The drive would be completely Aiden’s ordeal because, unlike me, he didn’t get tired after a 7-hour drive. He did get bored occasionally and that’s when we would stop at the cheapest motel we could find. According to him, it wasn’t uncommon to run into a familiar face at the ritzy hotels, so we’d have to sacrifice class for safety. I never thought I’d hear myself sighing in relief when I found out we would be safe staying at a Motel 6. The last thing I wanted to do was have to stay the night in a hotel swarming with vampires making their nightly feeding runs. On the other hand, I made sure to clean myself with a gallon of antibacterial soap after lying on the bed sheets each morning, and anything in the room I touched was disinfected with the can of Lysol spray they provided in the bathroom. They either anticipated someone with OCD staying there or they were openly admitting their hotel rooms were disgusting, and people did disgusting things in them.

But, that’s where the simplicity of our journey ended, somewhere between Podunk, Ohio and Bumblefuck, Wisconsin. I woke up at four-thirty in the morning with the vivid images of my dream replaying in my mind. I remembered something about a devastating car crash where the automobile shredded apart across the road, but the driver and passenger walked away from the scene laughing before disappearing in the blurred trails I had come to identify with vampires.

I rubbed my eyes vigorously and stopped trying to remember who the people were in the wreck. If I were to guess, I would have to say it would’ve been Aiden and me but maybe I was just imagining what April’s wreck had looked like as it happened.

I set my sock-covered feet on the carpet and shuffled to the bathroom. At Aiden’s request I was supposed to shower every morning and night to cut down on my ‘overwhelming human stench’ as he put it. But at this point, my hair was feeling brittle from using the cheap hotel shampoo twice a day. I was pretty certain after another week it would start to fall out. I choked out a laugh from my dry throat and squatted over the toilet seat to pee. There was no way in hell my skin was touching that porcelain, not even if I saw it soaked in a vat of bleach before I went to use it.

The florescent lights above flickered as I swished around some of the mouthwash provided. Who knew my complexion could change so much in a few days? I had a strange skin tone now; poster board white with a sick highlight of Jaundice-yellow in the shallows of my face. It must’ve been caused by stress and lack of sleep in the past week I concluded while in the shower. The water was colder than the other hotel’s had been but it helped me get through the ordeal faster than normal. The faucet whined as I turned the water off and realized I had forgotten to take my clothes in with me. I frowned. This meant one of two things; I would have to make a mad dash for my clothes lying on the chair across the room where Aiden was probably sitting or, I would wrap the nasty hotel towel around my waist and run to my clothes. The smell of mildew reeked from the towel hanging behind the toilet so I swallowed my pride and cupped an arm across my chest praying Aiden might not be looking.

I cracked the bathroom door. “Aiden?” I called with my head peering around the doorframe. Cold air hit my wet skin and I shivered, but he didn’t respond. I doubted he was asleep so I said his name again. “Aid-”

The door swung backward, opening wider and came crashing closed against my head. I didn’t have a chance to scream. I fell half in the doorway and half on the bathroom tiles, sprawled out and wincing in pain.

The scenery around me was blurred and out of focus, I tried to lift my head to get a good look at the person attacking me but as the dark figure started to come in to focus I felt a powerful kick in my stomach. I doubled over with my arms clutching the bare skin around my torso and my breathing came in hoarse ragged breaths. I kicked at the door as hard as I could but it didn’t budge beneath my attacker’s foot. I started to feel light and dizzy. If I didn’t catch my breath soon I was going to pass out. My mouth formed Aiden’s name but there was no air in my lungs to give it sound.

Just when I felt like I could peacefully pass out, I was being lifted up by my hair and dragged further into the bathroom. My eyes were rolling back into my head. One moment I saw the pipes beneath the sink counter and the next I saw the oval shape of the toilet bowl. And as trivial as it seems, my last conscious thought was ‘oh please, don’t dunk me in that gross toilet!’

The familiar velvety soft purr of a voice brought me back to coherence. My body ached in places I’d never felt pain before but I still pushed my self into an upright position. The car seat was reclined as far back as it could go which must’ve put my head somewhere just above the back window.

“How long have I been out?” I mumbled rubbing my head where I felt a giant lump forming.

Aiden’s eyes drifted from the road to me. A wave of relief touched his face before he went back to concentrating on driving. “Only an hour.” We were barreling down the highway and I didn’t chance looking out the window because I felt nauseas enough that the blurring trees might make me vomit. “How do you feel?”

I sneered at the pain in my head, which was beginning to throb. “I feel like I got my head smashed in by a door and then,” I paused to sniff my hair, “thankfully not dunked in that toilet.”

He turned to face me and smiled. “He didn’t get a chance to finish.”

“What do you mean? You saw him?” I said and soon regretted the little bit of enthusiasm I had put into the words. I leaned back into the seat and put a hand over my eyes.

“Saw him? Well, I suppose you could say that. Killed him would be a better description. I only stepped out for a minute. You had just turned off the shower so I left to give you some privacy and pay the bill.”

“Yeh, I remember saying your name and you not responding.”

“And then the moment I get back this vigilante parasite is about to drown you in the toilet. He must’ve been watching us; there’s no way someone as weak as he was would even think he could take me on. He must’ve seen me leave the room. I’m not sure why he took it upon himself to kill you, it could be any number of things.”

I opened my eyes and peeked at Aiden through my fingers. His facial expression was slightly flustered; not the same brick wall cold stare he usually sported. I twisted my lips, holding back the real thing I wanted to ask, which was why he hadn’t sensed the vampire. From his expression I could tell he regretted letting him even get that close to me so I let the interrogation slide.

“Well, as long as you beat the shit out of him, dead is dead and that’s all that matters to me.” I rolled over on my side without much luck at getting comfortable.

He laughed. “If death were that simple vampires wouldn’t exist.”

“You’ve always got some smart ass comment don’t you?” I grumbled.

“It comes with the territory. Maybe you’ll understand one day.” He gave me a grin.

I choked out a sarcastic laugh. “Keep dreaming my sweet Undertaker.”

I felt the car accelerate more than it had been. “You’ve even got a pet-name for me now. To what to I own the honor?”

I mumbled something about things getting too Stephenie Meyer-esque for me, then fell asleep for a few more hours.

I woke up inside the car again except it was pitch black now and the cat was parked in front of a rundown love hotel. For a moment I started to panic when I saw Aiden wasn’t sitting next to me, but a short glance outside the driver’s window calmed me.

“ ’Morning,” Aiden spoke through the rolled down window. “You sleep through nearly every car ride. Is that because you’re more comfortable with the car running than the car parked?”

I yawned. “I’m not sure, but it seems I’ve finally completely adjusted to your sleep pattern.” The pain from the attack wasn’t as noticeable now, but the cramp in my neck from having rolled into an awkward position was killing me.

“I’ve checked us into a room already.” He sighed. “But honestly, I don’t feel like locking myself in that room just yet.”

I opened my door, stepped out and stretched. “I think every joint in my body just popped,” I said ignoring his statement.

“Are you still tired?” His voice was slightly anxious. I wasn’t sure how as barely as I was I could still analyze his tone.

“No. Why?” I scratched my head and felt that the lump on my head had shrunk a bit. I stared in denial at the vacancy sign for the motel. “I’m going to pretend they don’t advertise an hourly rate…”

“Sorry. This was the cheapest hotel I could find. The others were too conspicuous.” He bit his lip. “And before you go inside I’ll warn you, we have a heart shaped bed.”