The Donor House: Katie: The Offer of a Vampire Loan Shark

[k_a_webb]

The library was where Katie went to escape. As she sat in her favourite window seat, staring out at the people walking past, she tried not to think, because that way she could pretend that everything was going to be okay. It was easier than having to deal with how much her father’s death had changed her life. She wasn’t thinking about going to university any more, but about what job she could get, especially as the vampire her mother was stupid enough to borrow money from wanted payment. Leaning her head on her hand she sighed, wondering how they were going to pay the next installment, let alone the ones that would come after, and how she was going to convince her mother to stop borrowing money Katie didn’t think they’d ever be able to pay back.

When a vampire sat down opposite her, one she remember being a child of the lender vampire, she wasn’t surprised. Their eyes met for a moment and she found herself thinking he’d be rather attractive if he wasn’t a vampire. “You know why I’m here,” he said, a statement rather than a question, but she nodded anyway. “Do you think you’ll be able to make the next payment?”

Honesty wasn’t the best idea when it came to answering that question, but Katie knew that her hesitation was more than enough of an answer for him. “We’ll do our best.”

“But the likelihood is that your best won’t be good enough.” He shrugged. “There are other options.” Katie shook her head, already knowing what they were going to be, and wished she hadn’t thought for a moment that one of them might actually be a way out of their current problems. “Look, Katie, you have three brothers who’ve just lost their dad, and my creator isn’t known for his patience. Your mother has already missed the deadline on two payments, and even though she did pay the day after I think if she misses another he might take things to another level. I’m sure you don’t want anything to happen to her that might affect the care she can give your brothers.”

“Then I’ll make sure we won’t miss the next one.”

“It’s not that simple, though, is it?” Katie knew the question was rhetorical and she was grateful for that. “Normally he wouldn’t have sent me here to make you an offer, but he has and it’s something you should think about before you turn it down.”

Katie laughed. “How many people have you used that line on?”

“More than I should.” He looked at her, his eyes full of sympathy that she didn’t believe was real. “I’ll be honest with you, because I think he was wrong to do something like this to a woman who was just widowed and her children. He doesn’t loan out money with the expectation that he’s going to get it back – he loans it out with the expectation that he’s going to get something else from it, usually a young girl like you.”

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.