Chapter 6

After Kent left I tried to sort through my feelings and thoughts. There was no mistaking it. I was no longer the person I had been twenty-four hours ago—if I was a person at all. I wasn't going to get any help from other vamps. They were going to try to kill me.

Tige, the Rastafarian, was who I needed to be talking to. Somehow I didn't sense malice in his actions. He had turned me because of the accident. But where was he? Tony had mentioned a Rogue who made a Third—me. Why hadn't he come back to help me, though?

Okay, it was a big problem, but I had other pressing concerns. I was one of the undead, so how the hell was I going to work my nine to five? And my friends and family were definitely not going to be happy about this.

And you know what? I kinda liked the sun. And I'd never be able to eat another chocolate bar. Also, I'm not sleeping in a coffin! I'm not going to be a fashion victim either. If I had to be undead, I was going to still rock my DKNY and BABY PHAT.

I stopped my pity party and decided to make sure the sun wasn't going to peek through my bedroom and fry me in my sleep.

I wondered if I was going to lose consciousness or if it was going to be like sleeping. I didn't want to take any chances. I had survived one night sleeping in the bathroom so I knew it was safe. Tomorrow I'd just have to go out and find something to black out the windows of my apartment.

I dragged my mattress into the bathroom and tossed it into the bathtub. I was probably ruining the mattress, but I made it fit. There were no windows so I didn't have to worry about sunlight. I turned on the radio to the last of the mellow moods hour. Boney James was blowing his horn. I snuggled under my blanket and tried to pretend I was pretty lucky and not just screwed.

~*~

I don't recall falling asleep. A heavy feeling dragged me down. I guess it coincided with the rising of the sun because before I knew it I was gone.

Upon awaking I decided my sleep consisted of complete nothingness. There are not many things scarier than the feeling of being at the mercy of anybody or anything—especially after being nearly killed by a pack of Vampires. Now, I could understand why Vampires had secret lairs.

I cleaned up, replaced my mattress, and made up my bed. It was Sunday night, and I would have to figure something out about a job.

My cell phone was also blown up with calls. I called Arnitra.

"Girrrrrl!" she growled. "Where have you been? I came over, knocked and knocked, and your car was sitting in the parking lot."

"Oh, I had food poisoning or something. I've been sick all weekend." Damn, I so wanted to tell her about drinking Kent's blood! Arnitra and I shared everything. How was I going to get through this without my BFF?

"Kim, you're not keeping anything from me, are you? You didn't have a torrid one-night stand with Rasta Man, because if you did I swear I'm going to talk about you like a dog!"

I laughed for the first time in forever. "Shut up!" I felt my eyes sting with unshed tears. I didn't feel like a Vampire. I felt just like me, Kimberly Ann Russell.

We talked for a while. I didn't want to get off the phone with her because who knew when I'd be able to chat like that again. But I had to go out to the Home Depot, and I didn't know if I would have to feed soon. I never wanted to feel pain like that again. I would have to prevent it before the hunger got too great.

I slipped on jeans and a sweater and then put on sunglasses because I noticed some not-too-pleasant changes since feeding.

First, my eyes had taken on a gleam. They were golden and otherworldly. They looked like lion eyes and not in a "cheap-looking-contact-lenses way," but in a "you-are-not-human" way.

Second, my eyesight and sense of smell had sharpened. When I walked out the door to get into my car I could see ants crawling over a candy wrapper left in Mrs. Kennedy's yard half a block down the street. I swallowed uneasily and got into the car. Once inside the Home Depot, I heard every conversation, sniffle, fart, complaint, disagreement, and ringing cell phone. I staggered and touched my hand to my head. I was so distracted that I didn't see the store greeter when he stepped up to ask me if I was okay. I had to concentrate on his lips to understand what he was saying.

I dismissed him with a nod and hurried past him. I wanted to hurry and get out of there because being confined inside a building made the noises much worse. I had not experienced any problems when I was outside. It had to be the blood, because I hadn't experienced this at Club Midnight.

I filled my cart with black paint, black plastic sheeting, and black duct tape. Also I picked up some light bulbs because I was out and I saw a cute paper towel holder--only when I touched it I heard a sizzle and felt a flash of pain. Ouch! I forgot, no silver. I put my fingertips into my mouth and hurried away.

As I loaded my car, I felt something that made the hairs on my neck stand up. It reminded me of when I had spotted William at the club.

I got into my car and drove away. Something was out there—something like me. I decided to take the long way home across the river because I remembered reading that supernatural beings couldn't cross over flowing water. What would happen to me? Would I go blank? I was already on the bridge to Kentucky, and I prayed that I wouldn't take anyone else out if I blacked out.

But nothing strange happened. Ninety minutes later I returned to my apartment and hurried inside with my packages. I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary, so I relaxed a bit when I left the car and went inside.

I hated to do it, but I blacked out every window in the apartment I figured I probably wouldn't be doing any sleepwalking, so there was no danger of my accidentally frying myself if I walked out of the bathroom. I put the black plastic over them anyway, making sure every crack was covered. I took down my nice dainty sheers and hung heavy drapes.

Then I dialed my boss's voicemail and tried to think up a reasonable excuse for why I was unable to come in to work. "Hi Mr. Hadley. Uh, this is Kim and I won't be in to work tomorrow. Well, actually I won't be in for a few days…" Well for fucks sake! Maybe I should just say Mr. Hadley I won't be back to work because I'm fucking dead!