Chapter 9:
Rosie’s POV:
I wake up late afternoon; there are no windows in this building for obvious reasons, but something has developed within me to be able to tell what time of day it is. I sit up and look around my room, Maria’s sitting on a chair beside my bed of course, and as I sit up she’s already fussing over me, in her way...
“God, you’re finally awake! I was actually getting worried, Rose...” I smile, if Maria worries it means we’re all fucked...
“I’m fine, Ree, Allen just got a little carried away is all...”
“Ye, I heard...” I can see worry playing behind her eyes and I challenge it with my own reassuring smile.
“So what have I missed?”
“Well, for starters, Mina came into the lounge yesterday looking for some fucking sympathy...”
“Meaning she needed some questions answered...Did you answer them?” I’ve only known the girl a day, but I know she’s not an attention seeker like Maria keeps claiming her to be; I know that type.
“Ye, I answered them...”
“And...”
“She’s a fucking Singer, Rosie, can you believe that?!”
“See, I knew it! I knew you would have you’re little inquisition! You’ve always welcomed and helped people who came here, Ree, what’s changed now? What’s so bad about her that you should feel the need to make her shit life harder?”
“Things round here started to go weird the moment she arrived and you know it!”
“Ye, but treating her with suspicion isn’t exactly going to encourage her to confide in us, is it? Besides, she’s a human-being alone in a vampire world now; she’s owed a little more support than she’s been getting, especially from you...”
“I answered her questions!”
“Sure, sure. Anyhow, she’s a Singer?!” Maria grins at me, my thirst for gossip rivals even hers.
“Remember Liam claimed she was his?” I nod, “Well, Hayley said that, on her way to her feeding appointment with Covas’ sister this morning, she passed Covas’s room just as he was coming out of it and...”
“–Covas has a sister?”
“Which gossip you looking for here, Rose?”
“I’m sorry, continue...”
“Anyhow...Hayley looked inside as the door was closing and saw Mina in Covas’ bed...”
“Holy shit!”
“Ye! And get this, her clothes were on the floor so there’s no doubt she slept with him last night, and there was blood on the sheets...Hayley reckons they blood-shared, meaning...”
“–Mina belongs to Covas! OH MY GOD SHE’S HIS SINGER! OH MY GOD, HE’S BEEN LOOKING FOR HIS SINGER FOR SO LONG NOW–”
“Ye, but Liam thinks she’s his remember?!” I pause, she’s lost me completely.
“But...what does that mean?”
“I don’t know, but I am sooooo gonna squeeze it out of her!”
“Ree! That’s so horrible, don’t even think about it, she’s one of our own now; we’re gonna look after her like everyone else.”
“Geez.... square...”
“I’m not square, I’m just a nice person.” I grin at my best friend and she grins right back; I’m the counterpart to her evil.
“You ready to go outside into the sun? You look like shit.” I laugh and get out of my blood-red bed to be met by what should have been an anticipated head-rush, causing me to fall back onto the bed; Maria chuckles and pulls me back up after my vision clears and drags me out the door towards the garden.
We burst out of the building into the dazzling courtyard and I find, to my great unhappiness, Zack and Hannah already sat on the deckchairs usually occupied by Maria and I. Zack looks up at me like he’s surprised to see that I’m alive, Hannah as usual seems to gaze in any direction but me.
“You ok, Rosie?” Look at that shithead, getting up and walking over all ‘concerned’; I brush Zack’s unwelcome hand off my shoulder and gaze directly into his eyes, waiting for him to look away first. “Geez, Rosie, what the fuck is your problem?” I snap, he cannot behave all distant one moment then caring and friendly another,
“You are my problem! I can’t read your fucking mood swings, Zack, and I’m tired of trying! We used to be friends, I mean, what the hell happened to you?!” His face blanches,
“I was unaware we’d stopped being friends, Rose.” I’m too pissed off to worry about his damn feelings...
“Since you turned into an asshole, I reckon that’s a good enough reason to drop you as a friend. And by all means, let me know when you’ve decided to stop playing games and actually be there for me, instead of sulking in the corner of every room or garden that I enter!” His eyebrows come crashing down, he’s way past feeling hurt now.
“Fine, you don’t want to talk to me, that’s fine.” With that, he literally stomps off towards the building followed swiftly by Hannah, his bitch of a sister; she never did like me, even when Zack and I used to be friends. Maria puts her arm round me,
“You know, sooner or later, you guys are gonna have to sort this whole sexual tension thing out...” I switch my glare to her,
“What sexual tension?! He’s an asshole! Ever since Allen claimed me, Zack’s been so distant and just downright horrible to me, and I even tried to be extra nice to him for a while...I don’t know what his fucking problem is and I’m fed up of his games; it was never my choice to become Allen’s, he fucking chose me!” My outburst has clearly caught her off guard as the joking smile vanishes from her face and she looks away awkwardly, then suddenly she looks downright pissed.
“Great...just great...you know I could have done without seeing her for just one day...but no, she’s back for some more fucking attention...” I’m not sure whether Maria’s talking to me or herself but I see the subject of her attention walking towards us, Mina. Seeing her brings a smile to my face, I wipe all thoughts of Zack from my mind and stride over to her, Maria shadowing me hesitantly.
“Hey, are you ok? You look a little exhausted...” Mina’s face flushes and she looks down, not wanting to give anything away. I place my hand on her shoulder, I hadn’t meant to embarrass her, “Hey I didn’t mean to pry, can I show you round the garden or something?” She looks up at me once more and nods, she seems keen to get the spotlight off herself; I oblige graciously. I show her around the small enclosed garden, chatting all the while about similar gardens from our old lives and sometime during this, Maria wanders off to talk to other people, causing me to lose focus on Mina’s words. I take the opportunity to examine every detail of Mina’s face, every minor flaw, and for the life of me I can still not figure out why Maria hates her so much. She’s reserved by nature but not untrustworthy, she doesn’t really have a hateable face, quite the opposite really... Her caramel hair and fair skin are the features of innocent young maidens from the movies, completely non-threatening and unprovoking. She’s fairly tall but not so tall that she would stand out in any way. Her accent is standard English so no class resentment there. She’s not too pretty and she’s not average looking either, she’s healthy looking and easy on the eyes; I can see why Covas likes her but not why Maria hates her. I’m totally perplexed.
“Is there something wrong?” Oh shit, I’ve been staring at her too long. I glance down at the ground and try and think of a reason why I would look at her for that long.
“Sorry, I kind of...zoned out there...it’s just that I’ve had a lot to think about recently...” She smiles in reassurance, I’ve dodged the bullet.
“No, of course, I’m sorry I’ve been dumping all my problems on you, do you want to talk about it?” Her question catches me off guard,
“Errr, no I’m good thanks, but would you mind if I left you on your own for a bit? It’s just that I need to think...” She holds her hands up as if to stop me,
“Say no more, I was fine yesterday on my own so...oh, and if you need or want to talk to me ever, I have a lot of free time, apparently.” She smiles and turns to walk over to the fountain. I smile after her then turn and stroll back into the building; I’ve just had an idea...
YOU ARE READING
The Blood Bank
Vampire~ He leans down and brings his lips to my ear, his breath brushing against my skin, causing havoc to my heartbeat. My eyes close of their own accord... ~ Mina lives like any other person with a messed up family, she just gets on with her life...
