Temper

Draic makes an attempt at being around humans and instantly looses his cool. Sekani rescues an employee from his wrath and the two leave the store early. Later, Sekani has a vision that leads Draic to meet a very interesting young vampire.

 

            “So how are we going to pay for all of this stuff?” Sekani asked on their way to the store. The list wasn’t very long, but some of the things on it were rather expensive. For instance, how did he plan to buy a bookshelf, chair, and mattresses?

            “I’ve been saving up for a while now,” Draic said in response, “and I think it’s about time I spent it on something useful. We may not be able to buy everything, but I definitely want to get as much of it as possible.”

            “Well,” said Sekani with a grin, “I think we can omit blankets, we’re in the middle of July.” Sekani couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten onto Draic all of the sudden. It simply didn’t seem right that the penny Nazi suddenly wanted to spend so much money. “Why do we need all of this stuff anyways?” He knew that Draic hated when he asked a lot of questions, but he just had to know. However as soon as he said it, he wanted to take it back. Draic was clearly annoyed.

            “We need all of this stuff because we live in f*****g s**t-hole,” he snapped. “Now stop asking so many damned questions.” Sekani turned away to hide how hurt he was. He had always hated it when his cousin got impatient with him. They remained silent for the rest of the ride. When the cab turned onto Third Avenue, they got out and paid driver, then headed into Home Depot.

            Sekani followed his cousin through the aisles to the section that contained plaster. He picked out several bottles and put them in the carriage. Naturally, Draic had refused to push it, so Sekani stood leaning against it silently, waiting to follow him to their next destination. But the silence was wearing on him, and it didn’t take long for Draic to realize it. He sighed, feeling guilty for yelling at him over something so simple. He deserved to know anyways.

            “I want to fix the house up so that we can sell it.” He explained. “Nobody is going to buy the piece of crap it is now, but if we fix it up, we can make it look decent enough to make some money off of it.”

            “Oh,” was the only response. Draic wasn’t fooled.

            “Go ahead.” He said with a sigh.

            “What?” Sekani returned, clearly confused.

            “Go ahead and ask why. I know you want to and I promise not to tear your head off this time.” Draic looked down at his cousin to see the smile that could not be hidden. He really needed to be less of a jerk more often. He started walking towards the paint section.

            “Okay. Why do we need to sell the house?” He asked, following him. He couldn’t believe that Draic was actually letting him nose around. It was so unlike him, as was the explanation.     

             “I want to get out of here; go somewhere quieter. I chose to live in the city because it’s a demon hot spot. They all come to big cities because they can indulge in their urge to slaughter and it isn’t so noticeable. Since people die all the time in big cities, nobody is surprised to see it in the newspaper. I wanted to be close to the action, since it was all I had. But things are different now; I’ve got you, and I need to spend a little less time out fighting demons, and a little more time taking care of you.”

            As much as Sekani was happy to hear that Draic cared, he was irritated at being treated like a child. He didn’t want to be babysat. If they were going to move, it had better be a better reason then that.

            “What do you mean?” He demanded. “I’m not a kid anymore, you know. I’m nineteen years old! I’ve been an adult for over a year! Why are you treating me like a child? You don’t need to give up fighting demons just because I’m here, I could help you! We’d be great together! I could…”

            “Would you just shut up for a moment?” Draic exclaimed, interrupting his cousin’s babbling. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not giving up fighting demons, so just shut up and help me pick out some damn paint.” He sucked at color coordinating. It was one of the reasons he always wore black.

            “Oh,” Sekani replied, embarrassed at his own foolishness for having made an assumption so quickly. He really had to learn to keep his thoughts to himself. He should just stick to doing what he was told.

            “All right,” he sighed, changing the subject. “You want to paint the whole house, right?”

            Draic nodded.

            “Well then,” Sekani continued. “We’re going to need a few colors. Do you want different shades of one color, or a complementary color scheme, or….” He trailed off when he noticed that Draic was simply glaring at him.

“Okay, we’ll just go with airy colors.” He quickly finished his rambling and began looking through various shades of blues and greens. Before long, a young man wearing a Home Depot apron ambled over to them.

“Can I help you?” He asked. This was what Draic had been dreading since he had stepped out of the cab.

“Yes,” He replied icily. “You can take a bloody hike.”

The man was as shocked as Sekani was horrified.

“I am so sorry sir, my cousin is the polar opposite of a people person.” He then flashed his never-fail-to-charm smile and pulled the man away to discuss the best color combinations. As they talked, Draic wandered down the aisles looking for things on the list. How the Hell did Sekani put up with them? They were nosey and irritating. 

He grabbed several things on the list and a few things he hadn’t thought of before, such as pieces of wood to replace the rot and a Do It Yourself guide to home repairs. Every time he paused at a single station, another employee would come up and badger him. By the time he’d collected all he could carry without a carriage, he was at the end of his rope and his accent was so thick he could barely be understood.

“How may I help you this afternoon sir? Asked a perky young woman.

“Ye can ‘elp me by mindin’ yer own bloody business! If I ‘ad a bloody question, I’d probably be askin’ ye wouldn’t I? As it is, I don’t need yer ‘elp, so butt out!” He shouted. The poor woman was terrified.

“I-I’m terribly sorry sir, I didn’t mean-I was just doing my job.” She stammered.

“Well don’t do it on me!” He tried to storm away, but, having so much in his hands, he failed to see the bag of sand on the ground and tripped over it, spilling everything he had been holding a moment before. The woman wasn’t sure weather to help him collect his things or flee from his anger, so she ended up simply watching.

“Well, gee, yer bloody good at offering yer ‘elp! Ye might try actually ‘elping!” He snapped as she stood uselessly watching him struggle to pick everything up.

“I’m sorry, I though…but…you said you didn’t want my help!” She said, desperately trying to defend herself from his vicious hatred.

“I don’t!” He shouted. They were so useless! He was definitely moving somewhere that had less people. Perhaps back to Ireland. At least there he’d have a bit of privacy! He glanced back up to see that the stupid girl was still standing there staring at him. He wanted to strangle her. Luckily, at that moment, Sekani came up to them with a carriage full of paint and several of the things Draic had missed. He immediately saw the woman’s awkward position and rescued her from his impatient cousin.

“Thank you very much ma’am we won’t be needing your help for now, though I’m there is someone here who would kill to have such a beauty aid them in their shopping.” He gave her a friendly smile as he said this, and earned a blush and a thank you. A last glare from Draic, however, sent her hurrying down the aisle in the opposite direction.

“You could at least make an attempt to be nice to people.” Sekani said, frowning as Draic tossed his items into the carriage. 

“I do try.” He replied impatiently. “I’m not good at it.”

Sekani sighed. He was hopeless. “Look, why don’t you call a cab and let me check out. I’ll meet you with the stuff outside. You need to get out before you kill someone.”

Draic nodded. Sekani was right; he simply couldn’t be around people. They made him far too angry and he would end up hurting someone if another employee asked to help him.

“All right,” he said, handing over his wallet. He then gratefully left the store without a backward glance.

 

 

            Later that night, Draic and Sekani sat eating pizza they had gotten at New York Pizza Suprema, because they had forgotten to stop for food supplies. The house was a mess. They had garbage bags in every room, stuffed full of all kinds of junk, from old food wrappers, to progress reports from five years ago. They had even found a dead rat.

            Draic had now calmed down and his accent was once again detectable, but not overbearing. He was proud to be Irish, but he didn’t like being identified by it. Being known as ‘the angry Irish guy’ set him on edge and he knew that was exactly what the people in Home Depot would be talking about for the next few days.

            “How do you put up with them,” He asked Sekani. When his cousin didn’t answer right away, he looked up at him. Sekani’s stare was hazy and unfocused, and Draic new that the boy was in another place. He smiled and sat back, patiently waiting for him to return.

            After a few moments, Sekani blinked and shook his head to clear it. He looked up to see Draic smiling at him. Of course, he would be happy to have a new fight, and this ought to be a good one; the odds would be against him. Or at least, they seemed like they would be, but then, he had no idea how powerful Draic really was. For all he knew, this might be a simple walk in the park.

            “What did you see?” Draic asked him, after giving him a few seconds to recover.

            “Vampires,” he responded.

            Draic grinned. “How many?” He inquired, hoping for a challenge.

            “Five, I think.” Sekani returned.

            Draic’s grin broadened. He had been hoping for a few more, but at least it wouldn’t be too easy. Five could pose somewhat of a challenge, especially if they were experienced.

            “Where are they?” He demanded, grabbing his beat up, but extremely comfortable black leather jacket, which he always wore to fights. He noticed the nervous air that was about Sekani and rolled his eyes. 

            “I’ll be fine,” He assured him. “Just tell me where they are.”

            Sekani could see that his cousin was itching for a fight. Deep down he knew that Draic would be fine, but he still didn’t feel right sending him to fight a group of blood-craving monsters. However, there was an almost childlike eagerness emanating from Draic and he knew there was no way he could deny him the information he wanted.

           

 

            Jacob Hunter hung back in the shadows, smoking a cigarette and daydreaming about the potential benefits of his new life. He loved guard duty. Not only did it give him time to fantasize about completely random everyday things, like going to the mall and checking out the sights, but it also kept him from having to take part in torturing innocent people.

            Rumors of a demon hunter had made the vamps nervous. Lately they had taken to hunting in packs and always having someone on guard. Since Jacob was a newbie, they sent him to the front lines to get torn up first, giving them time to scatter if the demon hunter showed up.

            But Jake didn’t mind at all. He was sure he could charm his way out of obliteration. He didn’t like to consider himself cocky though; he preferred the word confident. In any case, it got him what he wanted…most of the time. In his opinion, confidence and persistence were the key to happiness. 

            Jake looked up from inspecting his nails into the stormy blue eyes of the hottest hunk of man meat he’d ever seen. The man had messy red hair that was uneven and a hung bit longer on one side than on the other and his chin was covered in stubble. He was far from clean cut, but then, Jake liked his men to look like men, not boys.

            The man was taller then him, which was not at all surprising, as Jacob had always been just a bit shorter than average, standing at about five feet and seven inches tall. He figured this man must be just short of six feet. 

            Jake allowed his glance to drift away from the man’s face to his clothes. Even his style was appealing. He wore old, but comfortable looking jeans, a tight shirt, under which strong ab muscles could be seen, and a leather jacket that looked like it had seen better days.

“I take it you’re the famous demon hunter.” He said, grinning up at him. The man didn’t reply. Jacob simply couldn’t help himself. 

“So,” he said, pulling his jacket open in invitation, “Are you going to steak me?” This time, his grin was returned.

“Sorry,” the man replied, playing along. “I ran out of A1 just the other day. I simply can’t do without it” 

The man’s voice sent shivers down his spine. It was deep and almost dark with an Irish accent that was not too thick. It had surprised him, yet Jake somehow couldn’t imagine him as having any other voice.

“Oh that’s quite all right. I’m an expert at making sauce, I’m sure I could teach you with a few one-on-one lessons.” The man shook his head at Jacob’s open flirting.

“How about you just make my life easier and rat out your little friends?” He said, ending the game.

Jake pretended to consider the offer. The vampires the demon hunter was after were certainly not his friends, and he had no problem with them getting their asses handed to them. His only real friends had moved away and never gotten back in touch.

“Well,” he said after a few moments. “I can’t tell you where my friends are, because I don’t exactly know, but there is a room full of fellow vampires that I really don’t like just through that door.” He pointed to the door of the house he was supposed to be guarding. “So, you gonna stake me?”

“No.” He replied simply.

“Why not? Is it because I’m adorable?” He asked, batting his eyelids.

“No.” He answered, opening the door. “It’s because you are new and weak and it would be no fun at all.” He then walked in and closed the door behind him, leaving Jacob pouting on the steps.

Author's Note

Please ignore my pathetic attempt at an Irish accent, I´ll work on that eventually.