Chapter 12: A New Life
"In here," Demetri said, pulling Elta towards a barn somewhere in England. The sun was just beginning to come up, their skin sparkling slightly. Elta swerved and they both tumbled playfully into the barn. Elta smiled happily. It was a hog barn.
"Looks like bacon for breakfast," Elta said as she attacked the largest pig. Demetri smiled at her feeding frenzy, attacking another fat pig.
About ten minutes later, they stepped back from the many carcasses. "We are so destructive…" Elta said sadly, nudging a pig's foot with the toe of her sneakers. Demetri shrugged.
"I thought the bacon wasn't bad…not as good as human blood would have been, though," he commented, pulling Elta down into a big pile of hay. She squealed.
"Ew! No! Not hay! It's all scratchy and gross!!" she whined playfully, pulling a large purple, plush blanket from the bottom of her duffel bag. Demetri pulled out a slightly larger black one. He laid his blanket atop the pile of hay to make it more comfortable. Elta covered them with hers. Neither of them needed any of the blankets. The bottom one was for comfort and the top one was for familiarity as Elta and Demetri relaxed upon the hay. Before lying down, Elta pulled on a pair of cotton drawstring pants she had snagged from a store around 4 am. Demetri whistled as she changed bottoms. Elta responded by sending a sharp roundhouse kick to him. He dodged it perfectly, of course. Demetri let out a small chuckle as Elta crawled in between the blankets, bringing her knees to her chest. Demetri moved closer to her. Elta sighed.
"What's the matter?" he questioned.
"Where are we going?" she asked. Demetri shrugged.
"I really have no idea. Wherever pleases us, I guess," he said.
"And what are we supposed to do when we get to wherever pleases us? It's not like we have any cash, Demetri. We can't really get jobs considering the generous amount of sunlight. Plus, I have limited control. I know you have more, but being surrounded by that many humans without any restraint but yourself could be dangerous!" Elta said. She had never thought about any of this until now. She didn't even know why she was thinking of it now. Demetri sighed.
"We can get night jobs. And as for the whole human thing, we'll work it out," he reassured her. Elta sighed once more.
"Okay. Promise? Do you promise me we're going to try and live normal lives somehow?" she asked, her face close to his. Demetri smiled.
"I promise," he said as his lips touched her cheek. Elta smiled and wrapped her arms around her torso as she leaned into Demetri. Elta let out a little whimper. "What is it, love?" Demetri asked.
"I can't go to sleep!!" she whined. Demetri chuckled and ran a hand across her cheek. "If I can't go to sleep, what the hell am I supposed to do all day?" she complained.
"I can think of a lot of things we could do…" Demetri said, his eyes trailing her body. Elta shook her head.
"You've got to be kidding me," Elta said, laughter in her voice.
"Why would I kid?" Demetri said, moving closer. Elta shook her head.
"Ok, let me review. I've known you less than a week, and you want me to have sex with you? You have seriously got to be kidding," Elta said, her arms crossed. Demetri shook his head, indicating he was serious. "I don't think so," Elta retorted, taking her blanket and crossing to the other side of the barn. Elta kept in a giggle. If Dusk was here, she would be all up in Demetri's face telling him he'd been rejected and shot down. Elta really couldn't believe how idiotic men were. He may be about a century old, but she was still 16. It wasn't gonna happen. Elta retreated into the recesses of her mind for the next few hours.
Elta's stupor was shattered as Demetri nudged her.
"Night has fallen. We can start running now," he said. Elta went to pack her blanket, but he already had. I guess he was trying to make up for his stupidity, Elta thought. Demetri chuckled. "I think that you are the first vampire to achieve semi-sleep. How did you do it?" he asked. Elta shrugged.
"I don't know. I was just sifting through my memory. Replaying my life," she said as she slipped on her jeans and Converse, slinging the duffle bag over her shoulders. "So, have you thought any on where we're going to settle?" she asked, preparing to run. Demetri shrugged.
"Well, it all depends on if you want to stay in Europe. I could go anywhere. It's your choice, really," he said. Elta thought about that.
"How about America?" Elta offered. She had been there once on a family vacation. They had gone to New York City.
"Have you ever been there?" he asked. Elta nodded.
"Once a few years ago. My family and I went on a vacation to New York City," she replied. Demetri shook his head.
"Could you fare in a city with so many people?" he asked tentatively. Elta thought about this.
"Well, we'll probably stay in during the day…But we both need jobs so we can actually get a house. But it must be something at night…" Elta said. Demetri nodded.
"This is true. Let's not worry about that now. Let's just concentrate on getting enough money to get to America and buy a house and such," he said as they left the barn, their feet flying across the ground.
Around 3 am, Demetri stopped and held his nose to the air. Elta did the same. She caught a stronger waft of the scent first. She stood there and smiled at Demetri. They ran closer and Elta gasped. They happened upon a large mansion.
"Hey Demetri," Elta said, gazing upon the magnificent house.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"I know where we're getting the money to go to America," Elta said as she raced up the side of the house. Demetri followed her eagerly. There was only one bedroom of many filled with the scent of hot blood. Elta peered through the glass pane at a handsome man in his 30s and a beautiful woman in her 20s. Elta smiled to Demetri. "Which one do you want?" she asked. Demetri thought.
"I'll take the female. Wait for me when you're done if I'm not. We'll scour the house for money and valuables," he said as he silently opened the window. The pair slipped in and walked to the bed. The sleeping couple's eyes were only open for a millisecond before they were dead.
Elta wiped her mouth on the comforter. She looked over to see Demetri doing the same. "So, where should we start?" she asked.
"In here," Demetri said, removing a portrait of dogs playing poker from the wall. Behind it was a safe. Elta shook her head and giggled.
"How predictable can you get?" she asked rhetorically before ripping off the door. Inside the safe was at least a million dollars in American currency. Elta reached in and took it all, stuffing it in her duffle bag. "I hope you know I plan to go shopping for a new luggage and wardrobe before we leave," she giggled as they flew downstairs. They happened upon the foyer. Elta lifted a painting of a Spanish sunset off the wall. Behind it was a slightly smaller safe. She ripped off the door again and Demetri gasped. Inside was a collection of hundred thousand dollar watches. They were embezzled with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, everything. Demetri took them all and stuffed them in his duffle bag.
"These people are so stupid," Demetri said as he stuffed the last watch in. "They're house is riddled with safes in the most predictably stupid places. I like it!" he said as they raced into a room with a grand fireplace. Elta was first to hear it. From under the grand desk against the back wall came the sound of an electronic safe. Elta ripped off the section of drywall covering it. Demetri grabbed her hand as she went to demolish the door.
"Why won't you let me take it off?" she asked. Demetri shook his head.
"This safe is electronic. If the door is ripped off, the nearest police station will be notified. That is the last thing we need, Elta," he explained.
"Then what are supposed to do?" she asked. Demetri retrieved the piece of drywall Elta had thrown aside. On the back of it were the numbers 10-17-19-94. Demetri entered the code. The safe beeped once and opened. Elta was the one to drool over the contents this time. "So many diamonds….So much sparkle!" she said as she stuffed her bag with all the jewelry. Demetri chuckled.
"Alright, now's the time for us to disappear. Come on, Elta. If we run fast now, we can make it to London by morning. And London is a naturally cloudy city. Therefore, we will be able to walk around during the day," he said, waggling his eyebrows. Elta squealed with delight.
"So we can shop?" she said. Demetri nodded. Once more, the pair took off into the night.