Chapter 31: She and He

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The sun was barely its natural bright blue when Logan pulled the car out of the driveway. The sky was painted blood orange with a bright yellow tint shining beneath it. The darkness was shifting above both warm colors as the ball of fire arose and turned black into a dark blue.

"Okay you can stop." Obie said, walking in front of the car and folding her arms in the driveway. "I don't want you crashing my car."

"Do you hear that engine? This thing hasn't been used in years." He breathed heavily.

"Three years exact."

"Where's your rat?" He asked, getting out of the car.

"She's inside eating her breakfast. And she's not a rat."

"Same family."

"No it's not." Obie dismissed him. "She's related to a kangaroo or any other pouched animal. Not a rat. I guess you skipped college and went straight into military."

"You have no sense of people's skills, you know that?" He laughed her off. "As a matter of fact, military paid for my college education."

"The government should be disappointed then. You wasted their money."

He rolled his eyes. "Are you a high school graduate? Did you even go to college?

"No."

"So I wouldn't be talking if I were you."

"Yeah, I really need to go." Obie said. "The farther away from each other, the better."

"Hold on there, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have to check under the hood again." Logan said, before limping towards the front of the car.

She nodded, silently. She didn't want to argue with that; he needed to get her car working.

Her nostrils flared, sensing a familiar presence.

Obie grunted silently. The vampire was probably hiding in one of the houses. Driving during the daylight will give her a head start before he began following her.

No doubt he'll catch up.

She shivered, disbelieving she was capable of smelling the vampire. Sometimes her nose could smell beyond the natural human limit. She could smell the mold that was building up in the back of her garage. She could smell the musk, lining the polluted air with its foul perfume.

Obie pinched her nose, overwhelmed.

"I need a wrench. I left it in the back. Can you get it for me?" Logan asked, observing her engine.

"What's wrong?"

"I just need to tighten up a few things up." He looked back. "Wouldn't want your engine to blow out?"

"No I wouldn't." She longed. "I'll be back."

Logan turned his back towards her, not muttering a single word.

Obie dodged her boobie traps that were installed in different areas in her front yard. She hopped over her neighbor's fence and nearly tripped over random fragile bones. After, Obie took one glance towards Logan to make sure he was fixing her car and no other nonsense.

She gazed at him suspiciously before forcing her legs to walk towards the backyard.

He better not look inside. She stole a few of his gadgets and guns while he was snooping last night.

He shouldn't feel the need to search through Obie's belongings anyhow. Then again, Logan had been up last night on his radio and talking to his trapped friends. Surprisingly, Logan kept his current position a secret and focused on conversations driven by a subjective perspective.

She thought that was peculiar.

But, Obie had to sit her feet within Logan's shoes. He lost Sam. He could lose his other friends in a flash. He had to grip the scarce moments and take advantage of the short time to reflect with his friends.

The contradiction in Logan's decisions was titanic. He loved his friends to a point. He made a deal with Obie to reveal her father's dark past if she gave him the chance to speak with them. Later, he decided to abandon his friends in a mall filled with the infected to search her home. Yet, he was keeping their hopes alive through contact.

"Ow." Obie said as she swung her leg over the fence and the blunt edge scrapped her skin.

She jumped down, heading straight to her dad's tool cabin.

Obie went inside and turned the light on to expose over a hundred tools. Funny how prepared her dad was; installing a security system in the house, building solar energy panels to use for power, harboring stacks of can foods, and a room over-flooded with handy tools. Her father knew something was coming, but she wasn't convinced he knew exactly what it was.

Obie bent her knees to search for the wrench.

He didn't say the size, Obie thought dubiously.

Obie just grabbed a couple. "That asshole better not be playing with me."

She turned around.

Obie belted out, dropping the tools.

A vampire was crouched on the floor with a large arm hanging onto its piercing long fangs. The flesh was decomposing and sliding onto the floor in rotting chunks.

As Obie leaned into the shelves, she cuffed her mouth and nose, trying to keep her food from yesterday in.

Her hand clumsily searched the wall for a weapon, while keeping her brown eyes on the white eyed vampire.

Once Obie found a solid grip, the vampire growled.

She dropped her hand.

The vampire's face relaxed and inched closer to Obie.

She should have known better. She should have checked the small cabin or at least let the light in to cleanse it.

The vampire edged slowly towards Obie until it was a ruler's length from her feet. It began to stick its head out, stretching abnormally as the bones within its neck cracked and adapted to the new length. The tip of its flat, flared nose was grazing Obie's pants and lingering in her injured region.

The light bulb illuminated its face absolutely.

"I know you..." Obie said aloud, but remained petrified. "You're that little

monster."

The baby vampire stopped sniffing and looked up at Obie.

She blinked. "You really are."

Four days ago, Obie and this little monster met outside the market. The vampire was quite different; not due to its awful, damaged face. He had a missing cheek that had  three or four thin lines of brown muscles attached from his cheekbone to his jaw.

Yeah, that's gross.

But Obie recognized its indifference towards her odor. The thing wanted to eat Obie, but didn't want to.

In this time, Obie perceived the relaxed facial lines and non-combative eye expression. The crouch in his small legs was held sternly through the muscles in its small arms, but far from defensive.

"Umm..." Obie had a hard time deciphering what to do.

The little monster dropped the arm. With his nose, he pushed the limb upon her feet.

He was giving Obie the arm?

What the fuck.

Then, Obie remembered. The day she awoke from the market, Rocky had caught her in the middle of helping Logan. They had a talk which led to an argument, where he threatened Obie with his Capitol threat. So she literally pushed Rocky towards the little vampire to feed on him.

Holding in her barf, Obie wondered how the vampire was able to hold a decomposing limb without faltering. Usually vampires stay away from dead people's blood to prevent the nauseating and blinding effects.

This thing had the arm in his mouth like a champ.

The little monster growled at Obie.

"Okay okay." She picked up the arm by the hand and kept it away.

The little monster relaxed again and sat on its butt. His white eyes were staring at her like he wanted a response.

"Thank you?" She said questionably.

He continued to stare.

"No, that's not it." Obie said nervously.

The vampire crawled closer and lowered his head.

Obie froze, interpreting the motion clearly.

She extended her two fingers, folding the remainder and tapped its head hesitantly. The vampire purred against her reluctant petting.

Obie jerked her hand back.

She identified her feelings as the extreme version of freaked out, but shown in the most subtle manner to keep the little monster calm.

Footsteps were running in their direction.

The little monster growled viciously but nonetheless, jumped to the top shelf and hid behind the head of a large shovel near the door.

Obie hid the arm behind her back just as Logan burst in.

The baby vampire shrunk deeply into the shadows as the light emerged and shone at its small feet.

"Are you okay?!" He coughed out, flinching and breathing hard at once. "I heard you scream."

Obie gulped, secretly looking back and forth at the vampire and Logan.

"Yeah." She said quickly. The little monster obviously kept track of Obie. The vampire also gave Obie an offering. She didn't want to make an enemy of the thing. "I thought I saw a snake."

"But I heard a sound like something was growling."

Obie thought she should give the little monster up now. She was worried about making an enemy, but she learned better in making a friend out of a vampire. One vampire was overbearing. Two was asking Obie to practically kill herself. Though, contrary to her thoughts, Obie sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"What are you hiding behind your back?"

"My business."

He sniffed. "Ugh. It stinks in here."

Obie tried to subside those nauseating feelings as she held a dead man's arm. "Probably a cat in the back of the shelves."

"I guess." Logan said unconvinced.

"Here's the wrench." She kicked the tool over.

Offended, he said "Well. Thanks."

Obie wasn't intentionally being rude.

"I need to show you a trick in case your engine starts to act up."

"I'm right behind you." She said swiftly, hurrying Logan along.

The little monster was touching his head over the shovel and glaring directly at Logan.

He shook his head. "Alright. Let's go before I pass out."

"Okay." She said as Logan walked away.

Obie sighed in relief.

Diligently, Obie started to walk out of the cabin with her brown orbs trained on the baby vampire. Scarily enough, those white eyes locked onto Obie like white on rice. She didn't dare to drop the arm, scared to offend the small creature. As soon as Obie was under the threshold, she slammed the door shut.

Obie gasped. She inhaled deeply and exhaled with the same amount of extensive force as if she was holding her breath in for too long. Or maybe she really was.

Quickly, before Logan turned, she tossed the arm in a garbage can and sealed it with a random cardboard sheet.

"What in the hell is wrong with you?"

"I have asthma." She said.

He pursed his lips, drinking in one last look and continued onward.

What the hell was wrong with me?

After Logan showed her the trick, Obie packed the rest of her baggage in the car in a rush. She shoved as many important things as possible inside. She practically threw Burrito in the passenger feet, while she had dog food in her mouth.

Obie clapped and rubbed her hands together after the work.

They had to get the hell out of here.

"Hey, don't forget this." Logan cradled a box with a bunch of frames sticking out. "Can't believe you're carrying these photos."

She grabbed the photos. "I can't leave them in the house with the Capitol's dogs on the loose. I don't wanna leave any traces of me in connection with my dad anywhere. I couldn't carry them around on a daily basis because they were too big."

"There's no used for them." He shrugged.

"For me, I guess not. But for you, maybe." She side eyed him. "You're not taking pictures of my family to give to the Sanctuary."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're going to need proof he has a daughter when you tell them about me."

"I'm not going to do that."

"I'm not stupid. I know you are. You really think I'd believe only the Capitol will be after me? That they will come soon and go through the neighborhood, looking for the one who killed their people? Which I didn't by the way. I just sped the process up." Obie slammed her trunk shut. "But unlike the Capitol, the Sanctuary hit a gold mine. You found my father's home and his secret lab. And...his daughter. Why would the Sanctuary let go of all three?"

"They won't."

"Meaning you're going to tell them"

"You're the least important secret."

"Nonetheless, a secret." Obie opened the car door. "Nothing like running from two governments."

"So far, they don't know anything so enjoy the freedom of worry."

"I'm never not worrying." Obie slid in and closed her door.

He stooped low to her window. The vampire marks on his neck were closing up into the tiniest holes. His black eyes faded out into grey in the sunlight. "I won't tell them. Not now."

"Giving me a head start?"

"As repayment." He nodded towards her house. "Is there anything else I should know? You can tell me. There's no reason to hide stuff between us."

Obie tried to open up yesterday, but he didn't want to hear it. She'll keep the bottle of pills locked within her mind and within a safe inside her trunk.

"No."

He stared at her for a few seconds. "Can't say it was nice knowing you."

"We agree on something." She half smiled.

He nodded, softening up. "Wouldn't be like us to shake hands."

"Not at all." She started her car.

"Hey..." He said. "Good luck."

Obie gazed passed Logan to take one look of her house like capturing a photo before the session was over. For three years, Obie been living on the streets, sleeping in sewers and hiding from her parents in the most strangest places. Living was a hard task to accomplish but Obie did because she had a home to return to for temporary time.

She had the memories of her parents embedded in each brick built into two stories.

She had her parents' bed to sleep in to reminisce how they smelled and slept.

She had her childhood.

She had a home.

Now, it was nothing.

Obie faced forward, one hand tightened at the wheel as the other caressed Burrito. "You too."

He

He was sitting on the floor of a random regular's living room.

Obie. Obie. Obie. Obie. He repeated in his head.

Obie. Obie. Obie. Obie. He repeated in his head again.

The vampire took a deep breath and rolled his tongue in his mouth. "O!"

He couldn't get the rest of the words out.

The vampire grabbed the object in the corner. Since last night, he's been sitting in the bright room that was in the house across from the regular's.

The regular's name was Obie. Regular Obie.

The room had four things he recognized; a grimy crib, a large blanket with flowers on the ground, picture of a regular female with an enlarged stomach and a male regular beside her. Lastly, there was a round white tray of buttons with different colors. Underneath each button was an array of different creatures he tried to identify with his scarce memory.

As he played with the machine, his cognizance was arising. He pressed his long index finger into the first button, hearing the sound come afterwards and then scraps of his memory elevate to full pieces. He pressed the second one, next the third one and onwards after. He's been repeating the motions since last night.

Practicing.

Remembering.

He inhaled deeply like Obie had done. The one action relaxed her tensed, bony shoulders downwards, while her frowned expression was less than frowning. He come to terms she was always upset; whether it be about him or life. Her naturally arched eyebrows were continuously raised or one of them. The skin superior to her dark, large eyes was wrinkled on top one another like stacked steps. Her thick lips pursed forward, at times to the side and sometimes folded inside.

She made him chuckle.

Though, he had no idea what it meant.

He looked at the wall as if he could penetrate the border with his blue eyes to look upon regular Obie.

He would have snuck around the home, pressed his ear to the walls and listened to her voice.

He wanted to talk to her too. Like how the regular male was responding to her.

The vampire sulked.

He could talk to her.

He did talk to her.

But that was spontaneous.

He didn't want to be spontaneous. He wanted to talk on command.

Yes, he's going to learn to talk.

Determined, the vampire began playing with the buttons again and repeated the sounds.

He cleared his throat.

"A-A-A-A..."

"Beh-Beh...B..."

"Cah...C..."

"Da-Da-Da-Da...D..."

"Eeeeee..."

"Fa-Fa...F..."

"Gah...G..."

"Ha-Ha...H..."

"I..."

"Jeh-Jeh...J..."

The vampire mirrored each letter after the machine. He was improving as he practiced.

"Now I know my ABCs. Next time won't you sing with me!" The machine sang and ended.

The vampire nodded towards the question in anticipation. He will sing next time. Perfectly too.

He went to do it over again.

He stopped.

The vampire tapped his chin, catching a fleeting thought before it could run away.

He pressed one of the buttons.

"O" it sang.

He pressed again.

"B"

O-B

Obie.

The machine was singing the regular's name.

He gasped in excitement.

Continuously, the vampire abused the machine to repeat O-B again and again.

He grinned, leaning on his hand.

Out of nowhere, the vampire straightened up. His claws ejected, tongue split at the tip to flutter in a hiss, eyes altered into one green and one purple, and fangs extended.

He heard Obie yell out, detecting the increase rate of her heartbeat and adrenaline. The effects of her terror impacting his body, pressuring his growl to exude out full force.

The vampire crawled onto the wall and gripped the side of the curtain to yank it off.

The sun peeled his skin red, daring to engulf in flames.

He hissed, taking his hand back.

The vampire roared in anger, feeling useless. His fist pounded through the pink wall and revealed the grey cement underneath.

But as his blood pressure escalated, he felt Obie's gradually lower and it aligned with the declination of her heartrate. Her normal stature returned, though he could feel she was scared.

He waited, consenting his heightened senses to detect sudden changes and threats to the regular girl.

He narrowed his eyes untrustworthily into their normal color and retracted his fangs. His claws sunk back into the flesh; letting the setules glue his hands and feet to the wall.

She was untroubled; startled but not in danger.

Then, he heard the regular male's voice.

The vampire rolled his eyes and jumped to his feet.

A couple moments later, the vampire heard regular Obie and that male speaking back and forth.

The vampire so badly desired to speed outside and rip his throat. His blood couldn't be devoured, but he can force the substance down to his stomach and throw it up on his body.

Luckily, their closeness will dissipate with the increasing distance. He overheard regular Obie claiming she was leaving. He wasn't too in tuned with the conversation because he was learning his letters. He heard bits and pieces, trying to keep himself from linking to her after the horrible pain he felt from last time. But there was no doubt he was following her.

He wouldn't have to kill the

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