Garlic Is For Vampires (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 1: A Bloody Introduction

Call me stupid, but I think partying in a club with a fake ID was the best mistake I've ever made. Sure, almost every adult around me was drunk and grinding against each other but today, I graduated from high school. I completed four years of total heaven and hell and now here I was, dancing with my two best friends.

"Bree!" Angie, my girl best friend shouted beside my ear. "Brendon is here!" Like me, she was surprised. I slowed my dancing and put a hand on Bennett's shoulder. He stopped dancing with the random girl he picked up from the bar and turned his head to look at me.

"Brendon's here," I shouted into his ear. His eyes went wide and he let out a deep breath. With his eyes wide, he shrugged and looked at us with a what are you going to do about it? look. How did Brendon even know where I was? But with his latest working gadget, I wouldn't have been surprised if he found me. He had a talent for knowing where something was even if you blindfolded him.

"What are we going to do?" Angie said. I looked at my friends but then smirked.

"I'll take care of him."

I saw Brendon's familiar head above the dancing crowd. He was by the bar, his brows furrowed in a scowl. We were underage and in a bar with fake IDs. But I knew Brendon from childhood, when we grew up as apartment neighbors in Brooklyn. Sure, he was three or four years older, and part of NYPD, but we were good friends. But I was in a club, barely eighteen, and he was a detective.

I was moving through the crowd until I reached the bar. Brendon was looking down through the glass counter at the bottles lined up together under the counter shelf. I got onto the stool next to him and swiveled in my chair to face him.

"Hey, Brendon..."

He turned to the Hennessy clutched in his hand and took a swig. I studied his lips pressed against the lip of the green bottle. I watched his Adam's apple slowly move up and down. Then he set the bottle down on the counter. He snapped his eyes towards me and scowled.

"Don't, 'hey Brendon' me. What are you doing here, Bree?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"I'm twenty-two. You're eighteen. Care to explain that?"

"C'mon Brendon-I'm an adult already! Do you think I have a curfew? No. I graduated today, cut me some slack. You didn't even see me graduate!"

His face went slack from the anger and he pressed his lips firmly together. I knew I had the upper hand now. I invited him to my high school graduation. He promised he'd be there. When I searched the bleachers for those familiar brown eyes and the big smile, I didn't see those familiar brown eyes or the big smile. He texted me later that he was sorry, his boss wouldn't let him leave work early, but I didn't text back. I was getting ready to go out with Angie and Bennett. So that's what I did to get rid of the salted wound.

Now here we were with this awkward confrontation. I played with my fingers and turned to look over my shoulder. My friends were hiding behind a dancing couple, looking at us. I turned back to Brendon and licked my lips.

"Are you going to take us in?"

He snorted. "Hell no. I don't want to talk about work right now. I've got a lot on my plate already. You guys aren't drinking, are you?"

"No," I lied. We already drank two beers, a pitcher of tequila, and martinis for the three of us. Bennett was feeling the buzz but I hadn't felt anything. Angie was normal wild Angie. I let out a sigh of relief as Brendon nodded. Then I waved my friends over. They immediately sat down beside me because they didn't want to sit down next to the dude with the gun and badge.