Chapter 4: The Return

Emily stood frozen in shock at who she saw in front of her. Ricky leaned forward, placing his arms on his knees and smiled. "Long time no see."

"H-how are you here right now?! You're dead!" Emily exclaimed, falling to her knees on the ground.

Ricky laughed. "Well undead technically." He grinned. "Guess it didn't stick." He flashed a pair of bright white fangs at her, and she fainted onto the floor.

"What the hell do you mean it didn't stick? Vampires aren't real." Josh said, rushing over to her and cradling Emily's head in his lap trying to wake her up gently.

"Oh but they are." Ricky leaned back against the seat and smiled, his teeth flashing brightly in the light from the fireplace. His gold eyes focused on Josh, and he sprinted across the room at lightning speed, landing on his knees next to him and Emily. Josh jumped at how fast he moved, and his eyes widened. "What do you want from us?"

"Oh nothing. Just wanted to visit my best friend." He smiled and placed his hand on her head, and she gasped as she woke up again.

"Oh my god you're freezing!" She pulled away slightly, her eyes widening.

"Yeah that happens when you don't have a heartbeat." He chuckled, and helped them both up off the floor, and they both sat on the couch warily, keeping an eye on Ricky, who just smirked in response.

"I-I don't understand. How are you here? How are you a vampire? How are vampires real? I-" Emily ranted but Ricky put his hand over her mouth and grinned a cheeky smile at her.

"I'll explain everything." He sat on the coffee table across from them, and cleared his throat.

"After you dropped me off at the bus stop, I went to New York. I don't remember much after I got off the bus, but I went to a gas station to get something to drink. The last thing I remember was being hit in the back of the head with a metal baseball bat." He rubbed his head as he said that, almost as if he could still feel the lingering pain. "I woke up in a morgue. The person on duty grinned at me and had told me what happened to me. They were a fellow vampire, and they had found me on the brink of death. They changed me before I died as a human, and the venom took a while to change me. So when I woke up, the cops had already told my family I was dead." He frowned. "I wanted to come see you sooner, but I wasn't strong enough. And I had to learn to look more alive first, so that people wouldn't get skeptical."

"I can't imagine what that must have been like. I'm so sorry Ricky." Emily reached out her hand and Ricky grabbed it, squeezing gently.

"It's cool. I'm a badass now so I don't really mind." He grinned.

"So how did you get here? And why?" Josh asked.

"Well, the vampire that turned me is actually one of the oldest vampires around. His name is Silas Althan. He has been tracking a man that has been killing teenagers in this area for a few years. The man has been draining their blood to sell to vampires. We have donors for a reason, so that things like this don't happen. But we haven't found the guy yet. He's been MIA for months. Until this most recent murder." Ricky leaned back, and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Silas sent me here to take care of him."

Emily covered her mouth in shock. Knowing the sinister meaning behind the killings made them so much worse. "Those poor kids."

"Yeah, it's pretty fucked up." Ricky sighed, and pulled his phone out, checking the time. "I'm supposed to meet Silas at the high school in about twenty minutes. We're going to try to investigate the crime scene while the cops aren't there, and see if we can find any leads on where our killer might be heading next."

"I would tell you to please be safe, but it sounds like I don't have anything to be worried about." Emily stood up with Ricky, and walked him to the front door. "Thank you for stopping to say hey. Please don't be a stranger. I've missed you so much." 

Ricky pulled her in to a tight hug, breathing in her familiar scent. There was something much more desirable about it now that he was a vampire, but he always was comforted by her touch. She wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. "I've missed you too, Em. You have no idea." He squeezed her back gently, and reluctantly, released her.

She smiled as he walked down the driveway, waving goodbye. She shut the door behind him and pushed her hair out of her face, still a little in shock by what just happened. 

"Well that was.. interesting to say the least." Josh said, pulling her into a loving embrace. 

She hugged him back, but something felt wrong. A lot of feelings were quickly resurfacing for Emily, feelings she hadn't thought about in a long time. She pulled away from him. 

Ricky was Emily's first love. She never told him of course, because he always had a significant other. He was one of the most popular guys in their school, and everyone desired him. It was hard for Emily to constantly see all these guys and girls swooning over Ricky, but she couldn't blame them. He just had that effect on people. The way his smile lit up his face, made every worry you had go away. His voice was like velvet, and Emily could have listened to him talk for hours, and never get sick of it. 

Her mom had wanted them to date for the longest time, but Emily said she didn't want to make a move on him, in case it would ruin her friendship with him. 

Having him back in her life, meant Emily would have to face these feelings head on. All she could think about was his hands on her body, pulling her close, and telling her how he missed her. She instinctively wrapped her arms around her front, reveling in the thoughts. 

"Are you okay?" Josh asked her, raising an eyebrow. "I mean as okay as you can be with what just happened?" 

She nodded. "I think I'm just still in shock, to be honest." 

Her thoughts were flooding with thoughts of Ricky. The way his lips moved when he talked. She imagined what it might be like to kiss them. The way the veins in his arms moved when he flexed, and the way the light in the room had made his eyes look almost golden. She shook her head quickly to rid herself of the thoughts. She felt guilty for even thinking these things while Josh was right in front of her. 

"I think I'm going to head to bed for the night. I just need a mental reset." She placed a kiss on Josh's cheek and walked upstairs, climbing into bed, and wrapping herself in her blanket. 

She tossed and turned for a while before her phone went off. She sat up quickly, grabbing it off the charger, and pulling it under the blanket with her. She opened the text.

2125388869: Hey. It's Ricky. I just wanted to give you my number in case you needed anything. Hopefully your number is still the same. I would have asked for it earlier, but I didn't want to in front of Josh. He seemed a little on edge. 

Emily smiled to herself and typed up a response.

Emily: I'm glad you text me. It's nice to be able to talk to you again. You have no idea how much you've missed. I have so much to catch you up on.

Ricky: Can't wait to hear about it. Breakfast tomorrow? I'll pick you up at 9?

Emily: Sounds like a plan. See you then.