“Warm?”
She tugged on his hand, forcing him to slow. He caught the concern on her face when he glanced at her over his shoulder. “You might be coming down with something, sweetie. Maybe tonight’s not your night for this.”
Bast’s eyelids felt heavy, his body sluggish. “I’m...fine,” he mumbled.
Vampires don’t get sick, he tried to tell himself. Then his stomach lurched, an immediate reminder that as often as he passed himself off as a full-born vampire, he was anything but.
Putting one foot in front of the other took all of his strength, but somehow he managed to stagger forward. To the dark corner. To a door. Through it.
The cool night air blasted his face, and he almost moaned in pleasure. It felt so good against his skin. He’d begun to burn up, and the night kissed away some of the hurt.
The scent of a nearby garbage bin made his stomach roll again, and this time when his stomach heaved, everything he’d consumed lately spewed forth, covering the ground until it shone crimson. All that blood, gone to waste.
The woman screamed—he still held her hand, needing it like a lifeline—before blazing heat swallowed him whole.
* * *
Alice looked toward the commotion coming not far from where she crouched. She’d been peering into a crumpled white sack, hoping the grease stains on the outside meant still-edible fried food on the inside. She’d stopped near the parking lot between the two buildings in case she had to try again, if the bag’s contents were rancid. In three days, she could afford to shop in a grocery store, buying manager’s specials on things past their expiration date or anything a dollar or less, but until then she had to eat. No matter where it came from.
With a mystery illness running its course, she didn’t make the assumption she’d live to see sunrise. Each day was a gift. Seeing a new one was all she could ask for.
She almost squealed in delight when she saw the doughnut inside a wax paper holder only had a single bite taken from it. Two gifts for the day!
A woman screamed, and there was more noise. The sounds of someone retching. Once upon a time she might have thrown up herself just from the gagging sounds, but after spending so many months tending to Richard it took a lot to faze her now. One of the many things she’d learned while living with a junkie brother was how to clean up shit and vomit. Instead, Alice clutched the bag tighter, intent on keeping her newfound delight.
But the scream caught her attention. The curiosity of a woman’s terror urged her feet forward.
Alice followed the source, intent on just seeing from a distance why someone needed help. The staccato clicks of heels on pavement echoed into the lot, past cars she couldn’t have afforded even in her employed days. It was the sound of uncertain running, and she recognized a woman’s tiptoe dance in shoes meant for little more than looking pretty.
The woman had stopped screaming and decided to get the heck out of Dodge, it seemed. She’d left behind someone still moaning and coughing though.
Alice edged closer.
A man elevated himself on hands and knees, swaying like a drunkard. Apropos, seeing how they were just outside the doors of a nightclub. Alice almost turned back to more important matters, but a glint of light reflecting off something on the ground beneath him made her gasp.
“Mister?” she called softly. “You okay?”
There was no way he was okay. Even at her distance she recognized the blood pooled around him. The man tried to rise, stumbled, almost slipped in the blood. He lifted his head, looked at Alice then began to shake.
God, she didn’t want to go to him. She didn’t want to know if he’d been knifed or shot. It was none of her business. But then she thought of Richard, of the times he’d been brought home simply because of the kindness of strangers. This could have easily been him. Richard might have forced her out onto the streets with his backsliding ways, but he was still her brother. Whether she wanted to get involved or not, if this had been him, she would have wanted a stranger to help.
With a sigh, Alice ventured closer. “Hey, where are you hurt?”
He made a noise then dry-heaved. His mouth opened, and she grimaced, ready to watch him vomit. She tightened her stomach, mentally preparing herself for not getting sick with him. Nothing came out of either of them though, and she exhaled, relieved.