Battleborn - Benny Weir

Chapter 4

Ingrid sat back in her chair, watching as Gord and his vampires played games and laughed. Currently, the ginger vampire from before and Harry, the one she killed, were having a heated discussion in the corner of the room, turning to glare at her every few minutes. She smiled and them and waved when they turned their heads in her direction, only adding to their anger.

"You know, you don't have to hang around here all day," said Horace as he took the open seat next to her. "Just come back for the party and our deal will be complete."

"I'd rather stick around and keep an eye on you. I don't want you sucking the life out of any innocent kids, now do I?" she spat. Ingrid kept her eyes focused on the vampires in front of her, refusing to look at Horace.

"Now, don't be like that, Rose. It was just a bit of fun." He reached out and touched her cheek. "You remember how we used to have fun."

Ingrid scoffed and slapped his hand away from her face. "I was different. I was messed up." She readjusted in her seat. "I've changed."

Horace smiled and sat back into his chair. "Whatever you say, dear."

"I'm not your 'dear'."

"You were once."

"It was a difficult time for me and--I was different. We traveled. We settled down. You built a flock and we both changed. And you know what?" Ingrid said, her voice raising. "I--I don't need to explain myself to you." She sighed. "And I never went to the extremes that you did. I was never on your level of cruelty," she added hastily as an afterthought.

"I know, dear," Horace murmured as he stood, "you were much worse." Ingrid shuddered as he walked away from her and looked down at her hands.

For some time, she watched the boys numbly, spending a lot of time looking down at her hands. She stiffened when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, Ingrid stood and twisted the arm of her attacker. She gasped and quickly  released her grip when she saw who grabbed her.

"I'm so, so sorry," Ingrid sputtered quickly. "It's just a reflex." The blonde girl from the kitchen smiled softly and laughed half heartedly while rubbing her arm.

"I shouldn't have snuck up on you. I should have known better after seeing you, back there," the girl said, tensing at the mention of the event in the kitchen. She looked down, and her whisper was barely audible to Ingrid, even  with her enhanced hearing. "What happened?"

Ingrid sighed and gestured to the seat next to her. "Here, sit." The blonde sat, playing with her hands. "What's your name?"

"Leslie," she said.

"Well, Leslie,"  Ingrid started, "what do you think happened?"

She held her breath and closed her eyes.  "I was walking home--my car's in the shop and Dad works long hours. He seemed really nice, I thought he was cute, and he offered me a ride home." She looked at Ingrid. "He seemed great. We were talking, laughing. We were driving for a few minutes, and I forgot that he never asked for directions to my house." She pulled her legs up under her arms, trying to make herself small.

"I didn't want to get out of the car, but he just--I don't even know. He told me that we were going to go inside and have fun, and suddenly I was so excited. We went to the kitchen and we started making out, I guess." She frowned. "But then, there was this pinch," she raised her hand to the puncture marks on her neck, "and I felt blood." She pulled her hand away and looked down at her fingers, expecting to see a crimson stain.

Her eyes were slightly wild when they met Ingrid's. "I pulled away and they came out of everywhere," she spoke, rushed. "One grabbed my wrist, another started biting my neck again." She wrapped herself in her arms, trying to curl up into the smallest form possible.  "I was so scared--I wanted to scream. But--" she stopped and smiled lazily, "but then I remembered all the fun we were going to have, and how great they all were." She was smiling wide before shaking her head and holding it in her hands. She looked up, terrified.