CHAPTER FOUR: IS WATCHING YOU
The next day, I was skateboarding home from school, avoiding people on this one street because they were all trying to get where they were going also. The street I was on, I don't remember exactly which, it had a lot of shops and restaurants on it, with stuff like Duane Read and little boutiques or diners. All bright, cheery -ish, or very business like.
This one store, though, caught my attention. It was a bookstore, and it was very darkened, but open. It had all these old looking books in the windows and, from what I could see, on the shelves. The sign painted on the window and the awning said "The Bookstore of the Supernatural" Huh. Supernatural crap was what I was starting to get into. I also needed some reading material, and the store was open, so I went inside, kicking my board up into my hands.
The second I walked into this store, the aroma of incense and old books filled my nose. It was a kind of nice smell. From what I could see, I was the only person in here. There were long, floor-to-cieling shelves filled with all these old books, some of which had little yellow dots on them. The ones with dots had prices on them, and the ones that didn't... what were those for if not for sale? I saw a huge, black book on the tallest shelf that even I couldn't reach. There was no yellow dot. I saw one of those sliding stepladders, and I slid it down to where the book was, and climbed up to get it. The book was heavy, but my new strength took care of it. I climbed down the ladder, and went and sat at this little round table towards the back of the room with a little lamp on it. I turned on the lamp, and put the book down. It was thick, black and very old, and the cover read, in bold, gold (hey that rhymes!) letters: VAMPIRE. Wow. My instincts were pretty damn good. Maybe there was something in here about how to stop a vampire from stalking you. I undid these two little locks that the book had, and opened the thick cover, which slammed down into the table, making a loud thump. I looked around, but nobody came, so I figured I was okay. I flipped to the very back, in search for an index. There wasn't one. So I flipped to the front, looking for a table of contents. There wasn't one either. Great. I stood up, leaving the book on the table, my board against the chair, and my book bag on the table too, in search of help. I called out to the whole goddamn empty store:
"Hello? Anybody here? I need some assistance!" Nothing. "Yo! Customer here! About to steal this book unless you get your ass over here and help me out!" This back door opened. I hadn't seen it before, and it made me jump. Out of the door came a tall, sort of old man, in a suit, glasses, messy gray hair, looking around. When he saw me, he took off his glasses, polished them on a white handkerchief that was from his pocket, and put them back on, blinking.
"You okay, man? Look, I'm looking for a spell or a trick or something that'll prevent a certain vampire from going all creepy stalker on you. Do you know where I can find that?"
"You're Avarielle Ransom."
"I wasn't aware that I had on a 'hello my name is' tag."
"I was told that you would come here. My name is Mr. Dexter." Watcher?
"Watcher?"
"Yes. I see you've already met up with Mr. Travers, and you understand your destiny."
"Yeah, yeah. Now can you help me get this one vamp off my case? I don't feel like I can stake him cuz he's gotta soul and shit."
"First you must clean up your language."
"Who died and made you dictator?"
"And you must spit out that gum."
"What? No gum? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Language, gum, training, reading. Those are what you need to worry about at the moment. And did you say that... this vampire you ran into... he had a soul?"
"Yeah. That's what he said anyway."
"Extroardinary..." And off he went, to the shelves.
"Okay, you do that, I'll leave."
"No. As your watcher, I am supposed to train you. Now, go in the back room, and I have set up a training space."
"Fine Dex, whatever you say."
"It's Dexter, not Dex."
"Whatever." I went into the back room. It was a pretty nice training space, with a punching bag, targets, weapons, the whole deal. It was pretty cool. I picked up a stake off a table, and pocketed it. I also put in my pocket a dagger that was really cool, slick and pretty. Dex came in just as I hid the knife. He put his jacket on the back of a chair at a desk, with an open book on it.
"All right. Let's start, shall we?" ~*~
Dex told me to patrol that night in a graveyard on the side of the island. I obliged, but only because I wanted to kick some ass after training. Adrenaline is a slayer's best friend, I guess. So, I was patrolling, and I fought and staked a few vampires, no fuss, no muss. I had a lot of fun, too. I got one just as he was crawling outta his grave. Dex told me that vampires and demons tend to flock towards big cities and hellmouths, and that's where I was most likely to find the most ass to kick. I told him there was no way I was leaving this city, and he said that it wasn't necessary for a slayer to live on a hellmouth, however convenient. He also told me that on occasion I might need to go to other places to stop the spread of evil, if it ever got out of hand. So, I walked home at about three AM, knowing that the Thomases would probably have had a hemorrhage by now, even though I wanted to stay later. I also had to go to school. I whined that it wasn't necessary for me to go, but Dex said that since my grades were good (where the fuck did he get my grades?!) I shouldn't drop out. So I won't.
I climbed up my fire escape, through my window, and just changed into my pajama pants and a tank top and went to sleep. I was too tired to make my presence known. Sometimes, you don't feel tired until you actually see your warm, comfy bed, and you get tired.
Next morning, I came into the kitchen like nothing had happened. The foster fam wasn't acting that way, though.
"Where were you last night? You missed dinner." YoucancallmeMary said, arms folded.
"Out. Went to a bookstore, went to the gym. No big."
"You should have called!" YoucancallmeJeff said.
"You're in biiiiiig trouble!" Alexa said.
"Go fuck yourself." I took a bagel off the kitchen table, picked up my board, and said, "I'm going to school." And I left them there, to deal by themselves.
~*~
I trained with Dex again that afternoon, and he watched me today, making notes in this book that he had.
"What the hell is that?" I asked him, kicking the punching bag.
"It is a watchers diary. I must keep one for the future watchers to observe and make note on."
"So, it's like the story of me?" Double punch.
"Somewhat, yes."
"Can I put on some music? It's so much better working out to music."
"I don't have anything to play it on."
"Fuck. I have Nirvana in my portable, too." Kick. Kick.
"Clean up your language, for God's sake, Avarielle," Dex was getting annoyed.
"Ari." Kick. The punching bag flew off its hook and landed a few feet away.
"Ari. Be more careful with the equipment."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Don't 'yeah yeah' me. I am your watcher, and you will treat me with respect."
"Sure, whatever Dex." I picked up the punching bag and hung it up on the hinges. I took off my hand wraps and sat on the desk he was writing at. I picked up the book and started reading his notes.
"Give that back." He snatched it out of my hands.
"Meow. So, did you find anything on this soul vamp?"
"I haven't looked yet, but I can..."
"So, it's legal, right? Me killing something with a soul?"
"Of course it's legal." He stood up, and picked a book up off the other side of the desk, flipping through it. "The vampire you described... what was his name?"
"Um, he said his name was Angel or something."
"Angelus?"
"No, Angel. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was Angel."
"Hmm. I've heard of a vampire called Angelus... but not Angel."
"Well, maybe it's the same guy. What about this Angelus, anyway?"
"He, uh, he was sired in the late eighteenth century..."
"So? What difference does it make how old he is?"
"A lot of difference. Now listen and be quiet."
"Yes, sir." I said, saluting him. He scoffed and continued.
"Angelus has a tattoo on his shoulder, right?"
"How would I know? I haven't seen him with his shirt off!" My mind spontaneously started to picture him with his shirt off... it was a nice visual. Dammit, focus, Ari! Kick.
"Sorry. Anyway, this, Angelus, was a pretty vigorous... well, he liked making his kills artsy."
"Artsy? So was he an artist when he was a human or something?"
"No, son of a wealthy Irish merchant... good education, but he was somewhat of a disappointment... no job, drunk a lot of the time..."
"So, if Angel is Angelus, he's a big, badass, drunken loser who likes to make his kills have a big finish. So what happened to him?"
"He, eh, about a hundred years after wreaking havoc upon Europe, he moved to the United States and... wasn't heard from up until now. No records of killings, anything."
"That's weird."
"Yes, it is." Dex put the book down, and sat back down in the chair.
"So should I track him down and kill him? Or bring him in to you for examination? Because just beating him to a bloody pulp would satisfy me..."
"I don't think you should go after him."
"Why not?"
"Because, if he is still evil, and he is Angelus, he is a very dangerous vampire."
"So? I'm the slayer, I'll kick his ass."
"Just because you're the slayer doesn't mean you're invincible."
"I know that. Just let me kill this guy."
"Act only in self defense-"
"Grasshopper." I finished. I looked at the clock. "Gotta run. If I'm not home for dinner tonight I think the Thomases will disown me. Not that that would be a bad thing."
"What about tonight's patrol?"
"I'll have dinner, say I'm tired and I'm gonna crash early, go in my room, climb out my fire escape, roam the streets a little, and kick ass until I get too tired and then go back home. They'll never even know I was gone."
~*~
The next week was stalker free, training full, routine blah blah slayerness. Nothing happened. I mean, I had a few tests, did well on them, and kept killing vampires. Not a big deal. Until, one night, I ran into my old friend Angel.
I had been fighting these two vampires in this alley, and they were pretty tough, but luckily I'm good at being the underdog. I slashed both their heads off with this sweet short sword that Dex gave me. It kind of looks like one of Elektra's swords, you know, from that Daredevil comic? Anyway, I decapitated them within ten minutes, and then I heard someone clap when I was done. Out of the shadows steps Angel.
"I know about you." I told him.
"I'm not surprised. You seem like the sort of a person who'd get more information on unfinished business."
"You don't know shit about me." He smiled.
"So, it looks like you've got most of your slayer stuff under control."
"And it looks like you quit the stalker biz for a little while."
"I'm not trying to stalk you."
"Right. You're trying to kill me."
"I'm not trying to kill, maim, torture or make you crazy."
"And why's that? Oh, right, you've got a soul. Like I'm supposed to believe that. And just how did you survive without killing anyone? Answer me that? Just because you're 'immortal' doesn't mean you can't survive without food. What'd you do, drink your own blood?"
"You can buy blood."
"What, you mean like drugs? Wow, didn't know about that. Thanks for filling me in. Can't wait to tell Dex that there are vamp blood dealers. What else ya got? Vampire bookies? Blackjack dealers? DJ's?" He laughed. "What's so funny? I'm not trying to be funny. You think I'm funny? Huh?"
"A little."
"Right. Look, sorry, I actually need sleep, so I'm gonna go. And if you follow me, or if I see you again-"
"I'm dust." He finished.
"Yeah. Dust."
"Why don't you just dust me now? I mean, my whole purpose here is kind of being squashed by you, so why don't you just do it now?"
"Your purpose? Don't you mean killing and crap?"
"I'm supposed to-"
"Help me, blah blah. Don't need help, sorry. Maybe the original slayer did, but she turned down her calling, okay? So why don't you turn down yours?"
"You have a pretty bad attitude."
"No, really."
"You can't do everything alone."
"That's why I have my watcher, right?"
"The slayers who fought alone died alone, and faster."
"And lemme guess, you killed one?"
"I've never killed a slayer. But I know others who have."
"Well I'll send them a christmas card."
"Why do you refuse to let people help you?"
"You're not a person!" I shouted.
"I'm part human!"
"So? Humans kill other humans all the time!"
"It's not the same!"
"You're right. It's not. Okay? You win. And your grand prize is... a get out of dust free card, and- stop looking at me like that!" He was looking at me funny.
"You know how great you could be? With the right allies you could be unstoppable."
"And those allies wouldn't be you, would they?"
"Ari-"
"Don't call me that!"
"It's your name, isn't it?"
"Yes, but... leave me alone!"
"Come on! All I want to do is help you."
"Well, you aren't going to get what you want."
~*~
Told Dex about my run-in with soul boy.
"He says he wants to assist you? That is peculiar."
"No shit."
"Language."
"Sorry. What do you think I should do?"
"I need to do some further research on this so-called soul of his, in order to see if he's telling you the truth. Until I know for sure, I should say stay away from him."
"But I can kick his ass. Why should I avoid him?"
"Well, if what he's saying is true, then I should think that a vampire with a soul would be a remarkable ally."
"Really?" I was surprised by this. "But, all demons are-"
"Not all demons are evil, Ari."
"Huh. So, tonight's patrol, park, graveyard, streets, where?"
"Nowhere. Take the night off."
"Is that allowed?"
"I am your watcher. You haven't been getting much sleep lately, my advice is to lay low for a night, avoiding Angel."
"He knows where I live."
"He cannot enter a home which he has not been invited into."
"So that lil rumor ain't false?"
"No, it is not. And could you please clean up your language?"
"It's slang."
"My point exactly. I will see you tomorrow."
"It's Saturday. When should I get here?"
"Whenever you like. Just be careful."
"Yeah. Later, Dex."
"Dexter!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Enough with the 'yeah yeahs'!"
"You're not my father." I put on my jacket, grabbed my board, and left the training room. I think he might've muttered, 'thank God' or something, but I couldn't hear well. As I was leaving, I saw someone waiting by the register with a book in their hands.
"Excuse me, do you work here?" The woman asked.
"Uh, kinda."
"Could you ring this up for me?"
"Sure." I went behind the counter, and she handed me her two books. One had no yellow dot. "Ah, this one isn't for sale."
"But, it's in a-"
"I know. No yellow dot, no book for you. Sorry." It was Dex's quirky system. I put the book behind the counter, rang up her other book, and let her leave. I hopped over the counter, and left the store.
The next day, I was skateboarding home from school, avoiding people on this one street because they were all trying to get where they were going also. The street I was on, I don't remember exactly which, it had a lot of shops and restaurants on it, with stuff like Duane Read and little boutiques or diners. All bright, cheery -ish, or very business like.
This one store, though, caught my attention. It was a bookstore, and it was very darkened, but open. It had all these old looking books in the windows and, from what I could see, on the shelves. The sign painted on the window and the awning said "The Bookstore of the Supernatural" Huh. Supernatural crap was what I was starting to get into. I also needed some reading material, and the store was open, so I went inside, kicking my board up into my hands.
The second I walked into this store, the aroma of incense and old books filled my nose. It was a kind of nice smell. From what I could see, I was the only person in here. There were long, floor-to-cieling shelves filled with all these old books, some of which had little yellow dots on them. The ones with dots had prices on them, and the ones that didn't... what were those for if not for sale? I saw a huge, black book on the tallest shelf that even I couldn't reach. There was no yellow dot. I saw one of those sliding stepladders, and I slid it down to where the book was, and climbed up to get it. The book was heavy, but my new strength took care of it. I climbed down the ladder, and went and sat at this little round table towards the back of the room with a little lamp on it. I turned on the lamp, and put the book down. It was thick, black and very old, and the cover read, in bold, gold (hey that rhymes!) letters: VAMPIRE. Wow. My instincts were pretty damn good. Maybe there was something in here about how to stop a vampire from stalking you. I undid these two little locks that the book had, and opened the thick cover, which slammed down into the table, making a loud thump. I looked around, but nobody came, so I figured I was okay. I flipped to the very back, in search for an index. There wasn't one. So I flipped to the front, looking for a table of contents. There wasn't one either. Great. I stood up, leaving the book on the table, my board against the chair, and my book bag on the table too, in search of help. I called out to the whole goddamn empty store:
"Hello? Anybody here? I need some assistance!" Nothing. "Yo! Customer here! About to steal this book unless you get your ass over here and help me out!" This back door opened. I hadn't seen it before, and it made me jump. Out of the door came a tall, sort of old man, in a suit, glasses, messy gray hair, looking around. When he saw me, he took off his glasses, polished them on a white handkerchief that was from his pocket, and put them back on, blinking.
"You okay, man? Look, I'm looking for a spell or a trick or something that'll prevent a certain vampire from going all creepy stalker on you. Do you know where I can find that?"
"You're Avarielle Ransom."
"I wasn't aware that I had on a 'hello my name is' tag."
"I was told that you would come here. My name is Mr. Dexter." Watcher?
"Watcher?"
"Yes. I see you've already met up with Mr. Travers, and you understand your destiny."
"Yeah, yeah. Now can you help me get this one vamp off my case? I don't feel like I can stake him cuz he's gotta soul and shit."
"First you must clean up your language."
"Who died and made you dictator?"
"And you must spit out that gum."
"What? No gum? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Language, gum, training, reading. Those are what you need to worry about at the moment. And did you say that... this vampire you ran into... he had a soul?"
"Yeah. That's what he said anyway."
"Extroardinary..." And off he went, to the shelves.
"Okay, you do that, I'll leave."
"No. As your watcher, I am supposed to train you. Now, go in the back room, and I have set up a training space."
"Fine Dex, whatever you say."
"It's Dexter, not Dex."
"Whatever." I went into the back room. It was a pretty nice training space, with a punching bag, targets, weapons, the whole deal. It was pretty cool. I picked up a stake off a table, and pocketed it. I also put in my pocket a dagger that was really cool, slick and pretty. Dex came in just as I hid the knife. He put his jacket on the back of a chair at a desk, with an open book on it.
"All right. Let's start, shall we?" ~*~
Dex told me to patrol that night in a graveyard on the side of the island. I obliged, but only because I wanted to kick some ass after training. Adrenaline is a slayer's best friend, I guess. So, I was patrolling, and I fought and staked a few vampires, no fuss, no muss. I had a lot of fun, too. I got one just as he was crawling outta his grave. Dex told me that vampires and demons tend to flock towards big cities and hellmouths, and that's where I was most likely to find the most ass to kick. I told him there was no way I was leaving this city, and he said that it wasn't necessary for a slayer to live on a hellmouth, however convenient. He also told me that on occasion I might need to go to other places to stop the spread of evil, if it ever got out of hand. So, I walked home at about three AM, knowing that the Thomases would probably have had a hemorrhage by now, even though I wanted to stay later. I also had to go to school. I whined that it wasn't necessary for me to go, but Dex said that since my grades were good (where the fuck did he get my grades?!) I shouldn't drop out. So I won't.
I climbed up my fire escape, through my window, and just changed into my pajama pants and a tank top and went to sleep. I was too tired to make my presence known. Sometimes, you don't feel tired until you actually see your warm, comfy bed, and you get tired.
Next morning, I came into the kitchen like nothing had happened. The foster fam wasn't acting that way, though.
"Where were you last night? You missed dinner." YoucancallmeMary said, arms folded.
"Out. Went to a bookstore, went to the gym. No big."
"You should have called!" YoucancallmeJeff said.
"You're in biiiiiig trouble!" Alexa said.
"Go fuck yourself." I took a bagel off the kitchen table, picked up my board, and said, "I'm going to school." And I left them there, to deal by themselves.
~*~
I trained with Dex again that afternoon, and he watched me today, making notes in this book that he had.
"What the hell is that?" I asked him, kicking the punching bag.
"It is a watchers diary. I must keep one for the future watchers to observe and make note on."
"So, it's like the story of me?" Double punch.
"Somewhat, yes."
"Can I put on some music? It's so much better working out to music."
"I don't have anything to play it on."
"Fuck. I have Nirvana in my portable, too." Kick. Kick.
"Clean up your language, for God's sake, Avarielle," Dex was getting annoyed.
"Ari." Kick. The punching bag flew off its hook and landed a few feet away.
"Ari. Be more careful with the equipment."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Don't 'yeah yeah' me. I am your watcher, and you will treat me with respect."
"Sure, whatever Dex." I picked up the punching bag and hung it up on the hinges. I took off my hand wraps and sat on the desk he was writing at. I picked up the book and started reading his notes.
"Give that back." He snatched it out of my hands.
"Meow. So, did you find anything on this soul vamp?"
"I haven't looked yet, but I can..."
"So, it's legal, right? Me killing something with a soul?"
"Of course it's legal." He stood up, and picked a book up off the other side of the desk, flipping through it. "The vampire you described... what was his name?"
"Um, he said his name was Angel or something."
"Angelus?"
"No, Angel. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was Angel."
"Hmm. I've heard of a vampire called Angelus... but not Angel."
"Well, maybe it's the same guy. What about this Angelus, anyway?"
"He, uh, he was sired in the late eighteenth century..."
"So? What difference does it make how old he is?"
"A lot of difference. Now listen and be quiet."
"Yes, sir." I said, saluting him. He scoffed and continued.
"Angelus has a tattoo on his shoulder, right?"
"How would I know? I haven't seen him with his shirt off!" My mind spontaneously started to picture him with his shirt off... it was a nice visual. Dammit, focus, Ari! Kick.
"Sorry. Anyway, this, Angelus, was a pretty vigorous... well, he liked making his kills artsy."
"Artsy? So was he an artist when he was a human or something?"
"No, son of a wealthy Irish merchant... good education, but he was somewhat of a disappointment... no job, drunk a lot of the time..."
"So, if Angel is Angelus, he's a big, badass, drunken loser who likes to make his kills have a big finish. So what happened to him?"
"He, eh, about a hundred years after wreaking havoc upon Europe, he moved to the United States and... wasn't heard from up until now. No records of killings, anything."
"That's weird."
"Yes, it is." Dex put the book down, and sat back down in the chair.
"So should I track him down and kill him? Or bring him in to you for examination? Because just beating him to a bloody pulp would satisfy me..."
"I don't think you should go after him."
"Why not?"
"Because, if he is still evil, and he is Angelus, he is a very dangerous vampire."
"So? I'm the slayer, I'll kick his ass."
"Just because you're the slayer doesn't mean you're invincible."
"I know that. Just let me kill this guy."
"Act only in self defense-"
"Grasshopper." I finished. I looked at the clock. "Gotta run. If I'm not home for dinner tonight I think the Thomases will disown me. Not that that would be a bad thing."
"What about tonight's patrol?"
"I'll have dinner, say I'm tired and I'm gonna crash early, go in my room, climb out my fire escape, roam the streets a little, and kick ass until I get too tired and then go back home. They'll never even know I was gone."
~*~
The next week was stalker free, training full, routine blah blah slayerness. Nothing happened. I mean, I had a few tests, did well on them, and kept killing vampires. Not a big deal. Until, one night, I ran into my old friend Angel.
I had been fighting these two vampires in this alley, and they were pretty tough, but luckily I'm good at being the underdog. I slashed both their heads off with this sweet short sword that Dex gave me. It kind of looks like one of Elektra's swords, you know, from that Daredevil comic? Anyway, I decapitated them within ten minutes, and then I heard someone clap when I was done. Out of the shadows steps Angel.
"I know about you." I told him.
"I'm not surprised. You seem like the sort of a person who'd get more information on unfinished business."
"You don't know shit about me." He smiled.
"So, it looks like you've got most of your slayer stuff under control."
"And it looks like you quit the stalker biz for a little while."
"I'm not trying to stalk you."
"Right. You're trying to kill me."
"I'm not trying to kill, maim, torture or make you crazy."
"And why's that? Oh, right, you've got a soul. Like I'm supposed to believe that. And just how did you survive without killing anyone? Answer me that? Just because you're 'immortal' doesn't mean you can't survive without food. What'd you do, drink your own blood?"
"You can buy blood."
"What, you mean like drugs? Wow, didn't know about that. Thanks for filling me in. Can't wait to tell Dex that there are vamp blood dealers. What else ya got? Vampire bookies? Blackjack dealers? DJ's?" He laughed. "What's so funny? I'm not trying to be funny. You think I'm funny? Huh?"
"A little."
"Right. Look, sorry, I actually need sleep, so I'm gonna go. And if you follow me, or if I see you again-"
"I'm dust." He finished.
"Yeah. Dust."
"Why don't you just dust me now? I mean, my whole purpose here is kind of being squashed by you, so why don't you just do it now?"
"Your purpose? Don't you mean killing and crap?"
"I'm supposed to-"
"Help me, blah blah. Don't need help, sorry. Maybe the original slayer did, but she turned down her calling, okay? So why don't you turn down yours?"
"You have a pretty bad attitude."
"No, really."
"You can't do everything alone."
"That's why I have my watcher, right?"
"The slayers who fought alone died alone, and faster."
"And lemme guess, you killed one?"
"I've never killed a slayer. But I know others who have."
"Well I'll send them a christmas card."
"Why do you refuse to let people help you?"
"You're not a person!" I shouted.
"I'm part human!"
"So? Humans kill other humans all the time!"
"It's not the same!"
"You're right. It's not. Okay? You win. And your grand prize is... a get out of dust free card, and- stop looking at me like that!" He was looking at me funny.
"You know how great you could be? With the right allies you could be unstoppable."
"And those allies wouldn't be you, would they?"
"Ari-"
"Don't call me that!"
"It's your name, isn't it?"
"Yes, but... leave me alone!"
"Come on! All I want to do is help you."
"Well, you aren't going to get what you want."
~*~
Told Dex about my run-in with soul boy.
"He says he wants to assist you? That is peculiar."
"No shit."
"Language."
"Sorry. What do you think I should do?"
"I need to do some further research on this so-called soul of his, in order to see if he's telling you the truth. Until I know for sure, I should say stay away from him."
"But I can kick his ass. Why should I avoid him?"
"Well, if what he's saying is true, then I should think that a vampire with a soul would be a remarkable ally."
"Really?" I was surprised by this. "But, all demons are-"
"Not all demons are evil, Ari."
"Huh. So, tonight's patrol, park, graveyard, streets, where?"
"Nowhere. Take the night off."
"Is that allowed?"
"I am your watcher. You haven't been getting much sleep lately, my advice is to lay low for a night, avoiding Angel."
"He knows where I live."
"He cannot enter a home which he has not been invited into."
"So that lil rumor ain't false?"
"No, it is not. And could you please clean up your language?"
"It's slang."
"My point exactly. I will see you tomorrow."
"It's Saturday. When should I get here?"
"Whenever you like. Just be careful."
"Yeah. Later, Dex."
"Dexter!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Enough with the 'yeah yeahs'!"
"You're not my father." I put on my jacket, grabbed my board, and left the training room. I think he might've muttered, 'thank God' or something, but I couldn't hear well. As I was leaving, I saw someone waiting by the register with a book in their hands.
"Excuse me, do you work here?" The woman asked.
"Uh, kinda."
"Could you ring this up for me?"
"Sure." I went behind the counter, and she handed me her two books. One had no yellow dot. "Ah, this one isn't for sale."
"But, it's in a-"
"I know. No yellow dot, no book for you. Sorry." It was Dex's quirky system. I put the book behind the counter, rang up her other book, and let her leave. I hopped over the counter, and left the store.