Free Blood Candy by Matthew Tomasetti Page A

but it gets worse until it’s
only pain. Tinch told me about the addicts and you saw that
waitress in the diner. Pain is what they get, but they only
remember when it felt good. They don’t care or maybe they don’t
realize when a vampire feeds on them it’s only going to hurt. They
become addicted to a memory they can’t have anymore.”
    He took in a long breath and gripped both of
her shoulders, staring intently into her eyes. The worry creasing
his face made him look more handsome in some weird way.
    “I don’t mean to scare you with all of this
but you need to know the dangers,” he said. “I don’t want to see
you get hurt.”
    His insinuation that she might be or become an
addict made her angry, though she couldn’t argue something she knew
so little about. His point hit home when she thought about Rupert
in her dream.
    “I understand.”
    “We have to be careful tonight,” he said. “Be
careful when you talk to them and don’t look at their eyes. I don’t
trust vampires and I don’t care if they’re American or not, or if
they drink pig’s blood. We have to be careful.”
    “What’s with the British vampires
anyway?”
    “I’m not sure. The way I understand, they’ve
always been here. There are different families or covens or
whatever they call it.”
    “Are there a lot of vampires?”
    Jimmy frowned, the worried expression not
matching his otherwise vibrant and youthful face. “Tinch thinks
there are too many. They’ve been moving out of the cities because
there are too many of them there. He said the only place he didn’t
feel safe when he was young was in the big cities and look at us
now. They are everywhere.”
    “I heard you and Tinch talking about that in
the car. What’s he going to do?”
    Jimmy sighed and took Candy’s hand into his.
Though he didn’t seem to want to talk about it, he said, “As far as
Tinch and some of the others are concerned there’s only one way to
handle vampires, especially vampires like those Brits. I can’t say
I disagree with them.”
    “He wants to kill them?”
    Candy wasn’t sure why that bothered her. He
was talking about murder, but was it murder to kill a vampire?
Jimmy didn’t answer, which was answer enough.
    “Considering what Rupert did to me, what he’s
put us through, I can’t say I disagree,” she said. “They were
heartless monsters in the diner—all of the things Rupert said and
did. Maybe they deserve what they get.”
    Jimmy gave a grim nod. Candy turned her head
when she heard someone approaching. Were-Jew and Felicia came
around the side of the house.
    “What’s up? You two okay?” Were-Jew
said.
    “Yeah,” Jimmy said. “We’re just
talking.”
    Were-Jew nodded. “We scouted around. This
place seems pretty safe, but I’m nervous about being here with the
way Rupert seems to be tracking her. Dave didn’t say anything, but
I don’t want to compromise his parents’ home.”
    Candy headed off to take a shower while they
talked. Felicia offered to grab the supplies out of the SUV and
meet her upstairs with the clothes as well as some toiletries.
Medium Dave told them that they could use the bed or pull out couch
in the guest room to take a nap if they wanted. Candy went into the
bathroom and stripped out of her dingy clothes—the dress definitely
needed to be thrown away. She made sure the water was blasting hot
and then she stood beneath it for a long time. Her feet stung from
having run through the parking lot without shoes, but she didn’t
care. She closed her eyes and tried to let the water wash away her
concerns.
    After showering she dressed and went into the
guestroom. Felicia was on the bed reading a book with one of her
long legs crossed over the other. She glanced at Candy and then
turned back to her book.
    “Feel better?” she said.
    “Marginally,” Candy said. She rubbed her eyes,
frowned at the couch, and then sat on the bed next to Felicia. “I
was thinking about taking a nap.”
    “I can lie