2014 Prompt Responses - 23. Prompt 328

“You expect me to believe that?” Sy stared at me incredulously.

“I’m telling you that his eyes glowed red! They glowed red, Sy! People’s eyes don’t just glow red.” I shuddered. “He showed me his fangs, too. Honest to god fangs!”

Sy shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to stifle his laughter. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Thanks for the support, asshole,” I muttered as I sprinkled salt along the bottom of the door frame.

“C’mon, Adam. You realize how ridiculous you sound, right?”

I frowned at him. “He barely ate his dinner.”

“That’s because you used enough garlic to choke a horse. We were just too polite to tell you.”

I snorted. “Yeah. And I bet his choking had nothing to do with the lasagna being cooked in holy water, either.”

“Holy water? You mean that jug in the fridge is actual holy water? Like from a church?”

“I cooked the pasta in it and gave it to Vincent to drink when he choked on the lasagna.”

Sy gave up attempting to control his laughter. He fell off the couch, gasping for breath. “You really… you thought… OH MY GOD! You got ACTUAL holy water!” He howled in laughter.

“Fuck you, Sy!” I stormed into the dining room and poured salt along the window edge. Sy followed me, hiccupping and still spasming with occasional giggles.

“What are you doing?”

I glared at him. “I’m not telling you.” For once I was glad we lived in an apartment with few windows. I salted the kitchen windowsill.

“Do we have ants or something? Is it safe to pour that shit near our food?”

“It’s safe,” I mumbled. Sy snatched the canister out of my hand. He looked at it, puzzled.

“Salt? Why are you pouring salt all over the place? Wait… let me guess. Another vampire defense?” He started snickering again.

“You invited him in. I’m trying to keep him out.” I grabbed for the salt, but Sy held it out of my reach. Damn his long arms.

Sy took a deep breath. “Babe, sit down for a sec.”

“I’m going to kick you if you don’t give me the goddamn salt!”

“Just sit down, ok? I’ll give you back the damn salt, I promise.”

I looked at him skeptically.

“Please, Adam. There’s something I need to tell you.”

I sat down and looked at him expectantly. If I heard one more word about how nuts I was acting I was going to kick him, grab the salt, and lock myself in our bedroom.

“Look. This has gotten really out of hand. After all this talk of vampire bullshit, we decided to pull a little prank on you. Vincent’s eyes weren’t glowing red. They were contacts. The fangs were fake, too. It was all just a joke.”

I knew Sy well enough to know that he was telling the truth. I got up wordlessly and stalked off to the bedroom, slamming it in Sy’s face.

“Adam… I’m sorry. I had no idea you’d take it this far. I guess I should be glad you didn’t stock up on wooden stakes. Open the door, please, baby. I’m so sorry… please forgive me?”

I didn’t answer or open the door.

*****

The next day Tom asked me to meet him for lunch. I was glad since we hadn’t gone out for lunch together in ages, but was still pissed about the whole vampire gag. When I arrived at the restaurant it wasn’t Tom that was waiting for me. It was Vincent.

“Adam… good to see you,” he practically purred.

“Vincent.” I regretted flirting with him last night. After I sat down, he scooted closer to me.

“I’m so sorry about that little prank we played on you. It was in poor taste.”

I played with my napkin. “I feel like a fool.”

Vincent laughed and put his hand on my leg. I was having a hard time reading the look in his eyes. There was amusement and triumph with a hint of what I swore was malevolence. He still gave me the creeps.

“You know, I’ve always felt drawn to you, Adam,” he murmured. “Do you have any idea how hot you are?” He creeped his hand up my thigh. I tensed and tried squirming away. Vincent chuckled lowly. “You think I don’t know you were playing me last night? Don’t take me for a fool. It only made me want you more.” He put his arm around my shoulders and drew me close. I felt his cold breath on my neck along with the hint of sharp teeth. I shuddered. He withdrew and let me catch a glimpse of his red-tinted eyes and pointed canines. He chuckled lowly and cupped my cheek, keeping my head in place.

“You will be mine, Adam. You want to be mine. You love me, don’t you, Adam?” He was speaking in a low, hypnotic monotone. I realized with horror that he was actually hypnotizing me. He continued speaking for about a minute until our waiter appeared. Vincent handed him some money and we left the restaurant hand-in-hand.