Page 32 of Pity the Living, Not the Dead

“Liam, love, let’s wait for her out here. Give her some privacy,” I suggested, taking his hand and leading him down to the kitchen. We needed to eat, and leaving Olivia unattended while we hunted wasn’t a wise choice to make.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right. I’m just so fucking happy she’s alive.”

Thirty minutes later, Olivia appeared. “Here, have a seat.” I pulled a dining chair out for her, placing a warm mug of blood in front of her. “Drink. Ask us anything. I’m sure you have many questions.”

She took a sip, then quickly emptied the cup in a single gulp. “What happened? Why am I drinking blood? Better yet, why am I enjoying it?” The curious, scientific side of Olivia had surfaced.

Liam and I exchanged looks. “You were attacked. Dr. Hamada said your internal wounds were extensive. You were dying, Liv. I couldn’t let you die,” Liam said.

“What am I?”

Liam held a finger up, ticking each one, identifying as many as he could. “A creature of the night. A member of the Undead,” Liam rattled off. “A vampire.”

Her eyes flittered like her brain was computing data it was receiving.

“The last thing I remembered was leaving the shelter. I’d just finished stitching up a homeless guy who’d been stabbed but refused to go to the hospital. I locked up behind me and walked to the bus stop. It was weird, I felt this burning sensation before the pain hit. When I turned, the same guy was standing beside me with a knife in his hand. He had a crazed look in his eyes.

“Motherfucker!” She yelled as she stood, knocking the chair backwards. “He tried to kill me.” And queue in the hot-tempered vampire side. Olivia was about to start experiencing a range of emotions, hopefully she’d be better at controlling these urges than Liam was.

“He basically did kill you. We, um,” Liam nervously scratched the back of his neck, “we gave you a new life.”

“We will teach you to hunt without killing,” I assured her. “It’s best to avoid humans while you get things figured out.” Olivia shrugged.

“I have to say,” Liam began, “you’re taking this better than anticipated. Hell, better than I did.”

“I guess it’s safe to say I won’t be returning to work since they think I’m dead?” Olivia said, matter-of-factly. Her brain worked so differently from Liam’s, as it should. Whereas he reacted without thinking many times, Olivia clearly analyzed everything first.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“What about my apartment? How do I pay for that?”

Liam looked to me for a response. “You won’t be able to live there. Sunlight will kill you.”

“What else will?” she asked

“Wooden stake to the heart, cutting off your head. Both of which will kill anyone, quite honestly. Holy water only burns, we heal from that. Unless you ingest it. Otherwise, our bodies heal from most things. We can’t get sick and don’t get diseases, nor do we pass any,” I informed her.

She looked at Liam. “I take it becoming a vampire cures cancer?”

“Um, yeah.” He smiled. “Surprise?”

Olivia laughed to the point it turned maniacal. “I don’t know whether to be happy or sad?”

“Maybe a little bit of both?” Liam suggested. “It takes some getting used to, but honestly, it’s pretty fucking cool.”

“Olivia,” I said, “you can live here. The room you are in is built into the side of the mountain, so no sunlight can get through. Daybreak is near, soon our bodies will force us to sleep. Tomorrow night, we can get your things. I’m sure it’s not ideal, but until you figure out what you want to do, our home is yours.”

“Thank you. Question, where do you get the blood bags from?” the nurse in her asked.

I smiled. “I own a chain of blood banks throughout the US.”

“Of course you do,” Liam smirked.

Liam and I hugged her before heading upstairs, where we showered and tucked in. “I guess having extra bedrooms was a good thing in hindsight,” I told Liam.

“You questioned it?”

“Yes, having no friends or family after I had the house built, I said to myself,Elijah, what the hell were you thinking?This is too much space for one man.”

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