30. 29

29

Serina

“I f you could keep your hands and feet to yourself, that would be great,” Nox called from the driver’s seat of his car as he drove us to the diner for dinner.

I chuckled against Bastian’s lips as he kissed me sensually and Thorne kissed on my neck until I switched and started kissing Thorne.

I glanced up, looking at Nox through the rearview mirror with siren eyes hooded with lust, and I swear I thought he was going to pull the car over and take me again right here.

We had plenty of fun on our date, but I loved the way I could bend him from just a glance. I hadn’t had them all at once yet, but anytime we were all together, the anticipation of it hung between us like a wet cloth waiting to be wrung out.

Nox soon pulled into Mickey’s parking lot and parked the car with a jerk that separated our kissing fiasco in the back seat, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at him.

We all climbed out of the car, and Thorne held the door for us as we walked into the diner. The soft chatter from other customers and the sound of the jukebox playing classic rock ‘n’ roll tunes set the perfect backdrop for the evening.

It reminded me of all the other times I had been here throughout my life. Oh, how times had changed…

I couldn’t help but wonder if this would be my last meal at Mickey’s. My eyes wandered toward my booth, and I started walking over to it, the guys following behind me. Then we all took our seats, and I admired all the polaroid photos from over the years still shoved under the thin glass, the napkin drawings, and all the small little pieces of my life that had come to an end a year ago.

Even after a year, the pain of losing my dad still clung to me like a heavy fog over my heart.

I had moved through the world for the past year as if in a daze, unable to grasp the enormity of the void that had suddenly taken residence in my life. I had filled that void with fiery rage and promised myself that I wouldn’t rest until I killed the son of a bitch who took my dad from me.

Every routine, every familiar space, became a painful reminder of his absence, which was why I hadn’t sat at this booth since the last time I was here with him. I couldn’t comprehend the idea that I would never again share a moment, seek guidance, or experience the comforting presence that had always been my anchor.

Until I realized that the weight had gotten lighter and lighter after I had met them . Bastian, Thorne, and Nox swept in and somehow made all my rage simmer down to the point where it was the last thought on my mind whenever they were around.

Something had shifted in me, but regardless of the changes…

I had to finish this. No matter what it took.

Mickey walked over to the booth and gave me a beaming smile, one I hadn’t seen in forever.

It reminded me a lot of the one she used to give my father, one filled with so much love. I knew it was because of where I chose to sit tonight; maybe it made her feel better to know that I was healing in some way or at least trying to.

I hoped she had, too. Deep down, I felt like her and Dad would have eventually gotten together, but with my father’s stubbornness and the mutual respect Mickey and Dad had for my mother, neither of them ever crossed those lines.

Do the ‘what if’ scenarios ever leave your mind?

“Serina, I’m so happy to see you. What can I getcha?” she said, holding up her pad and pen. If she noticed Bastian, Thorne, and Nox being Vampires she didn’t give it away.

“My usual,” I replied with a smile.

“You and your breakfast,” she laughed.

“They say it’s the most important meal of the day. I see no problem with having it twice,” I joked, and she beamed back at me.

“And for you all?” she asked, looking the guys over before arching her brow at me.

Oh, she definitely knows.

Bastian, Nox, and Thorne all placed their orders, and Mickey went on her way. I looked down over all the memories in front of me, really the only things I had left of my parents other than my dad’s cabin and car.

“You were adorable,” Nox said, pointing to the photo of me slurping down a large shake and giving my dad a thumbs up as he took the photo of me after my first hunt.

“Am I not adorable now?” I cocked my head to the side.

“Now you’re an adorably wicked little monster,” Nox chuckled, leaning forward on the table, and I couldn’t hide my blush.

“Who’s this?” Bastian wondered, pointing to a polaroid of me, my mom, Sam, and Brielle on a girls only hunt.

I smiled fondly at the memory. “That’s my cousin Sam, my friend Brielle, my mom, and me. We had to pretty much cheat death the entire time because a taxidermist was hexing animal parts and Sam got cursed with bad luck for touching a stuffed rabbit’s foot sitting in his office because she thought it was cute.”

At this, we all laughed. Looking back now, it was hilarious. In the moment? Definitely not a good time.

Nox picked up a brown napkin and pen and started doodling on it. A few minutes later, he lifted it and turned it around to show me. It was three stick figures with smiles and fangs all standing in the middle of a big heart. I cackled, and so did Bastian and Thorne.

“Don’t mind if I add to the memories, do you?” he asked with a grin as he shoved his doodle under the glass next to all the other mementos. The one my dad drew last year snagged my eyes, but I pushed the ache aside.

“What’s the craziest hunt you’ve ever been on?” Thorne asked, and I didn’t think I could pick just one.

“Well, the one where I made a deal with a crossroads Demon was pretty crazy, or the one where we found out Big Foot was definitely real, or how about the Ghouls bashing in their heads after they’ve taken the form of your dead grandma always makes you feel a little crazy. Oh, although I think the Bogeyman was one of the creepiest.”

“No crazy Vampire stories?” Bastian asked with a side smile.

“Demons, Vampires, and Werewolves are a part of the basic package of the supernatural world,” I snarked, and Nox threw a hand over his heart.

“Ouch.” He pouted.

“Buuut, I will say that taking on a quest for vengeance and stumbling across three Vampires who I fell for wasn’t on my bingo card,” I said it without thinking at the same moment Mickey walked up to the table balancing plates on her arms.

“Here’s your steak and eggs.” She slid the first plate in front of me, then handed out each of their plates before asking us if we needed anything else, and I only shook my head.

Fuck… I just admitted it out loud… I had fallen for them.

I hadn’t said the love word, but it was close enough.

Nobody said anything for a long moment that felt like an eternity, and then Thorne spoke up before Mickey could scurry off.

“Could we have some to-go boxes please?” Bastian asked.

“Uh… yeah, of course. Is something wrong?” Mickey’s brows furrowed.

“No, not at all. Everything’s perfect, ” Bastian assured, eyeing me as he said that last word, his throat bobbing.

I didn’t dare look at Nox or Thorne, too afraid what their expressions would be.

Mickey walked off and came right back, handing us the boxes a second later before Thorne and Nox boxed up our piping hot food. Mickey left us to it then.

Nox nudged me out of the booth from his spot next to me as Bastian and Thorne got to their feet.

We readied to walk toward the door. I glanced towards the bar, and a man held my gaze with unsettling intensity. That grin of his, it twisted up the corners of his lips, sending shivers crawling up my spine.

Recognition sparked between us. He was there—the night my dad died—he was one of them.

The guys caught the change in the air, the shift in my stance.

They saw him too. Their eyes narrowed, muscles tensing.

“Fuck,” Bastian cursed under his breath. I felt his hand wrap around my arm, fingers firm but gentle.

The heat of his touch seared through the fabric of my shirt, grounding me, reminding me of the here and now, not the nightmare of that night. Everything was drowned out by the roaring in my ears and the pounding of my heart.

My focus remained fixed on the man as rage swelled up within me.

“Please, wait here, love.” Bastian’s voice was a low command that allowed no room for arguing, but I was never one to listen. I looked to him now.

“Are you fucking kidding?” I exclaimed, but then I blinked, and in that imperceptible moment, Bastian moved with preternatural speed that always caught me off guard.

My heart raced. He was gone, Thorne and Nox at his heels, their presence disappearing like smoke swept away by the wind.

No one around us noticed. They were too fast to detect.

“Damn it,” I whispered, feeling the emptiness where they once stood. Frustration bubbled up inside me.

I squared my shoulders and rushed toward the bar, quickly moving behind it and then barreling through the swinging double doors to the kitchens. Stoves and fryers sat to my left, along with a large three-vat sink.

The diner’s usual clatter faded into a blur as I homed in on a groaning sound echoing from the back room to the left where the fridge and freezer were.

Rounding the corner with a haste that sent a nearby stack of menus flying, I stumbled into the room.

My eyes immediately found Mickey sprawled on the ground, her normally bright face twisted in discomfort. All the blood left my face.

“Mick, hey,” I called out, my voice laced with urgency as I dropped to my knees beside her. My fingers trembled as they brushed over her arms, her sides, seeking out wounds or bruises.

But it wasn’t the cool touch of her skin that caught my attention; it was the odd scent that suddenly filled my nostrils. A smell so peculiar and out of place that it made me pause.

Cooked cabbage. Why in the world would it smell like—

No. Sulfur.

The realization hit me like a punch to the gut, and my heart hammered against my ribcage.

I stood frozen as the unmistakable hiss of leaking gas filled the room. My gaze snapped to the ovens where the noise grew louder, a sinister whisper.

And then, as if summoned by my worst fears, I saw it—a flicker of orange light casting an ominous glow from the other side of the room. A zippo lighter, its flame dancing with a life of its own, sat innocently on the ground.

“Shit!” In one fluid motion, I unjammed the door, letting it slam shut just as the room beyond erupted into a fiery inferno. The sound was deafening, a monstrous roar that devoured everything in its path.

I lunged for the red fire alarm on the wall, my hands shaking as I yanked it down. The shrill alarm pierced through the diner.

Through the haze of my thoughts, I heard the screams—the panicked shouts of patrons scrambling for safety. God, please let them all make it out.

Smoke rushed in from under the door like a living thing, hungry and relentless. My shirt clung to my skin, every inch of me slick with sweat as I struggled for breath. My vision blurred with tears—not just from the smoke, but from fear too. I had to get Mickey out of here.

“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath, the word rough and choked out between coughs.

My head throbbed, each heartbeat banging against my skull with the insistence of a drum. Nausea twisted my insides into knots. The smell of sulfur still lingered.

I needed to get out, to escape this hell that had been a haven only mere moments ago. But more than that, I needed to get Mickey to safety.

My shaking hands hovered over the scorching metal handle of the door, hesitant. Then, survival instincts overrode my brain.

I looked down and saw Mickey’s jacket tied around her waist. I hastily untied it and wrapped it around my hand, then wrenched the door open and braced myself against the surge of heat.

With lungs screaming and eyes stinging, I bent down to Mickey. Her body was limp, a deadweight against my own, but I couldn’t let that slow me down.

“Come on, Mick,” I whispered through gritted teeth, the words lost in the roar of the flames.

She couldn’t be another ghost in a place already filled with them. I wouldn’t allow it.

I plunged forward, the crackling fire a mere arm’s length away, making each step a battle. The smoke stole the oxygen from my lungs. But I pushed on, dragging Mickey’s body with me. I could see the back door in the short distance, and the sight made me move faster.

With a strength borne of desperation, I shouldered it open and stumbled out into the night, the cool air hitting me like a reassuring wave.

“Serina!” came a shout, muffled and distant over the ringing in my ears. But I couldn’t respond, my throat raw, my body succumbing to the exhaustion and the smoke that had filled it.

“I’m here,” I managed to gasp, my voice no more than a hoarse whisper. Each word felt like sandpaper against my vocal cords. My legs wobbled beneath me as I staggered forward, collapsing next to Mickey.

My lungs heaved for clean air while Mickey lay unmoving beside me. The world seemed to slow, the sounds of chaos dulling into a muffled roar.

Then they were there—Bastian, Thorne, Nox.

Another explosion boomed from within Mickey’s Diner. A hot surge of grief welled up inside me, thick and suffocating.

The booth—our booth, tucked in the corner of Mickey’s, where Dad would tell jokes over milkshakes and Mom would laugh, her eyes sparkling like the stars above, it held the remnants of all I had left of them.

“No,” I croaked, the word barely more than a rasp.

Desperation clawed at me, urging me to stand, to run back into the blaze to retrieve what little I had left of them.

But my body betrayed me, too weak, too smoke-ridden.

“The booth… the booth.” The words tumbled out, choked by tears that streamed down my cheeks, mingling with the soot that stained my skin.

The last thing I saw before darkness took me was the fire reaching skyward, an orange beast claiming the last piece of everything I loved. And then, nothing but black.