She saw nothing out of the ordinary inside the mans mouth. He had completely normal teeth! They might even be described as a little bit yellow – not pearly white, but there were no fangs. No tusks. No pointy incisors. No jagged canines. No crazy bridgework. No funky dentition of any kind, in fact!
The mans eyes were light green and shone like a bright light underneath the streetlamp. He seemed a bit shocked to find himself on the pavement with a strange, long legged woman sitting on top of him, sticking her fingers into his mouth and playing with his lips. And where doesn’t that kind of behavior happen all the time?
As soon as Gabby realized she must look completely crazy to the guy she just tackled she rolled off him quickly and jumped up, dusting off her clothes, never saying another word. Her victim, still a bit woozy from the ambush started to get up himself too, looking rattled and nervous. He never took his eyes off her and watched her carefully, wondering if she would attack again as he tried to right himself again.
“What the hell…. are you crazy?!” he mumbled to himself and maybe to his attacker too, obviously quite livid, yet calm too, dusting himself off just like Gabby was doing right now, looking for rips in his clothing, smoothing down his short hair – all without ever taking his eyes off of her.
“I’m soooooooo sorry,” she replied to the man before he could finish his question. She felt completely ridiculous standing right before a complete stranger she had just tackled on the pavement, assuming that he was a supernatural creature. She now realized just how absurd the whole event had been.
“I thought you were… I… I thought you were someone else,” she mumbled and did her best to clear her throat.
“Is it customary in this part of town to tackle complete strangers to the ground?” the man asked, his tone incredulous as he continued to stare at her. “Or is it just you?”
“No… it’s not. I mean… it’s not a regular thing… well… I have to go. Bye!” Gabby said quickly as she turned to make her retreat, heading straight for her device before she left.
The confused, though, uninjured stranger, continued to look at her as she moved away in retreat, his brow was knit together in bewilderment, as she picked up the small metal box with flashing lights and then quickly walked back down the street away from him.
He continued to watch her as she slowly jogged away – with each step she took he could see that she obviously was cringing. He understood from her body language with each clumsy movement, that she had made a mistake – that she just wanted to get away and was hoping he would not call the police and report the attack.
“Hey! Young lady! Hey, please… wait a minute! Please?” he yelled after her.
Gabby immediately froze and flipped the on switch to off on her invention when she heard him yelling at her. Her heart was pounding inside her chest and she held her device tightly against her body as she heard his steps approaching her from behind.
“I don’t know what that was all about back there, but I think I at least deserve an introduction after you had your hands all in my mouth. Don’t you agree?” he questioned her, as he approached her – she could hear his footsteps drawing him a bit closer to her as she stood there in the street, clutching a metal box to her chest.
She continued to stand there in the middle of the street, wondering if she could take the humiliation long enough for him to catch up to her, but then he called out to her again. She turned to face the stranger – well, was anyone really a stranger once you have had your hands in their mouth, she wondered to herself? Gabby was completely overwhelmed and disappointed once she realized just how human this man in front of her was.
“I’m Asher,” the stranger said as he held out his hand to her, shaking hers carefully when she returned his gesture.
“Gabby,” she reluctantly admitted after internally debating whether or not she should give him her real name or a fake one. “Again, I’m really very sorry,” she added, looking anywhere but at him.
“Hey, mistakes happen, right… not that I believe that tackle you dropped on me was unintentional.” Asher laughed mildly. “It’s obvious that you didn’t mean to cause me any harm… at least once you stopped playing with my mouth anyway. But I would love to learn more about the person who you meant to tackle so I could warn him to start working out. You know, the person you obviously thought I was? More importantly, can you tell me just why you wanted to tackle that person in the first place,” he asked as he chuckled. “Maybe I can help,” he said laughing to himself again.
“Mmmmm… No… I don’t think so. It’s really… a little complicated,” she replied to him dismissively.
“Yeah, I kinda guessed that,” he said to her, his charming smile now making it hard for Gabby to look away. She was thankful just how good a sport Asher was after being mugged by a crazy lady carrying a metal box.
“Hey, listen…” he continued. “I’d love to get to know you a little better since you can obviously beat the crap out of me. Who knows, it seems to me that fate might have played a role in our meeting tonight. Just what are the chances two people would meet under the same conditions? And what a story we’ll have to tell our children…” he laughed. “So, would you like to get a beer or maybe some coffee some time?”
“Really?” Gabby asked him with surprise. She couldn’t believe he was letting her off the hook – and then asking her out too. What a weird way to pick up men she thought to herself. “Are you sure?”
“Hey… any woman bold enough to jump a complete stranger in the middle of the street… and then to force a dental exam on him too… now that is a girl that deserves to be known better, you know?” he winked at her lightly.
Gabby reluctantly agreed with his request and shyly exchanged phone numbers with him. She even gave him her real phone number. But she really didn’t think he would ever call her. In fact, she was pretty sure that he would never call her. But less than a week later, here they both sat in their local corner café, having a cup of coffee together.
Chapter 4
Turns out, Gabby was happier now than she had been in a long time. Despite their obvious differences and his complete lack of scientific knowledge she still found Asher to be easy to talk with and enjoyed listening to him too – and he had some really interesting ideas himself. His deep voice was a continuous hum in her life now and she looked forward to hearing it.
She found out a lot about him during their conversations – for one thing, that he was a social studies teacher at the local high school, which is probably why he was so comfortable talking to complete strangers. He had been teaching there for five years now and obviously loved what he did – you could tell just by listening to him. When she later revealed that she was a scientist, he was so curious that he pressed her for information about her work and wanted to know more about what she did for a living.
“Well, I’m not sure exactly what you’d want to know about my work – it’s actually pretty boring,” she said quietly as she stared down into her coffee.
Asher reached out to lightly touch the back of Gabby’s hand that was wrapped around the warm coffee mug. “Please, Gabby, don’t assume things about me. I’d love to hear all about your work and what you’re studying,” he said as he held her brown eyes with his own.
She grinned at his comment, hesitated for another moment, and then began to share the details of her research and studies, even including her goal to eventually prove to the public at large that paranormal creatures such as werewolves and vampires are really, very real.
Asher sat up straight in his seat upon hearing her plans and then slowly bent low over the table to quietly speak to her. “Creatures,” he repeated, his eyes tightening just slightly. “You mean like, werewolves, vampires, monsters under the bed, that sort of thing?” he smiled with mild amusement not knowing if she were really serious or not – and not wanting to say the wrong thing to hurt her feelings.
“But I don’t understand, Gabby, how can that be true? You seem really sure of yourself bu
t I have to ask, can you tell tell me, since I have never thought this to be true, just stories that you hear from time to time, what kind of proof do you have that these kinds of creatures really do exist?”
Gabby was relieved that Asher didn’t simply laugh in her face – she was so used to that response that she really expected it of him too. But his questions were a nice change of pace – and he even surprised her that he wanted to know more without just making fun of her or acting like she was a loon. Happy to have someone to talk to who seemed to be sincerely interested in her work, she went into great detail explaining to him all about her work, her research, her failures, and feeling kind of odd at being so frank with this stranger so soon.
Asher laughed and laughed when he recalled the unusual way that they met, now that he completely understood the reason. “Umm… so according to your invention, I give off some kind of a paranormal frequency, do I? I just thought it was my new aftershave,” he mused out loud.
Gabby, visibly still embarrassed at the memory, looked down at her hands as she blushed about how ridiculous it all must sound to him. Once again Asher reached out to lightly touch her hand and smile reassuringly during their discussion.
“Your work is really unusual. Potentially ground breaking too I have to believe. Having no scientific background I do find it all very intriguing from a lay person’s point of view,” he offered in a tone that was hard to define.
After a few more hours of conversation and about 2 more cups of coffee and a turkey sandwich that they shared, they finally parted ways, agreeing to repeat this pleasant meet up again soon. Gabby couldn’t believe her luck. Asher not only didn’t press charges against her when most people would have easily, but he was also easy to speak with too. And not at all hard on the eyes either! She was thankful for the potential new friend who had nothing at all to do with her school work or research life.
A week later they did meet again in the coffee shop. They talked on the phone several times throughout the week too and even exchanged a few texts. As time passed on their relationship eventually became much more intimate. Having always been such a book worm, Asher was Gabby’s first real boyfriend. He was also the first person that she rushed to call whenever she made a new discovery, a good grade or got an honorable mention in school, etc. – and he was always eager to listen to her open up about herself. He divulged information to her too whenever he faced any difficult circumstances at work, or just needed an escape from the regular day to day stuff.
As time went by, months passed and Gabby began to trust Asher more and more. They met at the coffee house several times a week and sometimes did other things. She began to wonder if there was something much more happening between the two of them. Oftentimes Asher would softly caress her cheek, or hold her hand, indicating that he was interested in her too.
Over the course of her short life Gabby had been so completely focused on her invention, research and career that it was difficult for her to now be completely confident that anyone could be serious about her. But when she did finally begin to understand that, yes, he did want more from her than just friendship, she was nervous about where that could lead. She valued their friendship and companionship so much that she didn’t want anything to do anything that would mess up what they had right now.
Chapter 5
Then sometime later, one day, it was the afternoon actually, there was a knock on Gabby’s door. And when she opened it up, not really thinking who it might be, she saw to her surprise that it was Asher.
“Asher!” she exclaimed in surprise and hugged him enthusiastically. “Hey, what are you doing here – shouldn’t you be at school right now?” she asked, her arms still wrapped around his neck.
He walked right on into her apartment, still holding her in a big bear hug as he embraced her in return – basically carrying her back into her apartment. Once he shut the door with his foot and sat her back down on the ground his strong hands grabbed her forearms and he gently pushed her away from him and toward her desk chair as he immediately sat down on her bed.
That was when Gabby noticed how serious and kind of strange Asher was acting. It stopped her jabbering instantly and she frowned as she realized something was really bothering him. And the fact he came to see her during his regular work hours – suddenly that realization worried her even more than anything.
“Asher, has something happened? Is something wrong?” she asked carefully, studying his eyes and expression as he sat on her bed, visibly bothered by something. He wasn’t even making eye contact with her.
“No… there’s nothing… wrong,” he said quietly as he sat on the bed just across from her. Then he did look up at her and make a feeble attempt at eye contact. “Sorry about showing up without calling first… but I do think I need to tell you something. Something important… but something that can’t be shared with anyone else,” he said to Gabby almost in a whisper as his voice got quieter and quieter.
“I have been thinking about this for weeks now… but didn’t know exactly how to say it… You have to promise me, Gabby,” he went on, “not to tell anyone though. And I mean anyone – not your family or friends… or anybody! I’m serious, because it could mean the end of life as we both know it.” He held her gaze just then, wanting to be sure that she understood just how severe this situation really was.
Gabby was really confused and a little bit spooked by the whole chain of events unfolding in front of her – the intensity of his tone and the strange way he was behaving, very unlike him, had completely shaken her. She pushed her chair back slightly and gestured for him to go on.
“Please, Gabby,” he patted the bed right next to him, “please, come over here and sit next to me,” he begged. She did as he asked – slowly.
As soon as they were sitting right beside each other on her bed she looked over at him and said, “Asher, I don’t know what’s wrong… or what has happened… but you know you can tell me anything, don’t you?”
He first looked at the floor, smiled faintly and then stared hard at his hands which were now propped against his knees – his right foot was moving like a nervous Mexican jumping bean under his hands. He was obviously pretty messed up about something.
Gabby reached over and slowly put her hand on his jumpy knee hoping to stop it from moving. “You know you can tell me anything – right?” she asked him in a slightly trembling tone. She really didn’t know what to expect – a thousand different things were running through her mind. She knew that something bad was wrong – but what could it be? She moved her hands over and grasped his sweaty hands gently in hers.
“Seriously. Anything. You can tell me anything… You know that – right?” she insisted as she bent down to try and make eye contact with him.
Asher, still looking anywhere but at her, hesitated a few seconds – almost as if he were processing what she had just said to him. Then he began to talk – his words flying past her, as if he thought he might not be able to say them if he talked slowly.
“Gabby, I don’t know any way to say this… other than just coming out and saying it. I’ve… I have been keeping a secret from you for the past several weeks,” he began, drawing her interest. “I know that it is best to keep this a secret from you, but when I hear how hard you are working, and how you run into these walls when it comes to your research, when I hear you doubting yourself, I just don’t think it’s fair of me to keep this to myself.”
To say Gabby was confused would have been an understatement, but she kept silent anyway. She wanted him to have the freedom to tell her exactly what he needed to – plus she didn’t really know what to say to him in his current state anyway. This type of grown-up drama was completely new to her.
“You have to realize, Gabby… that if I do tell you this,” and at just that second he tightened his grip on her hands and looked up to make eye contact with her. “You have to promise me that you will never, ever at any time, tell anyone else what I am about to tell you.”
He hesitat
ed, waiting to go on until he got some sort of sign from her that she understood what he was saying. After a second she realized what the silence meant and she nodded her head.
“Gabby, you will be the only one that knows this… the only person I have ever told this to… You’ll hold my life in your hands, if I share this with you. Do you understand what I am saying?” Another silence, then another head shake.
He went on, “If I tell you this, then I will be completely exposed. But if you don’t want me to tell you… so you won’t have to keep my secret – just tell me and I will leave right now. I don’t want to burden you with anything that you’re not ready for.”
“Asher, just tell me already… What is it?” Gabby choked out, her pulse racing as her heart pounded in her chest. If he didn’t tell her soon she was going to pop! Even with all the time they had spent together she had never seen Asher appear to be so frightened, even the first night they met when she mugged him out on the street – he was always so collected and even a little brassy.
Chapter 6
“Gabby… you were exactly right about me all along. I am exactly what you thought I was the first night we met… I am a supernatural creature… I am… a vampire,” he conceded to her in one quick but quiet outburst.
Gabby sat there for a second digesting what he had just admitted to her. She sat there, looked at him, then looked around the room, narrowed her eyes and tried to pull her hands free of his grip. “Are you trying to prank me because that’s not funny Asher. You know all about my work. Why would say something like that? Why would you tease me like that? I don’t understand… ” she said to him with obvious irritation in her voice.
She stood up and walked a few steps away from where he was seated – putting a little distance between them. She suddenly felt very betrayed by her friend and almost as if he was just trying to make fun of her somehow including her life’s work. He, of all people, knew exactly how important all of that was to her.
Dark DNA: A Paranormal Romance (Vampire and Werewolf) Page 2
