Chapter 2
Sunlight stabbed into his eyes, making Matt groan and throw up a hand to shield his eyes. What the hell? His head hurt so bad it felt like a group of hybrids were inside of his skull, clanging around in there with pickaxes and jack hammers. He clutched at it with nerveless fingers, moaning in agony.
What had happened? Where was he? His almost closed eyes took in a bedroom, a bedroom that he didn't recognize. He felt a chill of horror. Had he…he must have. He'd gone somewhere last night with a perfect stranger! Anything could have happened to him!
When he managed to sit upright, the pain that flared throughout his whole body made him realize that something HAD happened! He'd had sex with said complete stranger, and judging by the shallow bites all over his body a vampire at that!
Oh, dear God! Matt scrambled out of the bed, only to end up almost falling on his face as his legs gave way under him. His stomach churned, and he staggered toward the door he hoped led to the bathroom. It did, and he fell to his knees and vomited profusely into the bowl. His shoulders heaved as he lost everything he'd eaten and drank for the last three days. He moaned again, wanting nothing more than to die right here and now.
Experiencing a hangover for the first time, Matt didn't understand now why anybody drank alcohol! Ever! Not only did he feel like he'd been trampled by a herd of wild buffalo, he'd had sex with a total stranger.
He whimpered and pushed himself to his feet, staggering out into the bedroom to find his clothing. It was scattered around the floor, and he blushed darkly as he bent over to retrieve it piece-by-piece. Groaning at the pain in his body, he slowly pulled on his clothes. He carefully stuck his head out of the bedroom door, seeing a somewhat messy living room/kitchen beyond it. There was no sign of anybody else in the apartment, for which he was utterly grateful. Matt limped toward the front door, holding his stomach where the bites were more prominent and half-closing his swollen eyes.
Reaching the door, he struggled with the handle. It took him what seemed like forever to get it open. A briskly chill spring wind hit him in the face, making him moan again. He'd much rather have gone back to bed, but he couldn't stay here!
Shivering he tried to negotiate the small set of stairs leading downward. His hand gripped the railing tightly so he didn't fall on his head. He finally reached the sidewalk, and staggered away down it. He needed to find a pay phone or something. Wait a minute! Did he still have his wallet? Frantically he checked his pocket, and was utterly relieved when he found that he still did. Clutching it in his hand, he moved onward in his search for somewhere where he could call either Roger or a cab company. But this seemed to be a neighborhood of apartment buildings and small houses only, and he wanted to groan in pain and despair. He was so cold, so achy, so miserable…
A laughing voice spoke to him from nearby.
"Hey, are you all right?"
it asked. He halted and turned very, very slowly to look at the speaker. A pretty girl with long hair pulled back in a ponytail and a blue coat was standing there looking at him with an expression of concern on her face.
"No, Please, c-can you t-tell me where I-I can f-find a payphone?"
he begged through chattering teeth.
"You're freezing! Come inside and I'll let you use my cell,"
the girl said worriedly, indicating the apartment building just behind him. He blinked.
"Y-You shouldn't d-do that. I m-might be a…s-serial killer or s-something."
She laughed.
"A serial killer staggering around in the cold with no coat on? Besides, why would a serial killer warn me not to let him inside? Come on; before you freeze into a popsicle."
She urged him along, and Matt was too cold and miserable to object anymore. He watched as she pulled a tiny silver bud closer to her lips and told her mother she'd call back later before she unlocked the front door and led Matt inside.
The girl's apartment was mercifully warm.
"who knew Arizona could get cold?"
Matt mumbled as he sighed in bliss as she gently urged him into a chair and handed him her cell phone.
"I'll make us some coffee,"
she told him, bustling away into her tiny kitchen.
Matt sighed and called Roger's cell. It rang about a dozen times, but he just let it do so. Rog was probably hung over too; it would take him a bit to get moving. But Matt felt that it was his friend's fault that he was in this situation, as he would never have gone with a strange man last night if he hadn't been smashed. Finally an irritable voice roared:
"What?!"
"Rog, this is Matt"
"MATT?! Dude, where the hell did you go?!"
Roger yelled, making his head throb.
"It doesn't matter now. Could you please just come and pick me up? I'm at…"
he hesitated and looked at the girl, who was now carrying two cups of coffee over to the table. She gave him her address. He repeated it into the phone. Roger agreed to come and pick him up once he got dressed. Matt hung up the phone gratefully and handed it to the girl, who smiled at him.
"Are you feeling a bit better?"
she asked. He was. The sullen pounding was now a gentle throbbing, and the coffee was helping to drive some of the drags of the alcohol out of his system.
The girl, who said that her name was Bella, also made him some dry English muffins to nibble on. Matt was slowly but surely coming back to himself – and was more horrified than ever about what had happened last night. He vowed to never drink alcohol again, not as long as he lived.
He explained to the curious Bella that he'd gotten drunk last night and had left the club he was at with a total stranger for a one-night stand – although he left out the part about the stranger being a vampire. He also told her about waking up this morning in a strange place and realizing what he'd done. She looked sympathetic.
"Getting drunk isn't always smart,"
she noted.
"You can say that again. No more alcohol for me,"
he said grimly. They talked for while until there was a knock at the door. Bella went to open it, revealing a worried-looking Roger standing there.
"Are you seriously all right, Dude? I'm sorry about getting you drunk, I had no idea you'd get that sloshed. One second you were by the bar, the next you were just gone! I was seriously worried, and I was going to call the police and report you missing as soon as I could. They told me last night that I had to wait 24 hours, which is completely bogus. I knew you wouldn't have left by yourself. What the hell happened?"
Matt felt better knowing that his friend hadn't deliberately gotten him drunk and then callously deserted him. He repeated his story again, still leaving out the part about the species of his one-night stand. That was for his own ears only. Roger looked relieved.
"I'm just glad that you weren't kidnapped or something. So you got some, huh?"
The pleased expression on his face over this fact made Matt roll his eyes. Bella snorted audibly. Roger turned to her.
"Thanks for helping my friend, I'm Roger Stranton, by the way."
"Bella Swan. I was glad to help him,"
she said, smiling. Matt could see that Roger was much taken by the girl's smile. He couldn't seem to stop staring at her. And she was definitely returning the interest. He sighed, rubbing at his aching head.
"Can I just go home?"
he asked plaintatively. Roger roused himself from his stupor.
"Sure, Do you go to the university?"
he asked Bella hopefully. She nodded. Roger looked pleased.
"I hope I see you around, then,"
"I'd like that,"
she replied simply.
"Take care of yourself, Matt. Staying in the sunlight is a good idea"
she added with a mischievous little smile patting his arm.
"Yes, and thank you for everything,"
he told her gratefully, missing the sunlight comment completely.
"It was no problem. See you,"
she waved as they started out the door toward Roger's car.
"What an awesome, hot chick!"
Roger yelped. Then he paused and added:
"Dude, why are you limping?"
Matt gritted his teeth together.
"Just get in the car and drive,"
