Hey guys. I guess I couldn't stay away long. I'm back and doing a bunch of one-shots now. Not planning on making them connected in any way and I really hope they won't do that on me. I might not update this every day but it'll be updated when I have the extra muse for it around the other stuff I'm doing or if I need a boost in muse, stuff like that. So, hey. I'm back. Enjoy.
The Constant To-Do List
It really should not have been possible to be running out of things the way they did. It always seemed to be something that needed to be replaced immediately, resulting in trips surpassing the weekly grocery trip. Strangely enough, it was one of the things Howleen liked doing the most.
Clawd had the car at practice, and Clawdeen was still at school working on the sewing machines where it was quiet. While her brothers goofed around and made the living room into a petting zoo, Howleen quietly slipped into the kitchen with her hoodie zipped up and running shoes on, and picked up the ever-replaced stack of sticky notes from the magnetic bin. In a scribbled rush, she opened the refrigerator door and looked around, jotting down what she didn't see, and nearly bumping her head on the shelf when her mother voiced from the oven, "And your father needs some half-and-half for his coffee, and we could use some additions for all of your lunches, but no sweets." Harriet could voice all she liked, but she must've known they were going to get sweets.
Nodding, Howleen dropped the pen back in the basket and replaced the sticky notes where they had been, folding it backward so the sticky part wouldn't pick up the fuzz inside of her sweater pocket and stuffed it in along with her fist. "I need money."
Harriet glanced to her and sighed, "Give me my wallet."
She picked up the clutch wallet and passed it to her mother, nearly scowling at the refurbish job Clawdeen had given it. Her mother produced a handful of bills and folded them over, tucking them in the pocket of her sweatshirt and giving her a very pointed look under direct eye contact, "I want change."
Howleen nodded, jammed the other hand in her pocket and pushed the screen door open with her elbow. The smell of cooking food was reaching outside of the house and surely going to summon the pack strays in the neighborhood. She jogged around the garage and down the sidewalk before any more testosterone could interfere with her temper more than it already was. Reaching into the pocket of her torn jeans, she produced her headphones, untangled them slightly and plugged them into her ears. Walking was fine, she could pick up on all the scents of dinner being cooked and the animals scurrying around between the trees, but she didn't want to hear what she knew, inevitably, she would hear.
Salem shouldn't still have been divided, but it kind of was. And all things considered, the humans stayed on their half and they stayed on theirs, but every so often...
"Full moon freak!"
That was just original enough to be a vampire's, she thought bitterly, resisting the urge to turn around and put her shoe to somebody's shin hard enough to break it.
"Turn around so we can see the free freak show!"
Blood blazing, she turned up her music just a little louder. The sound of a car wasn't just a sound, it was a feeling, and she could feel the speedometer increase until the car was up alongside her. Fists clenched, she prepared for a fight. Suddenly, a sleek, black car tore around the corner and made the car slam on their breaks. The hearse glided into a smooth stop nearly against the bumper of the human car. The automatic window descended and the venomous tone of Gory Fangtell's voice sliced through the air, "Excuse you, you're in my way."
"You're on the wrong side of the road!" the driver yelled, "You almost hit us!"
"Did I?" she mocked, "Would you like me to?"
An intense staring contest ensued that only the strongest of men wouldn't have cringed at. Just from the biting words that came from the vampiress, Howleen knew the boys were better off giving in off the bat, literally and metaphorically. Somehow, he held out for a few seconds under the homicidal gaze before he threw his car in reverse and pulled around her. Howleen lowered her gaze immediately and started off, only to hear, "Hey! Did I say you could go anywhere?"
She should've walked off and showed her who was in charge, but there was something about arguing with her- not even vampires in particular, just her- that made it seem like a really bad idea no matter how it happened. She swallowed the lump in her throat and approached the hearse window, looking up. A pale hand flicked out and knocked the hood off her head, "Maybe if you walked around with some pride, they wouldn't walk all over you."
It was the most endearing words she had heard from the other girl, even as harshly toned as they were. She blinked, unsure of how to proceed with reacting to it. She shifted, practically showing off how pretty she was and how her gorgeous, expensive car looked so much more comfortable than going on foot. "Where are you going?"
"The store," Howleen muttered.
The lock popped and Gory tapped her perfectly black-manicured fingers against the ledge, "Get in loser, we're going shopping."
Brows raising in surprise, she rounded the front of the hearse and slid in the passenger seat. The locks were clicked shut immediately. Howleen sunk down in her seat, refusing to put her seatbelt on as she glanced sideways at the other female every few seconds. The vampiress turned her car around and headed back in the direction she'd come.
"Where's your boyfriend?" she muttered.
"Casketball," Gory replied, "same as your brother."
"Why aren't you fearleading again this year?"
"Because I didn't want to. I'd rather remain friends with Cleo than hate her any more than last year made me hate her already." She glanced back to Howleen, the corners of her deep red lips twitching slightly, "What? You thought just because we can be bitches to each other that it's not endearing? I've made her cry, she's made me cry, we're even. I probably wouldn't kill her if I had the chance anymore."
It wasn't a huge revelation, but it was enough to make Howleen doubt her driver a little less. She sunk down in her seat and watched the scenery go by. The vampiress didn't seem content with silence; her fingers twitched toward the radio, but considering her guest, retracted.
"Do you do this a lot?" Howleen muttered, attempting to keep the conversation afloat, "Pick up random kids off the street and take them places? Do you think I'm going to, like, bend over backward to give you my blood now or something?"
Gory laughed out loud, "Please. I wouldn't drink your blood if you were the last possible thing to keep me alive. No offense, but you dogs taste horrible. Almost as bad as elemental, ugh. Earth elementals are the only ones who don't taste as bland as their element. Don't even get me started on dragons."
Her lips threatening to turn up in a smile, Howleen glanced to the older female with a little bit of interest, "What about dragons?"
"I swear to God, Satan and every other force in the universe, they are worse than four alarm hot sauce. You think you're going in for a bite on a dragon? Oh hell no. One drop and you are drinking a lake instead."
The small smile that had been threatening Howleen's lips crossed them as they pulled into the parking lot. She paused, glancing to her out of the corner of her eye as they pulled into a parking spot, but the vampiress shrugged, "Go. I'll be here."
"Why'd you do this?" Howleen asked, pausing with her hand on the door.
"Because you caught a tough enough break trying to be something you weren't," the vampiress replied as if it was a simple thought, "I know you're not as old as me, Howleen, but when you get to be my age...let's just say that it's the effort put forth that matters more than the outcome sometimes."
For the first time, the wolf pup noticed how the coldness in the vampire's eyes was only surface-deep. They glinted with a volume of knowledge and understanding that, once she realized it was there, instantly explained all of the intimidation her gaze seemed to cause. It wasn't that Gory's words were biting, it was that they were true.
"Am I still a lunar loser?" she asked.
Gory rolled her eyes, "Of course you are. You'll always be. But I do have to admit...your cheeto-puff hair suited you better than this."
Cheeks flaming, Howleen bolted out of the car and retreated to the sound of the vampire's laughter becoming joined by Catty Noir on the radio.