Bloodstone Heart (7 page)

"The waitress told me to tell you she hopes you feel better. She offered to bring you some soup, if you prefer." She smiled coyly as she took a bite of her sandwich.
 
He gave her a sideways look as he sat on the bed and took a bite of his burger.

"So have we decided where we are going?" he asked.

"Well, the only place I can think to go is a friend's place near San Francisco.
 
She owns a supernatural bookstore there. She helped me find some information once that really helped me so maybe she can help us."

"Supernatural bookstore?
 
How will that help?"
 

"Well, we are dealing with a vampire. I don't know. I know she will help us if she can.
 
She's very sweet and if nothing else maybe we can stay there until we can get a handle on what this vampire thinks you have. Unless you have an idea of your own."

"I wish I did. What's left of my family is in the Midwest."

"How did you end up in Washington?"

"College. Started out in pre-med at Washington University, then changed my major to computer science and just stayed."

"Well if you prefer we could head east or northeast."

"No. I'd rather not have to explain my involvement with vampires to my parents."

"Have you ever talked to your parents about your abilities?
 
You know they are usually hereditary."

"They know about it, in fact they've been really supportive all along, but I was adopted, so they can't really help me past being supportive."

"Have you ever tried to find your biological parents?"

"No.
 
My parents gave me the name of my biological mother, if I wanted to pursue it, but I never really wanted to deal with all the emotion of it."

"I guess I can understand that, but they may be able to help you deal with your abilities."

"Maybe. So where is this place we're headed?"

"It's in a town called Oljone.
 
It's near the coast, north of Santa Cruz and south of Halfmoon Bay."

Josh pulled out his iPhone and typed in Oljone, CA and a Google map came up.
 
He was able to zoom out and figure the best way to get there. "Looks like we can take Highway 5, cut over to 80 into San Francisco and make our way to Highway 1 down the coast.
 
It should be a nice ride. Not terribly long, but beautiful scenery."

"Great."

"So are you going to tell me what you were doing in the alley when you touched the ashes? I mean, all this time I've been telling you about me, and you've really not offered much info about yourself."

"Sorry about that. It's not intentional, just habit, I suppose. It tends to freak people out, so I mostly keep it to myself."

"It can't be that bad."

"You may not think that after I tell you, then where would we be?” she said.

"I don't think there is anything you could tell me after what I've seen in the last week that is going to change my view of you. I mean, I've supposedly seen two vampires, one of which I accidentally killed and now I have another following me.
 
You don't suppose they were brothers or something and he's after me because I killed his brother, do you?"

"I don't think so. That doesn't really mesh with what I saw."

"What you saw?"

"Yes.
 
You asked me what I was doing touching the ashes. I was seeing the scene that played out, like a movie. I am psychometric. I can see past events by touching an object or person, in this case, the ashes of the person."

"Oh, and what did you see?"
 

"I saw pretty much what you told me, but from his point of view.
 
There really wasn't much of him there anymore, so his last event was all I could see."

"So if his body had been there you would have seen more?"

"Probably.
 
Of course it had been a week, so maybe not much more than what I saw with his ashes."

"Were you able to get any other information from him?"

"Just that, like you said, he was looking for something.
 
I got the impression he had stolen it or that it wasn't originally his and that seemed to panic him more."

"So have you always had this ability?"

"No."

"No? You weren't born with it, like me? It's not hereditary?"

"No."

"Can you elaborate?"

She pursed her lips, hesitating, but she knew he was right, she had learned a lot about him and she had not offered him much about herself. She feared that with this new information, Josh wouldn't want to have anything to do with her, as had been the case with so many others when they’d found out the truth.
 
She knew, though, that if she kept isolating herself she would never find the one person that would look past her abilities and love her for the person she was.
 
She hoped with all her heart that Josh was that person. The fact that he too had an ability that made him feel isolated from others might be the common ground needed for love to bloom.
 
She took a deep breath and continued, reluctantly.
 

"When I was thirteen, I was in a car accident with my parents.
 
They both died in the accident and I was in a coma for two months.
 
When I came out of the coma, I was terrified. I had no idea where I was, everything hurt, and my parents were nowhere. When the nurse came in to check on me, I grabbed her forearm, and like a streaming videotape in fast forward, I started seeing faces and things unrecognizable to me. I was so scared and I couldn't turn it off, it just kept coming and coming.
 
Images and clips of a life that wasn't mine until I saw an image of her in a mirror and realized it was the nurse's life I was seeing, every tiny detail.
 
That's when I realized that she was screaming and I looked down at my hands.
 
They were gripping her arms so tightly that my nails had dug into her and she was bleeding.

"The doctors all thought I had some kind of brain damage from the accident or the coma or a combination of both and well, they put me in the psych ward for several months.
 
That's where I learned that if I ever wanted to be out of the psych ward I would have to keep my visions to myself.
 

"Eventually I was released and lived with my mother's sister's family until I went to UC Santa Cruz to get a degree in Art. I've not been back since leaving college and they've not called or tried to contact me since I left. Guess I spooked them too much with my stint in the psych ward.
 
Guess they thought I'd get up one night and kill them all like Michael Myers in
Halloween
. They were happy to see me leave."
 

"Wow. Here I was moaning and groaning about my life and you have no one. You must think I'm an ass."

"Not at all, Josh. It's not a competition. When you touched me that first night, I knew we had a lot in common. I saw the isolation you had surrounded yourself in to keep out the voices, but I didn't want to say anything, because that's the kind of thing that sends people running from me."

"I wouldn't have run from you, Lanie."

"You don't know that. No one can ever say how they would react until faced with the situation head on."

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have run.
 
You are the only one I find any peace with."

"What do you mean?"

"You're like a buffer to all the voices. When I’m with you I feel like I am encased in a bubble and the outside world is not wreaking havoc with my mind. I'm comfortable with you like I've never been with anyone else, including my parents. Everything about you is comforting to me; your eyes, your smile, your art, and even your apartment.
 
I guess that's why I fell asleep there.
 
I hadn't really slept in a week and twenty minutes with you and I'm passed out like a hibernating grizzly bear."

"That's awful sweet of you to say, but . . ."

"But nothing. I'm not saying this to make you feel better; I'm saying this because it's the absolute truth. There's nothing about you that makes me want to run away. In fact I can't really even explain how glad I am you are here, on the run with me. I feel bad about drawing you in, but I'm glad just the same. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead by now if it weren't for you."

"Please don't say that, I couldn't stand the thought of you being dead. We're not going to let that happen.
 
We'll figure a way out of this, somehow. But I'm glad you know about my ...condition.”

"I also wanted to tell you that while you were packing I touched the back door knob.
 
The glass was broken and I figure that is how the man got into your house."

"And, were you able to get anything from it?"

"Not much. He has a great ability to control his mind and he cloaks it well.
 
He is looking for something, the same something that the dead vampire was looking for. I got the sense that the item had been stolen from him or that he strongly felt it was his. He is definitely a vampire and the words
black orchid
jumped out at me.
 
Does that mean anything to you?"

"No. I haven't a clue."
 

"Hmmm. I guess we will figure it out. So you are okay with my ability?"

"I'm more than okay with it.
 
You're a really good friend for helping me like you have and I appreciate everything you've done."

“A friend...good...I'm, I guess...that's great," she said and smiled at him, but something told Josh he’d said something wrong, although he wasn't sure what. "So Josh, since I don't have any clothes and I'm beat, do you think I could borrow a t-shirt or something to sleep in?"

"Yeah, no problem. I promise tomorrow morning we'll get you anything you need. In the meantime, you're welcome to use my toothbrush."

"No, that's okay. That's pretty personal, but if I could have some toothpaste, though, that would be great."

"Sure.”
 
He went over to the duffle bag and pulled out a clean flannel shirt and a beat up tube of toothpaste that looked like it had been squeezed to death. “Sorry about the toothpaste.
 
I left my groceries at your place and toothpaste was among the items."

"No problem.
 
Thanks for everything, Josh.
 
You've been a good friend to me too." She smiled sweetly at him as she took the items and retreated to the bathroom. After about five minutes, she came back out looking incredibly sexy.
 
Josh was astonished to find her looking so incredible in his crummy old shirt, but she did.
 
The shirttails came down almost to her knees and the sleeves were rolled up to her forearms.
 
Her hair hung loosely all around her angelic face and her heavenly blue eyes sparkled in the lamplight. He'd never seen anything more beautiful as she turned away from him and set her clothes down on the chair.

"Do you have a preference of sides?" she asked.

"A preference of sides?"

"Which side of the bed do you prefer?”

"Oh! I guess I never thought about it. Any side is fine."
 

"Okay then, I guess I'll take this side."
 
She pulled the bedspread off and got the extra blanket that was in the closet and put it on the bed.
 
While she did this, Josh went in the bathroom to brush his teeth. He noticed a small pair of white cotton panties drying on the towel rack.
Dear Lord, she doesn't have any panties on under my shirt.
 
How am I ever going to get to sleep tonight?
he thought.
 

When he came back into the room, the only light on was the one lamp on his side of the bed.
 
He went to the door and made sure it was locked and came back to the bed. He stood there, his back to her, and took off his shirt, then turned halfway towards her and said, "I usually sleep in my boxers, is that all right with you? Otherwise I could..."

"Of course it's all right.
 
Geez, Josh.
 
Get comfortable."

"Yeah, okay."
 
He unbuttoned his jeans and let them drop to the floor as he sat on the edge of the bed taking his shoes off and slipping the pants the rest of the way off.
 
Thankfully his back was to her as he was a bit excited and was a little embarrassed by the evidence.
 
He was able to slip under the covers without her noticing. He turned off the light and lay on his back in the pitch darkness with his eyes wide open.
 
It wasn't that he wasn't tired, he was, he just couldn't get the sexy mental image out of his head of her coming out of the bathroom in his shirt looking so beautiful, and then finding her panties in the bathroom.
 
It would be a while before he could relax enough to sleep.
 

He couldn't see her in the darkness of the room, but by the direction of her voice he knew she was turned facing him when she said, "Goodnight, Josh. Sweet dreams." She ran the back of her gloved hand lovingly along what now was a full out beard.

"You too, Lanie."

Chapter 6