Page 106 of Envious Of Fire
“To be fair, they only live two to four years at best, five or six if they’re really lucky,” offers Drake, like a living encyclopedia. “It sounds like he was one of the lucky ones.”
“She.”
“She,” Drake corrects himself. “Sorry for your loss.”
It isn’t really about the gerbil, Kyle can sense. Mikey feels disconnected from his whole life. One moment ago, he thought he would never see his family again. Now everything feels taken away even more than it already was. Perhaps even still, the idea of returning to his life feels like some distant dream.
Kyle can more than relate to that sentiment.
Without another word, Mikey starts walking off.
After a moment, Drake seems to want to say something to Kyle, but Kyle rises off the ground before he speaks and follows Mikey. Soon, Drake tags along, too, and the trio are back to crossing the arid, moonlit landscape.
It seems like hours later, and there is still nothing in sight. Mikey’s pace has slowed greatly. It’s only now after having hada taste of Lazarus’s blood that Kyle finds himself envying the power it gave him. He could carry Mikey on his back with ease and cover so much more ground. Then he feels sickened for envying the power and speed that full vampire blood lends him.
He decides he never wants to taste it again.
“How much further?” groans Mikey.
Kyle pulls out his phone to check for a signal, only to then be reminded that it died countless hours ago during the day. “I have no idea. Have we gone in a circle?”
“Everything’s far away from the Devil’s Mouth,” points out Drake, “for obvious safety reasons. I’d say we have another four or maybe five hours left to travel. Ten or fifteen miles, I guess. Or I’m just pulling these numbers out of my ass. Do I look like a human maps app to you?”
“I’m gonna die,” cries Mikey.
Kyle glances toward the horizon. It’s already beginning to swell a deep, menacing blue. “We don’t even have one hour, let alone five or six. We barely havehalfan hour. How in the hell did the night go by so fast? I thought I made it to the Devil’s Mouth much quicker before. We must’ve taken a longer way.”
Drake comes to a stop, sighs. “Only one solution to the time issue. Looks like we’ve gotta get dirty.”
Kyle stops as well. “What do you mean?”
Drake starts walking here and there, stomping his foot on the ground. When he finds the perfect spot, he crouches down, smirking, then says, “We have to dig.” He peers up, sees the puzzled expression on Kyle’s face. “Y’know, for us to spend the day in. Because: sun. We’re digging a grave.”
Kyle and Mikey blurt out at the same time: “Grave??”
Drake turns to Mikey. “Good news: no vampires are gonna pursue you for the next thirteen hours. Bad news: your new bed is gonna be on top of our grave.”
While Mikey tries to make sense out of that, Kyle squints atDrake like he’s lost his mind. “You can’t just dig a hole in this kind of earth. It’s as solid as cement.”
A corner of Drake’s lips pull up. “Challenge accepted.”
Then he throws a fist into the ground.
Kyle and Mikey step back as the earth crackles outward. He doesn’t seem satisfied with the result, so he pounds the hard earth again—and again. Once it seems to have broken enough, he starts digging his fingers into the cracks, prying and pulling chunks of hardened stone and dirt out. Kyle and Mikey watch, stunned, as Drake circles the start of his work, crouches in a different place, and continues punching, clawing, and peeling away the earth.
Drake peers back at them. “You boys plan to help? Or just to stand there admiring how cute my butt looks in these jeans?”
Kyle scoffs. “There’s gotta be another way.”
“Haven’t you ever been caught out in a stretch of land at sunrise before?” Drake chuckles at the baffled look on Kyle’s face. “C’mon, it’s quicker if we all dig. We’re gonna share this deep, narrow hole, Kyle, just you and I. We need enough room for us both to stand side-by-side, deep and straight down.”
“I’m not sharing any kind of hole with you.”
Drake quirks an eyebrow at Kyle as he digs. “Ifthatdoesn’t sound sexual … Hey, tick-tock, hot stuff, time is of the essence.” He keeps cutting into the earth with his hands, scooping away clumps of hardened dirt and stone with impressive ease. Mikey stands there, at a loss, likely wondering how it’s even possible to dig a hole so deep in this hard earth. He probably figures it has to do with “human muscles” this and “vampire muscles” that.
Kyle figures the same. Despite his feelings, he grits his teeth and drops to his knees to join Drake in digging. It isn’t as easy for him, and not much soon after he starts, he regrets how sore and raw his fingertips become. Several times, he debates giving up.
The sky brightening by the second is a sure motivator to not.
