What i Found In You (9 page)

              I sighed, "Apparently, I have no choice." We walked to the door. His hand was on the handle of the door when he turned to look at me.

              "You know, you’ve gotten to taste my blood, but I never got to taste yours." He placed his hand on my cheek and lowered his face to mine. "There was the slightest hint in the air last night but not enough for me to really experience it." I was frozen; the feel of his touch holding me in place, even my heart seemed to stand still. Was he going to bite me with Sam walking up the path to the door? He took a look into my eyes over his glasses and then lightly pressed his lips to the base of my neck where they rested for a second or two, but it felt like days and the tingling sensation traveled down my back to my toes then back up in all the right places till it reached my head. I went fuzzy and swayed a little but he stood back a teasing triumphant look on his face. "Hmm…" he said, licking his lips. "I missed out, it seems." He opened the door and Sam's knock missed the door and landed on his chest. "Hi," he said with a smile.

              "Uh... hi," she said, shocked and not realizing she hadn’t moved her hand, and then she flinched away with a “Sorry.”

              “It's okay." I moved the door. I will see you later, Vanessa," he said, turning to me. Sam and I stood there until his car was out of sight, then Sam turned to me.

              "Tell me everything, now!" For some reason, I couldn’t help but smile.

Alyon Alik

Chapter 11.0

              This is wrong and I dont care. In a few short hours Vanessa has sent me through a range of emotion I didn’t know I could still feel in earnest. As Vampire am so use to being the one in control both emotionally and physically, but when I’m near her I find myself taking my lead from her. Yet I clearly saw I also I had an effect on her so this was a two way street as we feed off each other in such a natural way. Could this truly have been love?

Vanessa Stanton

Chapter 12.0

              I couldn't tell Sam what was really going on because I didn’t really know myself. What I told myself was that I was keeping Alik's secret, but I lied to myself all the time. I settled her curiosity with a stupid story about Alik calling me and asking if I wanted to go get dinner. She made me thank her for passing out at Masteria and letting Alik get my number.

              “So did you invite him over here as well?” was her reply.

              “No, but he remembered my address from my ID.”

              "Did he just show up?"

              "No, he kind of helped me get out of a carjacking the other day after Eugene ran off." Her eyes exploded in her head.

              "That stupid son of a... What happened?" In my head, I saw all of this in the mindset of someone watching a mildly entertaining drama, so that’s how I explained it to Sam. There was a carjacking and I was a part of it. Alik saved me by killing the carjackers.... Knocking out the carjackers. I had to edit for Sam. Then he brought me home safely, and personally checked up on me this morning, this as he thought phone calls were too impersonal. She made an ‘awww’ at that and now here we are. “Wow, he must have seen something special in you,” she said after a moment of silence and I was glad she took that train of thought.

              Sam insisted on helping me pick an outfit. A thin low cut gray dress with black leggings, black flats and a black beret she found while digging through my closet. She then refused to leave, stating “YOU ARE NOT going to skip a detail. So I will be waiting here. Your mom is still determined to teach me how to cook, since my mom gave up years ago. So I will help her make dinner."

              "But I will have eaten by the time I get back."

              "The world isn’t all about you, we need to eat, too." I glared at her, and she laughed.

              Alik said he would be back at seven; I had been hoping he would come earlier as to avoid my parents. My mother was really intrusive in matters like boys, so when Alik rang the doorbell at seven, she beat me to the door, almost running. I'm glad he wasn't in his normal black suit, black tie, and black shirt with blacked out glasses. Instead, he looked more like a teenager, but respectable in the same sense. He had on a pair of dark black jeans, a nice black dress shirt, untucked, with gold and white lines crossing through it, and a pair of simple white shoes. His cotton jacket was also white with a small black rose on the pocket; three droplets of red... water... fell off the rose’s stem, at least I hoped that was water. I was too frantic to notice this morning, but when his eyes flickered to me under his lightly tinted glasses this time, there wasn’t that same sense of longing I once felt. I was like I knew what I was missing even without finding it. It wasn’t the most comforting thought, but it was an improvement from before.

              "Hello, you must be Alik," my mom said with a warm smile.

              "Hello, Mrs. Stanton."

              "Please, come in." She more or less pulled him through the door; she then examined him under the light from the hall. She placed one hand on his cheek and looked at his face. “I think you need a bigger jacket dear; you’re freezing,” she said. From across the room he caught my eye and gave me a smile that said he was enjoying himself a little too much. It was contagious all the same and I smiled back.

              “It is a bit cold out for a June night is all.” He told her changing his whole demeanor in seconds and I saw my mom react to this, she was his instantly.

              “Also, a bit more sun… you’re as pale as a ghost,” she stated, looking him up and down, even making a loop around him once to see every angle.

              “Occupational hazard of working nights,” was all he said.

              “Well, come sit down; we should talk for a moment. Vanessa doesn’t bring dates by the house.” He flashed me one more look as I died a little inside. She took his hand and led him into the living room where my father was sitting, watching the News. As she passed me, she mouthed “Wow” and I couldn’t help but grin a little through the pain.

              "Hello, Mr. Stanton," Alik said, shaking hands with my father. It felt like a seventies sitcom. My father turned off the TV and then looked Alik in the eye. For a second time I saw Alik change his demeanor in response to the handshake.

              "You’re taking my daughter to dinner tonight?" he asked with more authority than was really needed for this situation.

              "Yes sir."

              "May I ask where?"

              "You could, and I would be happy to tell you, but it would ruin the surprise."

              "Fair enough; I wouldn’t want to do that. What was that I heard you drive here in?"

              "An Aston Martin DBS; I just got it a few weeks ago." Next to me Sam gasped moving to a window to look out at his car, she then gave my father a confirming glance that didn’t miss Alik’s notice.

              He gave a clichéd whistle, impressed at something. "That’s a nice bit of kit, for a…?" he trailed off to leave room for Alik to fill in the unknown information.

              “For a nineteen year old; yeah I’d agree.”

              “How’d you come across the money to get that?” My dad was tactless.

              “That’s rude,” My mother injected.

“Well I would assume you were in college now. With how things are going in the economy, that’s a lot of money to spend on a car,” he said quickly changing the inflection on the invasive question.

              "I’m not in college, but I have gone for economics; I graduated a year ago. I work for my mom now; I handle the financial side of her business.”

              “What kind of business?”

              “She owns jazz clubs and lounges in a few independent hotels throughout New York and a few other states. We are looking to expand into owning a few more of the hotels themselves very soon.” He then looked to my mother as if he was embarrassed to ask my mom a question. “Can I ask... Are you the Mariee Stanton?” he asked my mom.

              “Yes, I am,” my mother said, blushing. From an inside jacket pocket, Alik pulled out a CD that had a picture of my mother in a little black dress taken almost twenty five years ago at her debut. It was used as the cover jacket for her first cassette; a CD of my mom’s hits was released recently and this was it.

              “Could I get your autograph; my mother is a big fan of yours, It would make her day to get your autograph,” he asked and my mother hastily found a sharpie and signed the CD.

              Throughout the entire conversation, my dad was suspicious, interested, confused, lost, and tactless. Alik, on the other hand, kept the same relaxed, calm, and cool tone the entire time. Nothing seemed as if it could bother him. My mother clearly adored him.

              "Well, you dress nicely, have a nice car, and seem to know your stuff; my daughter seems to be in good hands," my father stated, standing up and holding his hand out after the nearly fifteen minute interrogation. Alik shook once more, but my father didn’t let go. "Just make sure she comes home at a reasonable time, got it?"

              "Understood sir," Alik replied with a polite smile.

              I was still standing at the doorway to the living room watching this whole scene unfold with my arms folded as Sam tried not to laugh next to me. Both my parents walked us to the door as Sam bounced in the background. My father took a moment to hug me. "Keep this one, Ness, I like him," he whispered in my ear.

              We walked out to the car with my parents watching from the windows and Sam on the couch in the living room, peeking out through a blind. Alik opened my door and closed it for me. He then walked around slowly, got in the car, started it, and drove off slowly as well. He seemed to be putting on the gentleman's act for everyone, as they didn’t hide the fact that they wanted a show. Once he pulled off it was about five minutes until he finally said anything.

              "So, are you going to keep me?" he asked, falsely interested.

              “I figured you would have heard that."

              "That wasn’t an answer." This time the interest seemed more genuine.

              "I have no intention of dating a vampire."

              "Glad to see you understand what I am finally." His voice returned to its normal tone.

              “Are you going to bring me home alive?” He was silent for a moment, and that moment grew into seconds. “Well?!” I said, raising my voice a little.

              A grin broke out across his face and then he laughed. “I guess, although I am passing up a meal.”

              “That’s not funny.” I glared over at him. It was silent for a moment longer. "I have a question."

              "I thought you might have a few."

              "What did you do to me?”

              “I didn’t explain enough?”

              “No, not about the blood stuff; I mean that first night I met you as the door boy... man. I felt… different when I looked at you.”

              “Oh, that... Well humans don't have a natural predator on the planet, they are or were Apex predators until we showed up. We are adapted to hunt humans, the easiest way to do this is to manipulate a person's emotions gain their trust and let them give themselves to us. However some of our natural abilities dont always translate the same way in every human. All humans except for you I can look in the eye and in about five minutes I can ask them to jump off a bridge and they well ask which one.”

              “Like what you just did with my parents?”

              “You noticed that?” I wasn’t sure if that was shock or surprise in his voice,

              “Yeah, you did it about four times till I guess you found what worked best,”

              “I did, it took me five times actually to get the room right where I wanted it, you through me off a little.”

              “How?”

              “I’m not sure, I was a little worried about running into your parents incase they were immune to my charms as well, I don't meet too many of my dates parents.” he grinned.

              “Oh shut up,”

“Can I ask you something?”

              “Me?”

              “You’re the only person in the car.”

“You don’t have to be mean, it’s just: what would I know that you would want to know?”

              “Well, how did it feel…”  he trailed off for a moment.

              “I don’t really know.” I said. For some reason, I was embarrassed so I looked at my feet as I went on. “It was like I just wanted to be near you, but I’m not sure. You were safe, comfortable...”

              “Oh,”

              “What was going through your head?" I was ignoring how he had said oh,. "I thought I had imagined it, but when you told me your name, it felt like you didn’t really want to.”

              “You noticed that too? It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you my name, it was more that I shouldn’t. Us spending too much time together is not the best thing for either of us.”

              “Oh.” Vampires… I thought they would be scary, acting more like Jessica and Jordan. Alik seemed thoughtful and sometimes shy like a human, still I remember the chill in his voice when he spoke to Alisa or the look in his eye when he held Eugene back the other night, and still it wasn't enough to push me away from him. He was silent for another moment; hopefully, this wouldn’t become a habit. I looked over at him; he lightly held the wheel and looked straight out at the cars around us. His expression was one of deep concentration, although I didn’t think it was the road he was focused on.