Charlie the Vampire

15. Blood Is History

Nothing had been behind the curtain, nothing was under the table, and I lost the needle. I was banging on the door for a while before I even noticed the music and noise outside had stopped. It was quiet. Everyone must've gone outside to either help Zaika or get Charlie. He was a monster they didn't like. If they weren't going to kill him, what did they want him for?

And what was Zaika? She'd been human, now she was a monster. As far as I knew, humans could be turned into almost anything, a watered-down version of the monster that turned them. I put my head on the table and tried to think how Zaika went from Charlie's human to her own monster. Her wings looked close to dragon wings, but the designs on them looked like something else, something magical.

The door slammed open. Zaika stepped in and closed behind her. There was noise coming from the bar, glasses making noise and soon music started. "Why are you here?"

"You left me in here."

"I meant out here with the vampire."

I reached into my pocket for the necklace and tossed it to her. "Don't pretend you don't know who he is."

Zaika opened the locket-I couldn't read her face-before glaring at me. "You've got quite a mouth for a human... Emalie. Tell me what you two are looking for."

"I already told you. A werewolf named Raj."

Zaika shook her head. "I know Raj and I know he's a resource, not a destination. What do you need him for?"

"If Charlie didn't tell you, I won't. Where is he, anyway?"

"In my basement. Vampire ashes are pretty valuable, but hard to come by outside of a coven. I plan to hand him over to the mayor, covering my rent for this place for six months."

"You're trading him for rent money?"

"Yes." She sat down in the chair opposite me. "Monsters can be used as currency, if they're valuable enough."

"Isn't this place safe for humans? Killing him is killing me."

"I know that. I was you. I plan on stuffing you into a tree and turning you into a faerie." Her eyes appraised me. "I doubt you'll turn out like me. You're blood is dirty, but that's not your fault. You're just a self-hating girl."

I felt like she just said too much. "What are you?"

She smiled. "I'm a peri. The tree I got put in knew I'd done a lot of bad things, so I became a peri. I'm all about repentance. After my predecessor kicked the bucket, I figured taking over the job would be like hitting two birds with one stone. I'm making a living and doing penance." She found the needle and started spinning it. "I'm supposed to reach benevolence soon, but... finding Charlie is going to set me back a bit." Zaika shook her head. "I honestly didn't think I'd see him again."

"What happened?"

"Charlie happened." She shifted in her seat, annoyed. "I can tell you since you're on a different path, but being his human wasn't easy. There was Aaron, and this bitch named Omega who was totally in love with both Charlie and Aaron-"

"Why both?"

Zaika rolled her eyes. "She liked Aaron's power and Charlie's personality. She's not still there, is she?"

"Yeah... she's still there."

She groaned. "I hate her so much.... The problem with me was that I was incredibly naïve and innocent. I... fell for Charlie pretty hard, and that made me desperate and weak... a target, really. Charlie didn't play games, but everyone else did. I was a pawn."