Blackjack (A Tale Of Vegas Vampires)

Chapter 7

AJ paced around his sister's hotel living room, staring at the carpeted floor as he anxiously waited for Amethyst to come home. After what happened yesterday, he was itching to tell them the truth and start working on a way to figure out what happened to his memories and him. It was what everyone was advising him to do, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was all he could do. He couldn't keep living in the dark, not knowing where he was from, how he died, why it seemed as though he didn't exist. He needed answers at some point and he would take them now.

AJ watched his sister as she laid on the couch, and worry grew in his stomach. Savannah, wearing sweatpants and a big shirt, was quiet and not paying attention to him. She was focused on the television and whatever show she was watching, drinking some sort of drink from a cup with a straw. Her gaze was fixated on the plasma screen and she looked bored. If she could be anywhere else, she would be, obviously. That's what AJ was getting from her expression.

She was, however, calmer than he expected her to be after last night's event. He didn't know what she had done all day, as he had left to go sleep after making sure she was alright. He had come back later in the evening to see her on the couch, as though nothing had happened. Had she even eaten outside of drinking whatever it is she was drinking?

She barely even looked at him, lying on her side, buried in pillows and underneath a blanket. She looked so fragile, but AJ felt like comforting her would widen the tension between them. He only gave her worried looks from time to time, and she only responded by shaking her head and looking away.

She wasn't the happy girl he knew two days ago, but rather the gloomy girl who was scared.

"Why are you here?" She whined. He had been pacing in her suite since six p.m. and it was becoming exhausting. She deserved some sort of rest and peace. Williams and Smith were at the door, she had room service, an overflowing bank account; she was fine.

"I am here because I want to talk to Amethyst and you." He was stressed, pissed and not seeing Amethyst in the room when she was supposed to be made everything worse.

"She's a big girl, AJ," Savannah said, as his constant nagging was disturbing her TV time. "She doesn't need you."

AJ glared Savannah, hands in his pockets. He wanted Savannah on his side, not so cold and so matter-of-fact. Between the two sisters, she was the only one giving him even a little bit of sympathy.

"She's in Vegas. She's alone and there are vampires all around. She needs me." That was his argument, one he had thought about all day long. One Savannah now scoffed at.

"Why? You hang out with a few vampires and suddenly you are Buffy?" Savannah laughed. "It's hilarious."

He had admitted to knowing the existence of vampires and keeping their identities, playing the friendship and trust card, while assuring her he was in no danger. He doubted she believed him completely, but he wasn't going to try and convince her to. The less she knew, the better.

"Please. Your vampire friends should be scared of her. And like you said, it's Vegas, so leave her alone to enjoy Vegas."

Savannah's phone vibrated and turned on and she picked it up. AJ watched her read something, type something, before setting it down next to her again.

"What?" She asked when she noticed AJ stare at her as though waiting for something.

"Is it her?" He asked, curious. He didn't have Amethyst's personal phone number, and he wished he did. He might steal Savannah's phone.

"Yes." Savannah knew she shouldn't be so honest and respect Amethyst's trust and everything, but if she wanted to save AJ from the Ava's vampires, she had to make some sacrifices, including telling him what his sister was doing. If he trusted her, she could infiltrate his life better and find out how vampires worked and how she could defeat them. The whole loyalty and friendship card he had played to convince her that everything was alright was a ruse. AJ was different, and it was the vampires' fault.