Love Nip (21 page)

“
One day you will be allowed to walk the grounds, but for now, there are other activities you can partake in,” he answered as he strolled closer to where I stood.

“Such as?”

He was but a foot away. I could smell the liquor on his breath as he spoke, “We have cable.” His eyebrows went up as he silently waited for me to argue.

I walked over and plopped dow
n on the sofa. The old, scratchy fabric irritated my skin. Once Hessley decided that the fight was over he disappeared. I looked around the small room where I would be spending most of my time while I stayed here. The walls were covered in wood panels all the way to the light tan archaic carpet. The longstanding curtains had seen more than I could possibly imagine. The TV was a box, weighing at least a hundred pounds. I laid my head back and sighed. I missed my cell phone, and my apartment, and … my boyfriend.

It must have been sometime in the afternoon when Maggie strolled into the house. I say must have been because I was unable to find a single clock in the entire house. Maggie held multiple tan bags in her arms as she burst through the door.

She gave me a questionable look. “You mind giving me a hand with these?”

I realiz
ed I was still just sitting on the couch, watching her struggle. I stood quickly and took a few of the bags from her arms. After I followed her into the kitchen, I set the bags on the counter and we unloaded them together in silence. I didn’t know what to say. I felt depressed and dirty. When I had made the deal with the devil, I didn’t realize at the time what I was getting myself into. Even though the situation was dreadful, I didn’t regret my decision. Ezra was alive and that was enough payment for a lifetime in that house.

“Do you want some lunch?” Maggie asked as she placed
some canned vegetables in the cabinet.

“Sure.”

I helped her sort through the remaining groceries and put them away. She then took out some bread, jelly, and peanut butter. Taking out two plates, she placed two slices of bread on each. I watched as she carefully prepared the PB&J. I felt sad as I thought about the fact that watching her was the most exciting thing I had done all day.

“So they let you come and go as you please?” I asked as she smothered peanut butter across the bread.

“Yep,” she answered then looked up at me. “It wasn’t always like this though. At first it was sad and boring, but at least I had Charlotte.”

Her comment confused me
. “Charlotte? I thought you two hated each other?”

She smiled
. “We used to, but I guess being here brought us together. We became good friends.”

“So why don’t you go home?” I
asked curiously as I sat down across from her.

“Like you, I made a deal with Hessley. If I don’
t honor it then …” she trailed off with a sad look in her eyes, “… well, you know.”

I nodded. I did know, all too well.

“Have you had to do any spells for him?” I asked.

She slid a plate across the counter
. “Before Charlotte left, we tried doing a few spells. But nothing since then.”

I dropped my sandwich back on my plate. She didn’t know that Charlotte was dead. A s
ick feeling rose within me. I was about to have to tell this girl that her friend was dead.

“Maggie,” I stopped and thought carefully how to explain, “what was the deal you made with Hessley?”

She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed slowly as she thought back. I could tell we shared the same feelings about striking a deal. “For starters, he had to free the coven. My friends and family would be safe, and Charlotte of course.”

My heart raced
; I knew what was coming, but I had to know. “What about Charlotte?”

Maggie swallowed down her sandwich and smiled
. “Her freedom from here.”

I felt faint. It was as if a cold breeze passed over my body. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to tell this girl that
the deal she made was broken. Tears filled my eyes as I said the awful words over and over in my head.

“Emily, are you ok
ay? What’s wrong?” she asked as she crossed over and stood next to me.

Tears rolled down my face as I told her the grave news
. “Maggie, my deal with Hessley was to leave the coven alone forever.”

“I don’t understand
.”

I shook my head
, unable to tell her there was more. “He never gave them their freedom.”

She thought for a second
. “That lying son of a—”

“
There’s more,” I interrupted.

“Ok
ay,” she said as she sat down next to me.

“Charlotte is dead,” I explained.

Her soul was crushed. The perky girl went from happy to hopeless within seconds. Her eyes stayed dry as she thought it over in her head. “How?”

“When we found her
, she was dead. She had a vampire bite mark on her neck.”

Maggie clenched the table until it snapped under her hand. She stood and began to walk out.

“Maggie, I’m so sorry,” I called out to her as she left.

*
**
*

I decided to give Maggie the rest of the afternoon in peace. After hearing the
traumatic news she locked herself away in our room. I sat in the living room, watching sitcoms until nightfall. After turning the TV off, I walked over to the door and listened. I didn’t hear any sounds so I knocked on the door. I heard her scramble around in the room and then it sounded as if a piece of furniture was knocked over.

“Maggie?” I called out. “Are you ok
ay?”

The door suddenly swung open and there stood Maggie, cheerful as ever. The sight of the happy girl caught me by surprise. 

“What’s going on, are you okay?” I asked.

She looked around in the hallway
before pulling me into the room. I thought that maybe she had cracked. There were candles lit all around the room. On the other side of the bed was a large, white circle with a giant book placed directly in the center.

“Maggie?” I felt confused. I expected her to be crying her eyes out
, not reading on the floor with dim lighting.

“My momma didn’t raise me to get mad,” she started with an evil gleam in her eye, “she taught me to get even.”

I laughed a slightly confused and worried chuckle. Had she gone mad? “And how exactly do you expect to get even with a vampire?”

She took my hand and led me into her circle. After being seated
, she patted the floor next to her. I sat down next to her and waited. I hoped whatever she had planned wouldn’t take long, the hardwood floor felt uncomfortable beneath my butt.

“
The last time Hessley needed a spell he made the mistake of leaving this spell book behind.” She smiled, flipping through the pages of the book.

“What spell are you thinking about doing
?” I asked, intrigued.

“I’m not sure yet. The problem is that most spells work only on the living. Since Hessley and his men are dead
, it’s going to be more complicated.” She silently read a spell on the paper with careful thought.

A brilliant thought crossed my mind and it was difficult to contain my excitement
. “I have an idea.”

After finalizing our plan, we slept horribly. We whispered all night with nerves on full throttle. The more we went over our strategy the more we felt confident that it would work. It had to work. I fell asleep at about three in the morning, and woke a few short hours later. Surprisingly enough, I felt full of energy and ready to face the day. After taking a quick shower, I searched for Maggie. I found her in the kitchen making breakfast.

“How did y
ou sleep?” I asked, plopping down on a stool.

She looked over at me with a ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ expression plastered on her face. The bags under her eyes were twice the size of my own. She continued stirring something on the stove.

“You want some help?” I asked willingly.

“Sure, can you cook?”
she asked.

“Define cook.”

She laughed. “All right, well can you work a toaster?”

I stood and walked over to the toaster. I played around with it for a minute and made a few pieces of toast. The first two ended up burnt
, but after turning down the temperature the remaining two turned out perfect. I opened the fridge and searched for butter and jam. I placed the two, and the toast, on the table. After grabbing two plates and silverware I set the table. By the time I finished breakfast was done. We sat silently and ate our food. I placed the dirty dishes in the sink and walked into the living room to watch TV for a little bit while I waited for Hessley.

“Hello
, my dear. I need to go out for a bit, is there anything you need?” Hessley asked as he walked into the living room.

I smiled sweetly at him
. “Now that you mention it, there are a few necessities I need.” A few minutes later I sent Hessley away with a shopping list that would make even a dead vampire blush. You know, the items that normal females need; shampoo, conditioner, tampons …

As soon as I was sure Hessley was gone
, I ran into my room and slammed the door as hard as I could. I waited a minute and opened the door.

“Rocko, Bullwinkle, I need help,” I yelled loudly down the hall. I heard the fast approaching footsteps before I saw them appear.

“What’s wrong?” Rocko asked frantically.

“Something is under my bed,” I whispered
, pretending to be terrified.

He shook his head and walked into the room
. “Don’t you think you are a little old to believe in monsters?”

I smiled innocently.

“My name is Buster, not Bullwinkle,” Buster fussed, walking past me.

I wai
ted in anticipation as they knelt next to the bed. They reached out for the bed skirt and held it up. As they peeked under I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Suddenly a giant spider leapt out from under the bed and attached itself to Rocko’s face. Buster let out a girly shriek, swatting at Rocko. The spider crawled down the front of Rocko’s shirt and down to his pants, resting just under his belt. It seemed to happen in slow motion; Buster tightened his fingers together, forming a fist. As his hand flew through the air, the spider abandoned ship, jumping to the floor. Buster’s fist connected with Rocko’s man junk.

Rocko’s expression
was priceless. He fell to the floor, his face scrunched in agony. His hands cupped his groin area and he rolled back and forth in pain. Buster got down on his knees next to him, begging for forgiveness. Rocko sat up slightly and punched him in the face. Buster went down hard. The two vampires rolled around on the floor, each with an injury that was not part of the plan.

The plan!
With everything that had gone on I had almost forgotten about the plan. The spider was only a diversion. I ran over to Buster and knelt behind him. He was so afraid of Rocko’s next move, he never saw me coming. He let out a loud roar as my teeth sunk into his neck. I pulled cool blood into my mouth for a moment before I let go. Crawling across the floor, I took Rocko’s arm in my hands and bit into flesh as hard as I could. I sucked in some blood just in case. Better safe than sorry.

“Maggie, now!” I yelled out as I stood and took a few steps back. I wiped the blood from my mouth as I waited for her. She ran in a few
seconds later, book in hand. The sight of the vampires made her stop in her tracks. I had to give her a small push to her spot.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Um ... there was a slight change of plan,” I said, shaking my head.

W
e sat down in the circle, connecting our hands. She began to chant aloud from the book. I watched as the two vampires began to fight each other. Rocko’s shirt had been torn off. Buster sent a full open hand slap directly onto Rocko’s bare chest. Never in my life had I seen one man slap another man. Buster apparently lacked a few male genes, especially the ones that taught how to fight. Rocko stopped in his tracks and looked down as a single red handprint began to appear just above his nipple.

“How dare you,” Rocko yelled and then punched Buster in the nose.

Buster’s hand shot up to his nose and his eyes squeezed shut tightly. A moment later blood began to seep from between his fingers. “You bitch! You know my nose is my best feature, now it’s broken.”