Bloody Summer

Chapter 12: This Is My Life

Lori paced back and forth. 

We both had been pretty much silent since I entered her office. 

Although I could tell that she was overwhelmed by her pacing, her perfect face seemed calm and collected. I just wished that I could have known what she was thinking.  She finally stopped pacing and put her hands down to lean on her desk.

"Even though it might not work I have an idea," she walked around me to fill up and coffee mug with water. She took a sip then sat back down in her chair. "Agent Gomez attacking you gave us the perfect opportunity to show your fragile side." she paused. "With your testimony and the guards testimony telling the details, we could show that your not the horrible monster everyone thinks you are."

I crossed my arms. I had been in there for about two months now, and I hadn't heard anyone refer to me as a "horrible monster", so I questioned whether that was Lori's opinion.

"Listen Lori," I said sharply, "I don't know why you're wasting your time, I can't be saved. So you might as well step aside and let them stick the needle in my arm or what ever the hell it is that they do here." I got out of the chair, and as soon as I did two guards were at my side.

"Summer," she called, "I know you don't believe that."

I chuckled. 

"You don't know anything Lori."

It was Friday. Thank God.

When Derelli handed me the bottle, it was more like a two gallon soda bottle than the one I had been getting when Gomez was around, I almost cried. He smiled.

"Hungry?" he asked, I just nodded as I sucked down the blood. 

When I finished I dropped the bottle to the floor.

"How do you do it?" I asked Derelli.

"Do what?" he asked back.

"This job. I mean you're here five days a week, for seven hours a day. It seems like this job doesn't leave you with a lot of time  to have a life." he laughed. 

"This is my life," he said, "No one's life is going to be perfect. Sure I'd like to be able to do things that didn't involve babysitting crazy people," he raised an eyebrow and me, I just laughed, "but I figure this is as good as my life's gonna get." 

I sat up in my bed. 

"Your life doesn't have to be this way. You could just drop everything and walk away anytime you wanted too." I got up from the bed, "To use one of the cheesiest line ever, follow your heart. Make your dreams come true." He shifted his weight. 

"I don't have any dreams." I raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Everyone has dreams, even me, the horrible monster." he cracked a smile. 

"When I was younger, before I became a Vampire I wanted to be a singer." Even though he said he had wanted to be a singer, I could see something in his eyes that suggested that he still wanted to. 

"Lets see if your any good," he gazed at me with confused eyes, "sing."  I could tell that he was hesitant, but he opened his mouth and began to sing.

And out came the most angelic voice.

He sang Hey Soul Sister as if he had written it himself. 

After the chorus he stopped.

"Derelli you have an amazing voice. With talent like that I have to wonder why the hell  you're working as a guard and not on a world tour." He shrugged. "Don't even use the "people would find out what I am" excuse. Because there are a lot of famous Vampire's."

He shrugged again.

"I'm telling you Derelli. If you got out there you'd be giving Buble' a run for his money." He shrugged and so I slapped his shoulder. 

"What are your dreams?" he asked me. His question caught me off guard. 

My dreams? I thought to myself. Yes I had claimed that everyone including me had dreams, but I never said it with the intention to share. 

"I don't know," I replied. 

"If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

"Television!" I yelled. Derelli and I both broke out in laughter. 

After the laughter died down, the subject changed, but Derelli's question stuck with me. 

I did know what I wanted most in the world, but I didn't want to admit it. Because if I did, Lori'd be right.