The Haunted_Edit Copy 4-7-17

“Usually.” He reached inside the collar of his baby-blue polo
and pulled out a thin black rope. It was threaded through a small
chunk of black stone. “This is obsidian. Apache Tear, to be exact.
It’s for grounding and protection. I never take it off except to clean
it.”
I was about to ask where I could get one, but at that moment
the two vampire girls popped up out of nowhere with armloads of
books.
“Excuse me, mister, how much are these?” one of them
asked.
“Those are a dollar a piece. How many do you have there?”
Tucker asked. He tucked my brother’s list into his own book and
placed it somewhere behind the counter.
“I have six, and she has six. But we’re gonna grab some more
since they’re not that much.” The girls dropped their books on the
floor and disappeared back into the stacks.
Before I could get in the way, I started to back up towards
the door. “Looks like duty calls. I’ll stop back in another time. Or
would this be easier when you’re not working?”
Tucker stood up off his stool and leaned against the counter.
“Actually, it probably would be a lot easier. Do you want to meet up
somewhere else?”
“Sure. Do you live around here?” A little voice in my head
was murmuring something about talking to strangers I barely knew,
but my curiosity was greater than my sense of caution. I wasn’t as
scared by the living as I was by the dead.
“Literally around the block.”
“Okay. I’m not far at all, either. What about the little coffee
house down the street?”
He nodded. “You mean Joe Bean’s? Sounds good to me.
When are you free?”
“Sunday I’m only working until four.”
“Meet you Sunday night at eight?”
“I’ll see you then.” By that time I had reached the door, so
with a little wave I turned around and pushed my way out into the
warm summer air.
22