Page 41 of My Road Trip with a Vampire: Season One
“They tell me I am.”
I force a small laugh, but his fingers touch my shoulder. His touch is cool against my wet skin, causing goosebumps to spread down my arms.
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you I wanted to check on you. This place is swarming with ghosts…” He trails off and pulls his hand back. “I couldn't stop thinking about what you said about your accident, how your face looked. Was she really just your friend?”
The pit of my stomach opens up again. The fact that no one ever knew what she meant to me made it harder to move on, but I know it’s not fair to out her when she’s not around to comment on our relationship herself.
Dennis seems like a safe person to tell. He has no ties to my life back home.
“Kayla was my girlfriend. We were going to tell everyone once we got to college, but you know what happened. “ I shrug. “Neither of us ever made it to Penn State.”
No emotions cross his face. I'm learning that vampires are stoic. It's harder to read them than humans.
“I’m sorry about Kayla,” he says. “It’s been a long time, but I can relate.”
He teases his bottom lip with his fang again, and I find myself thinking about what it would be like to run my tongue there. It’s a random thought, not one I’m expecting to pop up when I’m thinking about something that usually causes so much sadness.
“Beatrice,” a voice hisses, pulling me from my musings about his lips. “Dirty girl. What would your poor mother think if she knew what you were doing with this creature? What filthy thoughts you have.”
Dennis stiffens and moves his body to shield me. I fight back a laugh at his stance. It’s not like he’s going to keep the ghosts from ogling me in my towel.
“She seems to be pretty pleased about our engagement,” I call out. “I’d say she’d be pretty happy about it.”
“You let him trick her,” another voice sings. The ceiling groans overhead. “One day he’ll drain you, and all mommy will have left is some made-up story you told her.”
Vile. Disgusting.
A ghostly chorus flings insults at me.
“Do you know what always happens to girls like you?”
“Fuck off,” I tell the ghosts, moving to the bedroom to grab my clothes from my duffel. Dennis follows.
“They die,” the hissing voice whispers, the words echoing around me as the heating unit starts to screech.
They die. They die. They die.
I’m pretty thick-skinned, but their words make my stomach turn as I step into leggings and a sweatshirt. Of all the names they call me, the creepiest one by far isBeatrice. I don’t like that they know who I am.
“Ugh! I forgot about the stupid dress code.” I press my palm to my forehead.
“It’s alright,” Dennis says, buttoning his shirt. We’re back to business as usual. He lifts my pouch of salt and pockets a couple crystals.“Let’s see if we can find anything to bind the spirits.”
“What exactly should we be looking for?” I ask him. I know that finding a ghost’s personal belongings can make a banishment an easier task. This place is huge though, I don’t know where to start.
“They were holding stakes and bibles in their portraits. I wonder if they’re preserved in one of these rooms.”
“Shouldn’t we ask Faith? I mean, I’m assuming she’d know.”
His mouth presses into a thin line.
“Faith is a conundrum. She’s ready to get rid of her family’s ghosts, but she’s still protective of their legacy.”
“She’s hardcore into vampires though, doesn’t that make protecting their legacy kind of difficult?”
He still looks grim when he answers.
