Glamoured: A Modern Fairy Tale

10. All Vampires are Evil

Eleanor left her media class in the afternoon; her mind was else ware all day—namely living in a world full of vampires. She wanted to drop by and see Farah so that she could pick the old Haitian woman about vamp lore. But something else had been bugging her, too. She'd been rude to Wes, and she pulled out her phone. She'd shot him a quick message earlier in the day.

Sorry about last night. Feels like you left pissed at me. Didn't mean to offend. Just looking for ways to help my friend.

Still no response. Eleanor sighed. She was so busy staring at her phone, trying to will a reply from Wes, that she collided into Daniel.

"Whoa!" he said, backing away from her, his hands in the air. "Watch it, there."

"Sorry...I'm in space cadet mode today," Eleanor said, staggering backwards.

Daniel's forehead creased; he sniffed the air, wrinkling his nose. "You eat a loaf of garlic bread for lunch?"

Eleanor flushed and opened her bag, pulling out the scrape of garlic. The little, pale flowers were crushed, but that made it smell all the more pungent from the oils released. She said, "It's from a friend. I want to use it for gardening."

Daniel cocked an eyebrow and held his nose, theatrically waving his hand in front of his face. "The sooner that thing's in the ground, the better."

"I know—I'm the Pepe le pew of humans," Eleanor said, stuffing the scrape back into her bag.

"Take a bath!" Daniel called to her, walking away. She pulled a face, sticking her tongue out at him. He continued to pinch his nose and walked off. Great, she thought. Her crush now knew her as that smelly girl who carried around strange plants. It wasn't the best of impressions. Maybe she didn't need to carry the scrape to school. Besides, it was daylight and that might've been overkill.

Vampires, Eleanor reminded herself while walking out to the Tracker. This was all about vampires—which Farah seemed to know a bit about. She'd met Farah several times; she dropped by for brief visits at the climbing gym, but mostly she'd be going and Eleanor would be eager to get climbing, so they'd never chatted. She talked to her a bit at a dinner Ahmed hosted at his house, but she couldn't claim to know the woman well. That was going to change today, though, when Eleanor visited Farah at her shop.

Farah owned what Ahmed referred to as a 'woo shop'--the only  one on the single main street in Guilliford. She shared the building with a flower shop and the post office, and Eleanor parked out front. The bell on the door rang when she entered, and Farah poked her head above the shelf where she was arranging merchandise.

"Hello, dear," she said, putting down the sheet of stickers she was using to re-price items.

"Hey, Farah," Eleanor asked, walking over to the counter. It was set up like a bar, which was because Farah served tea and her own baked goods in house. "Can I get some rose hip tea?"

"Certainly." Farah walked behind the counter and put the electric kettle on. She opened a jar, and the rich scent of roses and black tea leaves filled the shop. Farah measured out two tablespoons into a mesh strainer, which she sat inside a bright, lime mug.

"The scrape is...ugh, very potent," Eleanor said.

Farah arched an eyebrow and said, "That's the point."

"Couldn't I just get some of the oil to carry around instead?" she asked.

"Yes, I have more," Farah said, pouring the hot water over the tea leaves. She slid the mug over to Eleanor, who put her fingers over the rising steam to warm them.

"I wanted to ask you more about vampires," Eleanor said in a rush.

Farah's shoulders stiffened. She looked around the shop as if to check there wasn't a customer hiding somewhere, but they were alone. Farah said, "Your friend is alright--if that's what you fear. She won't turn."