Page 14 of Undead & Unfed

“I would but I can’t. I have a few things to get done. I’m busy and tired. Maybe later?”

Lottie smiled at Vance again. “Later, definitely.”

Lottie went back down to the lobby, sticking close to the windows so she could try and spot Nova. She was desperate to find Selena and figure out what was going on. She knew she could ask Merry but didn’t want to open that can of worms. The woman was a bit of a gossip.

Slipping out the door to the pool deck, Lottie walked behind the pool’s huge fake mountain, still trying to stay out of sight. Not seeing Selena or Nova, she made her way over to the pool bar that was connected to the inside Cave bar. Taisha, the bartender, was pouring shots for a group of Leprechauns but smiled over at Lottie. Taisha was a singer. She frequently invited Selena and her friends to open mic nights in town and to do karaoke together. Lottie never turned down a fun time with a gorgeous woman, even if Taisha was straight.

“Hey, Lots, what’re you drinking?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just looking for Selena, have you seen her?”

“Not since earlier this morning.”

“Thanks. I’m going to text her again.” Lottie headed back into the lobby as she shot another text to her friend. Before stepping through the door, a sign caught her eye.

“What the fuck?” she muttered, staring wide eyed at the sign with Nova, her boyfriend, and her parents plastered across it, advertising the sober retreat.

Turning, she rushed back to the bar. “Taisha!” she raised her voice to be heard over the line of people that had gathered in the last few minutes to order drinks.

“What’s up, Lottie?” Taisha asked as she continued to mix drinks and pop the tops off of beer bottles.

“Do you know anything about this ‘sober retreat’ thing going on here?”

Taisha gave her a weird look. “Everyone does. It’s Beau Bryant and his daughter. He’s running for…something. We had a staff meeting about it earlier this week. Selena didn’t tell you?”

Shaking her head, Lottie felt her face flush. She wasn’t happy with her friends at the moment. Did they know about this? Had they tricked her? She didn’t understand how this entire situation was supposed to play out in their minds, but she wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

Chapter Five

After dinner, Nova excused herself to get a few minutes away from Cain and her parents. She knew the next 30 days were going to be overwhelming, but she couldn’t exactly pinpoint what her bad mood was about. She wasn’t hangry she had just eaten. It wasn’t teaching the program, she’d been through it hundreds of times, flawlessly. And she really wasn’t that upset with her father. She understood his ambitions, she just wished he weren’t so overbearing sometimes.It was Cain, she thought. He had been about to tell her something.

Continuing to let her mind wander, Nova walked through the lobby of the resort, stepping into the open elevator doors, and pressing the button for the roof. She felt a ride on the sky lift would help reduce her stress. Standing at the top of the astounding resort, she could see the orange light of the sunset sinking behind the mountain. As the next lift became available, Nova stepped on feeling a small weightlifting from her shoulders at the much needed alone time. She loved Cain and her parents, of course but their expectations could be crushing at times. Sitting back, Nova took a deep breath holding it in for a five count then letting it out, focusing only on the scenery around her. There were people still playing volleyball on the strip of beach connected to Crimson Moon Hideaway as the cabana boys and girls gathered towels and tips left by vacationers.Maybe I could do that job.

With her mind at ease, Nova pondered how it could be living in a place like this. A place where you didn’t have to pretend to be someone you weren’t for the sake of others. A place where you could decide your own future plans and not just take over your parent’s business, albeit a highly successful one. Before her thoughts could spiral out of control, she sat up straight zeroing in on a woman walking on the trail coming back from where the treehouses were. She knew that walk; the seductive way her hips swayed without her even trying. Lottie. She must be here to visit Selena. Feeling a pang of resentment, Nova tried to understand her feelings. What she had told Lottie was the truth. She was in a serious, stable relationship with a man she loved. Right?

“Yes, that is right,” she said, speaking aloud to herself. Was she trying to convince herself? She could admit, up there alone on the sky lift, that Lottie did pique her interest in a way no one else had but it wasn’t something she could pursue. Not that she wanted to but if she did, she knew her father’s campaign manager, Clark, would be all over her.

“Nothing new,” he was always reminding the family. No new haircuts or colors, don’t try any new lipsticks, no new friendships without extensive background checks. Clark hadn’t even wanted her to start school, but she fought against it. If she was being honest with herself, she was bored with the life she was living. The retreat would help, it always did. Things could get wild, but Nova also liked helping people. She like showing them how happy they could be once they started living a clean life.

Instead of getting off the sky lift she decided to stay on for another ride. There was no one else riding that she could see. Seeing Lottie had made the butterflies in her stomach start up again and she didn’t want to be around anyone while she processed those feelings. She loved Cain. He was one of the best people she’d ever known, and she cared for him deeply. Was shein lovewith him though? They’d been best friends since they were young children. Everything they’d experienced for the first time they’d experienced together. Cain taught her how to channel her energy, meditate, and hide her famishment. He’d taught her how to be human again but lately she’d been questioning if that’s what she wanted. She was a vampire, but she didn’t get to act like it.

After she’d stormed of the Vamp club away from Lottie and her friends, Nova started wondering about their lives. Were they as comfortable and carefree as they seemed? She supposed she could speak with them about it, ask them about their lives and who’d taught them they didn’t need to hide who and what they were.

Realizing the sky lift had made another trip to the top of the mountain and back, Nova decided it was time to meet back up with Cain and iron out the last few details that were left for the retreat. She would have to push all this nonsense to the back of her mind for now.

“Focus on what’s most important.” She could hear her father’s voice in her mind.

Hopping off the sky lift, she suddenly felt the desire to go hang out with some friends. Any friends. Hopefully, Selena, Janie, Alex, and the others wouldn’t be terribly upset with her.

***

Lottie seethed as she walked the length of her room, hands shoved deep in her pockets. She tried to think back to a time she’d been this mad at her friends, but nothing came to mind in the last fifty years.Was this purposeful?

“Lots? Lottie? Can I call you Lots?” Vance fluttered into the small sitting area, frowning at his roommate.

“Hi Vance,” Lottie flopped down onto her extra thick queen size bed and leaned back against the down pillows. “Of course, you can call me Lots. All my friends do.”

Vance sat down on the bed directly across from Lottie. “I’m your friend?” he smiled.

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