Angel lets go of me.
"Have you eaten?" he asks. I shake my head.
"I did see this one guy," I answer. "He was annoying me. He'd make the perfect..." I trail off when I see the look Angel's giving me.
"Here," he says handing me the bottle of blood. I stare at him.
"But...I don't want..." I stammer.
"Drink it if you know what's good for you." I sigh and open the bottle. I bring it to my lips and take a sip. I swallow hard.
"Yuck," I grumble. "Here, take it back. I can't drink this stuff." Angel takes the bottle and closes the cap.
"Get used to it. It's either this or catching rodents." I groan. He smiles a little and walks over to the ice bucket.
"I'm out of ice," he says. "I'm going down the hall to get more. Stay..." Before he can finish I walk out of the room ahead of him.
"Are you coming?" I ask.
"Or not," he mutters. "You never listen." I smile and we walk down the hall. We stop at the ice cooler and Angel starts to fill the bucket. I glance up and see a salesman standing further down the hall talking to someone hidden around the corner. I nudge Angel to get his attention. He looks over at the guy and pauses.
"Yes...Yes...Yes... I understand," the salesman says. "Of course." I hear a voice whispering to the guy.
"I am," he says. I look up at Angel but he has gone back to filling his bucket. He finishes and we look down the hall and see another guy banging on a door. When we look back the other way the salesman is gone. I look up atAngel wondering what's going on. He shrugs and we walk past the man, who's still in front of the door, and into Angel's room. Angel locks the door and I put the bottled blood into the bucket. We both sense another person in the room and I put the lid on the ice bucket before we turn around. A dark-haired young woman wearing a light floral dress steps out of the bathroom.
"I'll be finished here in just two shakes, sir," she says. I roll my eyes and look up at Angel as the woman goes to straighten the sheets.
"You're not the maid," Angel says. The woman glances at us looking nervous.
"I...I don't know what you mean," she replies. I tug on Angel's sleeve and tilt my head toward the woman. Asking silently, "Can I eat her?" Angel shakes his head and waves me away. I stick out my lower lip and go to sit on a chair, pouting.
"You're not a maid in this hotel. There is no cleaning trolley outside the door. Those sheets are dirty," he says stepping closer to her so that she quits fiddling with the sheets and looks even more nervous. "And you're the wrong color." The woman turns to face him.
"I'm sorry," she says. "Uhm, the door was open, and I was just... I...I didn't mean..."
"I've got nothing here to steal," Angel says cutting her off.
"No. I wasn't trying to steal from you. Honest. I can explain."
"Not interested," Angel snaps. "Just go." She takes a step back.
"Uhm...I can't." Angel grabs her arm and drags her towards the door. "I'll help you." She tries to resist. I watch all of this with a bored expression. I don't care why she's here. I just want to sink my teeth into her throat but Angel won't let me.
"Uhm...uhm...my...my boyfriend," she stammers. "He's kind of the jealous type..."
"Maybe you shouldn't go wandering into other men's rooms," Angel pointed out.
"Wait, please! He can't find me." There's a scratching noise coming from the door. We all look at it. The lock is slowly turning. Angel pushes the woman against the wall so that she'll be behind the door. I hop off the chair to go stand beside him. Then he opens the door. The guy that was banging on the door in the hallway is kneeling on the floor a lock-pick in his hands. Close up he looks like a PI. That's what he is, I guess.
"Where is she?" he asks. Angel and I just look at him. "Look pal, this really isn't something you want to get involved in. Especially not in front of your little girl here."
"That's true," Angel agrees. "Which is why you're gonna turn around and go away. And she's not little." I nod.
"I'm older than I look," I add.
"So turn around and go away," Angel repeats.
"Sorry, I can't do that, partner. Because I know you're hiding her in there."
"I'm not hiding anybody," Angel insists calmly. I nod.
"I'm the only girl in here mister," I say pretending once again to be innocent.
"Well are you sure your daddy's not hiding anybody in there?" the PI asks.
"I'm the only girl here. My daddy's not hiding anyone."
"No?" he asks looking up at Angel. "Then why don't you send her on out here. That way I don't have to come in there and get her."
"You're not coming in here," Angel says his voice getting lower. The PI gives a short laugh and takes off his hat.
"You won't mind if I just come in and take a look around then." He pulls his jacket aside to reveal a gun in a holster. We look at it and then back at the PI. Guns don't scare us. Then Angel lets go of the door. The PI puts his hat back on and saunters into the room. At which point Angel slams the door against his face. The PI stumbles back holding his nose, groaning in pain.
"Gee, I guess I do mind," Angel growls. The PI tries to go for his gun, but Angel twists his arm up, takes a hold of his ear, and escorts him down the hall to the elevator. The elevator opens just as they get there, revealing the bellhop and a cart of luggage. Angel throws the PI into the elevator.
"He's going down," Angel says. The bellhop, without saying a word pushes the down button as Angel walks back to his room. The woman and I are standing just outside of it.
"Your daddy sure is brave," she says to me. I shrug. Angel comes back to us.
"Gosh. I mean that was..." the woman stammers. "Gosh. Listen. I know we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Judy." Angel and I walk past her and he slams the door shut.
"You could have let me eat the guy," I snap as soon as the door is shut.
"I told you no," Angel growls.
"But I'm hungry!" I whine. He goes to the ice bucket and pulls out the bottle. He pours some of the blood into a glass and hands it to me.
"Drink up," he says.
"I told you I don't drink dead blood," I snap.
"Then start catching rats," he says. "If you stay with me you drink the blood that I give you." I snatch the glass from him and go to sit on a chair.
"This stuff is gross," I grumble. Angel has a small smile on his face as he takes the bottle and another glass and comes to sit in the chair beside mine.
"I'm not being funny," I snap.
"Yes you are," he says laughing a little.
"No I'm not." He shakes his head and reaches into his pocket for a cigarette. From the next room we can hear a song playing.
"Whoop-de-do, whoop-de-do, I hear a polka and my troubles are through..." Angel looks at the wall as he lights a cigarette.
"Well can I..." I begin.
"Don't even ask," Angel interrupts. He pours himself a glass of blood. I glare at the wall. The song is starting to get on mynerves. I take a sip of the blood and grimace. Angel is about to take a drink for his glass when we hear a gunshot form the next room. The song gets stuck and keeps repeating,
"Got me higher than a kite...Got me higher than a kite...Got me higher than a kite..." Over and over. Angel only hesitates for less than a second before he sips his blood. I take another sip of mine, neither of us show any apparent emotions on our faces. I really don't care at all about the human. Angel seems to trying to ignore everyone.
"Can I now?" I ask after a moment.
"No."
"But he's dead. What point is there in letting good fresh blood go to waste?" Angel glances at me.
"Drink your blood, Schyler." I roll my eyes and take another sip from my glass.