Chapter 216: Interlude: Scarlet - Can’t We Be Friends?

"No need for concern, people!" the ginger soothed, holding up her hands as people shifted uncomfortably at the tense atmosphere, and a few quickly packed up to leave. "Just a bit of a misunderstanding between friends! No trouble! No trouble. Please, sit," she urged, pleading blue eyes directing her to the free side.

Channeling her inner Rachel, Scarlet kept her vision scanning for potential dangers while taking the offered booth. "Talk..."

Fidgeting a little with her hands on the table, the ginger pointed to herself. "Okay! Okay! You can call me Illa, and I’m, like... your number one fan!" She flashed her fangs in a cute smile, but Scarlet knew all too well that this girl could be a super-old granny in disguise after The Oscillation. "Ever since the Miami Beach gang incident— You, like, totally saved me!"

Thrown completely off yet again, Scarlet sat back and creased an eye. "Illa... what do you mean that you’re here to help me get my dad’s corpse back? You know who took him and where he is?"

"Mhm!" The girl’s excitement returned with her bobbing head, and she gestured at the charmed vampire beside her. "You see, Terry here is a High Vampire, turned by a Noble Vampire, just like me! Mhm! I’m pretty hot stuff," she chimed with a wink as she moved to play with what looked to be a cotton ball necklace. "Oh, but nothing like how strong you are as a Progenitor! You... are a Progenitor, right?"

Scarlet rubbed her temple, trying to keep up. "Focus."

"Right! Right..." Illa scooted forward, looking left and right while lowering her voice and drawing Scarlet a little closer at the sudden seriousness in the girl’s hushed tone. "And I heard down the grapevine that one of Dracula’s concubines was going to be doing some shady stuff here, so I investigated! Pretty scary stuff."

Electricity shot down Scarlet’s spine at the name. Leaning forward at the mention of Dracula to not cause a commotion from the other patrons, already agitated by her blood and the vampiric theme that was beginning to develop, she asked, "Why would Dracula’s concubine be interested in my dad’s body?"

"No-ho-ho..." Illa groaned, forehead falling on her arm as Scarlet’s sharp hearing caught the cook in the back making a phone call. "This was what I was afraid of... Stupid Dracula, causing trouble for all of us."

"911, what’s your emergency?"

"Umm... I think there are vampires in my diner— I’m just worried... with the Seattle Incident..."

"We’ll send a squad right away to investigate. Please remain calm, sir; they may be able to sense your discomfort and attack..."

Feeling a little bad now for making such a scene, Scarlet scooted away from the booth. "Maybe we should go..."

She paused as the ginger’s smile returned, and Illa shooed the blond to get up. What if this was all a plot to get her to drop her guard, and she’d planned for things to go down this road? It would be something Rachel would consider.

I need to remain on guard... She obviously has control powers.

"Excellent idea," Illa chirped, waving at the terrified patrons. "So sorry for the trouble. We’ll leave not to cause a stir. It’s all my fault! Thank you, Scarlet..."

Scarlet had to stop her blood from spiking the ’seemingly’ younger girl as Illa snatched her arm and pulled her out of the diner; a shiver ran down Illa’s frame and transferred to Scarlet as the ginger giggled.

"Ooh! You really are so spooky, Scarlet— Haha, I thought I was going to die for a second! I haven’t felt that rush in this dead heart since I heard about what you did in Miami Beach..." She leaned in to whisper into her ear. "Can you feel it pumping?"

The girl pulled Scarlet’s palm to her modest breast with a grin, making Scarlet’s fingers twitch upon feeling a very faint heartbeat.

"What are you doing?!" Scarlet snapped, panicking a little at the motion and jumping away to sink a foot into the water-filled gutter, soaking her foot as the rain began peppering her head. "Eek..."

"Oh—sorry, sorry!" Illa gasped, motioning to the blond, who was pulling out a two-person umbrella. "Hurry, hurry, Terry!"

"Sorry, Mistress. I—"

A little stunned at the weird spin things had taken, Scarlet spread her blood over her head to stop the onslaught as a stream moved to filter over and pass through her shoe, forcing the water out.

"Ohh! So convenient! I knew you were a Progenitor. You’re so amazing!" she clapped, and the sound of sirens followed, making Illa hop forward to take her arm again. Giggling, she scooted closer to get under her blood umbrella before guiding her further into Downtown Miami.

"Fastest response ever! Am I right? I guess they get a-movin’ when they hear the dreaded v-word; let’s go before the cops catch us! Hehehe! You’re so much fun, Scarlet. C’mon— Huh?!"

What is happening?! No! This needs to stop!

"Mistress!"

Filtering through buildings, Scarlet found an empty back alley; shadows swirled around them, carrying them half a kilometer to the location. Spinning the bewildered ginger around, she slammed her against the side of a building, making her blue eyes go big.

"Stop grabbing me!"

"I-I’m sorry," she whimpered, real tears forming in her eyes. "Y-You’re hurting me, Scarlet..."

"Mmgm..." Taking a deep breath, Scarlet eased up and pulled away. "You’re just so... grabby! It’s uncomfortable..."

Backing into the wall, Illa glanced away as water pelted her skin and dress, nervous fingers finding her elbow. "I... didn’t mean to make you so mad. You’re just... so amazing, and... and I wanted to help..."

Scarlet took a controlled breath; she’d known flirty, proactive, touchy girls in high school. It was just really confusing to deal with when they were all over you. "No, I’m sorry... I’m just really stressed right now... Please, just tell me what you know about my dad."

Illa’s mouth pushed to the side, arms shifting to hug her core, but a weak smile returned as Scarlet’s blood moved to cover her from the rain. "Our first fight, huh? Hehe... It’s my fault, sorry... Or... is this our second? No— Details, details, stupid head! Umm... Yeah, uh..."

"Take your time," Scarlet breathed, showing a supportive smile; it was hard to read this girl, but her gut said she was off, or something was... off about her, and Rachel had told her to trust her instincts. Still, she needed the ginger vampire. "We good?"

"Sure... Wow. Terry must be worried sick looking for me... Ugh. I hope he doesn’t get killed because... he kind of is the one who knows where Lady Selene San Felice is—you know, Dracula’s concubine because... he’s hers... and I kind of, mmm... stole him. Men are just so easy! It’s not my fault..."

"You’re... kidding me." Scarlet peered through the city and grimaced. "The police are cornering him..."

Illa winced. "Yikes moment. I... kind of told him not to make a scene if that happened, so... yeah. He’s probably going to jail or to be questioned or something... Discrimination! Profiling! Ugh... What do we do, Scarlet... Break him out?" she slowly asked with a strained smile, showing her fangs.

"No shot," Scarlet groaned, scratching the side of her head with agitation. "I can call some people to smooth it over, but... Mmgm."

"Don’t want to?" Illa hummed, sucking in her left cheek and suddenly reaching out to tap her arm with a beaming smile. "Oh, what if we just swoosh in there and get him to tell us the information and bounce?!"

"I... guess," she begrudgingly mumbled. "Why didn’t you ask him before all of this?!"

The ginger looked away with a pout while playing with one of her pigtails. "I just wanted to share in the moment with you... I want to be reliable and help you... to be friends." Her somewhat still watery eyes lifted to her, showing vulnerability. "Can’t we be friends?"

"I..."

Illa’s fear levels rose, and she grabbed Scarlet’s hand. "I’d do anything for you! Please— I just... want to be useful."

Pain struck Scarlet’s heart at the confession; Illa really had been nothing but friendly, and Scarlet had given her such a cold shoulder. It wasn’t like her, but... still, something was off. Why was this ’Noble Vampire’ girl so infatuated with her?

"Why... don’t we first get to know each other better?"

The girl’s blue eyes sparkled with life as she swapped from her hand to loop arms, leaning in with a spunky wink while tilting her head to whisper, "You’re so captivating, Scarlet!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing!" she sang, swaying a little in place with glee. "Partners in crime. I can’t believe we’re going to break into a police station. Exciting!"

"Eh-hehe... Yeah... No, probably just the patrol car."

"Awww. Fine," she pouted.

Illa gave off such a unique vibe; she was trying so hard to create a bridge between them, yet there was a hair-raising repulsion, as well. Her mannerisms were somewhat magnetic and infectious; a hypnotic draw made her want to believe the ginger was casting some kind of spell on her, but Scarlet instinctively knew it wasn’t any ability or magic she had. It was all-natural, infectious spunk.

It was like her old self was on one shoulder, telling her that this girl obviously needed a friend and she was being a total witch to the ginger; Illa felt so similar yet polar opposite to her on so many unusual levels that it was a little disorienting. On the other shoulder was Rachel, brandishing a hammer and bonking her on the head, telling her not to be stupid and fall for it.

Scarlet wanted to pull away, but then again, they did need to be close for her teleport to work. "We’re... just going in and out; I’ll wrap us in shadows so no one can see us."

"So cool! We should go shopping, too; you can’t storm a vampire stronghold with that ripped dress," she casually inserted, making Scarlet choke.

"You’re joking?!"

"No! I’m totally serious," she chimed, squeezing tighter and shifting her free hand to pluck at her ripped bra strap; Scarlet hadn’t even realized she’d damaged it. "Plus, when you pushed me up against the wall, you were, hehe, kind of rough with me... Yeah."

"Oh, I’m sorry, uh... Hmm. I guess we can... find someplace?"

"Thank you!" she cheered, making Scarlet smile with her contagious energy as she hopped up and down against her arm. "I just don’t have any clothes besides this since my place burned down— Oh, and Terry was buying my meal since I don’t have any money... I know, I’m sad!"

Scarlet’s stomach squirmed at the uncomfortable closeness the girl was maintaining while rubbing against her and fidgeting with her own clothes. "Yeah—no, you’re not sad— Umm, don’t worry about it; I damaged your bra, so..."

Her sapphire earrings twinkled with her brilliant blue eyes. "Our first shipping trip! Aaah!"

Scarlet blinked. "Our first... what?"

Illa only grinned wider. "Shopping! I meant shopping! Yeah, shopping! You’re my hero! Oh—focus, focus! I’ll do whatever it takes to get your dad’s corpse back." She leaned in, her breath somehow hot against her ear for being undead. "Have you ever tasted vampire blood? You really should. Kidding! Or am I? Hehe."

Is she trying to get close enough to bite me?

"Right..." Scarlet pulled them into a dark alley to watch the police cars gathering around the diner. What had happened to Illa during the Miami Beach incident? She had admitted to being a Noble Vampire, but that meant she had been made into one by someone, and that stuck in the back of her mind. "Let’s first get the information..."