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

a plastic mask of some kind of super hero. Nora now gave Kale a very puzzled expression. “So?” she asked, unimpressed.

“So?  I used to have a mask just like this when I was a kid.  It went with a costume I wore on Halloween.  I wore it almost every year when I was younger.” He talked as he looked down at the mask in his hands.

“Halloween?” Nora now asked.  Kale didn’t hesitate but looked up instantly. “You don’t know what Halloween is?!” he asked in a stunned tone.

“I know what it is…I’ve just never…celebrated it.  Halloween isn’t really a thing anymore, ya know.”

“Well yeah,” Kale chuckled as he now tossed the plastic mask back onto the table and looked over at Nora. “But that means you’ve never been trick-or-treating before, have you?”

“What the hell is trick-or-treating?” Nora questioned.

“Oh my god!” Kale now exclaimed, “It was the greatest thing!  You went door to door to all the people’s houses in your neighborhood and you’d ring the doorbell in your costume and yell ‘trick-or-treat!’ and they’d give you candy!  People would decorate their houses all spooky for Halloween too. It was great!”

Nora looked over at him confusedly. “You mean, you’d take candy from random strangers?  That sounds safe…” she remarked sarcastically.

Kale chuckled again and shook his head a bit. “It was different back then.” Nora eyed him as his gaze had gone back to the mask lying on the table in front of him.

“You know what’s funny,” he then started to say as he looked up again, “The last year I remember dressing up for Halloween, my costume was a vampire.  Never knew I’d actually end up as one…” He then picked up the mask again and tossed it like a Frisbee so that it landed further away from him on the table.

Nora sensed that he was feeling slightly uncomfortable and she felt the uneasiness as well.  She quickly cleared her throat and tried to change the subject by picking up a nearby floppy, purple hat she had seen and put it on. “What do you think?” she then asked Kale, trying desperately to distract him from his thoughts.

Kale looked over at her and a small chuckle escaped his lips. “Oh, very nice.  You should buy that,” he joked.  Nora giggled somewhat uncomfortably as she then took off the hat and set it back on the table in front of her.

Kale then gradually made his way to a small bookshelf lining the right wall of furniture.  It had various paperback books on its shelves and Kale sifted through them casually.  He then pulled one out and chuckled as he eyed its cover.

“What is it?” Nora curiously asked.

Kale didn’t answer but kept chuckling and then tossed the book at Nora who caught it and peered down at it.  It was a romance book and the cover had a hand painted picture of a woman with a Dracula-type vampire both locked in embrace on it.  “What the hell?” was all Nora could comment about the ridiculous book.

“I know, right?  What the fuck kinda trash is that?” Kale continued to laugh.

“Guess there’s not really a market for ‘vampire romances’ now a days is there?” Nora then laughed as well.  All of a sudden, she noticed Kale’s expression had changed from happy to an almost glum one that he was trying desperately to hide.

“Hey, I…I didn’t mean…” Nora found herself starting to explain.

Kale shook his head and started trying to laugh it off, “No, you didn’t say anything wrong,” he reassured.

It was quiet for a few small beats and then Nora spoke again, “It bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“What?”

“This stuff in here…it bothers you.  Being in this human city.  In this shop.  It bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“No,” Kale instantly insisted.

“Come on, I can see that it does,” Nora continued, “Even the people in here.  The staring…”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Kale continued to persuade.

“We can leave if you want.  It won’t hurt my feelings, honestly.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m serious, Kale—”

“I’m fine, Nora!” Kale now shouted.  His sudden booming tone made Nora jump a little.  She watched him silently as he then put his hands on the table in front of him and sighed a bit.  He then spoke again in a more subdued tone, “Really, I’m fine.”

Nora didn’t say anything as she stared at him, still not completely reassured.  Kale looked up at her and saw her expression and then began to chuckle in a somewhat nervous way.  “I’m serious.  I’m fine.”

Nora still stared.

“I’m fucking fine, Nora.  Jesus.  This shit doesn’t bother me.  It never does.”  He looked away for a split second, nervously and then back again.  “We’re not leaving.  You want to be here.  You like this place.  It’s fine.  I’m absolutely serious.”

Nora kept looking over at him and then sighed.  She didn’t quite believe the words that came out of his mouth but she knew if she tried to force him to leave, he’d be even more upset.  She then gave a small shrug and responded, “O.k. fine.”

The two of them then went back to rummaging quietly at all the neat things around them.  Nora couldn’t help but notice, however, that several other people in the shop with them had been staring at them during their little discussion.  A slight tension grew inside her as she perceived them and she felt her shoulders tightening but she tried her hardest to relax and ignore the people.  She knew nothing good would come of her confronting them.  It would just make Kale feel even more bothered.

Eventually, the two of them had made their way to the back of the shop, having looked at everything they could have looked at and commenting on each as well.  It was then that Nora spotted a specific piece of furniture that surprised her. “Oh my god,” she said as she ogled at the object.  Kale approached and stood right next to her to see what she was gawking at.  It was a wooden rocking chair. To be specific, an American Windsor dark maple rocking chair as found out through the tag that hung from its arm.

“I can’t believe this is still here!” Nora exclaimed as she then proceeded to take a seat in the chair and rock back and forth in it gleefully. “Will’s mom loved this chair,” she suddenly added.  Kale winced slightly at the again mention of Will but hid it so that Nora hadn’t noticed.

“When Will and I were younger, before his mom had become a vampire, she used to take us to this shop all the time.  It was just a fun weekend thing we used to do.  And every time we’d come, she’d sit in this chair and then both Will and I would climb in her lap and we’d all rock back and forth.  She said so many times that one day she’d buy this chair.  But she never did.”

“Why not?” Kale asked.

Nora gave a slight scoff at his question. “Look at the price.”

Kale glanced back at the tag hanging from the chair and his eyes widened. “Holy shit.”

“Exactly.” Nora lightly laughed at his expression.

“Well, it’s an old chair.  I’d guess you’d expect it to be expensive.”

“How old is it?” Nora now stood up and curiously glanced at the chair’s tag as well.

“Says here, possibly 1990’s.  It’s definitely vintage.  Not quite an antique, though,” Kale informed, “Anything pre-epidemic is going to be expensive regardless.”

“I just can’t believe no one else wanted it.” Nora sighed as she ran her hand across the top of it.  Kale watched her stare at the piece of furniture.  He noticed a slight gleam in her eye as she touched it.

“Hey…um…I’m gonna be right back,” Kale suddenly blurted out as he had just stealthily spotted an employee of the shop walk past them from behind.

“Huh?” Nora asked, breaking away from the trance that the chair had over her, “Where are you going?”

“Oh, nowhere…just wanna talk to somebody I just saw about something.”

Nora squint her eyes at Kale, as if she was trying very hard to read his mind.  He noticed this and responded to it, “It’s nothing.  I just want to ask that guy a question.  Just real quick.  It’s no big deal.”

“O.k….” Nora responded, still slightly inquisitive.  Kale chuckled lightly and rolled his eyes while also shaking his head a bit. “Just mind your own business,” he demanded and then turned to approach the employee.  Nora watched him begin to talk to the person for a few seconds.  She was extremely curious as to what he was asking and why she couldn’t know about it, but at this point she knew there were a lot of things about Kale that she didn’t know and probably wouldn’t get to know.  He was a very secretive person and although, she didn’t really like that much, she had really begun to respect that part of him as well.  So much so, that she turned around and walked away from the temptation to listen to his conversation.  Whatever it was he was doing, she would either know about eventually, or would never know because it wasn’t important enough; and she was finally starting to be o.k. with that.

CHAPTER 25

 IT WAS ONLY after a few minutes that Kale had finished his conversation with the store’s employee and decided to find Nora again.  It was the image of her kneeling on the ground that he saw when he eventually discovered her.  She was petting a dog that was sitting next to the front desk.  It looked like some type of Brazilian Mastiff mix that obviously seemed very well trained as it remained seated by the desk even as it licked Nora’s face while she vigorously pet it.

“Isn’t he cute?” Nora now said as she finally acknowledged Kale’s presence.

“What’s a dog doing in here?” Kale just asked.

“I don’t know but he sure is sweet.” Nora laughed as she continued giving affection to the large dog.

“Yeah,” was all Kale said as he took a slight step back from the animal.  Finally, Nora ceased her petting and stood up.  She took a second to wipe the dog’s drool from her hands and onto her jeans and turned to Kale once more. “Well, I guess I’m ready to go if you are.  We’ve basically seen everything there is to see in here today.”

Kale nodded. “Yeah, alright,” he agreed as they then began to take a step toward the direction of the exit door.

All of a sudden, the large dog next to them stood up and a low growl was being emitted from its throat. Nora turned her head to look at the dog now with much curiosity. “What is it, boy?” she asked the mutt, but the dog kept growling.  Its snarls even seemed to get louder now as it now began to bare its teeth right in Nora’s direction.

“What’s with him?” Nora questioned aloud.

“I...I don’t know,” Kale answered, “Let’s just go.” He then took Nora by the arm and attempted to lead her out of the store.

However, in an instant the dog leapt for Nora, its mouth open and teeth displayed with the intent of biting.  Nora jumped back but it was Kale that instantly pushed her out of harm’s way and onto the floor.  Nora hit the ground surface on her side with a big