I go over to that metal cage, cluttered with so much bric-a-brac. Porn magazines. Flyers. More gutted light bulbs. I fumble with the door latch. Figure out how to open it after about thirty seconds or so.
Stupid stupid Henry…
“Hey,” I say softly. Reaching in and touching the girl on one bloodied shoulder.
And, of course, she goes fuckin’ apeshit. Comes back down from Glossolalia Land. Or wherever.
“No no no no no…” she whimpers. Retreating from my hand with an alacrity that surprises me. “NO.”
She runs on all fours to the opposite corner. Rattling the hell out of her flimsy prison. And there she stops to stare at me with hate-filled eyes.
Abomination…
Once more, my phantom heart surprises me and snaps in my chest.
“It’s OK. OK…OK” I say in a soothing voice. Extending my hand into the cage. Like some soft treat I am trying to offer her. As if she were, indeed, some skittish pup or something.
A pup covered in her own blood.
I have so many powers as a vampire. I really do. Super strength. Super speed. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Impervious to the ravages of both heat and cold. Etc. Etc. Right now, I really wish I had the power to turn back time. I would so use it to save this girl from everything horrible she has been subjected to. Save her from those marks on her neck. Marks that will heal eventually but will probably always be there below the surface. Even though the monsters who made them are no more.
“My name is Henry,” I say, talking to the girl. Trying to sustain the same gentle tone. “Henry…I’m not gonna hurt you, honey. I’m not gonna hurt you.”
She looks at me with large eyes. Lemur-like eyes, framed by ropes of black hair. Hair that has probably not been washed in weeks.
Snap Snap goes my heart…
“I’m sorry,” I continue. “Sorry this had to happen to you. But it’s all over now. Believe me. All over. You’re free. Free…”
I wave my hand back and forth slowly in the cage. As if to underscore this point.
She looks at me. Doubt supplanting hate now in her eyes.
I have so many god damn powers as a vampire. The power to stare into someone’s eyes and make them love me. Come to me. Leap freely into their own death.
I just wish I could stare into this poor girl’s eyes right now and make her believe. Make her believe everything is going to be …alright