Prey

Chapter 44

Doe's POV:

The stares you get while walking through the streets of this city alongside a vampire while it's bustling are interesting.

They differed from the ones I was used to getting on the occasions that I'd be here alone.

The pity mixed with the snobbish folk who took one look at me, somehow knew what I was, and deemed themselves superior.

The humans that were no better than vampires in that sense.

It didn't match the looks I've seen given to vampires who walked alone through here either.

Those were usually met with fear, their heads lowering before they'd quickly step out of the vampire's path.

Vampires weren't permitted to feed from these types of humans except on the night of the bloodmoon unless they believe that they were provoked.

I guess people give them their space just to be safe.

So when they're met with both, a pet walking right beside a vampire who looked happy to be here, they weren't sure what to think.

And since these people apparently don't know how to mind their own business, I figured that I had every right to see their reactions.

Most of them just looked confused or unsure, glancing us over multiple times to try to make sure they had labeled us properly.

Sneaking glances at Xander's mouth every time he spoke to see if he had fangs before making their decisions from there.

It seemed like a lot of work on their part, but obviously, they had nothing better to do.

Although, there was a bit of hypocrisy in that given that I was spending so much of my time evaluating their actions.

Xander on the other hand didn't seem to give a shit, not paying a single mind to anyone but me.

I stuck my hands into the pockets of the coat I had gotten a few days prior to warm them up a bit, figuring that maybe I should adopt his mindset for a bit.

"So where are we going first?" Xander asked, effectively surprising me.

Usually, he leads these types of outings, and even then...

"When have we ever had an actual plan during days like this?" I questioned back.

We just kinda wandered around and stopped at anything that we deemed interesting.

"True, I just figured since this was was planned in advance, maybe there was someplace specific you wanted to visit."

I had noticed that we were taking a route similar to the one I took alone while he had his little meeting.

I just shrugged as we took a turn, "Not really, I just figured that we'd get lunch at that sandwich place and then eat it at the park as usual."

"I see," just those two words held a hint of mischief.

My eyes then narrowed as I noticed that his walking wasn't as aimless as it usually was on these days.

He was leading me somewhere.

I turned my head away from him before rolling my eyes at the antics that I felt were just beginning.

It seemed like he caught on anyway judging by his quiet laugh.

Especially after I recognized more and more of the shops we passed until one, in particular, caught my eye again. The same music store he had met me by the last time we were here.