"I don't understand why you hate me," Jesse says, smirking.
"Are you really that clueless?" I ask. "Or are you just trying to piss me off even more?"
We were waiting outside of the blood bank for Sarah. I was, unfortunately, still being held by Jesse. I had tried sitting up, but it was still too much for my body to handle.
I try closing my eyes to ignore him, but he wouldn't let it go.
"I'm really that clueless," Jesse says, joking.
"You really want me to rip your head off, don't you?" I ask.
When I first met him, I was completely taken by him. He was so sweet and kind and caring. That all changed when he bit me and then forced me to drink human blood to complete the transition. Now, he was a huge pain in the butt and pissing me off.
I would've tried to sit up on my own, just to get out of his embrace, but I was still too weak. Stupid Lucifractor. Stupid Vice Principal Stern.
I wanted nothing more than to hunt him down and kill him. Even Jesse pissing me off couldn't compete with what Stern did.
I close my eyes again, settling into Jesse's arms. If I couldn't fix the situation, better make the best of it. I pretended that it was Rory holding me, and not Jesse. That made it a bit more bearable.
I open my eyes to see two boys, who looked like Ethan and Benny, walking down the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
"Ethan!" I yell over to them. "Benny!"
They look up, shocked, and start to cross the road, half sprinting, half running.
"Abbey," Ethan says relieved. "Where's Sarah?"
"In there," I say, pointing to the blood bank. "Getting us food."
Ethan doesn't answer, he's too busy staring at me in Jesse's arms.
"I'm too weak to stand or sit on my own," I answer his gaze. "Otherwise, I'd be as far away from him," I point to Jesse. "As the bench would allow."
"I saved your life," Jesse points out. "That's gotta give me some credibility, doesn't it?"
I knew what he was implying.
"That still doesn't make you any more attractive to me."
"What will?" he asked, a slight smile on his face.
Instead of answering, I flash my fangs and hiss at him.
"Man," Benny says. "I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of Abbey being a vampire."
"Well get used to it dork," Jesse says. "She's going to be like that for the rest of eternity."
"Yeah, no thanks to you," I say, annoyed.
What was taking Sarah so long? I was ready to get the hell out of Jesse's arms. I had a feeling he was enjoying it way too much.
"Have you heard from Rory?" I ask them.
"Not since school on Friday," Ethan answers.
"Ugh," I was about to cry again. Where was Rory?!
"I'm sure he's fine," Ethan says, trying to comfort me.
"If not," Benny says. "I'm sure whatever vampire purgatory he's in, he's thinking about you."
"Benny, you are so lucky I can't walk," I threaten. "Otherwise, you'd be in serious pain right now."
"What happened to you?" Benny asked, surprised. "Why'd you get so mean all of a sudden?"
"It probably has to do with the fact that Jesse's holding her against her will," Sarah remarked, coming out of the building.
"I'm not holding her against her will," Jesse objected. "I'm just holding her so she doesn't attract any attention."
"How would she attract attention?" Benny asked.
"Dude," I say. "Did you not hear the whole conversation about how the Lucifractor took all of my energy? I can't even sit up on my own! I'm pretty sure that would attract attention!"
"Abbey, chill," Benny says.
"Do not tell me to chill!" I yell at him.
"You get cranky when you need blood," Jesse notes.
"I know, right?" Benny says. "One time, she started yelling at me because I couldn't give her the blood sub fast enough."
"SHUT UP, BENNY!" I scream.
Everyone is staring at me, including a couple of pedestrians on the sidewalk. I will admit, when I needed blood, I got a little testy.
"Abbey," Ethan tries to reason with me. "Yelling at Benny and Jesse won't solve anything. We still need to find Stern and stop him."
I answered with a continuous growling.
"She's growling at me!" Ethan says, shocked.
"Don't feel bad," Jesse says. "She's been doing it to me on and off all morning."
"Well that's different," Benny interjects. "She hates you."
Jesse narrows his eyes, and gives Benny a death stare.
"I can fix this problem right now," Sarah says, walking over to where Jesse sat with me in his arms. "Drink this, it'll help you feel better."
She handed me a blood bag, and I struggled not to rip it out of her hands.
"That stuff isn't going to make her feel better," Jesse says. "Only the fresh blood will. Remember how fresh blood tasted, Abbey? Remember how you felt? I bet you want to feel like that again, don't you?"
I hadn't opened the bag yet, and I sat there thinking about it for a minute. Fresh blood did taste so much better than donated. I then remembered how this was probably a trick just to get me alone.
So in response, I hissed and punctured the bag with my teeth, drinking the blood deeply until the bag was empty. I looked at Sarah for more
"I'm sorry, Abbey," she apologizes. "That's all I could get my hands on."
"It's fine," I say. "Good choice though, O Positive. Definitely my favorite."
For some reason, the rare blood types tasted the best.
"I was afraid you didn't have much taste in blood," Jesse says. "Turns out I was wrong."
I just shake my head and try to get out of Jesse's arms. Fortunately, the pint of blood was enough to get me on my feet and walking.
Once on my feet, I walk over to Benny and give him a hug.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you," I apologize. "I get a little testy when I'm hungry."
"A little?" Benny asks skeptical, but slightly teasing.
"Shut up," I say, hitting him playfully in the arm, smiling.
"How come the dork gets an apology?" Jesse asks.
"I'm sorry, Jesse," I say, and he starts to smile. "That you're such an egotistical vampire jerk."
His smile quickly melted away into a hard line.
"So," I say, ignoring Jesse. "What do we do now?"
"Try to find Stern," Ethan says.
"Where would he be?" Benny asked.
"I have an idea," Jesse says, getting up and walking down the street.
"Where are you going?" Sarah asked him.
"Follow me, and you'll find out," Jesse answers.
We all look at each other and shrug.
"We better follow him," Sarah says. "He's onto something."
We all start quickly walking after him, wondering where Jesse could possibly be going.