Bad Taste (Part I) // Colby Brock

98 - Rebecca

It was that fright—that misplaced fright—that led me so close to my breaking point that I knew I couldn't be around Colby anymore. Not right then. I needed to think and he made that difficult. I needed to figure myself out and he made that difficult. I needed to get away from him and he made that difficult. By no means was I leaving him, just going home for the night. But I wasn't planning on bringing him with me.

I didn't know how to break it to him—not with his friends most likely all listening from the other room. I was a bitch, but I wouldn't do that to him unless he made me. It was his fault if he made it an argument, I told myself.

I decided saying it outright would be easiest. "I want to go back to my apartment," I said, fighting the huge part of me that didn't want to leave him, "alone," I added more quietly.

A flash of hurt crossed Colby's face, but he didn't ask me why. He was conscious of his friends too, who were a real pain in the ass in every way, apparently. He just let go of me and stepped back, putting up no fight or argument. That hurt me a little too; it was like it made no difference to him whether I was here or not. I started wondering if it did make a difference, or if I was just fun to keep around rather than needed.

Before my heart could hurt anymore, I dropped from the stool and walked carefully up to him. I didn't even stomp. I stood on my toes and kissed him for half a second, my heart going all sorts of crazy in my chest. I didn't want to know how he was going to take this once I was gone, but it wasn't like I was breaking up with him; I was just fucking terrified of my own feelings. I had no idea how I was still calm.

My body fought me every second I was walking to the front door. I heard Colby's door upstairs slam just as I reached for the handle and looked up. He was already inside. God help his friends and the walls.

I had to get out. I had to. Just for some time. If I didn't, I was scared of what I would do.

As soon as I got in my car, my whole resolve was dissolving at my fingertips. The thought of leaving him scared me, then I scared myself because I was scared. It should have been all I needed to speed off, but instead, it kept me on the spot, glaring at the steering wheel. Was I really going to leave? Right after I finally learnt the secret for real? It seemed backhanded...

I jumped out of my skin when my passenger side door opened. Katrina climbed in, a backpack in her lap. She shut the door and turned to me, smiling softly. "Don't ask and I don't have to lie." She said.

So I didn't ask. Katrina pushed me to start my engine for the first time since I'd gotten in my car—I didn't know how long it had been. She threw her backpack onto the backseat and curled her legs under herself as I reluctantly drove from the driveway. It was, even with Katrina, going to be a fight every step of the way back to my apartment without Colby.

Was I feeling guilty?

Katrina interrupted my confusion. "Is there anything you want to know? You know, about the whole secret thing. I know pretty much everything. I freaked the hell out and Sam had to explain it all before I was satisfied."

"Just say whatever," I muttered, secretly needing the distraction from myself.

"Okay." Katrina drew in a breath, rolling her head around on her shoulders. I heard a gentle click in her neck. "Well, they can technically walk in the sunlight, but it drains them. So, like, if Sam were to stand in a line with me under the sun, eventually he would drop and fall into sort of a coma until night came. It doesn't kill them, though, it makes them easily killable. Obviously, if they're out, you can grab them. Besides that, they're weaker, so they can't fight back so much.

"Their senses are impeccable: sight, hearing, smell. And their reflexes are perfect, too. They move fast and are super strong. Most of them feed on people, but some think it's wrong, which it is, so they feed on blood bags unless they have permission. Like Sam and me. He fed on blood bags while we were together until I told him he could feed on me. It took a while." She laughed nervously.

"What else is there? Oh, when they change, this really cool thing happens. I'll let you see for yourself, but it's honestly... scary at first then amazing. And I guess I should explain what we all are, shouldn't I? We're all part of a clan—Colby's clan, because he's the strongest and obviously the meanest.

"I should let Colby or the others describe how they got there. I'm there because I fell for Sam. I used to think I was crazy, right after I learnt what he was and I still loved him. I still needed him. But I guess... it was in the cards that we would be together. You should have seen his face when I went back to him."

We were just a block away from my apartment now, but I knew Katrina wasn't done. I didn't want her to be done: I was enjoying listening to her talk.

Luckily for me, she still had more to say. "The other girls changed; some before me, some after me. Again, they can tell you all about it. These aren't my stories to tell. I can talk for years about me and Sam, though, if you..." she trailed off, motioning at me. I just nodded my head. She was surprised but she went on to explain everything, starting from the first time they met.

It was a long story.