Chapter 12: Treats

The following week, Cherry and Kal sat at the round, wooden kitchen table in the Sullivan's kitchen. It had been nice spending time together and doing normal stuff. 

"We should go to a movie Friday," Cherry said, taking a sip of her tea. 

The thought of a crowded movie theater made Kal uneasy, surrounded by so many people. Warm people. She shifted in her chair and shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea." 

"Why not?" Cherry pouted. 

She really doesn't get it. What it's like. How can I explain in a way she'll understand? Kal frowned. "Imagine you just got home from work, and someone has been baking." 

"Who?" Cherry asked. 

"That's not important." Kal shook her head. 

"I mean, it kinda is. Mom was terrible at baking. Dad, on the other hand—" Cherry stared into space, this dazed look on her face. 

"Fine. It's your Dad." Kal sighed; she never just got to finish a story. "And you can smell the cookies the second you walk through the door. The only thing on your mind is how much you want a cookie." 

Kal took a jelly cookie from the package on the table and placed it in front of Cherry, who immediately reached for the cookie.

"The cookies aren't for you. You can't have any." Kal pulled the treat away.

"Not even one?" Cherry pouted.

Kal shook her head. She took a few more cookies from the package and stacked them on top of each other. "There are so many. I bet he wouldn't notice if you took one. So what do you do?" 

"No one would notice?" Cherry asked. 

Kal pushed the plate of cookies back across the table and nodded.

"I mean, who would it hurt, right?" Cherry picked up the cookie and took a bite. The orange filling oozed a little from the center. 

"I'd take a bite too." Kal stared at the jelly as it dripped down the dark chocolate coating. "But maybe I wouldn't stop at one."

It took Cherry a minute, but she understood. She licked the jelly from the edge of the cookie. "You're worried because you make bad decisions on your own." She paused and smiled softly. "That's nothing new. If we're together, it'll be fine."

Maybe Cherry's right, but I don't have the best track record. Reluctantly, Kal agreed. "Fine." If only because her best friend needed someone, and she'd already been through so much. 

Cherry threw her arms around her friend. The other girl immediately pulled back. The human's skin was so warm. So soft. She may not smell like food, but Kal wondered how she'd taste. 

In one swift movement, Kal pushed back and moved to the far side of the room. The vampire knew how she looked. She'd felt her face change. Felt the points of her fangs pressing against her lips.

"Kal?" Cherry whispered. 

"Stay there." Kal hissed through her fangs. 

"Is it … painful?" Cherry wasn't scared. Her expression was one of pure curiosity. Her warm, brown eyes sparkled as she took a small step forward. 

Kal shook her head. It wasn't, not really. There's a little pinch when my fangs grow, but nothing much. She held her breath and tried to focus on anything else. But she couldn't concentrate. 

"I'll see you Friday." Kal stumbled over her words as she backed up to the doorway. 

"At 9," Cherry yelled. 

It was a terrible idea.

---

"Are you insane?" Devin sighed. 

They were sitting together in their usual spot. Kal's legs hung over the roof as she watched the pedestrians below running from shop to shop. 

"You barely have the self-control to walk down the street without grabbing a snack." He said. 

"I've gotten better." She pouted. 

"You fed on the way here." 

Kal looked at him and smiled weakly. He wasn't wrong. He was almost never wrong. She'd stayed in control, hadn't killed anyone. "She's my friend, and she needs me. Needs something to take her mind off her parents." 

Devin ran his fingers through his hair, as he always did when frustrated. When she made him frustrated. "And somehow a vampire with no self-control locked in a small, dark room full of humans is going to do that?" 

He had a point. And it was the same thing she'd tried to tell Cherry earlier. But there was no backing out now. The plans were made. 

"No, but a girls' night out is," Kal shrugged.

"Should I come with you? Just in case?" He asked.

It was a kind offer, but not the kind of outing needed. Kal closed her eyes. "I'll be ok." 

"I hope you're up to this," Devin said.

There was more that he wasn't saying. Kal was sure he was holding back. But she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't tell her if she asked. 

"I hope it's a really good movie." She thought out loud.