“Morning, hot shot.”
Christine rolled away from the light, moaning.
“You remember last night.”
She pulled a pillow over her head and it was immediately pulled away again.
“What do you remember about last night.” The mean voice pulled the covers down. “I got work in three hours. Come on.”
Hands grabbed her shoulders and rolled her to the edge of the bed.
“Why were you drinking.”
She focused her blood-shot eyes on the man who paid for her drinks last night and managed one word. “Vampires.”
“Right, you so remember. Let’s get you to the bathroom.” A yank had her standing and arms under her shoulders dragged her to the bathroom before setting her up beside the toilet.
“Here you go.” The voice pushed a bottle into her hand.
“wha is it?” she mumbled, eyes still shut.
“Hair of dog.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Don’ wanna.”
“Drink up.” She heard the cap crack open and the drink was pushed against her lips. When she tried to turn her head away, the voice pinched her nose and pressed harder until the medicine made it down both her breathing and food pipes. She coughed a bit before grabbing the porcelain bowl and started vomited what was left in her stomach.
“When you are done, shower and come down stairs, I’ll make you some toast.”
She retched again. “I hate you.”
“Yeah, I know.”
***
Christine stumbled against the kitchen island and pulled out a tall chair before climbing up. A cup of coffee in the biggest damn mug she had ever seen got pushed under her nose. “Thank you.”
“De nada.” Walker responded.
“I hate that hair of dog.”
“Yep.” Greasy smells and frying sizzles came from the other side of the worn laminate. A pop sounded. After a scrap, scrap, a scooting noise put toast at her elbow.
“One of these days I’m gonna shove it down your throat.”
“You should be so lucky.” The black man chuckled, moving the frying pan over a second plate. Eggs slid out making Christine’s stomach churn again.
After drinking enough coffee to assure her it wasn’t coming up again, Christine eyed the toast, mostly to keep from watching Eldrige tuck in his breakfast. “How much did I drink last night?”
“Nine beer and four shots.”
“How am I even still alive?” She moaned, focusing on the dark, dark liquid, the only thing kind and sensitive to her needs this morning.
“You threw up in the parking lot before getting in the car.” Walker shrugged. “Then again between the car and the apartment. Thank you for not throwing up in the car.”
“De nada.” She poked at the toast considering, deciding more coffee would be good first, she took another drink, looking around the kitchen to make sure more coffee was available once she finished the first mug, and saw the clock. “Eleven? Angelo needs—”
“He got off to school on time.” Walker sat down across from her. “He’s sixteen and got it together.”
“He must be worried sick. I always text him if I’m not coming home.”
“Which you insisted on after the eighth beer.” The older man pulled her phone out and pushed it across.
“You didn’t let me…” Christine knew she had been in no shape for drunk texting her kid.
“I let you unlock the phone, and then I sent him a text you wouldn’t be home last night.”
“Good. Thank you.” She sagged against the high back chair. “I’m a horrible mother.”
“You are a cop and a mother and a human being. Sometimes it’s tough being all three.”
A small sob-laugh escaped as she finished her first mug of coffee. “Aint that the truth.”
“Now, I got two hours before I need to be out the door. Talk to me.”
“About what?
He took the mug away and refilled it, but pushed the plate of toast closer to her while holding the cup of life away. “Two bites, then you can have it back.”
Christine dutifully took the two bites. Once the mug was down, she poured sugar into it.
“The vampires, well, alleged vampire.” Walker sat down again. “Start from the beginning.”
Still not believing he was taking all of this seriously, she reported everything word for word, down to the “No need to waste resources.” He asked a few questions, but gave nothing back except grunts until she ran out of steam. Her reward was some cold crisp bacon tipped out of the second frying pan.
Eldridge picked up her plate and the frying pans, made his way to the kitchen sink, and turned on the water. Standing, Christine joined him beside the rinsing area, pulling down the drying towel. “So, vampires are real.”
“Yes.” The plates and mugs only needed some quick swipes.
“But you never told me.” She moved the faucet over the rinse sink and ran water over the utensils.
“Nope.”
“How am I to protect people if you don’t tell me everything?” Angrily she shook the water off the plates.
“Are you going to tell Angelo and Silvia?”
Christine glared at him before drying the plate in her hand. “Of course not, they don’t need to know.”
“And it could get them killed.” He pulled the plug out of the sudsy water. “The monsters like to keep their secrets secret. Same reason why I didn’t tell you. Unless you get noticed, there is not reason to know.”
“And now?” Christine put the last of the dishes away before turning around and crossing her arms. “What about now?”
“We’ll see.”
She narrowed her eyes. “See … what?”
“If they go back to ignoring you, or if you are noticed.” He took the towel from where she dropped it in a ball and spread it on the counter to dry. “Look, I got to go. I’ll call out but the witness … you know.”
“24/7 protection. Yeah, you go. I still got your key on my chain. I’ll lock up.”
“I can drop you off on the way.”
She blinked, realizing she still wasn’t completely with it. “Right, the car is still at the station.” Christine looked down and pulled her shirt away from her skin. “And one shower is not enough to see people.”
Once outside, Christine remembered something that bugged her about the wakeup, more than the whole hangover issue. As they walked to the car, she asked, “Why did you ask me if I remembered anything about last night?”
“Well, you had been drinking heavily.” Walker said as he walked around the car.
“No, that isn’t right.” Christine climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. “You kept at it until I answered.”
“Yeah, well, most people don’t remember the next day.” He looked both ways before pulling into the lunch traffic.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Steward and Heale, for example, totally blanked after their werewolf encounter.” Walker shrugged while monitoring the mirrors. “Got drunk, falling down blackout drunk like normal. Like we all do. I think it is a defense mechanism. See if we can erase it out of existence. Most people just lose the day.”
“Like I don’t remember texting Angelo last night.”
“You were ten drinks in, and you still remembered your kid.” He looked over at her and smiled. “Don’t kick yourself over it.”
“But most people forget.”
“Yeah, like for every three people who see the other side, only one remember seeing it.” Walker pulled next to her car at the precinct. “If you had blanked, I would have rolled with it, but it’s nice to see you are one of the strong ones.”
Christine climbed out, but leaned back in the door. “What the others know?”
“That would be telling.” He nodded to the door. “Tick, tock, I got to go.”
“I hate you.”
“Yep. Stay safe.”
“You too.”
She closed the door instead of slamming it and let Walker go. She stared at her car then at the precinct building where reports waited to be written. Sniffing under her arms, Christine decided that one shower would be enough, especially if she wanted to see her kid tonight after work. Maybe the smell would keep others back. Beside she had a spare set of clothes and there was a shower next to the SWAT area.
(words 1382, first published 9/29/2022)
Pets for Vampires Series (Order of Creation)