Page 106 of By the Pint

You left me to rot in gaol for a century, and then afterwards you pretended I didn’t exist.

I know,he said.And I feel so shitty about it. You—

Oh, you feel shitty?! They tried to stake me in my sleep.

I’m sorry. I just—

They made me drink pig blood!

I’m sorry—

And then, I get out expecting things to go back to how they were, and you’re nowhere to be fucking seen. Shacked upwith a new flock. Nobody would invite me in, so I couldn’t even confront you about it. You completely ignored everything I’d done for you. Saving your ass. Teaching you mind control. And you fucking ignored me. Like the ungrateful piece of shit fucking selfish motherfucking teenage vampire you were.

He didn’t interrupt me. Killian simply nodded along, like none of this surprised him. My heart was pounding in my chest, adrenaline pumping, readying my body for a fight.

I’m not making any excuses for my behaviour. What I did, the way I treated you it was trash. I was a trash friend. But you know, I was twenty when I was turned, and … and I just think I’d been twenty for so long. And then one night I woke up, and I thought, Kills, you’re a three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old vampire, you need to stop acting like a spoiled fucking baby. But by that point, I had already destroyed the only thing that ever mattered to me. Us. Or rather, our friendship. You. You were the only thing that ever mattered to me, D.

I had nothing else to say, nothing to counter with, so I stayed silent and turned my attention back to Casey. It seemed that over investing myself into one-sided relationships had become something of a bit for me.

It’s not like I’m expecting what we had before,Killian said.I’m not stupid. I know I’ve destroyed things beyond repair. I only wanted you to understand how sorry I was.

“Noted,” I said, aloud, hoping my voice carried an air of finality. Just because Killian apologised, didn’t mean I had to forgive him.

I wanted to make it up to you. I tried to call, and write, but … well, you know.He waited for me to respond. When I didn’t, he added,He was supposed to be your ‘forgive-me’ gift. Actually, I never expected you to forgive me, but—

“What?!” I shouted.

My voice bounced around the tiny corridor.What? What? What?

I said I never expected you to forgive me—

No! Before that. He was supposed to be my ‘forgive-you’ gift?

35.

Dima

Killian gave an awkward laugh. A laugh I remembered instantly as being hisoops, bustedlaugh. I … yeah … well, shit. Okay, so, I’ve been trying to come up with a reasonable way to show you how sorry I was—am.

He shifted awkwardly on his feet. I mean, what I did, it was … fucking awful, man. Saying sorry, I just didn’t think it would cut it. I thought about writing you a letter, but I don’t know, it didn’t feel right. For about fifty years now, maybe more, I’ve been following you. Not in the literal sense, like around town hiding behind lampposts. But like, every time there was a newspaper article about you, I snipped it out and kept it, because it helped me build a better picture of what you were up to, but also it made me feel like I still had a friend. I know that sounds stupid.

I didn’t interrupt. It didn’t sound stupid. Not in the slightest, but I didn’t tell Killian this.

Every now and then, I found someone who claimed to know you. And so, I took them out for a pint of A neg or coffee or whatever they were drinking, and we chatted about you. I met this guy, in the Valley of Marwol, in the Mythic Realms. You know, the place where—

I know it,I said.

Of course, yes. So, this guy said he knew you. And me. I’d never heard of him, but he was adamant he was there before our turning—

I snapped my head towards Killian, trained my blood-red predator gaze to him.How?

Ah, see, I thought that might get your attention. I remember how … infatuated you were with discovering who you were as a human. What type of person you were. Did you have family. Etcetera. And I realised I would make it up to you by finding out everything I could about Dima … Grey.

No words came out of my mouth. Nothing came to mind.

Vlad the Wholesome, that was the vampire’s name. You know him?Killian asked.

I’ve heard of him. He was one of the forebears to help draft the Borderlands treaty back in the day.

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