Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

160 - Rebecca

Despite the long day with Colby keeping up all of his roommates, I was up before him. It was just after noon, which meant the sun was shining brightly outside when I peered out the window from the bed. I was wrapped up in a bundle of blankets with Colby holding me close as if he was scared to let go. My head felt airy with all the memories swimming through it—not just those from last night, either. I thought back to when he came back to get me, the first time he came to my office. That was the day he proved to me that he wanted this, and the day he proved he deserved me. That was how I saw it, even if he didn't.

I spent some time lying there with Colby, letting his strange mixture of hot and cold keep me at the perfect temperature. His arm made me feel secure; his gentle breathing reminding me that he wasn't the angry, authoritative guy most of his friends knew.

Although, even they were starting to see the real him that he'd buried deep inside the moment he became a vampire; the guy they all could've known if they'd met him before. For Sam, he was just seeing his best friend again.

After a while of pondering life—and death, in Colby's case—I forced myself out of bed, pulling Colby's arm away from me and sliding onto the floor. It felt cold, but I fought through the shock to get to the bathroom. I showered and changed into a short, black, pleated skirt and a black crop top with no shoulders but long sleeves that reached over my hands. Small chains were connecting to a choker, too, which looked fucking amazing to me. I wished I had even more clothes exactly like this—maybe I should've designed some.

Naturally pulling the sleeves over my hands, I stomped lightly through the house. It was dead silent, which I expected: Katrina and Angela, who were sometimes around in the daytime, had gone to bed at the same time as everyone else so they would still be sleeping. Unless one of the vampires had decided that today was the day they would roam around the house in sunlight, I was alone.

That just so happened to give me free rein. With my newfound abilities, I saw no reason to need anyone. I could go wherever I wanted and I could defend myself; I didn't need Sam escorting me to the studio; I didn't need Katrina sitting in my office like a babysitter. I could do this shit on my own now that I had the tools to kick some ass.

I was still telling myself that for the whole drive to the studio. After parking next to a silver car on a relatively packed parking lot, I headed inside to find music blasting just like old times. However, things were different now: I was smiled at. First by Maggie, who had come around the most, then by Helen, then by a shy Lewis. The new ones kind of waved at me but they didn't smile or look up from their work. I was glad because I didn't want to meet them yet.

When I got to my office, I quickly typed a text to Colby to say where I was and that I'd head back before it got dark, though I doubted it if I got distracted. I wanted to get as much work done as I could before we had to deal with Julian, which would then lead to me becoming a vampire. I was still set on that.

My mind got completely and utterly lost in my sketches for what I could only assume was hours. I was kind of hungry, but I had another new idea that I wanted to at least list in my never-ending notebook of projects. The designers upstairs were close to fed up with me by now, although the old ones liked the change in attitude I'd had.

As I was just scribbling down one last idea, I heard somebody approaching my door. My eyes flicked up but no one appeared for another moment. It was Maggie and she was lightly smiling at me. "Ms Woods," she greeted, "are you... having a good afternoon?"

"I am," I replied but didn't smile back.

"That's good. I thought I'd come down to let you know that we've been noticing something weird lately," she said, piquing my interest. "Do you know that mannequin room that no one's been in for... well, ever?"

The one I was kidnapped and thrown into.

"Yes."

"Helen heard something in there. We think there could be rodents or, god forbid, squatters. I thought you should know if there really is something like that."

I hesitated. Sounds? Recently? Blair was gone, James was dead and Julian... shouldn't be able to get into the studio. The downstairs room was made to hold vampires, as Dad'd told me, so surely there's be no way for them to get in besides through the main building?

Biting my lip, I stood up from my desk. "I'll check it out," I said.

"Um, Ms Woods, I don't think-"

"Go upstairs. If anything happens, I have a hell of a scream," I promised, shooing Maggie out of my office. She hurried ahead of me, only stopping once she got to the stairs. I paused next to the door that led down to the vampire basement and stared at her in wait. She hesitated, but she muttered a "Be safe" before she started to ascend. Only once the door shut upstairs did I move.

I unlocked and opened the door leading down to the basement without even hesitating. Whatever was down there could kiss my ass before I kicked theirs. If it was a rodent, then I had nothing to be concerned about. If it was a vampire like Blair, then I was about to get hella angry—and violent, which this studio had seen plenty of already.

My boots weren't any quieter nor were my steps any softer than they usually would be as I marched through the mannequins to get to the stairs. There were tons of them, which was slightly unsettling.

At the top of the stairs, I peered around at the basement. It was dark, but through the light pouring in from the hallway, I could just about see the chains on the walls and even some blood—probably mine or Katrina's. With a little effort, I could see the couch down there, too. But nothing that should've made a sound.

Why? Because that thing was behind me, and as soon as I was close enough to the stairs, it pushed me down them.

My body didn't let me scream as I fell, hitting step after step. I got deja vu when I almost smacked into a pole, but missed it by about an inch. It felt like every part of my body was bruised as I laid there for a moment catching my bearings, staring up at the top of the stairs for whoever the fuck had just dared to do that to me. All I saw was a vague, blurry figure before it disappeared too fast to see.

I was left alone on the floor in pain... and the worst part was that I couldn't scream.