop. When I try to fight back, he stops, his perfectly-square jawtensing.
"What are you doing?" I say, standing myground.
"I'm not letting you go home on the bus with injured hands." Then he takes my wrist and for some reason my ability to resist flags and he leads me towards a darkened parking lot, my body compliant even if my mind stillrebels.
Oh,hell. Is he taking me there so he can finish what he started? Fear surges through me, chokingme.
"Don't be afraid," he says and stops again. "I don't kill humans anymore. I killvampires."