Unapologetic Apathy

I shuffled up the driveway late the next night. It was dark except the little flashlight I carried, and the silver moonlight seeping through the leaves of the pine trees that blocked most of the sky. The dead plants surrounding the manor creeped up like claws and the stone path was cracked and old.

I looked around for the window I used last time, but it was covered with a thick peice of canvas. I sighed and tried the door, which was open. When I stepped inside, I used my flashlight to get a better look around the room. Everywhere except where the flashlight lit up was pitch black, and it reminded me of Slenderman. I checked my watch, and it said midnight. It should be noon for Gerard, I wonder where he-

My flashlight light fell on a shadow I never noticed. Right beside me. I flinched. The guy was great at sneaking up on you! Gerard stood a foot away, glaring at me, glancing at my messenger bag hanging on my shoulder. He squinted against the flashlight, even though it wasn't that bright and it wasn't in his eye. He still looked uncomfortable. I pretended I didn't notice .

"Hello," I said. I handed him the bag, but as he reached out to take it, I jerked it back. "My earpiece, first, bloodsucker." He winced. He dug around his pockets and held out the earpiece, which I took from him eagerly.

I put it in, turned it on, and almost immediately I heard Ray and Sam cheering, and the quiet sigh of Kelsie's relief. They started talking to me and asking me questions.

"You give him the blood yet?" I didn't answer. That would look suspicious.

"The people you are talking to. They do not know about are deal, right?" He murmured and unzipped the bag. He licked his lips as he pulled out a medical bag of blood. I tried not to look at it, but I still gagged. He set it on a table beside him.

"They don't. Only Ray, because I get it from him," I lied as I nodded at the bag he set down. A frown appeared in his face, but disappeared when he understood.

"I would like to meet him. Make sure he knows the deal, all that. Get him to sign a-"

"No! No touching my friends!" I snapped. He clenched his jaw in frustration. "You wouldn't understand what it's like, to put a friend in a position with your kind. You don't know what it's like to have to deal with you... Once, let alone for a living. I do what I just to keep people safe, bloodsucker, and I won't put my friends in a position that causes them harm."

"Don't call me that," he demanded. I made fists.

"Fine. Whatever. Drink your fucking blood. I'll see you in two days." With that, I left the manor and stormed out.

Notes