Chapter Twenty One - Part Two
Maxwell
She’s exactly where Morgan said she would be. There she sits half asleep in a chair in an empty waiting room. Slowly I make my way to her side. With my hand squeezing her shoulder I wake her up.
Her blurry eyes quickly open wide in surprise. “Maxwell, what are you doing here? How did you know…who called you?” I can’t tell if she’s surprised or angry with me showing up.
“I know where you are at all times, but Morgan was concerned. I came here as soon as I could.”
“And who might this be?” A slightly older version of Juliet walks up behind Charlie.
Charlie stumbles over her words. “This is Maxwell...a friend. Maxwell this is Janessa, Juliet’s sister.”
“I thought it best to take Charlie home. Since Morgan and Dave couldn’t get to budge I thought I could.”
“She’s staying because I wanted her to, but you’re right.” Her eyes move from me to Charlie, “You should get some rest. Juliet will still be here tomorrow.”
“But—” Charlie begins to protest.
Janessa doesn’t need to say anything because she has a way with her eyes like Juliet does. And her eyes are telling me not to argue.
“Come on.” I grab her up by her elbow and wrap it around my arm. “Thank you.” I tell Janessa before leading Charlie down the hall. We make it down the hall, out of earshot of any one before I express my anguish. “To be honest, you should’ve been the one to call if someone were to telephone me.”
Like the typical Charlie, she interrupts me. “I don’t have your number. I didn’t even know you had a phone.”
“There are other ways besides a phone to let me know you’re distressed about something, although it would help to let me know about what it pertains to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Why are you here? You don’t know Juliet, so coming here to show concern for her is uncalled for.”
“Is it really not that obvious? I’m here to comfort you, Charlie. I’m here because I felt your strain, your despair and when Morgan called I got here the second I could. It was tearing me up inside being trapped in my apartment all day while you were aching...anxious...terrified.”
Her expression immediately changes as she thinks about something. “So if Morgan wouldn’t have called you still would’ve known where I was? How?”
“It’s something I can do, what every vampire can do. It’s not important.”
“No it is important. Is how you been sneaking around spying on me isn’t it? Her tiredness quickly evaporates.
“You might not like what I have to say, but it’s beneficial. Please hear me out till I’m finished.” Her eyebrow perks up, urging me to continue. “The bond between a vampire and his donor is strong. They depend on-”
“The bond,” she says mockingly, interrupting me when I told her not to.
“Charlie, I told you to hold your remarks back until you’ve heard me out.”
“I have a problem with obeying orders. I thought you already knew that.”
“This bond has saved lives. Many vampires and humans are thankful for this connection. Could you image if places were switched. You were attacked instead of Juliet. I would-”
“Oh, that will come in handy when Juliet’s attacker comes back for me.”
“What do you mean?” What happened to Juliet is awful, but I assumed it was just a break-in gone bad.
She takes a deep breath. “There was this man who came by my house last night while Juliet was over. She answered the door, was snobby, and he left. I didn’t think anything about it at the time, but…”
“Did you see him? Did he say his name?”
“No. There was something about his voice that terrified me though. I knew before he mentioned you and Benjamin that he was a vampire.”
“He said he was a friend of Benjamin’s? A friend of mine?”
“Yeah. He even left his mark behind. A nice set of fang marks in her neck.”
“I think you need to stay at my place for a while.” There’s no hint of romance or playful banter as I speak the words.
“What? No.”
“At least for tonight.” Why does she always have to fight me? She admitted it yesterday that she has feelings for me, so why is she acting like this? How serious do I need to get for her to understand that she’s not safe?
“Why can’t this vampire drama ever end? I just want it to end.”
“I can make it end, Charlie. You won’t have to be scared or helpless ever again.” There’s no better way to say it. She wants safety, I can give it her, but I’m not too sure she’s willing to pay the price just yet even when her life is on the line.
She crosses her arms and gives me that stare as if she’s wishing me dead, but hidden in those dark brown eyes of her is genuine fear that she desperately tries to mask. “You’re the one who got me into this mess in the first place and I’m just supposed to let you kill me before this stranger does?”
“Charlie, please. When I ‘kill’ you, you won’t be entirely dead. When he kills you, you’ll be gone, and instead of still seeing the people you care about, they’ll be attending your funeral.”
She remains standing there, biting her bottom lip to prevent any insulting words from coming out of her mouth. She’s trying to be strong and not let her emotions get the best of her, but I can see through her façade.
Her retreating feet is all I get for an answer. I watch her harshly push the elevator button. “Is there anything else you can do that doesn’t lead to me dying in any way?”
“You’ll need to stay by my side, especially at night. Since it is a vampire you’ll be safer during the day, but you still need to be close.”
With her shoulders relaxed, I know she heeds my words. I lightly kiss the top of her head. I tell myself that she’s pushing me away because she’s scared for herself and her friend. Stress and fear play people in the worst ways.
The elevator open to reveal a woman inside already. Charlie shuffles into the corner.
The woman however takes in Charlie disheveled appearance and makes eye contact with me. Her long exhale is audible to everyone’s ears in this small metal moving box. I swear I hear Charlie whisper under her breath, oh please.
I grin in the older woman’s direction, which causes her to blush as her hand pushes against her chest to steady her racing heart. I bury my face in Charlie’s neck; her messy hair covers my face. “How come you’re the only one whose immune my charm?” I jokingly whisper.
I feel her tense up against me. I know I struck a chord with her, but I’m at the point where I’ll mention every little thing to make her understand that she’s envied by many.
Charlie abruptly grabs ahold of my hair before I have a chance to back away. ”I know what you’re getting at and it’s not going to work.” She lets go of me and turns toward the woman right at as the elevator’s doors open. “He bites,” she says as she slips out.
The woman looks at me in shock, but curiosity. “Fetish, really,” I say before I weave through several people to catch up with Charlie.
We walk side by side in silence the rest of the way out of the hospital and through most of the parking lot. That is until she twirls her keys in her hand, but I snatch them away and reach the driver’s side before her. Refusing to enter the car and to sit in the passenger seat, she hovers outside the window. I lean over and push open the door from the inside, just in case she was expecting me to be a gentleman and open the door for her, but I highly doubt that’s why she grinds her teeth together in annoyance.
Eventually she enters the car. “Why are you driving my car exactly?”
“You haven’t slept in how many hours? You’re worried and overwhelmed and you need to rest.”
“You really aren’t in a position to tell me what I need. There’s one concern I have. What if we get pulled over by a police officer? You don’t have a license. Are you just going to look at the officer and say that you’re a three-hundred-year-old vampire and cars didn’t exist when you were alive?”
“Very funny. I promise I won’t get pulled over. I’ve been practicing driving for a while now, because I’ve crawled out from underneath the rock I was living under quite some time ago. Can we change the subject to something more pleasing? Like how many cups of coffee have you had today?”
“What does that have to do with anything and how do you know I even had coffee today?”
“I can smell it on you.” It’s intoxicating.
“Is that a problem?”
“No, coffee is quite delightful.”
“You drink coffee?” Her question makes me smile.
“No.”
“Then how do you know coffee tastes delightful?”
“Think about it, Charlie, coffee has caffeine and caffeine goes into the bloodstream.”
“Eww. Spare me the gross details.” Her laugh makes me smile.
Five minutes away from the hotel in which my room resides in, she falls asleep. Effortlessly, I carry her limp body inside, laying her on the bed. Unwillingly, I pace the length of the room, thinking about how I can protect her from unwanted attention. Every so often, I check on her. Her tense body puts dread in my hollow heart. Therefore, I strip down and curl up against her to offer the only comfort I can. Instantly, her body relaxes with a shiver as the cold from my own body surrounds her warm one.
Her mouth can lie, but her sleeping self is quite expressive. She intertwines her fingers with my own hand that lies over her stomach. She wiggles beside me, inch by inch getting closer. When my face falls in the curve of her neck once again, she nudges her head closer to mine. A sleeping Charlie is one of my favorite versions of her.