Part 2 (1/2)
”I'm not talking about s.e.x.” He reached for her arm again.
Julie pulled away. ”If you're not talking about s.e.x, then what are you talking about? Unless you know about a s.e.x change operation I might have had in the few short hours I was unconscious, I'm still a woman and therefore-”
”Could you shut up long enough to get up the stairs?” William left her standing in the hallway and took the steps two at a time.
”Sheesh, woman.”
”Ah hah! You admit it. I am a woman, therefore a lady.” She followed behind him. Taking the same steps he did, two at a time. She never took steps two at a time. Normally, she was wheezing and gasping for air as she climbed steps one at a time, never mind two at a time. But here she was taking two...and she tried it...three steps at a time. No problem. Maybe she should get conked on the head more often. It beat the h.e.l.l out of a regular workout routine.
Much as she'd like to get a shower and head for bed, she needed to know a few things. ”By the way, William, why was I sleeping in an alley like a homeless person?”
He waited for her to cross his threshold, and then he closed his door and pushed the bolt home. ”Now, that we're inside and don't stand the chance of being seen or overheard, I can fill you in. Why you couldn't just keep quiet until we got here, I don't know.” He took a deep breath and stared down at her.
”I never was very good at surprises and I get the feeling you're about to surprise me. I'm not going to like the surprise, am I?”
With a worried frown, William blew out a long, steady breath. ”Maybe you better sit down.”
Uh-oh. She didn't like the way he was stalling. ”What, did the landlord evict me and I stumbled out into the street, devastated and homeless?”
”No, nothing as simple as that.”
”That's simple?” Double uh-oh. She perched on the edge of his bomber-jacket brown leather sofa. ”Okay, I'm sitting. Just tell me already. I'm dying here.”
”You can't die, Julie. You're already dead.”
Her mouth dropped open. ”Huh?” Who was he trying to kid? She was a walking, talking, gawking person sitting in his living room. ”Uh, William. Have you been smoking some wacky weed or something? h.e.l.looooo. If I'm here talking to you, how can I be dead?”
”It's complicated.”
”Try me.”
”Then keep an open mind.” His eyebrows dropped toward the bridge of his nose in a V.
”I'm open.”
”Julie, last night, you were turned.”
”Turned?” She grasped for any possible meaning she could come up with for the unfamiliar phrase. ”Like a fruit held too long on the branch turned?”
”No.”
”Like coming out of the closet gay turned?”
”No.”
”I give up.” She sat back against the couch, her arms crossing over her chest. ”What do you mean?”
”Turned as in from human to vampire.”
She could have caught flies as low as her jaw dropped. ”William, I've known you, what, a year and a half, maybe?”
”Yeah.” ”And this is the first time you've ever done anything remotely weird.”
”So?”
”So.” She pushed up from the couch and strode for the door. ”I'll cut you a break. I'm going home to shower and bed. When I wake up, maybe we can start this conversation all over. 'Cause I know you didn't just say I've been turned to a vampire, and I know you're not crazy. I'm counting it as a really bizarre nightmare I'll wake up from after a decent amount of sleep.”
William appeared in front of her, blocking her path to the doorway. ”It's true.”
Wait a minute. One minute he was behind her at the couch. Now, he was in front of her. When had he made the trip? Had she blinked? She shook her head.
He grinned. ”It's one of the perks.”
”What's one of the perks? And perks of what?”
”Speed. Vampires are really fast.”
She put a hand up. ”No, wait, forget I asked. I don't want to hear any more trash talk about vampires. You know and I know they don't exist. You sound like that Bob Marley guy we sedated at the hospital earlier. He was ranting about vampires loose on the streets of Houston.”
”They are.”
”But everyone knows vampires are just a bizarre manifestation of some writers' fancy. Like werewolves and demons.”
”They exist too.” William's face set in grim lines.
Julie shook her head, having a hard time grasping reality. ”You do that so well.”
”What?”
”The straight-faced thing.” Julie laughed out loud and looked around the room. ”All right Kim, you can come out now. I know you're hiding back there somewhere.”
The confused expression on William's face looked very real. ”Kim who?”
”My practical joking friend from the hospital. That's who.” Julie poked a finger into William's chest. ”She put you up to this, didn't she?”
Her neighbor grabbed her finger and pulled her hand into his. ”Look, Julie. This is a lot to take in all at once. But no kidding.
You're a vampire. And as a vampire, there are certain, shall I say, rules you have to follow. The immortality thing is only if you follow the rules.”
Julie's heart sank into her belly as dread washed over her like a mudslide in California. ”You're not joking are you?”
”I'm sorry to say, no.”
”But how?” She sank onto the couch staring up at him as his words sank deeper.