Page 93 of The Awakening
“Yes, and… I think Audrey is coming for a visit. She says she’s found a new recipe for cinnamon rolls and she wants to test them on me.”
“The Vampire Audrey. Does she make you call her that?”
I laugh, which is a nice distraction from everything swarming inside me. “No. She only introduces herself that way. She’s eccentric, for sure. She bought me a basket of the most delicious mangoes, but she refused to tell me where she got them from.”
Junichi shrugs. “Maybe she stole them?”
“Do vampires steal mangoes?”
“If there’s nothing better to do.”
I laugh at this because it sounds utterly ridiculous.
“Your aristocracy of one,” Junichi says. “They’re flocking to you. With mangoes.”
“I don’t think one of anything can be defined as a flock.”
He smirks. “Won’t be long now though. Soon, the right person will get wind of you and you’ll be featured inThe New York Times, the BBC and theVampire International News. I can already see the headlines—‘British Purebreds, They Exist.’”
“God, I hope not. Christ.”
“They’ll be beating down your door with baskets of stolen fruit.”
“Are you intentionally trying to make my anxiety flare up?” I smile. “Is this today’s objective?”
“No. Definitely not. I’m happy that I can make you smile and laugh, though. That’s a worthy objective for the day.”
I’m still smiling, and that warm, bubbly sensation keeps rushing over my skin and through me. I don’t know what to say when he’s like this—throwing flirty remarks at me. The old Jae would say something quick and cheeky in response. Unabashed.
When I think about myself back then and how confident I was, I laugh. Cyrus confessed his feelings to me confidently—absolutely certain that I would reciprocate. I felt haughty toward him then, but didn’t I turn around and do the exact same thing to Jun? Thank God I never actually told him how I feel. If I had, I wouldn’t be able to look him or myself in the face.
Cyrus had all his queer hopes and dreams wrapped up in me, and I had all my vampire ones weighted on Jun. I didn’t even realize how much I had let myself depend on him. It’s humiliating.
My tablet buzzes, and it’s my direct supervisor from the hospital. I hate to admit it, but I’m somewhat relieved. If I keep talking to him like this, I’ll get too comfortable and it’ll just be more painful for me later. “Hey, someone from the hospital is calling and I need to take it.”
“Sure. Enjoy your day. I’m happy you picked up, and I really look forward to seeing you, Jae.”
I nod, squelching and ignoring my nature inside me. “You too.”
* * *
A few dayslater it’s Saturday afternoon. I’m sitting in the front room of my cottage with The Vampire Audrey. Spring rain is lightly tapping the windows and surfaces of the house, and my stomach is full of English breakfast tea and warm cinnamon rolls with raisins. She’s telling me a story about how she once ran naked through Trafalgar Square for a cup of coffee in the 1970s. It is truly a fascinating tale, but I am distracted and officially concerned that I might be losing my mind.
“They didn’t have cameras and all this fancy technology back then, so it was much easier to get away with little things—I reinvented myself over and over, just for the hell of it.” Audrey takes a long sip of tea, then dabs a napkin at her ruby-red lips. “Those were the days.”
“It would be much harder to do that now, absolutely.” I squirm in my seat, trying to get my gut to calm down. It’s not working.
“Oh, it’d be impossible to do it now. Everyone is a walking video camera! My streaking days are over.” Audrey lifts her teacup to her mouth, but then frowns, focusing on me. “Darling, are you alright?”
I breathe in, and everything I’m sensing just feels more and more intense. “I don’t know. I—I think I’m losing my mind.”
“What’s the matter? I’m not an expert in purebred matters, but I can probably help. I know a thing or two.” Audrey is second-gen, and she definitely knows a lot. Much more than me. We met in the city one weekend three months ago when I decided to visit the larger chain supermarket instead of my small local one. She was shocked when she saw me—a British purebred. But she’s kept me a secret like I’ve asked. She’s very kind. Audrey visits me every Saturday unless I’m working. It’s nice to talk to someone that’s not Cy.
“I—Do you remember what I told you?” I ask. “About the vampire that helped to awaken me?”
“Junichi,” she says, nodding. “Of course I remember. He’s rather important.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but it’s like I can feel him. I’m not—I wasn’t thinking of him, but it keeps getting stronger, and I can sense and smell him right now.”
