"Anthony!" a voice behind him called, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps.
For a second, Anthony considered ignoring the man behind him. He didn't particularly want to talk to Sohinki right now. But he knew ignoring Matt probably wouldn't make him go away—especially not since Sohinki had spent the last half hour looking for him. So Anthony turned around and said, "What?"
Sohinki swallowed the distance between them with hurried steps. "I'm sorry about David. I swear I had no idea he'd act like that."
"Yeah, it's fine," Anthony said, though he really didn't mean it.
"Where's Ian? Is he okay?"
Anthony gave Sohinki a hard look. "He had to go find some blood."
"Oh." Sohinki blinked. "So David was right? He really is a vampire?"
"Yes. He really is. And if you've got a problem with that, you can go run back to David and the two of you can plot which friend you're going to stab in the back next," Anthony said bitterly.
Sohinki raised his eyebrows. "No, I don't care, it's just kind of surprising. When did he get turned?"
"Almost three months ago," Anthony said flatly.
"Wow. But he's still… normal, and everything?"
Anthony scowled at Sohinki. "He hasn't suddenly turned into a bloodthirsty monster, if that's what you're wondering. Most of the time, I hardly even notice that he's not human anymore." That wasn't true, of course. After seeing Ian almost lose himself over that human during the first days of their journey here, Anthony had never quite been able to completely disregard Ian's vampirism.
"Okay, okay. I've never really been around many vampires, and the few I have encountered were pretty bloodthirsty and monstrous."
"Well, Ian's not like that," Anthony said firmly. He turned and started walking back down the street. Sohinki followed him without questioning where Anthony was headed. In truth, Anthony didn't have a destination; he was just waiting for Ian to find him after he'd gotten his fill of blood.
"Matt, what's wrong with David?" Anthony asked. "How did he get so… unbalanced?"
Sohinki sighed. "The last six months have been hard on him, harder even than they've been on me. Like I said, he initially spent most of his time with Sabrina after the world first went to hell, but he started spending more and more time with me and Mari after Wes and Joven left. He'd help us scavenge for food and stuff—it was pretty great of him to do, actually. Anyway, he ended up having to stay the night with us once because we lost track of time and he couldn't get back to his house before the rabids came out at nightfall. When he made it back the next morning, he found Sabrina dead."
Anthony was suddenly horrified. He had a feeling he knew exactly where this story was going.
"She was killed by a vampire," Sohinki continued in a carefully-neutral voice. "And so was her and David's unborn baby."
Anthony felt sick. "Oh, god." No wonder David had looked so different. The last few months must have been pure misery for him.
"Yeah. I know it might not really excuse what he did to Ian, but that's why he reacted the way he did. David hates vampires more than anything now. We're lucky he didn't cut Ian's head off as soon as he figured out what he was."
"I had no idea things had been so bad for you guys. I feel awful."
"I know. But you and Ian can't have had it easy yourselves."
Anthony shook his head mutely. Sure, things hadn't been easy; Ian had had to adjust to being a vampire and Anthony had lost Felix, but it didn't compare to what his old friends had been through.
"So now that you found us, what's the plan?" Sohinki asked.
"I still have to find Kalel," Anthony said. He saw the skepticism on Sohinki's face and hastily added, "I know she probably won't be easy to track down, but I have to try. After that, though, I don't really know what we'll do."
"Well, I'd offer you a place with us, but I doubt I could ever get David to agree to that."
"No," Anthony agreed. "We'll be okay on our own."
"Good," said Sohinki. He stopped walking and Anthony copied him. "I'd better go back and check on David. I'm sure he's pretty messed up right now."
Anthony nodded. He too had a friend to check on, who was no doubt at least as emotionally messed up as David. "It was good to see you, Sohinki. I'm glad you're still alive."
"Same," Sohinki said with a smile. He allowed Anthony to hug him goodbye. "Tell Ian I'm sorry about David, okay?"
Anthony forced himself to smile. "I will. Take care of yourself."
"You too," Sohinki said with a nod. Then he turned and set off back down the street, away from Anthony.
Anthony sighed and wished he had another chair to collapse in. He was exhausted from the weight of Sohinki's stories, the stress of worrying about Ian, and the residual effects of making a 400 mile journey in eighteen days. What he wanted more than anything was a good night's sleep—he'd had enough of trying to sleep during the day time—free of worry and dreams. But that was impossible at this point. He'd probably never get that luxury again.
Anthony heard quiet footsteps approaching from an adjacent street. He swung his shotgun into his arms without thinking and tried to get a look at the silhouette he could now make out. Just as he realized the man's gait was familiar, he heard Ian's voice say, "Relax; it's just me."
Anthony lowered the gun with a half-hearted chuckle. "Maybe one day that'll stop freaking me out."
"Not likely," Ian said flatly as he moved to stand beside Anthony.
"You're back sooner than I expected," Anthony said. "How'd it go? Are you feeling better now?"
"Yeah, the wound's already healed. I'm back to normal."
Physically, he might have been back to his usual self but the deadness in his eyes revealed that he still hadn't recovered mentally and emotionally.
"You just missed Sohinki," Anthony told his best friend. "He found me and apologized for what David did."
"I know," Ian said. "I heard everything you guys said."
Anthony raised his eyebrows. "Why didn't you join us? Sohinki didn't seem to have that big of a problem with you being a vampire."
"I just thought it best to keep my distance," Ian said with an almost-careful shrug.
Anthony decided he couldn't really blame him. "So you heard what Matt said about David?"
Ian nodded. "It explains a lot," he said quietly. "I can't really say I blame him for reacting the way he did."
"Then why do you still seem bothered by it?" Anthony wanted to know.
"I don't know," Ian admitted, sounding frustrated with himself. "I shouldn't be, I guess. But it just sucks to know that David couldn't see me as anything other than a vampire. Two years of friendship didn't seem to count for anything."
Anthony set a hand on Ian's shoulder. "Don't let it get you down. David might've had reason for what he did, but that doesn't mean he wasn't wrong. You're a vampire, yes, but you're still Ian. You know that."
Ian swept his bangs back to the side. "That's hard to remember after I've just had to drink an innocent woman's blood."
"I know. But there's nothing you can do about it. So force yourself to do what David couldn't: don't regard yourself as nothing more than a vampire. Acknowledge that you're still a good person in here." He tapped his chest, only belatedly realizing how cheesy he was being.
A tiny smile curled the corners of Ian's lips.
"What? Are you laughing at me?" Anthony asked. He felt his cheeks heat a little.
"Affectionately, yes." Ian admitted. "I can't help it—I'm still surprised every time you're genuinely emotional around me without adding some wisecrack on the end."
Anthony shrugged uncomfortably. "Things've changed."
"I've noticed," Ian said; his voice was dry but his lips quirked slightly into a smile. Anthony was pleased to see that his friend didn't seem quite so upset anymore and a hint of the usual light had returned to his eyes.
"It's going to be dawn in another half hour," Ian said. "We should find somewhere to spend the day."
Anthony nodded. "First, though, we need to figure out where we're going next. I mean, we've got an entire city to search. Where do we start?"
"The obvious choice: your old apartment. Like Sohinki said, if Kalel is smart, she'll have stuck nearby there to wait for you."
Assuming she hasn't given up on the idea of ever seeing me again, Anthony thought glumly. He didn't voice his concerns, though. He knew Ian was probably getting tired of Anthony being pessimistic about finding Kalel.
"Okay, then," Anthony agreed. He paused for a moment and then said, "Let's find a place to sleep."
