We stop at a small diner, her rumbling stomach a painful reminder of when Denise would complain to me. The diner is small and antique, red vinyl booths striped with white. Gaby orders a cheeseburger, fries and a milkshake. Her hands move fast, pulling the food to her mouth without reserve.
I’d forgotten the hunger of humans- our hunger came slow and was quenched swiftly. I sit there, drinking in her beauty. The long dark hair falls straight, a waterfall down her back. Her cheeks are a rosy red, blushing faintly in the flickering lightbulb, hanging between us. When her burger and fries are gone, she looks up at me, I a head taller than her. She takes a long sip from her pink shake, and begins looking around the restaurant at the “quaint” décor.
“How old are you?” I ask, mesmerized by her piercing blue eyes, so pointedly directed away from my green ones, so different from Denise’s dark, dark brown eyes. They had been the only hint towards her arctic ancestors. I drop my gaze, looking through my ever-full water glass to hide from the pain.
“Sixteen. The day you picked me up was my birthday,” She said, haughty and looking purposefully anywhere but where I sit. “Ty was tr-“Gaby cut off, her eyes closing as she sucked in air. One, two, three, I read on her lips. One, two, three. She opens her eyes, staring directly at me. They are bright with her unshed tears- I had not meant to bring up Ty. How could I know what would set her off? A moment passes as she searches my face. “And how old are you?"
I stare right back. “Older.” My voice is curt but I don’t care. It’s none of her business.
“Umm, so, how old… were you?” Her voice is careful, reserved. She takes another long draw from the shake.
“Twenty-three.” I look around the restaurant-the age difference isn’t too noticeable, the fact that i am not also eating is ignored.
“And your name?”
I stay still for a moment. Wondering what it is I should tell her. Do I use the name that Denise had for me, or ask the question again?
“Oh- sorry, just thinking, I’ve been with you for a while, and I don’t even know your name,” She stutters, absentmindedly pulling at her hair, a common Denise move. I suck in air, seeing the oh, so, familiar face in my mind, dark eyes nervously looking to mine as I took her hand that first time. I let silence rule our conversation for a time, looking past the window to the dark sky, cars passing us with speed, their lights remaining for a while after they’re gone in my eyes.
“Call me whatever."
“I’ve never known a… a Damien. And I've never known a... you know, vamp, so, uh, you’ll be Damien.” She bites her lip, gauging my reaction.
I nod my head. I can be a Damien- I'd never had the same name twice. She takes one more slurp, and is done with her shake. I flag down the waitress, a small blonde teen who'd been watching me the entire time, and pay her with a ten dollar bill- credit cards expire, but paper never will. She takes it, and we leave. The sun is showing its orange tendrils, already- time for a room to sleep, for Gaby. A hotel clerk looks at me strange, the two of us disheveled and in our three-day old clothes, dawn coming as we checked in. She hands us a plastic keycard and we take the stairs up. The one queen-size bed is instantly occupied by a dead-beat girl sleeping. I deadbolt the door and sneak out the window, to feed. I put on gloves and sprint, staying in the shade.
A little later I step into a JCPenney to find things for both of us. My clothes are easy to find, a pair of blue jeans, pale green polo, dark brown sweater, and new black Converses.
Her clothes are much more complicated, the jeans section alone the size of all the men’s section. Finally simple clothes present themselves- a tank top in black, sapphire zip-up hoodie, and sturdy-looking grey cargo pants. I had always hated shoe-shopping for women- too many choices, to many sizes. Converses were always simple and rugged, if a little expensive. I got two pairs (different sizes), both in bright red. Then a bag, a grey backpack with a single strap to go across my shoulders, to put our old clothes in. I check out, my cash supply dwindling. People who think that vampires are full of cash are wrong- moving, always, means that money isn’t rolling in.
I stop by a fast food place on the way back, the cheap and greasy food soaking through the bag as dusk settled on the small town. Back through the window, nobody notices. She still sleeps, unmoving under the thick brown covers.
I change into the new clothes, laying out hers at the foot of the bed. I sit in a chair, swiveling it to watch her as she slumbers. The sky plunges into full darkness as I wait, her food growing cool. As the stars emerge I begin to speak, waking her like I would wake Denise. I talk of my childhood best friend, Kevin, and our spats over a dog I had found.
Her eyes flicker softly and she moves, opening her eyes and surveying the room. Her eyes caught on the clothes.
I smile at her. “Gaby?”
“Go away,” she says, sleep thick in her voice.
“I’m going to get a paper. You might want to get dressed.” She nods, pulling herself up as I turn to the door, out to the lobby. The newspaper is small, just a local Times paper. I check the date- only ten months had passed since she left. It was surprising, that time felt so long ago….
I sit in the empty lounge and read the paper, giving Gaby a good long time to change. There was a baseball game, Denise’s college lost. Jeans are in for girls, grey is the new red. I shake my head and flip through some more. On the sixth page, a tiny corner of the ad page is taken up by a picture of Gaby, an arm, probably Ty’s, around her, but the rest of the second person is cut off. “Missing, Gaby Jamison. Reward. All info helpful.” I sigh, but at least it’s a small, black-and-white picture, the pixels much to big. She’ll never have to know.
I go back up to the room, the clothes stunning on her. She smiles at me, zipping up the hoodie. I look down to her feet- the shoes are both on the ground, and, as I can see now, both too big. I shake my head a bit. “Sorry,” I say.
She shrugs her shoulders indifferently, slipping on her flip flops. “It’s okay. I need some other stuff, too.”
I nod, and we walk out. I stuff all the older clothes into the bag, and gave it to Gaby to carry, after she reached for it. Outside is cool and the darkest night yet as we walk, side by side, until she tires, then I carry her.
“What’s today?” I ask, just as she had climbed into my arms.
“My birthday was May four, so today is…”
“The thirteenth.” I’d already known that, but hearing it said aloud makes me remember something. I stop talking and halt, thinking for a moment in the woods we walked through.
“You got some place to be, Damien?”
“Don't know. Yet.”
I turn suddenly.
Running west.
