Keen's Turn: The Vampire's Appeal

Chapter 9: Come to Blows (first quarter)

Judy hadn't found another copy of the Seal of Solomon.

She was terse with him on the subject, and clearly bewildered by the distress he was unable to hide. With a creased brow, she promised to keep asking around. Jared hurried home in the dark, one hand on the trigger of the gun in his satchel.

Anxiety assisted him in waking to his alarms on Saturday, giving him time to get ready and get out to meet Rose. She met him at their usual corner and launched straight into a story about her car. Unable to get a word in, he remained on the curb when she started walking.

"Jer?"

"I, um, I gotta go."

"Go? Where?"

"I got...uh...catch-up work."

She set her hands on her hips. "Say what? That asshole giving you homework?" At Jared's grimace, she shook her head. "Damn. What's he making you catch up for?"

"I, uh, I had a dentist appointment."

"Oh my god. He doesn't give you fucking doctor appointments off?"

"It was short notice."

"Shit. You had some kinda tooth emergency?"

"What?" The image of the vampire's fangs had flashed before his eyes. His fingers moved to rub at his tender throat, the pencil wound throbbing dully with the shift of his arm.

Rose tracked his movement and frowned, refocusing on his face. "That expensive?"

"...what?"

"The dentist."

"Oh, right. I mean yeah."

She frowned deeper, eyes narrowing. "What kinda catch-up work?"

"Um. Research. ...for an article."

Her eyes got narrower. "Article on what?"

Jared backtracked, searching for solid ground. "V—vampires."

"Mmhmm. And how you planning to do that?"

"I'll um, I'll go to the Met?"

One eyebrow raised. "Lemme get this straight. You wanna go to an art museum to research vampires?"

"I just...wanna see the new exhibit before it closes," he mumbled.

Rose stared at him, trying to detect the lie. "Really?"

"Really."

She threw up her hands. "Son, I already know you're a nerd. You don't gotta lie to me."

"Sorry," he muttered at the curb.

Shaking her head, she beckoned him to follow. "A'ight, I'll drive ya."

"Oh. Uh..."

"You wanna see the exhibit, right? For real? So let's go."

"Together?"

"Unless you got somewhere else you'd rather be."

Jared bit his tongue and followed her to her car.

✶✞

They had been to the Metropolitan Museum of Art many times as children, in summers and on school field trips with the whole gang. Rose and Michael sniggering at the nude statues, Lou mimicking the more virile poses, Alma trailing behind them trying to read every last informational placard.

Entry was free, though the signage was carefully designed to obscure this fact. In the winters, when the gas bills went through the roof and Jared sought other haunts, he'd spent many hours here on his own, admiring the statues and weapons collections.