Darkest Before the Dawn (male/male)
It's (Not) A Trap

By the time hues of pink and orange streaked the morning sky, I had settled on how horribly lonesome I was and that I was bound to die alone.

When Marigold’s alarm went off at seven, I had a list of reasons why Felix sucked, mostly with an expanded reasoning behind why vampires were the worst supernatural creatures. “You gotta drive today,” I softly called to Goldie when she got out of bed, the thought of me crashing into a semi-truck from exhaustion eclipsing my aversion to her driving.

“Did you not sleep again?” Marigold’s mouth was foaming from toothpaste. “What’s going on?” She slipped back into the bathroom, then came back out a moment later with her mouth free of toothpaste. “Is it because Felix is going to be working with us?”

“What? No, I don’t give a shit about that jackass.” I didn’t like lying to Marigold; at the same time, I was too tired to defend myself against why I hated dealing with the vampire. All I needed were several cups of coffee, provided to me by the continental breakfast that Goldie insisted upon.

“The best part of staying in hotels is the free breakfast,” Goldie sighed once downstairs. She took a sip of coffee as she eyed my toast slathered in butter. Cold slabs of butter always tempted her. “Felix texted me last night. He wants us to stay on this side of Georgia until tonight. I guess he got a lead with Madeline.”

Almost sputtering on my own coffee, I swallowed the hot liquid and held my hand out to her, asking for her phone. “Lemme see.”

The text was simple: Good morning, Marigold! I hate to ask, but is it possible for you and Bartholomew to meet with me in Atlanta tonight at 9:45? We’ll be meeting with Madeline at the W Atlanta Midtown. Can’t wait to see you both✌🏻

“He uses emojis. That’s so weird,” I commented around a long pull of coffee.

“I think it’s cute. It’s very anachronistic. But regardless, we’re going to Atlanta tonight to get more answers.”

“Think Felix will put us in a room? That’s a nice hotel.” I finished up my breakfast at the same time that she pulled up pictures and costs of the hotel.

“I wouldn’t even put myself up in that place, let alone my subordinates. This is a month’s worth of groceries.”

“He owes me if we’re not going home until late, though.” Swallowing the last bit of my drink, I stood up and pushed my chair in. “Let’s get on the road before it gets much later.”

Habitually, I started towards the driver’s side of my car before Goldie swooped in and grabbed the handle, staring me down. “Right…right. Sorry.”

“Try to sleep on the way there,” she told me gently, fingers in my hair to help make it look better, releasing curls that had gotten tangled with each other. “Do you think you should see a therapist about your sleeping issues?” My glare made her flap her hands in front of her face, shaking her head quickly. “Okay, never mind. Ignore me.”

Instead of sitting in the passenger seat by Goldie, I slid into the back, stretching out my legs as best as I could with my limited space, my back against the door. Goldie tossed me her hoodie from her travel bag, which I bundled up behind my head.

“I can’t believe Felix has the same pajamas,” I mumbled, her jacket reminding me of the twin outfits she and Felix had.

“Oh, he’s really fashionable outside of work. We’ve gone shopping a few times before, and he always picks out super cute things.” She turned the car on and threw the car in reverse, finally noticing that I was reeling from this, sitting up from the door and running a hand through my hair.

“You two have shopped together?” I asked softly, my hands settling in my lap. I knew she wanted to eventually take over his job, so her being friendly to him was expected. Actually hanging out with him was completely different.

“A few times. That purple dress that you like is something he picked out for me.” Something about how calm she was about this irritated me. She was choosing to hang out with the guy she knew I despised. “We started hanging out about two weeks after he started at MMES. He was asking about my diet since he’s never met a nymph, and we kind of bonded over our little idiosyncrasies.”

“So you’ve just been spending time with the guy you know I hate?” My voice wobbled some, trying my hardest to hide the betrayal I was feeling.

“Just because you don’t like him doesn’t mean that I also have to dislike him. He’s genuinely a good person, Barty.” Like a broken record. It was what everyone had been telling me since June when he first started. I found that the opposite was true.

“Just don’t hide shit from me,” I mumbled, readjusting myself as comfortably as I could in the tiny backseat. The scent of honey and pine needles wafted up my nose from Marigold’s hoodie, a fragrance that was comforting since it was so her. She was convinced that I was making up how she smelled since her nose wasn’t as good as mine and she couldn’t smell herself beyond her sprays and beauty products. She wasn’t aware that she left a trail of springtime behind her when she walked.

“Hey, Barty, we’re here.” Marigold’s voice cut through the sleep I had fallen into. “Are you good?”

My breathing was loud, coming in short gasps from my mouth from the suddenness of being awake. “Yeah. I actually got some sleep.” Pushing myself up, I yawned before rubbing the sleep away from my eyes. “Alright, let’s finish this up, then head for Atlanta.”

Talking to Luis’s friend, James, helped absolutely none. His police interview hadn’t given much information, but I was hoping that maybe Goldie and I could have gotten some more out of him.

What really proved to be helpful was Luis’s older sister, Jasmin. We found her in her garden, kneeling in front of a small flower garden.

“Hey, Jasmin?” Goldie called after getting out of the car, disarming the woman with her light voice.

From her garden, the woman stood and turned to us, not daring to move. “Who are you?” she asked, her Spanish accent heavy. She had smudges of dirt across her face and on her work apron, her yellow gloves smattered in varying shades of brown.

“We’re detectives working for your brother’s case,” I explained, pulling out my badge to show her. “I’m Detective Palmer, and this is Detective Goldie. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?”

Jasmin’s eyebrows furrowed, and she removed her gloves and hat. “The cops have already come to ask me about that. They’re sending more?”

“Special victims unit. There were some other questions that they sent us to ask. Are you okay with that?”

Her lips puckered, and she peered at us from narrowed eyes. “Fine. Don’t take forever, though. I have a doctor's appointment soon.”

“We understand,” Goldie assured her. “Was your brother talking to a woman before he was killed?”

Jasmin sneered and made a disgusted sound. “Brought a girl over for a night to watch a baseball game. Short, skinny, hussy-looking type. Tight clothes. Asian. Not good enough for my brother. Then he goes missing and police find him dead.” She looked around her yard, as if she was checking that we were the only people around. “That wasn’t a normal woman, no.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “How so?”

Her jaw set and she readjusted her pose. “¿Es usted un demonio?” she softly said, pointing at me now. I nodded once, and she closed the space between us to make sure only I could hear her. “That woman did something to him because he was like you.”

“You think she killed him, then?”

“Maybe not her, but someone with her. My brother didn’t bring women home when he didn’t know them. But her, he said she was different. He trusted her.” Closing her eyes, she crossed herself and gave a quick prayer in Spanish. “Sorry, I know that’s offensive to you. Luis hated when I did that.”

Like any demon would. “I’m used to it in the South. Is there anything else you can tell us about this woman or Luis?”

She shook her head, blinking back tears now. “I don’t know anything else. I want to help more, I do. He was my half-brother, but I never saw him as anything less than a real, whole brother. I love him so much, and my daughters are so upset at losing their uncle.” The ball of her hand wiped away the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.” Goldie’s warmth soon began to fill the space between us, attempting to help Jasmin with feeling better. “You have every right to be upset. We’re going to do our best to solve this, Jasmin. We’ll bring justice to Luis.”

Nodding, Jasmin took both of our hands to thank us. “I look forward to any updates. Please tell me as soon as his murderer has been arrested.” She released my hand and reached up to my forehead, about where my horns would be if they were out. ”Ten cuidate. No dejes que esto te pase a ti.”

Swallowing hard, I fingered the spot on my head where she had touched me. “Gracias. Lo intentaré.” I covered her hands with mine, sharing a moment with a human who was aware of things beyond her realm, but welcoming them. All because of her deceased brother.

Bidding her a good day in her native tongue, Marigold and I made our way back to the car, taking my rightful place in the driver’s side. My nerves were too alert to allow me to doze off.

We were on the Interstate, and the only thing Marigold had done was take my phone to change the playlist, my ‘2000s Feeling Down About Myself’ one, a choice I never would have suspected her to pick. “Are you okay?” I asked her when a Hawthorne Heights song began. I may not have been an angsty teenager in the early 2000s, but I still enjoyed the alternative rock scene of the time.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking of what Madeline will tell us. I’ve never had a lead so quick, you know?” She grimaced. “It’s giving me a bad feeling in my stomach. This whole thing is.”

“You’re not going to bail on me, are you?” I asked softly, not wanting to hear her answer suddenly. She had withheld the info about seeing Felix from me. It made me paranoid about what else she could be hiding, like how she probably bit off more than she could chew when she opted to work with me again.

“Of course not, you big idiot,” she barked, eyes locked on me in a hurt glare. “Just because you're jealous of me hanging out with Felix doesn’t mean I’m going to just leave.”

“I’m not jealous of you hanging out with him! I’m pissed that you didn’t tell me for months. We’re best friends, but you didn’t tell me that.”

“Well you—oooh, Bartholomew Palmer, I’m going to jump out of this car.” Clenching her fists in her lap, she mumbled incoherently about how irritating I could be.

“Well I what?”

“You have never told me what happened to you when you started at MMES. I am allowed to have one secret from you.”

“You going shopping with our boss is completely different than me being attacked by vampires.” My voice was louder than I expected, irritation flaring up from my chest at the same time my hands started to sweat. I had a lot of bark but no bite when it came to arguing with my sister or Marigold. “What happened to me has nothing to do with any of this, anyway.”

“You want to try a different response?” Her cheeks were darker than usual, and fresh rhododendron sprouted in her hair, her few tell-tale signs of getting pissed at me. I felt bad. I never upset her this much. “You haven’t been able to sleep. You hate our boss because of what he is. You cannot sit there and tell me that what happened to you hasn’t affected you or this situation.” Her voice was unnervingly calm, suppressing her feelings as best as she could. I wouldn’t doubt that she would crash my car, all to make a point.

Biting the inside of my cheek, I thought before I spoke for once, not allowing my hot-headedness to get the best of me. Not when there was about an hour of driving and twelve hours until we met with Felix. “I’m not ready to tell you everything. I was attacked by vampires. It put me in the hospital. That’s all I’m willing to tell you.”

Her jaw was still set and her focus was intense on the road ahead of us, reluctant to pay me any attention. A Green Day song came on and finished before she finally responded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Felix. I knew you wouldn’t have been happy about it, but I should have just told you from the beginning.”

Pouting some, I let myself sink into the seat some, wishing we could have prevented this whole conversation. I hated my emotions getting the better of me, especially envy, the most useless emotion. “Sorry for overreacting. I shouldn’t be jealous of you guys being friends. I’m glad you found someone to go shopping with.”

“Yeah, since you never want to, and Cadence only ever gets hoodies and yoga pants.” She was smiling now, her skin glowing, not from annoyance, but from happiness. The flower in her hair had fallen off into her lap. “Whenever you’re ready to talk, Barty, let me know. You know I’m always here for you.”

“You’ll be the first to know,” I swore, leaning my shoulder into hers, the car swerving some. “If you ever threaten to jump from my car again, I’m going to wrap you in a thousand layers of bubble wrap.”

“Yeah, yeah, big scary demon Barty.” She waved me off and winked at me.

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