It's Dark Over There

Nine

An hour later Seth finally trudged back inside his apartment. He'd checked everywhere he could think for his grandmother. Every phone call went straight to voicemail. None of her friends had an idea of where she was and Seth hadn't wanted to alarm them by asking them to call him if they saw her. The chances of something happening to her in daylight was slim, but the worry and guilt ate at him during his entire frantic search.

He leaned back against the front door and slid to sit on the floor. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when his phone went off in his pocket. It calmed again when he realized it was only Claire.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked. "Your gran just asked me to switch my closing shifts with her opening ones."

"Oh, yeah," he mumbled, "she just wants to sleep in a bit."

"That doesn't sound like her."

"Doctor recommended slower mornings," he added.

"Is she alright?"

"Mmhm. Look, Claire, I've gotta go." He hung up without another word and dropped the phone to the floor.

"I'm sorry," Gia whispered. While he'd been gone she had carefully moved from room to room, closing curtains where she could. The bedroom door was closed and sunlight peeked from under the door.

Now she sat on the armchair off to the side of the couch. Both hands were resting on his knees, palms down. Her eyes were trained on the floor.

"No, it's not your fault. I always knew something's like this would happen someday," Seth sighed.The floor was cold under his fingertips as he pushed himself up. Across the room, the closet door still stood open. When he closed his eyes, he could see Nona shaking on the floor as Gia stepped towards her, eyes red with hunger. "But you should learn to control yourself, and your hunger."

"I am doing my best," Gia said through clenched teeth. Though her shoulders tightened, her attention remained fixed on the floor. Her fingertips dug into the couch. "There's only so much i can do when someone is freaking ou in my face." Slowly, she raised her gaze to meet Seth's.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "I know, it was a bad situation. Just try. One day you might end up really hurting someone." He jerked his head to the side to avoid being hit by one of his coasters when it came hurtling at him.

Gia clamped a hand over her mouth, looking at the dent she'd left in the wall. The downstairs neighbors banged at the ceiling. The repeated thunking finally drove her to her feet. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He took a step towards her and she backed up until the wall was against her back.

The red had started to seep back into her eyes.

"Hey, Gia, breathe." Seth extended a warning hand. Every twitch of his hand she followed with her entire body, like a snake tracking its prey. He could tell she was breathing only because her nostrils flared a little with each quick breath.

Her eyes flickered to the light seeping in under the curtains. It was such a quick movement it could have been mistaken for a blink. The red in her eyes gave off an eerie glow as it intensified.

The neighbors downstairs smacked their ceiling again and her eyes locked on the floor. Needle sharp fangs peaked over her bottom lip and she took a step forward.

"Gia!" Seth clapped his hands and she jumped. Those red eyes locked back on him and a wave of dread rushed over him. A mouse caught in a hawk's sights. "Knock it off." His voice shook and he hated it.

Suddenly, the red leached out of her eyes until only a thin red circle remained around the pupil. Gia slumped against the wall and slid down as if her knees had turned to liquid. Her lips moved in a steady repeated whisper. "I didn't mean it, it won't happen again, I'm sorry."

Little by little, Seth inched over to her. On the last step, he knelt down with his hands on his knees. "How many people have you attacked?"

Her head shot up, anger and fear wrestling across her features. "I've never attacked anyone who didn't deserve it," she snapped. "I've already told you, I'm not a killer."

"Then why do you keep saying you won't do it again?"

"I disobeyed." Her eyes shut and her shoulders dropped. "I don't want to talk about it."

Seth rolled his eyes and sat down with one knee still bent. It would be easy to kick out if she lunged at him. "You can't just keep me in the dark here, you're living in my apartment."

"And I would love to leave," she shot back. Her left eye twitched and the red circle grew larger across her iris for a second. "The last man who kept me in his home for my own good didn't have such an empty ending."

There was humor in her voice but no smile, not even a twitch of her lips. The red rimmed hazel eyes stayed steadily trained on him. Sitting this close, Seth could see the flecks of red where some might have bits of green. They looked like a piece of amber held up in the sunlight.

"What did you do to him?"

"I left the man who turned me into this, buried in a coffin beneath fourteen feet of cement."