Endlessly by C.V. Hunt Read Free Book Online

trembling right hand.
When our hands touched, I felt the pulse, and saw a flash of
images. All of this sensory stimulation happened too quickly for me
to keep up, but the last image stayed with me: the child fairy,
Sara with something on her hands. Then I lost it.
    It occurred to me that Jessica hadn’t
mentioned these flashes. Was she hiding that from me? I looked at
the girl. She stared at our hands, her breath short, and her eyes
widening. Slowly she looked up at me. The pull was as strong as
gravity. I felt as if I might fall into her. I had to lean
back.
    “Sorry,” I said.
    Her eyelids fluttered and she looked at
our hands. Finally she introduced herself. “Uh…Ash
Nicely.”
    “Ash Nicely,” I said, recovering enough
composure to speak. “How unusual. Is that your given name?” I felt
the pull deep in my chest. .
    “It’s Ashley, but I go by Ash,” she
said. “I’m a big fan of scary movies. ‘Evil Dead’ is one of my
faves.” She smiled shyly. We kept looking at each other’s
hands.
    Her aura was thickening, spreading.
Finally I saw the letters tattooed on her fingers. I turned her
right hand up to read the letters on the knuckles. My white skin
looked hideous next to hers.
    “Vamp...” I said with a dumbfounded
look on my face for sure.
    “… ires,” she
said.
    “Huh?”
    “Vampires,” she said.
    If there’d been any color in my face,
it would’ve drained out then. I was still holding her hand. My
trembling returned.
    She put the book under her arm, held
both of her hands out, showing the full word across all eight
knuckles: V-A-M-P-I-R-E-S.
    “Big scary movie fan.” She lowered her
hands, then grasped the book.
    In the background Marilyn Manson sang
“If I was your vampire…” I laughed out loud.
    “How ironic?” I said. When I saw her
puzzled look, I added: “I…I…mean that song and your
tattoo.”
    “Oh. Yeah. That’s a great
CD.”
    I heard Jason. “Ah man, not
again!”
    Then the smell hit me. Troll! Not now!
Surely Ash would smell it! The odor wouldn’t be as strong to her
because she didn’t know what she was yet. Self-awareness adds an
edge to our perceptions.
    And here came Patti, walking up the
aisle toward us. Patti knew that the girl was still human, and
counted on that fact to protect her from any manhandling I had in
mind. She stopped in front of me, put her hand on her hip, and
said: “Hey, Verloren I need a little help finding a
book.”
    My breathing grew rapid and shallow.
Patti was enjoying this. I glared at her. It took everything in me
not to kill her right there. I held my breath and clenched my jaw.
“Why don’t you have Jason help you, Patti?”
    “He looked a little busy so I thought I
would ask you.”
    “I’m kinda busy right now
too.”
    “I see. Too busy for me,” she
said.
    I turned to Ash. “Sorry. I’ll be right
back.”
    Ash nodded. She glanced at Patti,
scrunched her eyebrows together, and held her breath.
    I grabbed Patti’s wrist and pulled her
down the aisle with as little commotion as possible. When we were
far enough away I swung Patti around roughly in front of me, and
hissed: “What the fuck do you think you are doing? I told you to
stay out. Now get the fuck out of my store and if I ever catch you
in here again I will send you to the next world. Do you
understand?”
    She stared stupidly at me.
    “Let me be as clear as crystal. If I
see you in here again, I will kill you.” I pointed to the door.
“Now get out.”
    She smiled at me. Then turned and
walked to the front of the store. She waved at Jason, calling, “Bye
Jason see ya later.” Then she left.
    I heard Jason grumble. “Fucking bitch.
Where’s the air freshener?”
    I walked back to Ash. She looked at me
then back to the book. She’d smelled the troll. “I don’t want to be
rude,” she said, “but your friend…”
    “She stinks,” I blurted.
    She laughed, covering her mouth.
“Sorry.”
    “No it’s all right. She’s not a friend.
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