I Met a Vampire Down in Santa Carla

Chapter Twenty Six

"Oh, David, come on, it would be so much fun," I plead. For the past couple of days, I've been trying to get him to dress up with me for the upcoming Renaissance Fair. I had an idea in mind of what he should wear, but he isn't budging. He agreed to go with me. It didn't take much convincing to get him to agree to that, but when I asked him to dress up with me, that's when it became a no. 

"I'm not dressing up like an orc, babe." 

"Who said anything about an orc?" I huffed scrolling through Pinterest, which only drove my obsession with getting dressed up even further. 

"Or a wizard or warlock. My point is I am not dressing up in a dorky costume." He throws the hacky sack up in the air only to catch it. This little debate of ours has been ongoing for about twenty minutes. 

"You won't even look at the ideas I have saved." I try to show him the phone, but he won't look at it. "It will be weird if only one of us dresses up." He rolls his eyes and takes my phone from my hands. I smile, satisfied this way, if he says no, he would have at least given it some real consideration. He is scrolling, seeming unamused. "Well," I lean in, awaiting my answer. 

"This isn't accurate at all." He hands it back. "I thought the whole point of this was to recreate the Renaissance."

"Well, sorta. There will be music and food. They have jousting every hour, and there is a bunch of art." 

"Fine," I squeal. "But I get veto power." I hug him giddily. 

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." I do a small happy dance in my seat, which only aids in amusing him. Nat comes knocking on the door, letting me know the time's up. He gives me a quick kiss. 

"Love you, I'll see you after work?" 

"Yep." I wave as he leaves with a shit eating grin on my face, satisfied by my small victory. Now that I have succeeded in my venture, I turn my focus to work. Tonight was slow, it being the middle of the week. I had someone cancel at the last minute, which gave me a walk-in duty. I scroll through my phone, finding more inspiration. I haven't been to a Renaissance fair in years, and I am pretty excited to go. Although in Santa Carla, you can never be too careless. Lately, all the boys have been more on edge. I assume it's due to the investigation. It has barely started. I don't understand why, when David said not to worry. I asked Kayla if she had noticed it, and she had. We both try to theorize why, but I don't want to ask. I don't want David to think I don't trust him when it's quite the opposite. 

I haven't trusted anyone this much in a long time. It was good to be able to rely on someone finally. Not constantly looking over my shoulder in fear because I know he has my back is relieving. Just then a group of three girls who all look way to young to be coming in here enter. They are whispering to themselves and giggling. They come to the front desk, and I meet them there. "Hi, we wanted to know how much it would be to get our noses pierced." 

"Well, that depends on the kind. I would also need ID or parental consent." 

"That's fine, we just wanted to know so we can ask our mom." I show them our nose piercings. 

"So you have to buy the jewelry here. These are all our nose piercings and the price ranges." The girls look at each other and don't seem amused.

"Um, do you have cheaper ones?" I shake my head.

"No, I don't, sorry, but if you get them done here, it will be safer than doing them at home. Trust me, you don't want to do it there." This didn't seem to convince them, and it is a canon event in a young girl's life; I can't interfere with it. They take their leave, and I'm left alone to clean up. Nat is still with her client, and I figured it would be easier to close and leave sooner. By the time everything was closed up and done, I waited alone at my car for David. I shot him a text, confused about what was taking so long. I look around at the people. Friends talking to each other and couples on dates. I felt like I was being watched. Like I had someone's attention. I try to find whoever it could be, hoping my mind is playing some sick trick, but before worry can overtake me, I feel David wrap his arm around me. I jump out of shock and let go of my breath, which I didn't know I was holding.