Sunlight & Silver

Chapter 3

Sam staggered through the grey streets and felt the steady trickle of pain down his back. It wasn't until he was halfway back to his apartment that he realised he was completely naked. He hurried back, the gravel stones digging into his feet and piercing the tough soles. As soon as he got to his door he rapped on the frail wood a few times. It opened almost immediately.

   "You smell weird." The girl in the doorway had a scolding tone. She flicked her long, inky black hair and raised her plucked eyebrows. She looked to be wearing pyjamas. Sam frowned at her.

   "Janice? Why are you in my apartment..." His voice trailed off when he realised she was looking at him oddly. He blushed a deep crimson and covered himself up, "Let me in, please..." The girl stepped aside with a roll of her eyes and Sam almost leaped inside. As soon as he was in the safety of the familiar hallway, he grabbed a nearby jumper and wrapped it hastily around his waist.

   "Uh, I'm going to...have a shower..." Sam muttered weakly, backing up the wooden stairs. Janice flicked her hand at him dissmissively and he ran up to his bathroom.

The hot water felt good on his skin, and he ignored the initial burning heat as it hit him. He tried to get all the vampire stink off of him; He hadn't noticed how badly Nathaniel's stench had mixed with his. He'd hoped a roll in the grass would've sorted it out, but it seemed this particular vampire had left a very clear impression on him. Sam got dressed quickly, pulling on a worn pair of jeans and an old faded grey shirt that had once been a crisp white.  He jumped down the steps and padded into the kitchen.

   It seemed Janice had already made herself comfortable, "Want some toast?" She said distantly, holding a girly magazine in one hand and some half-eaten jam toast in the other.

   Sam wrinkled his nose, "I thought you weren't into those, uh, things..." He motioned towards the magazine while stealing some of Janice's breakfast.

   Janice peeked over the top of the magazine, her slightly beaked nose making her look hawk-like, "Piss off, Sam." She snapped.

   Sam gave up questioning her and decided to make some tea instead. He filled the kettle up and looked over his shoulder at her, "What're you doing here anyway, did you get kicked out again?" He said with a hint of amusement. Nothing like a rebellious teenager to make his life brighter...

   Janice snorted and tore off a piece of toast, "Whatever, Sam, that's none of your business."

   "It is if you're going to be stealing my apartment from me..."

   "Fine," She sighed, "I may have broken one of the 'Super Sacred Werewolf Codes'" She mocked, forming quotation marks in the air with her fingers.

   Sam shook his head and put the kettle on to boil. He looked dismally into the two half-clean teacups he could find. They were permanently stained from countless cups of coffee. One of Sam's tactics to prevent the lunar change, a coffee high. It hadn't worked as well as he'd have thought, and had ended up escalating the process rather than subduing it. Sam turned to look at her warily, "What did you do?" He asked, regarding her with cautious eyes. She glared at him.

   "Look, the vampire attacked me first, OK?" She snapped, throwing the magazine down in exasperation, "But nobody believed me!"

   Sam frowned at the teacups as he prepared their drinks, trying to keep his eyes trained on the mugs instead of Janice, "You can hardly blame them," he pointed out evenly, "You have broken a few rules already..." he could almost feel he furious glare on his back.  He prepared the cups of tea and sat down opposite her. She gave him a cold glare and picked her magazine back up. Sam didn't try to start a civil conversation. He watched Janice out of the corner of his eye, as she flicked her stone grey gaze over the pages.

   Great, he thought solemnly, Just what I needed.