Page 22 of The HalloQueen

I thought for a second, debating how to approach it, “I am not like you.”

“No shit, Sherlock, tell me something I don’t know.”

Against my better judgment, I chuckled slightly, “Annabel-”

“Don’t call me that.” Her eyes were closed and her breathing was steady. I released the tether I’d been pulling on and continued to hold her hand, hoping to keep her in this place of lucidity but complacency.

“Why not? It is your name?”

“It’s not my name to you, Tommy. You always call memon coeur.”

A crooked smile formed on my face and I decided to go for it, “Mon coeur, I am an energy harvester, I am not mortal.”

“What is an energy harvester? Like a dementor or something?”

“Non, belle.”

“Bels.”

“What?”

“My friends, some of them call me Bels for short. You might as well just call me Bels too.”

“Ah,” I said, surprised that she’d detoured away from the whole, I ate your soul's energy thing. I paused and assessed her relaxed face, “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, Annabel. When you looked at me with that anger and fear in your eyes I think it could have destroyed me if I’d stared too long.”

“Because you’re a…mood farmer?”

I chuckled again, “energy harvester, smartass, though most mortals simply call us Vampires.”

It wasn’t until I said that word that her hand yanked away from mine and her eyes shot open like I’d admitted I was carrying the plague. I could tell she was slow on the draw with how languid I made her, which was exactly what I wanted - I didn’t want her to run from the conversation, but her anxiety immediately ratcheted up again.

I grabbed her hand to try to subdue it, “calm down,ma chérie, calm down.”

She ripped it from me again and leaned away, hissing, “You’re a vampire? LikeI’ve come to suck your blood, vampire?”

“Oui, mon coeur, but you have nothing to fear from me. Mortals have long since mixed up vampires and our sick brothers.”

“You’re a vampire.”

“Oui.”

“Oh my god. I’ve died. I’ve hit my head somewhere, I must have fallen out of the Jeep or drunkenly fallen down the stairs. Shit, what if I’m still in the shower and I’m slowly drowning…”

“Annabel-”

“No! You don’t just get to say that like I’ve stepped into a fucking Twilight movie and expect me to be totally chill with it! What happened to me last night? If I have nothing to worry about, why can’t I remember? Did you wipe my memory or something? Did you hurt me?” She pushed herself up making me sink closer to the floor. She began to pace with her hands on her head and I could hear her heartbeat steadily increasing, “Jesus, are you an Edward? Have you been breaking into my house and watching me sleep? Are you 120 years old and obsessed with a teenager? Are you a total pervert? Do you have a creepy cloaked army of Dakota Fannings about to attack me!?”

“You’re spiraling, Bels.”

“Do you kill animals?!” She stopped and stared at me wide-eyed, “Do you go out at night and hunt black bears?!”

“Annabel, if you’d stop moving I’d be able to explain what happened, but if you need to continue to compare me to a teenage romance book I can come back later.”

She turned and scowled at me, “Tommy.” She said my name almost pleadingly like she wanted me to say that she’d been pranked.

“You have the most intense emotional pool that I’ve ever encountered. It’s fascinating.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Yesterday my emotional pool was just fine thank you very much; you’re the one that’s fucked it all up.”

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