Bleeding steel two

Blinding lights.

Comforting darkness.

These were the only two intangible entities that Draekai could feel. The pain from his abdomen had vanished but he didn't feel like opening his eyes just yet. Vague voices were chattering outside the doors. He had no idea what their motive for bringing him here was so he had to tread carefully.

The bright lights in the room were very uncomfortable to his nocturnal eyes. He still didn't want to open them but in order to find out who saved him and why, he'll just have to.

***

BODIE

I pushed the door into the convenience store a few miles away from my street. The mansion I lived alone in covered a few thousand square meters so it counts as exercise just to walk to the gate.

I glanced out the counter. Damnit.

It was that crazy dude on duty again. From my own perspective, I could tell that that guy wasn't normal. He looked like he was into illegal activities. He smokes in odd places and while he walks, he is always looking around to see if someone's watching him.

Also, he asks the weirdest questions and acts like he's known random people he runs into for years. His suspicious attitude doesn't sit well with me and that's precisely why I only come to this store in the daytime. During the day, a nice old lady works here.

The only reason I was out here right now is because of my guest. Scratch that—I meant to say, my vampire guest. Seeing him in that alleyway scared the living daylights out of me. A couple of rational questions ran through my head too.

Why was he there? How did he get hurt? Why didn't anyone else help him when they passed by? Is he dangerous—wait... of course he is.

I mean any rational thinking person would run away from a person with fangs. You don't know if they'll drink you dry to replenish themselves. I did think of that too. The fear of becoming a shrivelled husk devoid of any blood but...

...Why did I help him again?

I added some fresh fruit and four cartons of milk to the basket. The only thing I had at home were cup noodles and lots of snacks and those are not exactly the best to give to an injured person.

I strolled to the counter with two baskets filled with groceries and returned with a third one that had some eggs and ground beef.

Kendall. His name was highlighted boldly on the name tag. Normal people would put that on their breast pockets. The reason why he pinned it to his bucket hat instead, completely eluded me. The more I come here, the crazier he seems to me.

"What? You brought a bunch of chicks home or something?"

Why can't he just quietly scan what I bought in silence? I can't blame him completely for this one. It's not just him being weird, all other people are like this. They all love to talk about others. My question is, why do you care too much about others' lives?

"Hey, I'm sorry but could you mind your business."

Is what I would have said but I didn't have the guts and I didn't want to be mean either. Kendall looked like he could have a pocket knife on him. I didn't want to be the unlucky person who spites him and gets a gaping hole in the side of my neck in return.

"I er... I've not been eating healthy for a long time now that's all."

I avoided his eyes. He should be very predictable like the rest. He'll leave me alone after he gets the memo that I have no interest in starting a conversation. Well, maybe I do but not with him.

"Eh? Just eating healthy and you buy enough to feed an army? Pfft. You're having a party, aren't ya? Going rascal now that your sister ain't home, eh?"

I tipped my head to meet his cunning eyes. I glared so much one would think I wanted to bore two holes into the side of his face.

"How did you know my sister isn't home?"

He brought the scanner forward for me to pay with my phone's QR code.

He started cackling without restraint. I didn't like people like him whose actions were hard to predict. It's hard to manipulate them. So why the hell is this fucker laughing like he'd watched the punch line of a sitcom?

"Are you going to answer me or not?"

I finally asked when he placed all my stuff into their respective paper bags.

"I just know. Why? You think I'm a stalker or something?"

Kendall gave me a black look while handing me the bags. I swallowed hard.

"Course you are, you fucker. You're a damn weirdo and one of the reasons I wished my dad built the mansion elsewhere. Why'd it have to be in this creepy town?"

I would have said this too if my heart didn't stop pumping loudly in my chest like a freaking siren. My breathing increased.

"N-No but I can never be too cautious r-right?"

My fingers trembled while I thought it was finally safe to collect the bags from him.

"Cautious?"

I didn't understand why he repeated that and grinned. His eyes shone with a mischievous tint. What the hell was going on in this psycho's head?

"But I saw you dragging home that bleeding guy on my way here?"

It felt like a cold finger had been painfully scrapped along the length of my spine. He saw that? Did he see his fangs too?

"I mean I knew that snotty rich kids were into illegal stuff but I didn't expect that murder was part of it."

He kept ranting on and on about things he could only cook up in his imagination. You can't prove anything idiot.

"So what?"

If he knew all along then why was he saying that I brought girls home earlier? He just wanted to see my reaction. What a sicko!

"Owning up to your shit, eh? Good—"

I stormed off before he could ask me any more questions.

"Ha. The quiet ones are always the most dangerous."

He called after me before I was out the door.

I walked back home and this time I avoided looking into the alleyway. At the doorstep, my butler, Benson, took the things I had purchased.

"Cook something healthy for him. What did the doctor say?"

I asked while hanging my coat on the rack.

I only allowed Benson to help me with two bags. He was an old man and I pitied the state of his bones. Before working here he was an indentured servant and suffered hard labour every day just to pay off his debt.

"Young master Bodie, Doctor Salve was stunned. After he cleaned up the blood he realized that the wound had already healed. It won't leave a scar either."

This wasn't news to me. I knew what that guy was. I was shocked when I found out too. But this is far from what I wanted to hear.

"And? Did he say anything else?"

In other words did the doctor figure that he wasn't human?

"No. He says that man is perfectly fine and just needs some rest and healthy food."

I nodded after washing my hands in the sink. I wanted to check up on him and find out if he was still asleep or if he needed anything.

I wasn't a good Samaritan. If it were another guy I would have kicked him off and walked home. I've seen people pull off worse gimmicks just to get me to give them money so it wasn't new to me.

I opened the door and the first thing that greeted me is a flying knife coming straight for my head.