Darkness (2 page)

There was a patio table just outside the backdoor. A round wrought iron table with four matching chairs. Felix and Oliver were in what appeared to be an intense conversation. Arms crossed on the table, both leaning towards the other. A sharp laugh escaped me when I noticed that Felix was perched awkwardly in one of the armed wrought iron seats. He was so big that he didn’t fit between the arms of the chair.

I headed down the hall still chuckling to myself. I took a sharp right turn at the end of the hallway. There was an open door directly in front of me that was obviously the laundry room and it appeared to lead into the garage; there was a closed door on my left and straight across from that door was Oliver’s. I pushed open the door to Oliver’s room and retrieved my bags. There were two of them; the one I had originally packed to stay at Oliver’s and a second one that had been packed for me. I was quite curious to know what that one held. Leaving my shoes in Oliver’s room, I padded back to the bathroom near the opening of the hallway.

It was interesting, what that extra bag contained, mostly winter clothes: long sleeve shirts, a hooded sweatshirt, tanks, a couple pairs of jeans and jammies, one dressy outfit and some socks. I found it odd that there weren’t any extra underwear or bras. Maybe those items made Felix feel like he was crossing a line. The bag also contained an entire box of tampons, which I found strange. Tampons weren’t a line crosser but undergarments were? Very odd…Then I thought:
Could he tell I was due to start soon? Ew! I didn’t want to know.

I dug through the bag I had packed and pulled out all the bathroom items I would be needing and my black velour pants and jacket, along with a dark red tank top and a fresh pair of socks, panties and a clean bra.

I started the shower and tested the water temperature–it was too cold. I found a fat, fluffy towel nicely folded in the white bathroom cabinet that went all the way up the wall beside the sink. I hung the towel over the curtain rod to the shower and tested the water again. Still too chilly. As I waited for the water to warm, I took in the bathroom that I had only been in once before. The walls were a pale blue. There were two lime green shag rugs on the slate floor: one in front of the shower, the other in front of the sink. The shower curtain was one of those fabric ones, not the stinky plastic kind, and it was covered in frogs, lily pads, turtles and dragonflies in a rainbow of colors over a light blue background. The curtain hooks were a simple silver just like the fixtures. I checked the water again and it was perfect. I shrugged out of Oliver’s filthy black hoodie and lay it across my bags, then I stripped naked and stepped into the shower. The tub was covered in those non-skid stickers, a mixture of yellow ducks and green frogs. I had a mental picture of Oliver peeling and sticking them to the tub while a happy Hayden excitedly awaited her new tub mates to be applied. But for all I knew, they came with the house.

As I showered, a very well needed shower, I replayed the moments of the last several days. It had been a rollercoaster of events and emotions and I was sure that I was exhausted because no way would a well rested, sane person be calm and okay with all the things I had just been through.
Perhaps I am crazy, maybe being low on blood and sleep will do that to you?
Or, maybe, just maybe, the loony bins of the world are full of vampire lovin’ people and all they really need is a good night’s sleep and a blood transfusion. Suddenly a panicked thought brought me back:
Did I lock the bathroom door?
I hurried to finish my shower, scrubbed my hair for a second time–I wanted no residue of the previous night left on me–then I let the conditioner sit in my hair as I quickly shaved my legs and pits. And a little too quickly I should add, since I ended up nicking the outside of my right knee. It wasn’t bad but I did have a small fear that the nearby vampires would smell it and come rushing in for a little snack. No thanks! I moved on, rinsed my hair and the rest of me, turned off the water, threw the towel around me and bounded out of the shower and to the bathroom door which, sure enough, I had not locked. I clicked the lock into place and sighed a breath of relief. I really didn’t want to have a naked encounter with anyone, not right then anyway.

After drying myself off and wrapping the towel on my head, I discovered there was a full length mirror on the back of the door beneath someone’s pink robe. I think it was safe to say it was Hayden’s. Julz didn’t seem like much of a pink person to me. I examined my battered naked body. The lights were bright in the bathroom, a little too bright, making it hard not to see all the imperfections across me. The bruise across my back from our car accident was yellowing already, that was good, but I had a few new ones that were a deep purple. They were scattered over my body here and there, mostly small, and not too many. The only one that really stood out was the one on my forearm where Oliver had grabbed me. I knew he was going to feel terrible about it and I decided I wasn’t going to point it out: I’d hide it under long sleeves until it was gone. I drew closer to the mirror searching for a mark on my neck. Nothing. I couldn’t find a thing and I found that to be unbelievable. I turned every which way trying to discover even a hint of something from the vampire bite, but still nothing. Vampire spit really was magical. And just for the hell of it, I tried to find my pupils. The light was so bright I could actually see the tiny little black dots centered amongst the deep, dark solid brown.
Hmm, maybe there’s some vamp line in me
,
somewhere.

As I dressed I decided that I needed a different color tank top. I’d recently seen enough red to last me a life time. I dug through the bag that Felix had packed for me–that was so weird–and found a black tank that was covered in multi-colored stars. That would do. I found a blow dryer under the sink and after brushing out my long, thick, chestnut brown hair I took a little extra time to dry it. My hair, which naturally curls into large ringlets at the bottom, was hard to dry completely. So I left it a little damp, hoping it would dry quickly on its own. I gathered my stuff and headed back down the hall.

Chapter 2 - Dragon Mark

My arms were loaded with dirty clothes, a wet towel, my bags and my jacket as I stood in front of Oliver’s bedroom door. It was the same room in which I had seen the encounter between him and Julz. The door was open only a crack, just as it had been on that day. I had a moment of anxiety as I slowly nudged it open with my foot. I was afraid I’d see what I’d seen before, and I was pretty sure that would be the last straw for me. But that’s not what the open door revealed. There, facing the window, with his bare back to me, was my beautiful vampire fastening the button of his jeans. The band of his underpants, that I’d missed seeing only by a fraction of a second, sticking out a tiny bit from the jeans that rode low on his hips.

I quietly set my stuff on the floor in front of the closet and crossed the room to him. He had yet to acknowledge I was there. He had a dark T-shirt in his hands that he was about to put on and when he lifted his arms to pull it over his head I noticed something down his left side. I was right behind him then and his body stiffened as I lightly traced the large tattoo of a dragon in the infinity shape. It was sideways, resembling the number eight, and rather large–it ran from about mid rib cage to just above his sexy protruding hip bone. It was almost completely solid black with the dragon’s head facing up and the tail coming up close to the dragon’s face. I noticed a set of numbers and letters curving around the outside of the tattoo and something flashed in my mind. I’d seen this tattoo before, but not on him. I took a step back and he spun around. His eyes held mine for a quick moment before he had me in his arms and was kissing me. His shirt was on the floor and his hair was still damp from the shower he’d obviously taken in the second bathroom that I assumed was behind one of the other closed doors.

I placed my hands on his firm naked chest and pushed back. He released his grip on me and eyed me curiously. Okay, I’d been wrong before about his body and it not being so chiseled to make you self-conscious. He was fit, toned and chiseled. I felt insecurities surface I didn’t even know I had. I gulped. I tried to focus but every bare inch of his skin was calling to me, begging me to touch, kiss it and possibly even bite it. I took another step back, closed my eyes tight and shook my head. It didn’t help. I took a deep breath that didn’t help due to the scent he was exuding. I exhaled and opened my eyes. I pointed to his side. “What is that from?”

He gave his side a quick glance then said, “It’s my identifying mark from the coven. We each have one.” He took a step closer and reached for my hand. “Are you okay?” He dipped his head so his fantastic green eyes were level with mine.

“I-I’m fine,” I tried to keep my voice normal. “I think I’m just really tired. I feel like I could sleep for a week.” I was keeping my eyes on his, avoiding making any eye contact with his chest, afraid it would begin calling to me again.

“Only if I can hold you while you do.” He leaned in to kiss me again and all I could think was “only if you keep your shirt off.” But his kiss didn’t make contact, instead he lifted my bruised arm and gaped at it as a look of concern took over his expression. “How did this happen?” he asked, his eyes going from my forearm to my face. I caught a sudden stronger waft of his scent. I made an apologetic face. I hadn’t wanted him to see my arm. “I did that, didn’t I?” His eyes narrowed on mine. I nodded slightly. “Oh Laney, I am so sorry!” He pulled me to the bed and sat us both on the edge of it. He held my bruised arm in his hands and kissed it lightly, repeatedly telling me he was sorry.

He gave me a crooked grin and let my arm free, “I’m not sure I believe you.” And with that he quickly kissed my forehead, rose from the bed and retrieved his T-shirt from the floor. He slipped it over his head and returned to my side on the edge of the full-sized bed.

I thought there was something else I wanted to ask, but all I could think about was what the rest of him might look like naked.

Oliver took my hand in his and held it gently, absently stroking the back of it with his thumb while he seemed to space off. “So, we need to figure some things out,” he said and my first thought was, “Yeah, like how fast can I get that shirt off of you again?” But instead I smiled at him and said, “Like what?”

He looked over at me and I felt myself falling into his deep pools of green. “Well,” he began, “are you okay staying here with me for a few days? I’m not sure how we’re going to be dealing with what happened back in town yet. But I know that the campus will be closed for at least a week.”

“Of course.” I held my smile, but “at least a week” was kind of a long time to be stuck in a room with him. I was sure there was no way I was going to be able to keep my hands to myself. Maybe after a good night’s sleep I’d be able to control my impulses a little more. I was pretty impressed with myself so far.

“I’ll do what I can to keep Julz on her best behavior.” He smiled slightly and I felt my mood start to plummet at the mention of her name.
Well, at least now we know what gets my hormones in check.

“What are we going to do about my car?” I asked.

“I’ll get to it. We’ve got to get the town secure before I can worry about that.” He looked past me and began to space off again while absently rubbing the back of my hand once more. I began talking about random things to fill the silence.

“So, I was checking myself over in the mirror and couldn’t find even a hint of a mark from that nasty bite from last night.” It seemed like it had been so much longer ago. “You do have magical spit,” I joked.

He chuckled lightly and kept rubbing my hand with his thumb. “Yeah, it’s my super power,” he joked back. Then in all seriousness he said, “And let’s not share that incident with anyone, okay.” His eyes met mine with complete sincerity.

I nodded and his smile returned.

Quietly I asked, “Why were you able to feed from me last night? The first time I was bleeding near you, you about jumped through a wall.”

He chuckled again. “I’m not sure. I had just fed and it was pure vampire blood. Maybe that had something to do with it.” His sparkling emerald eyes lifted to meet mine again, “It just seemed right.” And it was the way he said it that made certain areas of my body start to tingle.

I needed to distract myself and regain my control. But before I could say anything else he spoke again, “There was no venom in your system.” He was staring off again and I wasn’t even sure he was speaking to me.

“What?”

He blinked a couple of times and focused on me, “When he bit you last night, he didn’t release any venom into your system. There wasn’t a trace of it in your blood. I’ve heard of it before, that there’s a way to bite without releasing venom, but I heard it was really hard to do. That guy didn’t seem like he’d be the type to have that kind of control…” He trailed off into that space between here and there again and I waited for a few minutes to see if he’d continue, but he didn’t.