Tainted Happiness {Formerly Returned} (Book 4) (Completed)

Chapter 13

Dave POV

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I couldn't believe it. Melanie was actually giving me another chance. Somehow I had a feeling that the only reason she was giving me this third chance was because she had no other real choice if she wanted Kait back. How getting Kait back involved me I had yet to discover, though. This was the first time that Melanie had ever truly been nice to me. Well, this was the first time in awhile that anyone had been nice to me.

Most of the time it was just people taking one look at me or just getting a whiff of me and running away. I hadn't really faced anybody that I used to know before I became this strange Vampire, but it was rather nice to see that some of my old friends still cared enough to help me out. Most of the caked in dirt came out with a lot of scrubbing. I still hadn't lost the blue tint to my skin, but the scrubbing made it slightly red with irritation. I looked myself over in the mirror for the first time and saw what everyone was talking about. I looked scarier than anything I'd ever seen in those horror movies Kait would make me watch with her. The two sets of fangs were something that I'd gotten used to, but the eyes were something all their own.

I'd hoped that I'd retained the deep brown that my eyes had been as a human. As I dared to glance up at the eyes of this unfamiliar being that had become myself, I saw the strangest, yet coolest colored eyes that I'd ever seen. Rather than being one color, they had multiple color sections that all blended into each other to create this circular multi-color gradient. One third consisted of Strigoi red, another had a violet-like color, and the last had Viu gold. The color between Viu gold and violet was a sand-like tan color created by the transition. The entire iris was ringed with black.

My eyes were creepy, yet very enticing at the same time. It was like I didn't even I need compulsion, it was already there, constantly manifesting itself in my eyes, compelling people to come toward me. I guessed that it was a technique to make it easier for me to kill to get the blood that I needed. Strigoi and Strigoi Viu had to do all the hard work to get their blood. They had to actually go out and hunt for it while I had my food come to me. It almost didn't seem fair, but then again no one would willingly walk up to me unless they felt like they had to.

As I made my way back to Dick and Mary's trailer to get further instructions from Melanie, I made sure to keep my head down so no one could see my eyes and come near me. I didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone on my way back. Once I actually got back, Melanie was leaning up against a tree with one boot rested against the trunk and the other on the ground. She was dressed about the same as Kait was right after she awakened herself, wearing the same leather jacket and leather stiletto boots Kait wore. For a single second I thought that Kait had somehow managed to return until I saw that it was Melanie.

"Well, the dirt managed to come out. The smell is a different story." She said, looking up at me.

"Daily showers, deodorant, and a lot of cologne might take care of the smell." Dick said, running into the trailer and coming out with a bottle of spray-on Axe cologne.

"Melanie, you spray it since you're the only one brave enough to go within five feet of the man." Mary said, grabbing the can of Axe and tossing it at her.

"The only reason I'm this close to him is because he came over to me, not the other way around. He really doesn't smell that terrible anymore. It's the clothes that reek. Anyone want to run to Walmart for some new ones?" She stated.

"I'll go to get him a few outfits. Dave, could you write down the sizes that you need?" Mary said.

"You know what, I'll go with you. I remember most of his sizes from when he and Kait were still married." Melanie said, grabbing the keys to Kait's truck from her pocket.

"We won't be long guys. Maybe an hour at most." Mary said, following Melanie into the truck.

"Hopefully Melanie is right about the clothes. I'm not so sure how much more of this stench I can take." Dick muttered.

"Hopefully no one recognizes him before Melanie and Mary get back. If anyone comes over here and startles him, we all could be in a world of hurt. Melanie is the only one who has the highest chance of restraining him." Warren stated.

"I'd keep him in the trailer, but he'll stink up the whole thing." Dick replied.

"We certainly can't rent one of the rental campers for him. Other people have to stay in there, too."

"I suppose we could set up a shitty tent then burn the thing after he leaves."

"I hope you two know that I'm right here." I said, getting a little hurt by their comments.

"Perfect timing. They're back." Warren said, hearing Kait's truck pull up.

"Here. I don't care if you don't like them, you'll wear them anyway." Melanie said, tossing a Walmart bag at me.

Somehow Melanie's guess at the clothes being the source of the smell was right. After I came back from putting a new pair of clothes on, no one complained about the smell. About ten minutes later, Melanie and I left the park for wherever Kait's body was being held. I had a major shock when we got there.