Love Bites

I didn’t drink much. I had a fake ID, sure, but I wasn’t into throwing back beers like the college kids who came around. Oliver and Andy sat on either side of me at a table, talking to Valerie and Nikki. Andy was actually kind of cool, minus the whole trying-to-kill-Oliver part I guess. You would never guess Andy was a guy out for revenge. Eventually, he leaned across me and grinned brightly at Oliver.

“Hey, Oli, you don’t mind if I dance with Thorne, right?” he asked pleasantly.

I blushed as Oliver frowned some. “I do mind”, Oliver replied. “You should know-“

“Well, you’re not dating her, right?” Andy questioned.

“Psh, no. Of course not!” Oliver answered, swatting at the air.

Andy beamed. “Then you won’t mind if I dance with her. Since you’re not dating.” He kept his blue eyes glued on Oliver and his smile stretched across his face. When Oliver didn’t reply, Andy gripped my hand and pulled me out of our booth. He forced me to the dance floor where we started swaying to some weird EDM song that was playing. “Thorne, I know you know”, he smiled, leaning over a little to talk to me.

“Know what?” I asked, hoping to play it off. “I know lots of things.”

“I know you do. You seem pretty smart”, Andy chuckled. “But you know.”

“What do I know?” I questioned.

Andy wiggled a little closer to me, like he was telling me a secret. “You know that Oliver likes you”, he shrugged. “I mean, come on. He wouldn’t have pulled you into that tomb if he didn’t.”

I froze. “You-“

“Yeah, I know that you know that too”, Andy grinned, pushing back his hair. He grabbed my hands and pulled me a little farther into the crowd, farther away from Oliver who was watching intently. “You know what he did. You know that he spiked my drink with his blood one night at the party because I killed his friend.”

“I didn’t know that”, I said quickly. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do”, Andy said seriously. His eyes flickered some as he pulled me even deeper into the crowd. “You know what I am. You know what Oliver is. You know what we’re both capable of.” Andy’s voice was cold and stern, like I shouldn’t defy him. He glanced around before yanking me into an out-of-service bathroom.

“What the Hell are you doing?” I gasped.

Andy shook his head. “Thorne, Oliver is incredibly dangerous and I think it’s fair that you know that if you’re going to be hanging out with him”, he said. “He runs through people like nobody’s business, just feeding on them without rhyme or reason. And every now and again, just for the pleasure of it, he’ll turn someone. He’s been ousted by a lot of the Communities for this type of stuff. And I think he likes you which is really dangerous, Thorne. He’ll keep you around for feeding purposes and someone’s probably going to come along and try to kill you or use you to get to him or-“

“So someone like you is going to use me to get to someone I don’t have any particular feelings for?” I questioned. “Charming, Andy, seriously. But why don’t you go bark up another tree? Valerie’s been making googly eyes at him for the last two hours.”

Andy gripped my shoulders and peered into my eyes. “Thorne, I’m just looking out for you. I’m telling you what I wish I could’ve told Ashley. I-“

“Who’s Ashley?” I asked. “Is that your girlfriend or something?”

“No, he’s not”, Andy sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. “Thorne. I had a friend a long time ago, a teammate named Ashley who helped me fight vampires. We were part of a secret organization. Ashley got a lead on this guy named Mitch, who was Oliver’s friend. Ashley didn’t survive the attack, so I avenged him. Oliver, being the sneaky bastard he is, spiked a glass of wine I had at a party and…that’s that.” He frowned as I cocked an eyebrow.

“So what did you want to tell Ashley?” I questioned.

The slayer glanced down to his boots. “Our kind isn’t worth it”, Andy chuckled sardonically. “If there’s anything I’ve learned about being like this, it’s that vampires just…well…they suck!”

“I thought they were supposed to?” I giggled.

Andy grinned. “Well yeah! You know…the only reason I think I haven’t offed myself yet is because I feel like I have an obligation to Ashe.”

I sat down on the bathroom sink and stared at Andy. He had a far away, pensive look in his eyes while he subconsciously played with his lip ring. “Well, you got rid of that Mitch guy, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, but…” Andy shrugged. “I’m too deep into this to get out you know? It’s like when you try renovating a house and eventually you realize you don’t like how the renovations are going but you’ve put enough money and stuff into it that you might as well just finish it.” He sighed. “Oliver’s lucky you were in the cemetery that night”, he laughed. “He knows the code like I do. Even better in fact.”

“What’s the code?” I asked.

Andy made a face like he was thinking before approaching me by the sink. “Well, for example, we don’t want to be exposed so vampires can’t fight personal fights with each other in front of mortals”, he explained, leaning on me. “Those who draw attention get killed. Though, we have to have the okay to kill them. People like Vlad Dracula of Romania? Hell, Oliver’s actually got a target on him due to the body count scandal at his estate. He’s just not as important as some of the others. He’s just annoying.”

I giggled. “Yeah? Sometimes. So are you like a vampire bounty hunter then?”

“I guess you could say that”, Andy shrugged. “In the community here, I have a special connection with our head. Communities are named after their heads, so for example this one, which is the southern part of the US, is the Cerulli Community, named after Chris Cerullli, our head.”

I nodded. Sounded easy enough. “And he puts out these hits on people?” I asked.

“No”, Andy said shaking his head. “He can within his Community but only the Council can put world wide targets on people. It’s really strange that Oli has one since he is part of the Council.”

“It’s like you guys have your own underground culture”, I giggled.

“That’s because we do!” Andy smiled. Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door.

“Ballsack, I know you’re in there and you better not be doing what I think you’re doing!” snapped Oliver’s voice.

I felt my cheeks flush as I glanced to Andy. He reached in and pecked my lips real quick, which was unlike Oliver’s suave sensual kisses. Andy’s was careful and gentle. “Just be careful”, he whispered, running to the door. Oliver all but threw it open once the door was unlocked. His face was contorted in irritation as he pulled us both out.

“Thorne, we need to leave. You have work tomorrow”, Oliver sneered.

“I’ll drop Nikki and Valerie off then!” Andy suggested.

Oliver threw him a glare. “No. I’ll take them back. I have everything under control”, he snarled. Oliver herded me and my brother and sister out of the bar. He didn’t speak to me until we were back at his house and he had shown Nikki and Valerie their rooms.

The English vampire pulled me into a room one down from his. Instead of politely stepping aside to let me check it out then leave me alone, Oliver shoved me inside and shut the door hard. “What the Hell, Thorne?” he hissed. Oliver’s eyes were nearly black, his teeth enlarged, the veins in his neck pulsing. “I told you not to hang around him, not to go off alone with him and that’s EXACTLY. WHAT. YOU. DID. What the fuck?”

“You know what he did?” I retorted. “Andy just told me to stay away from you. He didn’tdo anything else. He-“

“I can smell him on you”, Oliver sneered. “What did he touch?!”

“He didn’t touch anything!” I gasped, trying to pull away from Oliver as he started grabbing at me. He inspected both of my wrists before moving my hair aside to look at my neck. “I’m telling you!”

Oliver pulled back and smirked. “You let him kiss you”, he said coldly.

I threw my hands out and stared at Oliver. He was calmer now, like he hadn’t been ready to tear my throat open two seconds ago. “That just seems to be something people like you do”, I snapped. “You keep doing it so I don’t know why-“

“Is he better than me?”

“What?” I questioned. That caught me off guard. I wasn’t even sure why he’d ask that.

“Is he better than me?” Oliver repeated. “Is he a better kisser?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just a quick peck. I couldn’t-“

“Well then let’s wipe his scent off of you then”, Oliver winked. “You’re mine, not his.”

“Yours?” I asked.

“Well, yeah. You’re with me. You’re on my side. You’re pretty when you hang out with me.” I cocked an eyebrow and smirked as Oliver pressed closer to me. “Don’t pretend like you don’t think so”, he cooed.

“I dunno”, I replied, lamely.

Oliver grinned. “Or do you like having the attentions of both a gentleman and a ruffian?” he purred. He was leading me to the bed and I realized I didn’t really have an escape route.

“I guess you’re the ruffian in this scenario?” I smiled.

“I’m almost offended”, he chuckled. “Just tell me who’s a better kisser, love.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know”, I shrugged. “Sorry.”

Oliver rolled his eyes and pushed me onto the bed. “Thorne, secrets don’t make friends”, he sighed, plopping down on top of me. I gasped as his weight knocked the wind out of me. “Just tell meee”, he whined.

“Dude, I can’t give you a comparison”, I laughed. “All I got from him was a peck so it’s not like-“

“So I’m a better kisser because I give you more then!” he beamed.

“Oliver-“ He cut me off with a quick peck on the lips.

“There. Is that like what Ballsack gave you? I’m better, right?”

“Why don’t you get someone else’s opinion?” I asked awkwardly. “I don’t wanna be caught in the middle of you and Andy’s testosterone fight.”

He groaned and rolled over onto his back next to me. “Ugh, fine”, Oliver grunted. “But…I can keep doing that right?”

I blushed. I kind of wanted him too but I also didn’t want to come across as being kind of a skank. “I don’t know. Can you?” I questioned. It was a stupid question but it would suffice. Suddenly, Oliver reached over and planted his lips squarely on mine, like he’d been doing it forever. He bit my bottom lip roughly and pulled away.

“Looks like I can!” he grinned. Oliver stretched a little before standing up. “I’m going to go to bed”, he informed. “You can join me or you can stay here but I expect you to sleep either way. I wasn’t kidding when I said you had work.”

“Uh huh”, I mumbled. “Erm, I’ll stay here I guess.”

“Well good night Thorne”,he murmured. “I’ll see you whenever you get up to tell you what you’ll be doing or more like who you’ll be digging up.”

I smiled back at him. “Sounds fun. G’night, Oliver.” He left the room, shutting the door silently behind him. I was too tired to move from my spot on the bed so I did the logical thing and slept in my grimy day clothes.

Notes