Page 67 of My Road Trip with a Vampire: Season One
“Did she say anything?”
“Not at first, but after a few visits, she crawled up to me and whispered that she could be my friend.”
The whole table drops silent at that. Holy shit. This wasn’t a one-time thing. Brittany was targeted to be haunted. No wonder she looks ill talking about it.
“You never told me that part,” Alex says. She looks worried for her friend.
“It was too much. Besides, y’all thought I was making shit up. I transferred to the University of Alabama because she appeared to me when I was alone in the room in the middle of the day, taking a break from my classes to clear my head.”
“What did she do?” I ask her, piecing together the information.
“She touched my cheek, and I could smell her perfume. It reminded me of something my grandmother would wear. Then she asked me to meet her on the fourth floor that night.”
“But we stopped her,” Alex says. “We weren’t going to let her wander the dorms alone at night in that state of mind.”
Brittany blinks at Alex’s statement, and her blank stare vanishes.
“Right. My friends stopped me, and my parents convinced me to leave. My therapist says I probably made it all up as a coping mechanism. Not all of us have an easy time adjusting to campus life at first. I’m much closer to my family now, and I’m studying fashion,” she says, smiling now and pulling on the fabric of her too-authentic dress. "I haven't seen her since."
There’s no way she made that ghost up in her head, and she knows it.
“That’s enough talk about buzz-kill shit,” Alex says. “Let’s talk about something fun, like this costume.” She runs her hand up Dennis’ arm, then she touches his lip. “Your vampire fangs look so real.”
I don’t know how she spotted them, but I watch Dennis’ eyes change when his lips part.
He’s going to have to compel her.
“He studied costume design, so he wins Halloween every year,” I say with a wink. “Isn’t that right, babe?”
Alex’s hand drops away from his arm immediately, and she looks between us.
“Shit. Sorry, didn’t realize,” she says, and I wave off the apology.
“It’s all good. I can’t take him anywhere; he's too damn cute,” I tell her, fighting the grimace that comes on when I feel the hot flash rise in my throat, the deep opening that needs to be filled.
Dennis stands up.
“I think I’m going to call it a night,” he says, moving to his feet. He leaves before I can talk to him.
“Wow, uh, I didn’t mean to…” Alex trails off, embarrassed.
“Please don’t worry about it. Y’all are lovely. I’m going to make sure he gets out of here safely,” I say.
“We didn’t get to hear your ghost story,” someone calls out, but I’m racing out of there, hoping Dennis hasn’t disappeared completely.
I close my eyes and let myself feel his blood running through my veins. If he can find me by feeling me, then I can do the same.
It takes me a few minutes, but I find him leaning against a tree with Darling yipping around him.
“I had to get out of there,” he says without opening his eyes.
“Are you going to just leave me every time you’re in a room full of young bloody Marys and need a sip?” I ask him, feeling irrational and angry about it. I know his feeding schedule is none of my business, but I’m getting a little annoyed.
He cracks an eye open.
“That’s not how it works,” he says. “I don’t drink from young women then make them forget. It’s unethical when there are so many apps available now for willing feeders.”
“What? That’s not what I meant.”
