Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 93

When Fawn and the others had followed Benjamin inside his creepy old hideout, they were met by his friends who introduced themselves as Joseph and Braxton. They assured everyone that Benjamin spoke the truth--that they were no longer feeding on humans.

"You mean since two days ago when you and your girlfriend heartlessly murdered those two people?" Asche had seethed, staring at Joseph. "Are their decapitated heads still rotting in your basement?"

Joseph's dark eyes glinted as he grinned at Asche.

"Well hello to you, too, Goldilocks."

Benjamin looked at Joseph.

"What is she talking about?"

Joseph raised his hands in defeat.

"Not gonna make any excuses. Temporary moment of weakness."

"Joseph, what the hell?" Benjamin bellowed, charging at him and gripping him by his collar.

"Easy, mate," Joseph said. "The threads ain't cheap."

"What does she mean by 'girlfriend?'"

Joseph nervously chuckled.

"I suppose she's talking about Natalie," he said.

"You took Natalie with you knowing she's been fighting hard to overcome her bloodlust?" He released Joseph and shook his head. "You're unbelievable."

"Okay, so we felt like human takeout that day!" Joseph yelled. "Have you forgotten, Benjamin? Bloodlust is part of our curse! Sorry not everyone is perfect like you."

Now everyone was standing in silence as Benjamin paced in the center of the room. Joseph cleared his throat.

"Look, everybody," he said, barely able to keep eye contact with everyone, "before I died and came back, I had a family . . . people I loved . . . I had a heart. The person you see today is a murderous dick by nature. Fighting this urge to murder is similar to fighting the urge to eat when you're starving. Or not staring at hot women on the street--for guys anyway. Or girls if that's your kind of of thing--I'm never one to judge."

Fawn heard Asche clear her throat.

"My point is," Joseph continued, "Benji's right. What you all see is a heartless monster . . . when I'm really a helpless victim. And if you all are willing . . . I'd gladly accept your help."

"After speaking with Benjamin, it would seem witchkind need to emend our approach to handling the undead," Mama said. "But that emendation will take years to be realized. Decades to centuries. The bad blood between witches and the undead is deep-rooted. Surely there will be prejudices. But we can save that issue for a later time--tonight we're allies."

Jules gave Vivienne a stern look.

"All of us."

Vivienne said nothing.

"Hey," said Benjamin's other friend, Braxton, stepping forward, addressing the coven. Holy hell he was huge! Did this guy do anything in his past life besides workout? "Have any of you run into an undead girl recently? My girlfriend, Rebecca, went missing a few days ago. I haven't seen her since." He pulled out a phone. "Here--I have a picture."

He showed them all. She was a pretty girl. Short and thick with short dark hair and silver streaks. She wore magenta eyeshadow and nail polish to match. She seemed like a very outgoing and fun girl.

"She's my life," the giant whimpered. "Please, if you know anything . . ."

Monica stepped forward to take a closer look.