Michael helped me move the couch closer to the wall and then picked up the coffee table to move it. “Where should I put this?”

  “Wherever there’s room, it doesn't matter to me.”

  Michael set it next to the couch. He had planned to put his mattress in front of the door to help my peace of mind. He turned on the air pump, the little machine making more noise than I thought a thing that small could. Luckily, it didn’t take too long to fill and soon enough blessed silence filled the room again.

  Then it was too silent.

  “So,” I cleared my throat, “Uh, it’s still daytime. We’re not working. What’s next on the docket?” God, I felt so awkward.

  Michael gave it some thought. “We could go through Davor’s notes, see if there’s anything else on Nikola in there.”

  I nodded and went to my bag, pulling out my heavily annotated copy of the journal. I gave him half of the stack, the pages floppy from use. He laid on his side on the air mattress, his head propped up in one hand. The other hand was slowly following each line of the page to make sure he didn’t miss something.

  I sat on the couch, curling my legs in front of me and set the papers against my raised knees. I began reading slowly as Michael was doing.

  We were reading for about twenty minutes when I came across the section I had found already:

  Subject: Nikola Sokoli

  Age: 43

  Sex: Male

  Status: Vampyr (as of 1533 A.D.)

  Energy gained: None

  Occupation: Sheepherder (former)

  Day 1: Subject was irritable when told of his new status. Subject sought to destroy everything in sight; I… subdued him. Will need to hold in the dungeon until rage is under control.

  “Michael, I found the page with Nikola’s trial notes.”

  Michael sat up, a small flash of fear in his eyes quickly replaced by curiosity, leaning as if he could see the papers on my lap from where he was. I nodded to the seat next to me, and he got up from the air mattress then sat beside me. I showed him the pages, holding them between us.

  “There’s not a whole lot there.”

  “It’s more than we started with. Maybe there’s more in your stack, since his notes were in your half.”

  We decided to split that stack, giving us each a quarter of the journal to look at. We continued reading, coming across Nikola’s name from time to time.

  Day 12: Subject Nikola finally gave his name so I can differentiate him from other subjects. Gave me his occupation but did not know any other information…

  Day 21: Subject Nikola is improving. His rage is more under control and he is more calm. May be able to release from the dungeon soon…

  Day 35: Subject Nikola finally interviewed. Subject saw the light of reincarnation and heard my voice offer the bargain near time of death, awoke with mighty thirst he quenched with the nearest sheep…

  Day 49: Subject Nikola released from the dungeon cell.

  Michael looked disgusted. “Man, Davor was a jerk. He always put “subject” in front of the name, as if Nikola was a subject first and a new person second. Trying to take peoples’ energy by turning them, all the other experiments he did, it all just feels so wrong.”

  I had to agree. “At least we don’t have to deal with him.”

  Michael scoffed in response.

  “If this is the same Nikola, I’m not surprised that he’s a little insane. Who wouldn’t be after being turned and promptly stuffed in a dungeon for weeks and weeks by a mad man?” I said.

  Michael nodded at me. “Either way, Nikola is dangerous.” He strode over to his duffel.

  I sat up, wondering what he’d need right this second.

  He drew out a small box. “I thought maybe we should have a way to keep track of you, at least while all this stuff is fresh.” He showed me the box. Inside were little tracking devices, like AirTags but thinner, meant to go inside the lining of a shoe.

  “How did you get something like this so fast?” I turned the small devices over in my hand, inspecting them.

  “There are advantages to being in the same city as Amazon headquarters,” he boasted.

  I had forgotten they were here in Seattle. I lifted my brows and jutted my lip out, making a face of impressed appreciation.

  “Thank you,” I said, and I meant it. “For… well, for all of it. For caring enough to come find me, for staying last night, for agreeing to stay for the foreseeable future.” I lifted the box and gave a weak chuckle, “For these.”

  I set the box down and crossed my legs, my hands clasped together on my lap. “The only people in my entire life who’d ever do something like this for me are my parents. I’ve never had a friend who cared enough to stay for anything before.”

  I sighed, fidgeting with my hands, my brows creased.

  Alright, here it goes…

  “I guess you’d say I’m a bit of a loner. Ever since I was a kid, I could never fit in, because of my name. Andrew. A girl with a boys’ name. “Too boy” for the girls, too girl for the boys. Even after my nickname stuck, the damage had been done. It’s the stupidest thing to get tripped up on – a name – but it’s the only one I have.”

  I continued, “After I started going to college, I met a guy who didn’t know any of that dumb history about my name. For whatever reason, he decided he wanted to date me. I thought we were happy, but a few months later he ended it, saying that dating me was like dating a wall.”

  I could feel Michael’s stare but went on. “A few other guys came and went before I realized I was the common denominator in every relationship gone sour.” I tried to lighten my tone, “I decided to give up on it. It was obvious to me that love was never in my cards to start with.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I hadn’t ever told anyone about this. Even my parents knew hardly anything of it. Beyond my complaining about my name when I was young, they knew nothing of what occurred. Was Michael going to run like everyone else, now that he knew why no one had stayed?

  Please don’t go…

  Michael looked torn, like he wanted to do two different things but couldn’t decide which was the right one. He seemed to settle on one, his shoulders relaxing. “Well, you’re important to me. I might go so far as to say you might be my best friend in all of Seattle. And ‘Drew’ fits you perfectly, no matter what those dumb kids said. And all those guys – none of them deserved you.”

  Something inside me flip-flopped, and not in a bad way. My ears were aflame.

  I needed to change the subject before my face turned maraschino cherry red. I was thirsty, but my glass was empty.

  There’s an excuse. Something normal, something right where everything’s been wrong.

  “Would you mind refilling my glass,” I said as I held it up. “You’re closer to the kitchen.”

  “Sure thing.” He immediately took the cup and headed toward the kitchen.

  I took some deep breaths, trying to slow my heart rate. Why was it so high?

  By the time Michael had returned with my glass, I felt normal…ish. My heart was still pounding.

  As the sun began setting, I went and got the soup out of the freezer, putting it in a pan on the stove to warm up. On a wet, grey, dreary looking day like today, there were few things better than my mom’s version of matzo ball soup. Luckily, it froze well, so I could have it even when my mom wasn’t around. Because I could not be trusted with that recipe, not unless you liked grainy soup.

  Michael was looking out the window, his brows turned down as he scanned our surroundings. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt a little paranoid.

  A coil of dread sat heavy in my gut.

  He turned away, giving me what was meant to be a convincing smile.

  I had to ignore the weight as I ate, but it remained.

  Soon, our bellies full and dishes taken care of, we were again left with a decision.

  “I don’t know about you,” Michael started, “But my eyes could take a break from reading.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed, rubbing my eyes. “The words are starting to swim on the page.”

  An affirmative hum from Michael confirmed that he had a similar problem.

  “There’s that show we watched last night,” I grinned, remembering how well it worked as a distraction.

  Michael gave a small laugh and agreed, “I could take a different form of crazy right now.”

  “Amen,” I said and turned around at the same time. “Popcorn?”

  “Oh, definitely,” Michael agreed, then he asked, “Do you happen to have M&Ms? For the popcorn. Trust me, it’s delicious.” And you know what, I quite liked it.

  Michael stood up after the episode was over. “I know you prefer your space, Drew.”

  I was again grateful for his astuteness of my mood. My social battery was really drained. It would be an early bedtime for me, I needed it. But…

  “Michael, I’m not sure if this will make any sense to you, but if it’s not too much, can you stay with me for a bit longer? My social battery is drained but I’m not ready to be alone yet.”

  He sat back down. “Of course I can stay. What are your sound needs?”

  What? “Sound needs?”

  “I mean when you’re feeling like this, would you rather there be some background noise? Or not?”

  I hadn’t ever really given it thought. “I think having you for company will take care of any sound needs I have,” I jabbed lightly.

  Michael bellowed a laugh, a brow lifting in acknowledgement. “Fair enough. Do you have any touch needs?” My disbelieving look made him go on. “Hear me out. Sometimes people need physical contact in order to feel the most amount of comfort. At others, the same person might want absolutely no contact whatsoever. Like last night, it seemed that you needed that touch. Do you need any tonight?”

  I thought about it. “I don’t know. For now, just having you here is enough I think.”

  He nodded at me, getting up once more. “I’ll step out so you can get yourself ready for bed.” I changed into flannel shorts and an old tee shirt and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Michael had also changed into a pair of sweatpants and a different shirt. He used the bathroom after me to get ready for the night. By the time he was out of the bathroom, I was already in my bed. I patted the open spot next to me for him to sit. He did.

  “Anything in particular you want me to prattle on about?” He winked at me with an impish grin.

  I started to sit up, blush rushing to my face as I was about to protest that that’s not at all how I thought of him, anymore, when I realized he was teasing me. My blush crept into my hairline and down my neck. I hid under the blanket, trying to hide my shame.

  Michael laughed long and hard, rustling the blanket above my head. “I’m sorry,” he began, “That’s one thing Trev got right, you really are the cutest when you are flustered.”

  I pulled the blanket down to only reveal my eyes, my hot face glaring at him.

  “I pinky-promise that I won’t do it again. Tonight.”

  I continued to glare at him. He stuck his pinky out.

  “Do you even know the origin of the pinky-promise?” I asked. He shook his head. I sat up on one elbow, ready to teach him a thing. “Back in Japan, the Yakuza would make their swears this way. The punishment for breaking it: you lost the finger you promised on.”

  “Then I guess I better keep my promise,” his tone shifted away from playful.

  I continued to hold his stare as I brought up my own pinky and looped it around his, giving it a gentle downward tug, sealing the deal.

  “Okay, I believe you.” I shifted to lay back down under the covers.

  He began talking about silly things from work that made him laugh or cringe, continuing until my eyes felt heavy.

  “Hey Michael,” I yawned.

  “Yeah?”

  “Will you leave my bedroom door open so I can see you?”

  “Yeah. Go to sleep now. I’m still here.” He waved with his pinky, making me grin. It did not take long for me to drift into oblivion, but just before I did, he kissed his first two fingers and pressed them to my temple. Then I was gone, swept away into darkness.

  ? ?? ?

  We went back to work the next day, arriving at slightly different times to avoid any awkward questions. The smell of old coffee and whatever industrial cleaner they used for the floors permeated the air. I took in a deep breath, the odd combo a comfort after the insanity of the last couple of days. My eyes drifted shut for a moment in subtle contentment.

  Trevor came up to me, his usual smile replaced with deep concern. “You were gone. For two days. With no word. And for that first day we had no idea what had happened to you. You could’ve been dead in a gutter for all we knew!”

  Whoa, I guess I really was missed. That feels… kinda good. They missed me… Right, excuse time.

  “I’m sorry, Trevor. That first day I was really sick, like ‘something was not right with that pho,’ if you get my meaning. And my phone also became a casualty; it fell in the toilet. My laptop was dead and my charging cable was here so I couldn’t e-mail. I’m sorry, Trevor. It won’t happen again.”

  I had taken some time this morning to craft my story, just weird enough to be believable.

  Please believe it…

  He looked as if he would question it, but then he said, “I-I am so sorry that you had food poisoning! That stuff can be brutal. And talk about bad luck with your tech! I hope you can get your phone fixed or replaced soon, and try to remember your charging cable next time.”

  He looked to the side before leaning forward. “To be honest, the floor was a little crazy without you, and by a little I mean a lot-tle. Please don’t do that again!” His last sentence was a plea.

  I wondered what kind of hell was piled up for Michael and me to sort through today. I headed to the desk.

  Behind me, I heard Michael get stopped by Trevor, likely about his absence these last two days. I didn’t know what excuse Michael gave. I was pretty sure he didn’t say anything about me being kidnapped though.

  Michael came up to the desk and sat down. “Good morning, Drew. I heard you’ve been sick, sorry about that. Is there anything I can do to help you a little more today?”

  “You can start with getting me a coffee, please.” Apparently, that was how we were playing it at work. I could live with that, that was easy. I logged in to the desktop and immediately regretted it. I was bombarded with near due items because of my absence.

  Michael set down my mug and went to his side.

  “Well, shit,” he said plainly as he logged in, seeing the same mess I did. “This is going to be an interesting day. Wanna order in for lunch?”

  “I think we might have to.” Ugh, so much triage before I could even begin with the work itself. I grabbed my coffee, needing caffeine before I faced this mess.

  ? ?? ?

  “Remind me to never get kidnapped again,” I whined as I stumbled through my front door. It was surreal being back at work after what had happened. I kept jumping at every odd sound, my heart thudding as I stared into the shadows. I kept expecting something awful to happen, but it didn’t.

  The work was non-stop all day, and I'm pretty sure Trevor was about to suggest we stay for overtime. Luckily, we narrowly escaped that with the reminder that I was ‘still getting over being sick.’ I kicked off my shoes and stood aside for Michael to come in.

  Michael didn’t laugh. His eyes were glossed in deep-seated fear and concern. He closed and locked the door, knowing that the last bit would help my peace of mind, as silly as that was. Like a little deadbolt could keep out a powerful vampire if he really wanted in, especially if he’s strong enough to break out of that padded white cell. I tried not to dwell on it too much. I had Michael with me and he was a vampire, so at least I had that level of protection.

  We watched some TV, then he sat with me just like he did last night. “I’m not too chatty, used up all my talking at the office… but I’ll stay,” he assured.

  I could only reply, “Uh huh.” I don’t know when I fell asleep or when Michael left the room, but I could hear his steady, slow breathing from the living room when I awoke in the middle of the night, and that was reassurance enough for me to return to my sleep. I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but at least, for now, I could rest.

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