Chapter Twenty

The world was not like it used to be. It was something Esther knew, of course. But it was different whenever she had to see it first hand.

She spent so much of her time alone, isolated, quiet and hidden— it was hard to readjust. She didn't feel like she deserved to be out in the world with humans.

Humans who deserved to be happy— unlike her. She was a dead thing, and she deserved to be in the ground with the rest of the dead things.

"It's very pretty in here." AnnMarie said.

Esther looked around the building. It was old, though not as old as she was— probably from the turn of the century. There were exposed wooden beams on the ceiling, and chipped brick walls all around them. Esther could tell that they used to have plaster over them, but it has been torn away by somebody at some point. Maybe whoever it was thought plaster wasn't good enough for modern tastes. It was almost as strange to her as the exposed bulbs that were strung around the room. She wondered if they couldn't afford to cover them with glass for some reason.

It seemed derelict to her, but judging by the number of people huddled around small circular tables, humans enjoyed it.

"It's definitely crowded." Esther said.

A look of guilt suddenly passed over AnneMarie's face.

"Does it bother you?"

I did make her hungry, but Esther decided not to mention that. This wasn't about her feeling hungry or being comfortable.

"No, of course not." She said. "I just don't hang around crowded places very often."

AnnMarie gave her a sad sort of smile.

"Neither do I."

When the waitress came to take their orders, AnnMarie didn't want to talk to her, as Esther had been expecting, so she ordered for her. After a while, food was brought to the table, and AnnMarie nervously started to eat it. It made Esther a little bit jealous, something she felt uncomfortable to admit to herself.

"Esther, can I ask you kind of a strange question?"

Esther took a sip of water. She wanted to appear normal to everyone around. It was already strange that she was at a restaurant and not eating anything, and little bit of water wouldn't hurt her the way gorging herself on a three course meal she wasn't able to taste or digest would.

"Of course."

"Do you, you know—" AnnMarie paused to push her salad around her plate. "Do you like women?"

"Oh, uh—"

AnnMarie shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I know it's a weird question, and I know that maybe you don't have feelings like that anymore, since, you know, you're —"

She was starting to ramble, so Esther cut her off.

"I like women."

AnnaMarie blinked away, a strong, pink blush rising up over her cheeks.

"Oh."

"I don't think it's a strange thing to ask either. Even to a vampire."

"Did you always know that you liked women?"

"In a way, I think so." She said, "I do remember that when I was alive, I never really wanted to get married and start a family."

AnnMarie glanced up at her.

"But you got married anyway?"

"Things were different back then. What was I supposed to do?"

It was a lot more complicated than that, but there were still things she didn't want to admit to AnnMarie. There were still things she didn't even like to admit to herself. Things that still made her feel sick when she thought of them.

"Sorry." AnnMarie said, "I don't know if that is rude to ask."

"You don't have to keep apologizing to me, Annie." Esther said. "You can ask me whatever you want. We're friends, right?"

"I suppose we are." AnnMarie said. "There is something that has been bothering me. Something that I have been scared to ask you."

Esther reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

"What is it?"

"Are you going to leave, eventually?" She asked. "I know you said you travel around a lot. I just- I don't know how much time I have left with you, before I'm alone again."

"I, I'm not going anywhere." Esther said. "I usually have to leave. I've never stayed with someone who knew I was a vampire before. I can't let people catch on. It's not safe for me or for them."

"I guess that does make sense." She said, "I Just don't want you to leave, but I also don't want to feel like I'm making you stay with me."

"I like staying with you, Annie." Esther said. And she meant it too.

"You promise?"

Esther squeezed her hand just the slightest bit.

"I promise."

When they finished eating, Esther walked closely behind AnnMarie as she followed her back to her car.

She didn't know much about romance, but she wanted to give it her best shot, as an apology for what she was about to do.

As AnnMarie started to fumble with her keys, she paused and caught her by the arm. The young woman let out a small gasp and blinked up at her. Esther grabbed her chin and tilted it upwards. The moonlight illuminated the side of her face, a bit of it bouncing off of her wide eyes. Even in the dark, she could make out the faint freckles that dotted her cheeks.

Esther leaned down and I kissed her once softly.

Underneath her fingers that rested on AnnMarie's neck, she could feel the vein there begin to throb harder as her heart raced. It was... nice. The taste of her, the smell of her, it was so... alive. Esther hated the way that she enjoyed it. Enjoying something like that was dangerous, and she knew it. She had promised herself that she would never put anyone in that sort of danger again.

When she pulled away, AnnMarie quickly grabbed her again, hugging her tightly. The warmth of her face pressed against her chest, sinking into her skin through the thin fabric of her T-shirt. She hadn't been hugged like that in a very long time. She had almost forgotten what something like that felt like.

"Oh." Esther said softly.

She nervously picked one of her hands back up, rubbed the back of AnnMarie's head, letting strands of her hair slip through her fingers. AnnMarie pulled back and looked up at her. In the subtle glow of the moon, Esther thought she saw tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you, Esther. I had a nice time." She said, "I almost felt like a normal person. I wish I could feel like that all of the time."

Her guilt finally began to spill over at the sound of her appreciation, and she sighed and grabbed her hand.

"Actually, Annie, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

AnnMarie pointed behind her back to her car.

"I kind of figured that from the shovels and trash bags in the back of my car."

If Esther would have been able to blush, she would have. She felt bad, being called out on her lie, but at least AnnMarie didn't seem upset with her.

"Sorry. I wanted you to have some fun before I asked you for help. It's rude to ask for favors without giving something in return."

"Are we burying a body?" AnnMarie asked. "Because I have to be real honest with you. I don't have the strongest stomach."

"Of course not Annie." Esther said. "I don't kill people, and if I did, I would never ask you to do something like that."

"I'd help you. That's what friends are for."

Esther raised an eyebrow.

"Being an accomplice to murder?"

"I guess." AnnMarie shrugged. "I've never had friends before so I'm just trying to figure it out. What is it then?"

Esther glanced warily up at her, worried that the young woman would be upset with her.

"Actually, we're going to go dig up the bones of the witch who cursed your family."

AnnMarie blinked. It was clearly not something she had been expecting to hear. For a moment, Esther was worried she would, just drive away in her car. She didn't want her to leave. In that moment, it was her biggest fear.

Eventually, she did speak.

"Alright." She said with a smile. "Let's go do it."

A/N: next chapter is coming out this week and I really like it. It's super long and I hope ya'll like it too!!

ALSO I wrote a short (gay) vampire story for the WritersConnX Valentines day anthology. I have it linked on my profile if anyone wants to check it out! M story is Monster Next Door.

Thanks for reading!