In My Veins (7 page)

He
brought his face closer to mine. Taunting me and daring me to guess who or what
he was. I realized that moment that I was probably about to die. I didn’t care
if I knew him or not, I just wanted to get away. I prayed that it was a
nightmare and I would wake up any moment but his grip around my wrist felt too
real to be a dream.

I closed my eyes anyway, hoping I was
wrong. Even if I wasn’t, I didn’t want to see his face as I died. “Please let
me go…” I forced myself to say. I was finally able to speak once I closed my
eyes.

I was slammed onto the ground and his
hands were ripped away from my wrists. I slowly opened my eyes to see the
monster fighting with someone. I was being saved?! I tried to see who the new
person was so I could tell them to run away too but they were too busy
fighting, and from the looks of it, winning.

I caught a glimpse of the new person’s
eyes and they looked reddish. I had to blink twice to make sure I was seeing
things right and I was. He had bright red eyes and was growling like the
monster before. As he was growling I noticed he had similar teeth to the person
before too. Almost…like a vampire. If vampires were real, these two were
definitely vampires.

I panicked wanting to run away...but I still
couldn’t move. I wanted to help the new one.

“Run away!” The new one yelled. He
sounded so familiar…“Run!” He growled again making his voice lose the
familiarity.

I nodded nervously, whoever...
whatever
it is, was trying to help me for some reason. I stood up with shaky legs and
ran towards my car.

I drove to my apartment. Surprisingly, I
didn’t get into an accident from shaking like a chihuahua and driving way over
the speeding limit.

I ran into my apartment as soon as I
reached it and immediately locked the door. I triple checked my locks, not that
the locks would keep away a monster. Or vampire. Or whatever the hell it was.

I felt like I was about to have a panic
attack. I had never had one before but I could just feel one coming. I patted
my pockets for my cell phone to call James but realized it wasn’t with me. I
had dropped it…

I had to talk to James. I needed some
comfort.

I grabbed the house phone and ran to my
bed to hide under the covers for some added comfort. I felt like a kid under my
blanket as I dialed James’s number. He had to be worried since I dropped my
phone. I couldn’t be alone and I really hoped he’d come over.

I was about to press call when my
doorbell rang.

I panicked. What if it was the monster
vampire thing? But would a monster vampire thing ring the doorbell or just
break down the door?

I guess they wouldn’t.

I slowly walked towards the door and
looked out the peep hole. My heart was racing until I saw that it was James.
Finally feeling like I could breathe I quickly opened the door and hugged him.

He held me tight and pushed me into my
apartment. Holding me by my waist with one arm he locked the door with the
other.

He guided me to my sofa and sat us down.
I buried my face in his chest and started crying as he stroked my hair.

“It’s okay baby, you’re safe now.” He
said softly.

“I was so scared…” I sobbed. I couldn’t
believe I was crying but seeing James had a weird effect on me. It was
reassurance that I was okay but it was also proof that that wasn’t a dream. I
was partly in denial till that moment.

“I’m here. I won’t let anything hurt
you.”

I cried with my face buried in his neck.
He stroked my back trying to calm me down. I felt embarrassed for crying but I
was too scared not too.  After I calmed down and was had staggering
breathing he pulled me back and wiped my tears with his fingers.

“Can you tell me what happened?” He
asked still holding me close.

“I don’t even know…” My heart was still
racing but his arms wrapped around me helped slow it down. I felt like I ran a
marathon. He was in a black V-neck t-shirt that showed off his arms. Definitely
on the top five list of my favorite James body parts.  He was slightly sweaty
and breathing hard. I realized he must have parked far away.

“It was so scary…” I said with a
shaky voice, “it was like a monster.”

He cringed at my choice of words. He
probably thought I was insane. Probably thinking ‘
great, girlfriend went off
the deep end after meeting my family. What do I tell them now?’

“What…how did you get away?” He asked,
but I could feel that he wanted to ask me something else. Probably something
along the lines of,
‘did you eat something funny today?’

“Something saved me…”

“Something?”

My heart was racing again as I
remembered the familiarity in both of them. I looked up at James’s eyes needing
some comfort. His beautiful grey blue eyes, were looking into mine. They were
not bright red or an unnatural color. But they were filled with worry.

“How did it look baby?” he asked again.

“It was…similar to the other one. But
different from a monster. It…
he
... wasn’t a monster. It told me to run
away…
he
saved me.”

He took a deep breath and forced himself
to smile, “Thank God.”

He pulled me to his chest again and made
me rest my head on his shoulder.

I buried my face in the crook of his neck
as he buried his in my hair. I always loved how he smelled. A cross between the
pricy cologne he uses and his own manly scent. He kissed the top of my head and
I couldn’t help but smile.

“James…could I ask you something?”

He noticeably tensed but quickly tried
to hide it. I wondered if he knew what I was going to ask and was hoping I
wouldn’t, “Of course baby.”

 “Could you maybe stay here tonight?
I…I’m scared to be alone…” I asked and regretted it, “Or not… I’ll be okay if
you decide not to.”

 “Even if you didn’t ask, I was
going to camp out front” he said and pulled me closer again.

I woke up in James’s arms. It was still dark.
James’s breathing was even and the apartment was quiet. Judging from the
minimal city noises I was hearing outside it was extremely late or early
depending on how one would look at it. I didn’t want to move and wake up James.
The fact that he was with me and not at the comfort of his own home was making
me guilty enough.

Waking him up at whatever time it was
would make me feel worse.

“Can’t sleep?” He asked giving me a
quick squeeze in his arms.

“Did I wake you?”

“No…” he said pulling away, “Are you
okay?”

I nodded, “I’m okay.”

He nodded back and pulled me close to
him again, “Then sleep baby. You need rest.”

“I know…” I mumbled cuddling into his
hard chest. I took in his scent again, feeling creepy, but he smelled too good
not to. He ran his fingers down my spine sending a chill throughout my body but
it felt good. Before I knew it my eyes were heavy and I was fast asleep.

I woke up to the smell of breakfast. My
favorite meal of the day even though I’m always too lazy to make it. I walked
into the kitchen to see a fresh pot of coffee, toast popped out of the toaster
and James making eggs. He looked at me and smiled, “Good morning beautiful.”

I groaned knowing he was lying. Who
looks beautiful in the mornings?

He laughed, “Not a morning person?”

“Good morning.” I smirked wrapping my
arms around his waist and getting in the way of his arms as he cooked. He
adjusted so he could give me a morning kiss and he examined my face, “Did you
sleep okay?”

“I did because of you. Thanks for
staying over.” I said shyly.

“You couldn’t have kept me away baby.”
He said finishing up his cooking, “I hope eggs are okay.”

“They’re perfect. I’ll pour our coffee.”

He stayed with me until I had to go to
work. He hesitated letting me go but I reminded him that he had a production
empire to run too. But I let him convince me to drop me off and pick me up for
a few days till I get over the mugger.

*
*
*

I was jumpy since the attack. Few days
went by and I hated going to work. The only good thing about it was the time I
spent with James in the mornings and nights. But I was paranoid having to sit
by the window and look over the parking lot. I always felt like I was being
watched from there but I had to remind myself that that was ridiculous. I was a
few floors up and wouldn’t even be visible from the parking lot.

James insisted that I stayed with him
but I had to decline that offer. As much as I wanted it, I couldn’t change my
life because of a mugger.

After some sleep, thanks to James, I was
convincing myself it was a mugger and the other guy was an innocent bystander
who helped. It had to have been. The only reason they looked different was
lighting and my lack of sleep because of work. It was the only explanation that
made sense.

 I was also having nightmares of
the…
mugger
. The worst was probably the monster mugger showing up in my
home and attacking me. But what was extra weird about this dream was that James
was the one who saved me from him. I wish I would dream of the other person, so
I could have a better look at it even though it’s just a dream.

For some reason I felt like I couldn’t
talk to others about it, both the dream and the attack.  So I didn’t tell
James of the dreams and anything else to anyone else. Especially Tiffany or my
mom. They would both freak out and make me go back home.

I drank my coffee in my little cubical,
not being able to concentrate. I stared at the coffee and remembered Lana the
gypsy telling me I needed to be careful. Could this have been what she was
talking about? Do I still need to be careful? Will I be attacked again?

Maybe if I go see her again she could
tell me if I would be attacked again. But James had asked me not to go…

Maybe I could ask him if I could. I felt
so stupid having to ask permission from my boyfriend, but he seemed so opposed
of it that I would feel guilty not asking before I did. 

I felt stupid for even wanting to see a
psychic or whatever she was.

I stared at the blank screen on my
computer. It wasn’t totally blank, I had an inbox full of emails I had to reply
to for work but it might has well been. I could not concentrate or think to
save my life. I could just feel Jennifer’s eyes on me. She was studying me and
could probably see my inability to work. I looked up in her direction and her
eyes met with mine.

“You look more relaxed than usual. I
noticed your new boyfriend drops you off lately. He picks you up too?”

“Why do you care?” I snapped.

“No need to get hostile, just curious.”
She shrugged and walked back to her desk.

After receiving a text from James saying
he was going to pick me up a little earlier than I normally finished for some
sushi, I called it a day. My day was supposed to be over an hour ago anyway and
I promised myself I wouldn’t stay late anymore. I think that was why he asked
me out to dinner today, just another way to get me out of work earlier than I
usually do. Aside from a few other people I was the only one left in the office
so I waved goodbye to them and made my way to the elevator.

I walked into the elevator and forced
myself not to groan when I saw that someone was already in there. Being alone
in an elevator with a stranger was not something I was looking forward to after
that attack.

I could feel his eyes on me as I reached
to press the first floor button. Whoever he was, was going to the parking
garage below the building. I looked over to have a better look at him and was
surprised to see the familiar looking man. He smirked and nodded a hello to me.

He was really handsome. His eyes were a piercing
shade of blue brown and were naturally smoldery. They had a piercing glare to
them that was hard to look away from and his dark hair that went barely below
his ears was styled neatly, a lot like David’s. He actually looked a lot like
David but different too.
Where had I seen him before?

“Karina right?” he asked getting me out
of my thoughts.
He knows my name?
“I met you a while ago at the company
get together. I was with Jennifer. Collin.”

“Oh…hi. Jennifer’s boyfriend right? You
work here?”

“Jennifer’s fiancé.” He corrected me, “I
work a few floors up. Law offices…” He smirked as the elevator door closed so
we could start heading down. My stomach twisted and I had a bad feeling telling
me to get away from him. I brushed it aside telling myself I was just being
paranoid. If anything, there is a security camera in the elevator and an
emergency button. And most importantly, James was waiting for me in the first
floor.

The fiancé bit explains why I felt
uncomfortable with him. Like Tiffany would say, I could probably feel his
‘hateful aura’ so it makes me feel unwanted by him.

He leaned back in the corner of the
elevator he was standing in and kept his eyes on me the entire ride down. I was
frozen in my spot, standing and just praying that the elevator would hurry down
so I could see James and be put at ease. My heart was racing as I stared at
where the elevator doors meet together, telling myself I would run out the
minute I could.

I started tapping my foot on the floor
to get my mind off of Collin but it wasn’t working. I heard him chuckle as he got
off his corner and walked next to me in the middle of the elevator. He was a
little too close to my personal space that I slowly took a step forward.

I took deep quiet breaths trying to calm
myself down. But it wasn’t helping. It was making it worse. I was starting to
panic and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. 

The elevator couldn’t be any slower. I
needed to see James. And he was right at the bottom waiting for me. James had a
way of comforting me. Before I know it I will be in his strong arms and out of
this cold elevator. Making me feel safe. He will be there and I’ll be away from
the small elevator.

The elevator finally made it to the
first floor and opened, James was standing outside the elevator looking outside
the glass doors towards the parking lot. He turned around immediately and
looked surprised as I ran up into his arms and hugged him tightly.

“Are you okay?” He kissed the top of my
head as he looked inside the elevator. Worry was etched onto his face and I
felt so bad for making him become just as paranoid as me.

“I’m fine now.” I said and took his
hand, “We should get going though. I’m starving.”

He nodded and glanced back at the
elevator one last time as he held the door open for me. I heard a deep growl or
something come from him but brushed it off as a guy trying to be manly and ‘not
cute’.

We talked a bit during dinner but I
could tell his mind was elsewhere. He’s been edgier than me since the night of
the attack and has been extra edgy after picking me up today. He kept looking
in the rear view mirror like we were being followed and kept his eye on the
outside of the restaurant from the window.

“Are you okay?” I asked when I noticed
his glare as he scanned the restaurant.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine.” He smiled, “How was
work?”

“Good…just stressful. Jennifer is
constantly following me around trying to get a glimpse of my presentation. I
think she lost her creative touch and can’t come up with ideas for hers. If she
spent less time trying  to figure out what I was doing she would probably come
up with better ideas.” I smiled at the thought, “How about you?” I asked and
noticed he was still zoned out.

He didn’t answer.

“You know… you’re excuse was to protect
me. That’s why you won’t let me drive to and from work… but you’re more zoned
out than I am.” I said and nudged his leg from under the table.

He jumped in his seat a little, “Sorry
baby, I was just thinking…”

“About what?” There was something clearly
on his mind for a while but he won’t say what it was. I had a feeling he was
keeping something from me. I always did. And it was slowly coming to the
surface but he was hesitating telling me.

“I…it’s nothing.” He hesitated and stared
at his plate of sushi.

 “James…” I started wanting to
change the subject of work and protection, “Why are you so against me seeing
the gypsy again?”

I noticed his jaw tense and his knuckles
whiten. His tough guy mask was back as his shoulders stood straight and his
eyes looked angry, “Why are you asking?”

“I kind of wanted to… go to her again.” I
mumbled.

He put his drink down and stared at me. He
had never been mad at me before but he looked furious. “No.” he said quietly
but firmly.

“I just want to see her for some
comfort. She told me I should be careful and that attack happened. I just want
to know if it would happen again. Maybe she’ll have something to tell me---”

“Comfort? I can be around more. That should
be enough comfort, shouldn’t it? I won’t let anything happen to you.” He said
almost offended that I would ask to see Lana. His eyes drifted back to the
window and he looked worried again.

“Why won’t you let me see her? Is she an
ex or something?”

He looked shocked that I would even
think it, “No.”

“Then?”

“I just don’t want to lose you.” He said
quietly, probably not wanting me to hear but I did.

“Baby you won’t lose me if I go see some
psychic.” I laughed, “I don’t even believe her that much.”

“If you don’t believe her
don’t
see her.”

“It’s more of a way to ease my mind. I’m
sure she’ll say it was a onetime thing and I’ll get over it. I just want to see
if another attack would turn up in my cup. Then I’ll never see her again.”

His jaw tensed and he didn’t say
anything. I glared at him. I just don’t get it. What could possibly be the
problem?

“Whatever James…” I mumbled hating that
he was being secretive about some bogus psychic.

We finished our dinner quietly and
headed out of the restaurant. We stood outside for a moment in an awkward
silence. He looked at me, still holding back his anger, “I have never asked you
not to do anything except for this. Please just don’t see her.”

I hated admitting I was wrong and he was
right. He had never asked me for anything but this. But my stupid pride was not
going to let me put this down. And there had to be more to the reason why he
won’t let me see her. It had to do with whatever he was keeping from me.

“Ever since that stupid mugger monster thing,
whatever it was, you have been smothering me James. I get it. You’re protecting
me because I’m scared and I’m so thankful for that. But I’ll never get over it
if you baby me.”

“Monster?” he said sounding oddly
offended.

I rolled my eyes, “James… that’s beside
the point. I really like being with you. But I can’t be okay with being bossed
around.” I said putting my food down and walked off towards the direction of my
apartment. It’s far. But I was too angry to care and be in the awkward and
quiet ride with him.