Blood Land, J.R. Lawson [electric book reader .txt] 📗

you changed?” Nora spoke sarcastically, “Cause I may not know vampire bites that well, but I know it doesn’t look like any other animal bite scar I’ve seen.”

Rogan sighed, “O.k. fine ya got me.”

Nora chuckled, “O.k. so…how old were you then?”

Rogan rolled his eyes as he answered, “Sixteen. I was Sixteen, o.k.?”

Nora’s expression now changed from gleefully curious to almost gloomy, “16?” she repeated back to him.

“Yeah,” Rogan responded matter-of-factly.

“That’s….young,” Nora regretfully realized.

Rogan looked away and rolled his shoulders as if to try to crack his neck and relieve some tension, “Yeah well, tell me something I don’t know.”

Nora hesitated slightly before asking another question she wanted to know, “So…how did it happen?”

Rogan then stood up abruptly and shook his head angrily, “No. No. That is definitely too personal. You don’t get to ask me that question,” he made a slashing motion through the air with his hand as he spoke.

“O.k. O.k. fair enough….I’m sorry,” Nora apologized as she looked up at him from the couch.

Rogan’s shoulders dropped slightly as he relaxed a bit, “It’s o.k.”

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds. Nora looked down in her lap, studying her hands as she watched Rogan pace back and forth a bit out of the corner of her eye.

“So…” Rogan then broke the silence as he stopped pacing for a second, “Where’s your friend today?”

“Will? He’s at the hospital still…with his dad.”

“Oh,” Rogan paced a bit more and then continued, “Could I ask another question?”

Nora smirked and looked up at him, “Within reason.”

Rogan smirked too, “Why is his dad in the hospital?”

Nora sighed and glanced down at her lap again as she answered, “Lung cancer,” then she looked up again, “He smoked most of his life so….”

Rogan nodded in understanding and looked down at his shoes as he then mumbled, “I’m sorry.”

Nora peered up at him in the most confident way she could, “It’s o.k.,” she then sighed and looked away, “Truth is, I avoid going to the hospital because….I don’t like seeing him…wasting away there. I’d rather just know he’s sick and not see it…ya know?”

Rogan looked over at her. She was looking over at the wall while she wrung her hands nervously in her lap.

“I understand that,” he spoke, trying his best to sound somewhat comforting.

Nora swallowed and then looked back over at Rogan again who was staring right back at her, “Have…you ever known anyone who was sick like that in the hospital?” she found herself now asking.

Rogan nervously rocked on his feet and rubbed the back of his neck as he answered, “Yeah…I have.”

Nora sensed this was beginning to be a sensitive subject for the both of them so she quickly tried to change it. She peered over to her left and saw Rogan’s jacket lying there. She quickly picked it up and stood up from the couch.

“Before I forget,” she then said, holding out his jacket to him, “Here’s your jacket back.”

Rogan softly smirked as he turned his head back toward her and reached out to take it, “Thanks,” he then swung the jacket around to put it on, “I don’t want to lose this jacket. It’s my best one. Vintage 2018 ya know.”

Nora slightly giggled, “Really? It’s that old, huh?”

“Oh yeah, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore,” Rogan jokingly boasted as he brushed his sleeves with his hands.

Nora smiled softly and rolled her eyes. It was then that the phone on an end table near her rang. Nora and Rogan both froze momentarily as they watched it ring. Nora quickly looked up at Rogan, “I better get this,” she stated.

Rogan just nodded and Nora turned around, her back facing him as she picked up the receiver. She put the phone to her ear and answered, “Hello?”

Rogan just stared at the back of her as he listened to only one side of the conversation.

“Oh hey, Will. How’s everything over there? Wait...what? Oh…..oh my god. Are…are you sure? Um…um…o.k. I—I’ll be there as soon as I can. O.k….bye…”

Nora hung up the phone slowly and turned around to look back at Rogan. He stared back at her noticing that something wasn’t quite right. She looked as if she was trying her hardest not to show her true emotions; specifically like she was trying hard not to cry.

“What is it?” Rogan then found himself blurting out.

Nora swallowed and her forehead wrinkled into a saddened expression, “Um…” she began to choke out, “Will’s dad….he died.”

Rogan stood, almost frozen, unaware of what to do or say. After awkwardly going over it in his mind, he finally settled on running his hand through his shaggy black hair and said, “Oh…shit.”

It was then that Nora’s shoulders tensed up and she dropped her head slightly. She covered her mouth as she let out slight blubbers and then gasped, trying her hardest not to completely break down into sobs right in front of him.

Rogan didn’t know what to do. He put his hands on his head and turned around so he wasn’t facing her and just looked out the window to the front yard. He could hear Nora behind him still trying her hardest not to cry uncontrollably but she couldn’t help letting out slight sobs here and there. Finally, however, he heard her take a deep breath and knew she was starting to try to compose herself. He then turned around slightly and hesitated before finally resting his eyes on her. She was wiping her eyes which were now red and she sniffed a couple of times. She wiped her bangs out of her face only for them to fall back again and then looked up at Rogan as confidently as she could.

“I…I’m gonna go to the hospital….” She started. Her words were choked and her sentence trailed off due to obvious difficulty.

Rogan immediately nodded, “Yeah…yeah I guess I better go then,” he then turned quickly to exit through the front door which was behind him. He wanted so much to get out of there as quickly as possible in order to avoid any more awkwardness, however, Nora spoke, causing him to reluctantly stop, “Wait, Rogan.”

He hesitated but eventually turned around. He avoided her gaze but answered, “What?”

“Could you…” she wrung her hands nervously as she spoke, “Could you….go with me?”

Rogan was slightly startled at her request, but he then finally looked directly at her, “What?”

“Could you go with me? Please? I don’t think I can….”

“Nora,” Rogan then bluntly interrupted, “I’m not going into a hospital. Vampires and hospitals don’t really mix well…”

“No, I know,” Nora said, “I don’t want you to come in, just…walk with me?”

Rogan then sighed in frustration, closing his eyes, “Nora…” he started, but Nora interrupted him.

“Please? I just don’t think…” she began to choke back her words again, “I don’t think I can walk there by myself…”

“Nora…” Rogan spoke her name again as he rubbed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose, “I…I can’t,” he now gazed up at her with a strong amount of seriousness. He saw Nora just stare back at him with utter sadness on her face. She didn’t say a word and so he decided to continue, “Look…I know I came over here and everything today. And we did this talking thing…but…we’re not…friends, ya know?”

Nora then looked down and nodded vigorously. She wiped her eyes, trying not to show that tears were welling up in her eyes again.

“Look, I’m sorry…I just…I can’t do that. I think you know why.”

Nora then let out a pathetic chuckle as she sniffed and looked up at him, trying not to show her obvious pain. She felt like an idiot. Had she really thought this (could she really call it a relationship?) between them had somehow changed into something it wasn’t? He was a vampire and she was a human. That wasn’t changing anytime soon. They each had places in this world; however, she admitted to herself that she had almost forgotten that. She nodded some more before finally speaking, “I understand. It was…stupid of me to ask. I’m sorry.”

Rogan let out a huge sigh and just looked at her, “I think it’s best if I go now.”

“Is it stupid of me to ask…if I’ll see you again? Another time? Maybe in passing?” Nora found herself softly blurting as she now glanced down at her feet.

“No,” Rogan spoke in almost a cold tone now, “I don’t think so.”

Nora turned her head to look at the wall before then shutting her eyes. Her whole face was tensed. She was trying so hard not to show how sad she actually was. Unfortunately a tear escaped the corner of her eye and fell down her cheek. Rogan saw it but pretended he hadn’t. He just silently turned around and unceremoniously opened the door and walked out, shutting it behind him.

Nora continued to stand still until she heard the sound of Rogan’s truck starting up. Her whole face scrunched up and as soon as the sound of the truck driving away hit her ears she fell to the floor on her knees and began to uncontrollably sob. She clutched the rug on the floor in front of her with her hands and grasped it as if it was the only thing holding her there. Her tears fell onto her hands and onto the floor as she sobbed and gasped, finally letting out a small wail of grief as she then leaned forward, putting her head to the floor as she listened to the last sounds of Rogan’s truck disappearing into the distance.

CHAPTER 8

 NORA TRIED TO wipe her tears gently with her finger as she now approached the hospital room door.  She stopped in front of it, trying her hardest to compose herself before entering.  She tried to flatten some of the wrinkles in her purple flannel shirt with her hands and looked down at her jeans to make sure they looked all right as well.  She wanted so desperately to appear strong for Will.  She took a deep breath, taking all the sterile hospital smells in with it, and then let it go before she finally grabbed the door handle and pushed.

When she entered, the scene of Will sitting in a chair by his father’s bed was the first thing she saw.  His father lied in the bed, eyes closed, and no longer moving.  Will just looked at his father’s face, his hand resting on his, and a tear falling down his cheek.  Nora suddenly realized that she was still just standing in the doorway and she nervously entered, slowly approaching Will.

“Hey…” was all she could softly say.

Will sniffled a bit and wiped his nose with the back of his hand before he stood up from his chair.  He turned to look at Nora and then, without much warning, grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug.  Nora was only startled for a moment before she returned the favor and hugged back.  The two of them held each other tightly for what seemed like several long minutes.  When they finally broke away from one another, Will looked into Nora’s eyes and she looked back.  She stared at his brown eyes behind his glasses that were now blood shot with much sorrow.  Tears began to well up in her eyes now