Voodoo Queens of New Orleans - Vol. I | ✓

Chapter 53: The Black Box

"Something wrong with the check?"

The waitress had come back to our booth the moment Hezekiah and the unnamed woman sat down with us. There was an uncomfortable chill lingering in the air, even with the heavy blanket of heat making the humans in the diner sweat bullets.

Hezekiah leaned back in his seat and looked straight into this woman's eyes. He was fearless and far from intimidated, even though she had the same venom in her look towards him that she had with me. "No, nothing's wrong. We just gone relax here for a while if that's alright with you?"

Hezekiah's comrades all waited for the waitress' answer. I looked around, watching all of them stare at her from all corners of the diner. The pale-skinned vampires stared at her, too, but for a different reason; they all looked as if they were waiting for Hezekiah to move a finger to give them an excuse to attack.

For an entire minute, the only sound came from the cheap speakers above playing what was now an unfamiliar country tune. The waitress, seemingly caving under Hezekiah's glare, finally forced a smile.

"No worries. Let me know if y'all need anything."

She walked away and into the kitchen, though I could see her leaning against the swinging door, remaining close by. I began to hear conversation from the other side of the restaurant. The pale ones turned back to their "meals," giving off the impression that they were not present for other matters. The gentlemen who sat at the bar began to talk amongst themselves as well, and as they did this, Hezekiah and his party did the same. My brain couldn't wrap itself around any of this. I sat still like I was comatose. Hezekiah looked down at me; he knew I was trying to ignore him.

"You realize how much trouble you done got yourself in?" he whispered down to me.

"What makes you think I care?"

Hezekiah was taken back by my icy tone for a second. I didn't want to entertain conversation with him. I wanted to leave, but frankly, Hezekiah believed that it wasn't the best idea with the unfriendly bloodsuckers watching us.

Hezekiah almost went into chiding me about having gone off on my own with Mikael, but I cut him off promptly by asking him to get out of the booth so Mikael and I could leave. Taya, as well as a few others, were immediately piqued when they heard me say this; the pale ones heard, too. I completely disregarded the heated stare Hezekiah gave me when I spoke to him in this way. I just wanted to leave; I wanted to get away from him. From all of them.

"Calm yourself," Hezekiah said to me, trying to conceal his irritation; having to keep an eye on the pale bloodsuckers and my tone made him attitudinal.

"I'm serious, Hezekiah..."

"Lisa, just be quiet—"

"Let me out!" I snapped at him. This was the first time I had made eye contact with him since he had sat next to me. It had felt like Hezekiah and I were the only ones in the diner when we looked at each other. He saw I was angry and upset, but his expression hinted that he knew that it was a "different" type of anger I felt; I was always crossed with him, and he was used to this, but this animosity I showed towards him was unusual, and he caught on quickly to it. He knew something was wrong.

With one look to Taya, Hezekiah got up out of the booth and stood to the side to let me out. The moment I stood up, everyone else did. The pale ones stood up first, which prompted Hezekiah's group to do the same, eyeing them suspiciously. I noticed this immediately; these vampires were here for me specifically, but I didn't know why. The moment I got up, they got up. And the moment I began to walk slowly towards the door, they did, too.

This made Hezekiah very unhappy.

As if our last tense encounter never happened, Hezekiah intercepted the gentlemen following me who had also gotten up from the bar. Taya stood by Hezekiah's side but put an arm on his shoulder to make sure he didn't cross a line at this truck-stop restaurant.