“You are, you just don’t know it.” She crossed her arms in front of her, defensively. “I’m engaged to a wonderful man, I’m happy, and now I’m a vampire just like you. You thought you could be the only one? Well, I’ve got a news flash for you: the world doesn’t revolve around Sarah Dearly.”
“You know something? Just three weeks ago you went out and bought the same skirt as me because you thought it was cool. You are such a follower, Amy. Well, hate to break it to you, but this isn’t exactly a piece of clothing you can just return tomorrow if you don’t like it. This is your life, and you’ve just gone and ruined it.”
“What has happened to you, Sarah?” Her disappointment in me was palpable. “You’ve changed so much. I barely recognize you anymore. I mean, you look the same, but you don’t act the same.”
I snorted at that. “Yeah, I suppose I used to act like an ignorant bubblehead just like you.
Funny how a week of running for your life can change a girl.”
“It’s your own fault that you can’t see the positive side of things. Maybe that’s where we’re different. I’m sorry that you can’t be happy for me. But I’m happy for me. Barry’s happy for me. And that’s all that matters.”
I held up my hands, totally exasperated with her. “Whatever. I don’t want to deal with this.”
“Then don’t.” Her bottom lip quivered. “Just don’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Barry said I could use the tanning beds for free this afternoon.”
She turned away and went into one of the rooms; then she slammed the white door shut behind her.
I stood there for a minute in stunned silence. I couldn’t believe it. She was such a dope. Was that really the way I used to come off to people? Like there wasn’t anything more in my brain than what I was wearing and how pretty other people might think I look? It was sickening. But a part of me wanted to go after her and talk. We’d been friends for so long. We’d shared so much, and it hadn’t just been surface crap. I hoped our friendship could survive this. I really did. I just wasn’t so sure. Then again, by the sound of things we might have a long, long time to make up.
I shook my head. I wondered where I should throw the bachelorette party. Maybe I was overreacting. Who, me? I took a few deep breaths. Maybe I just needed to take a little time and relax, do some deep yoga breathing. Find my zen. I think I’d lost my zen about the same time I got fired last week. That’s assuming I ever had a zen in the first place. Come to think of it, I wasn’t even sure what a zen was. I pushed open the black door to the club and walked inside. It was empty, but I’d expected that. It wasn’t due to open to customers for another six hours. It felt eerie being in there all alone, the chairs up on the tables, the lights off. Everything was so still and quiet.
I went to the bar and helped myself to a few shots of blood. It’s amazing how good such a disgusting thing made me feel. Funny how you can get used to the craziest things if given enough time. Thierry’s office was empty, too. There was no one there but me. And Amy out in the tanning bed. It would be good to have a little peace and quiet for a while. I had to think through everything I wanted to talk to Thierry about. I needed to know if he had anything to do with Quinn’s mother’s death. I wanted to know why he’d let Eugene go when he’d given me the impression that he’d die.
Sitting down at Thierry’s booth, I laid my head on the table. After a while I must have dozed off.
I awoke to a sharp pain on my shoulder. Somebody was poking me.
“What the hell?” I looked up.
“Hey,” Zelda said.
I rubbed my eyes. “Hey yourself.”
“What are you doing here?” She slid into the other side of the booth.
“I wanted to talk to Thierry, but he’s not here yet.”
“How did you get in?”
“Amy was out front using the tanning bed.”
“Oh, right.” She smiled. “Our little bride-to-be.”
“Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “Can you believe that?”
“I think it’s kind of cute.” She pushed a newbie special across the table. “I made this for you.”
“Oh, thanks.” I took a sip. The diluted blood tasted weak, now that I was used to the real stuff. “You seriously think it’s cute?”
“Why not? Love is always cute.”
I laughed. “Yeah. Love. Right. I think it’ll take me a while before I’m convinced that they’re in love. And can you believe it? He actually turned her. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind the next time I see him. Maybe a piece of my fist, too, while I’m at it.”
She smiled back at me. “Barry’s harmless. Your friend could do a lot worse.”
“If you say so.”
She looked at me for a moment. “You seem a little down.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah. What’s wrong?”
I sure wanted somebody to confide in. Normally, it would have been Amy, but it didn’t look as though she was going to be much help. I still needed someone’s opinion about everything. Somebody I trusted. Zelda waited for me to answer. It was funny, but looking at her across the table, I felt like I could be looking at my younger sister. If I had one, that is. Zelda appeared to be only in her late teens, and even though I knew she was three hundred years older than that, the illusion was still pretty persuasive. Maybe we could braid each other’s hair later and talk about boys. Maybe not.
“I went to see that guy,” I said. “The cure guy. Met with him and everything.”
“Really?” Her expression was guarded. Maybe she didn’t know how to react, if it was good or bad news that I went to see him. I was still trying to figure that part out myself.
“And it’s true. There is a cure.”
“You went there all by yourself? Wow, that’s brave.”
“Actually, I took Quinn with me.”
Her eyes widened. “The guy who practically remodeled this place the other night? The hunter?”
“That’s the one. He’s calmed down a bit, though. He wants the cure, too, so I took him with me.”
“Well, that makes sense. So, what happened?”
I sighed. “You’ll never believe how much the cure costs.”
“There’s a cost? Oh, I never even thought about that. I guess it makes sense. Okay, how much?”
“Try one million bucks on for size.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Holy shit. That’s a lot of money.”
“Yeah.”
“And he wasn’t able to come down at all? He wouldn’t lower the rate?”
“Why would he?” I shrugged. “He doesn’t know me. Why should he do me a favor?”
“God, Sarah. I don’t know what to say. I know you were counting on it.”