6. Ingénue

Cori tries to get answers from Teo but is he just making fun of her?

Teo's room was as big as half of my house. Like the rest of the building it had the midieval appearance to it. Strangely, it was more empty than I expected. The bed was probably a California king, a silky red comforter and pillow cases standing out against the dark interior of the rest of the room.
There was a cherry wood dresser next to a large curtain covered window on the far side of the room. To the left there were two doors that were closed and to the right of the entrance was a large wooden desk with a lap top and papers scattered all around.
Teo made his way to the desk and started to stack the papers.
"Don't mind the mess." He said.
"Where are your parents?" I asked, ignoring him.
"Where are yours?" He asked, causing me to flinch at his sudden cold tone.
"That's kind of low." I replied.
He sighed and set the papers down. He didn't look up at me but I could see the far away look in his eyes. The one I'd seen in many kids before. All the kids who didn't have parents anymore.
"I'm sorry." I said, reaching out to touch his shoulder. I stopped when his eyes came up fast and met mine with an intense stare. Just as quickly he blinked and walked away, leaving me standing there with my arm out looking like an idiot.
"Anyways," I said, trying to break the uncomfortable tension that had settled in the air. "I came here for answers."
"Have a seat." He said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
I looked around for a chair but found none so I sat next to him on the bed.
"Okay," I started, trying to keep my mind from going blank. "What are you?"
"A boy." He replied flatly.
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"I said no eye rolling." He smirked over at me.
"That deal was for the car ride, " I smirked back. "You didn't say anything about it after the car ride."
"Fair enough," He flashed me a dazzling smile with a mischievous look in his eyes. "But it's incredibly cute and I'm afraid I won't be able to compel myself to keep my hands off you if you keep doing it."
A look of amused triumph crossed his face as he looked at my horrified expression.
"Can you please be serious for a minute?" I said, feeling exasperated by this already.
"What makes you think I'm not?" He winked.
I gave up on this petty squabble and reworded my question.
"Are you a cop or something?" I asked, looking him over and wondering how old he really was. Technically he looked closer to 20 than a high school student.
"Something like that." He shrugged.
"Can you give me any specific answer that isn't practically dodging the question?"
"I could." He shrugged again.
"Okay, that's enough, " I stood up and walked to the door. "Take me home."
"Why?" He asked. The smile of amusement still plastered on his stupid, gorgeous face.
"I'll just ask Damon about it tomorrow night." I said impatiently.
"Tomorrow night?" His voice now full of concern rather than amusement.
"We're working on a project for school." I put my hand on the doorknob and opened the door a crack.
He seemed to be debating something in his head while he kept his eyes locked on mine. There was a hint of worry there that made me nervous so I averted my eyes to the floor.
"I'll tell you what I can on one condition." He said with a certain seriousness that made me look back into his eyes. "Don't go anywhere alone with Damon."
I furrowed my brows in confusion but closed the door and sat back down on the bed next to him.
"Pigeon is a nickname they give to us. Kind of like pigs to cops." He said after a moment of hesitation.
"Like stool pigeon?" I asked.
"Exactly." He looked at me and then down at the floor as he continued speaking. " Damon is my possible assignment. I'm still investigating but he's my suspect."
"Suspect in what?" I urged.
"Murders." He replied.
"He doesn't seem like a murderer to me." I said, astonished that he was accusing Damon of murder.
"You wouldn't see it. He can be very persuasive in making you believe he's a good person."
I had no idea what he could possibly mean by that comment so I just continued with my next question.
"I take it that means you're one of the enforcers Damon mentioned." I licked my lips that now felt dry. "What does C.H. stand for?"
He looked at my bandanna again and this time I untied it, removing it from my neck.
"It has something to do with this?" I asked.
"You should really keep it on." He said turning his head away from me, looking strangely uncomfortable.
"Please answer me."
"Yes," He turned his eyes on me again. This time there was a look in them I didn't recognize. "But you won't like it." His stare was so intense I felt almost afraid of him. I quickly tied my cloth back around my neck without even realizing what I was doing but feeling safer for having done it.
Teo swallowed hard and then took a deep breath.
"It stands for Corpse Hunters, Cori." He told me, refusing to make eye contact.
I watched him for several long seconds, waiting for him to start laughing or for Ashton whatshisface to pop out from under the bed saying I was punked.
Instead, Teo sat, calmly avoiding eye contact. Finally, I laughed. Teo looked up at me and I could tell he was expecting it but he still looked just as serious as before.
"Like zombies?" I asked, still giggling out of nervousness more than just finding it funny.
"No," He said, looking away again, not wanting to say it. "They hunt things like Damon.... "He paused looking back into my eyes again. "Things like me."
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Drop dead hot guys?" I blurted out. My face turned red and I cursed myself in my head for not having a stronger filter.
Teo's eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open for a couple of seconds before he burst out laughing. If I wasn't feeling so embarrassed I would have laughed with him but I could feel my cheeks burning.
"If only the C.H. could hear you say that." He said between laughs. "I think they'd all have an aneurysm, especially if you are a child of theirs."
"Can we move on please?" I asked, looking away from him. I can't believe I said he was hot.
"Okay, I'm sorry."
"What does the C.H. do?" I asked, although I couldn't believe I was going along with this weird bunch of BS.
"They hunt a certain species. Although, one could argue that they have an unfair advantage and aren't completely human either." He started. I didn't comment so he continued. " Back in the 1800's a scientist named Samuel Wright lost his wife. She was murdered by a vampire."
"Whoa, wait!" I interrupted. "A vampire?" I gave him the best 'Are you out of your ever loving mind?' stare that I could.
"Yep, that's right." He continued, ignoring my disbelief." The first vampire to openly make himself known to a human. The scientist managed to injur him and collected his blood. He used it to make a syrum that gives humans super human senses and strength. Not as much as a vampire but it does make them a worthy apponent." He leaned back on the bed as if telling a story about his favorite DC comic book character. "The guy tested the stuff on his son when he turned 18. To his surprise it was a great success and he gave it the name 'Moxii'. Ya know, because it gives you the ability to mock a vampire? Clever guy. Anyways, the stuff slows down aging. Story has it that Samuel's son is still alive today."
He finished his story with a dreamy look in his eyes. When he finally looked at me it changed to concern.
"You okay?" He asked.
"I get it," I said, feeling my face get hot but this time from anger. "Make fun of the orphan girl."
I stood up and quickly made my way to the door.
"Cori, wait." He said, trying to follow me.
"Don't!" I turned around, causing him to almost run into me. I could feel the tears swelling up in my eyes. I was such a stupid fool. These two were just having their sick fun. "Please just leave me alone. Both you and Damon can go to hell."
I walked out, slamming the door behind me. I could hear him call out to me again but ignored him. I pulled my phone out as I was walking down the stairs and sent a quick text to Kit with my location and an "SOS". That was my way of telling him to get his a*s here immediately.
As I walked through the lobby I heard a melodic voice.
"Have a pleasant evening, Miss Cordell." The guy from the desk was watching me with a sinister look in his eyes but a welcoming smile on his lips.  His bright red eyes caused me to stop in my tracks and stare at him for a moment.
"I'm sorry?" I asked.
"Have a nice evening," His smile grew wider and he practically hissed the last part. "Miss Cordell."
"I'm sorry, you must be mistaking me with someone else." I still couldn't get my feet to move.
"Beg your pardon, Miss." He replied. I still felt like he was calling me that on purpose but before I could think any more of it my feet finally seemed willing to go again and i quickly made my way out the door.
"What the hell is wrong with these people?" I muttered to myself.
"Probably been cooped up too long." I woman's voice to my left said, causing me to jump and scream.
"Oh," I breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry you scared me."
A young woman was leaning against the side of the building in the dark. From what I could see she was wearing dark jeans and a white shirt with a cropped, black denim jacket over it. Her hair red, cut short with wild layers all over the place. She brought a cigarette to her mouth and lit it, inhaling then exhaling smoke. She was probably only 20 years old. Very pretty and to be quite honest she looked pretty bad a*s.
"This place has that effect on some people." She said, taking another puff from her cigarette.
At that moment I got a text back from Kit. "Lucky you. In town picking up a pizza. Be there in 10."
I sighed in relief and sat on a bench that was in front of the building.
"You a friend of Teo's?" I heard the girl ask from behind me. She came up and leaned over the back of the bench resting her elbow on it.
"Not exactly." I replied, not wanting to talk about it to a total stranger. "You know him?"
"Of course," She smiled at me. Her eyes sparkling at me behind all of her smokey eye makeup. "He's one of my best friends."
"I'm sorry to sound rude but the guy seems like a real jerk." I blurted out, cursing myself again.
She stared down at me with a look of confusion and then smiled and shook her head.
"You definitely don't know him then." She put out her cigarette and walked toward the building entrance.
Kit pulled up at the curb a couple of minutes later. I quickly hopped in the car before anything else weird happened tonight.
"Okay, before I start digging into what in the hell you are doing out here I need to ask," He said, before pulling out onto the road. "Are you ok?"
I smiled at his concern and nodded... then shook my head and started crying.