by Jeff Hale
“Name?” The guy asked looking down at a list. He was about five ten, maybe an inch taller, but about three feet across, and I had no doubt it was all muscle. He had a shaved head and brown eyes. He had dark skin, but not dark enough to make me think African. He was wearing a UNLV jersey and baggy white shorts, and had a large gold chain with a number as the pendant that matched the number on his jersey.
“Aerick Kerensky. I’m probably not on that list,” I said.
“Then you ain’t getting in, son,” he said, pushing me backwards.
I let the Aether flash through me for a split second before I calmed myself. I’ve been told when I do that a flash of fire and then ice passes through my eyes. The bouncer guy must have seen it because he went pale.
“I just can’t let you in unless you’re on the list. I’m really sorry,” he seemed to be pleading now.
“It’s okay, Bobby. The list is only for the freebies. If they pay cover they can come in, that’s the whole point of this,” the cheerleader next to him said. She held out a jar that had money in it towards me. The jar had a large $5 on it, so I placed ten dollars in it for me and Dave.
She gestured for us to go inside and I noticed that it was a decent sized frat house. The living area had two couches, a forty-two inch LCD TV, four recliners, a pool table and an air hockey table. The kitchen was big enough that there were about thirty people crammed in it trying to get drinks. I noticed the recurring Greek letters of Alpha Sigma Delta, which was obviously the house’s letters.
There was a backyard area off to the right through a sliding glass door, and I could see that it had a pool and hot tub. There were plenty of people back in that area and I saw people swimming, sitting in the hot tub or just hanging out around the edges.
On the other side of the stairs that led to the floors above was another living room area with an open floor where a few people were dancing, and the sound equipment for the music. There was a huge fireplace and mantle, and I saw pictures of the current frat brothers as well as the sisters of their sister house.
And there she was, standing in front of the fireplace. Celeste. She looked better than I remembered, wearing a lilac colored one piece swimsuit and a pair of unbuttoned denim shorts. She was in conversation with some friend of hers that I couldn’t see at this exact moment since a few people on the dance floor were obscuring my vision of the person. I assumed it was Tiffany or Erin.
Imagine my complete surprise as Celeste looked in my direction, said something to the person next to her, handed her drink to her friend, and the dancing couple moved to one side and I saw that her friend was none other than Kat. Celeste approached me and Dave, and Dave leaned in close to my ear.
“What the fuck, dude? What is Kat doing here? Did she know about this Celeste girl and Serena this whole time?” Dave asked in a hushed whisper as Celeste got closer.
“I have no fucking clue. I know they’ve been in class together, but I haven’t had a chance to talk to Kat about it. Believe me, I will find out tonight,” I said through clenched teeth.
I forced a smile as Celeste approached me and gave me a tight hug. Tighter and longer than I would have expected since she had a boyfriend. I didn’t complain, enjoying the play of her body up against mine. She pulled away, but she still had her hands on my arms as she smiled up at me.
For a second, a long moment that lasted for an eternity, I lost myself in those emerald eyes of hers and everything felt perfect in the world. The music faded into the distance and everything fled my mind, everything except the fact that there was no doubt that this girl was Serena. Why was she acting this way all of a sudden? She had kept it pretty professional in class.
“That’s a cute bird. Is he really on fire?” She reached towards Lucien, who leaned into her pet, completely breaking the moment as everything seemed to speed back up to normal time.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t burn unless he wants it to,” I said, smiling down at her.
“Oh, that is so cool. We haven’t learned about anythin’ like him in our Crypto classes yet. Well, come on in,” she said, putting an arm around my waist and leading me further into the house. She showed me around and then excused herself, stating a need to answer the call of nature.
After she did so, I started to make my way back towards that second living room and Kat. I pushed my way through the crowd until I saw her there sitting in a recliner in the corner, staring down at her hands like she was lost in thought. There were a few other people over in her general area, but no one directly near her. When I got to her, I put my hands on the arms of the chair and leaned in towards her, startling her. Lucien took off and perched in a nearby ficas tree.
“I take back my statement from the other night. You’re not a cunt. You’re a cunt and a half!” I said through clenched teeth. I wanted to scream at her, but I didn’t want to draw a lot of undue attention. “You kept her from me?! What the fuck were you thinking?! You knew she was here, that she was alive, and you never fucking told me?! Oh, I know, you were hoping to keep her from me so that I’d still be single if things didn’t work for you and your emo fucked up werewolf stalker! Which, considering the other night, it didn’t. Couldn’t keep her a secret, could you? I found her. And I know it’s her. She may think she’s someone else, but I know that’s Serena, and you aren’t going to keep us apart! I mean, fuck! You didn’t even say anything about it at school either! I mean you knew I saw the two of you thick as thieves in Bianca’s class! And yet nothing! And to top it all off you knew she was dating that douche and didn’t do a damn thing about it! Didn’t even let me know so I could do something about it myself!”
Kat was crying now, and shaking, her fingers knotting around themselves. Her mouth opened as though to say something, but she just shook her head.
“Come on, Kat, what the fuck?” Dave said from behind me. “You could have told him.”
“I didn’t know. Not until now,” Kat finally whispered in a sad, almost broken voice. “Not until I saw her with you just now. It didn’t click.”
“Likely excuse. What the fuck ever. You’re just as fucking worthless as Nina,” I hissed.
“Hey. You! Get away from her!” I heard an unfamiliar voice say from behind me as a hand grabbed my shoulder.
“Dude, I so wouldn’t do that. Especially not tonight. He’s so not in the mood,” Dave said in warning.
“Warren, don’t!” Kat exclaimed as I turned to face the guy who had grabbed me. He was large, a few inches taller than even me, and much bulkier. He had short cropped light-brown hair, and was wearing faded blue jeans and a UNLV tank top.
“Get away from her, asshole,” he said calmly, looking down at me face to face.
“You realize you really should listen to my friend and the lady, right? Now, if you were intelligent, you’d back off. I don’t like having my personal space violated,” I said in a low, menacing voice.
“Warren, just go back to the party. Please. Everything’s okay. Really,” Kat pleaded.
“Not until this asshole leaves you alone.” Warren shoved me.
“Okay. Not intelligent. Okay, well, if you were at least somewhat smart, you wouldn’t do that again,” I growled, half taunting him. I was pissed and itching for a fight. Maybe this guy would give it to me.
“Warren, it’s okay. That’s my ex-boyfriend. You know, the one I was always talking about? It’s fine, he won’t hurt me,” Kat said, again pleading with him to do the smart thing, knowing I could easily make him a bloody smear on the floor.
“No way, this asshole needs a lesson taught to him to not mess with Alpha Sigma Delta girls.” He pushed me, again.
“Okay, obviously dogs are smarter than you,” I said in a calm whisper. I burst into motion, turning so that my back was towards him, and elbowing him in the ribs, hearing a crack. Seeing him double over, I went into a crouch, completed my spin, and came up under him, grabbing him by the throat. I lifted upwards, easily taking him off the floor, and slammed him into the brick wall that was t
o my right. “You ever touch me again, you fucking brainless twat, and I will end you. Got me?!” I yelled into his face. He just nodded dumbly before I let him go.
“Whoa, hey dude, no one is going to fuck with Warren and not pay the fucking price!” I heard a voice say from the direction of the stairwell. I turned and saw Kevin. He must have seen something in my eyes, something deadly and dangerous, because he stopped right where he was. “It’s cool, dude, I’m sure he deserved it, always was a trouble maker.”
“Aerick! That was rude!” Celeste’s voice cut through the din as she came up behind Kevin. “I invited ya here, an’ ya go an’ start fights?” She stormed up to me and I saw that she was boiling pissed. I knew that look too well.
“It’s okay, Celeste,” Kat said, standing up. “Me and Aerick were having a bit of a disagreement,” she looked pointedly at Warren, “between the two of us, and Warren stuck his nose in trying to start a fight with Rick, probably because he was jealous.”
“What the fuck ever, you crazy bitch. I’m done with you,” Warren said as he started to stalk away.
“What did you just say to her?” I demanded, starting to move towards him.
Celeste beat me to it. Putting a hand on my chest, she grabbed Warren by the arm and pulled him around. Once he was turned around, Celeste gave me a pointed look, a look I also knew too well. I was to stay out of it until she said her piece. I didn’t envy the poor guy.
“Warren, yer one ugly little man, talkin’ ta a lady like that! Apologize ta her! Now! Or ya can kiss yer place in the fraternity goodbye as soon as I tell Travis what ya said ta Kat,” Celeste ranted as she put a finger in Warren’s chest.
“Pffft, what the fuck ever. You talking about me treating girls poorly? How about how Travis treats you?” Warren retorted.
Kevin came up behind him. “That’s none of your fucking business, Warren. Let it drop. Now. Apologize to Kat and Celeste,” Kevin ordered.
“Fuck all yall. I’m fucking out of here. I’m going to Florida State, they told me that I could get into the NFL over there if I wanted. Only reason I stuck around was for that stuck up bitch.” Warren gave a dismissing hand wave towards Kat and stalked out.
“Sorry ‘bout that, Aerick,” Celeste said as Kevin put a comforting hand on her shoulder before going into the kitchen. “Why don’t ya go get a drink and have fun?”
“Uh. You don’t know me very well, so you wouldn’t know that I usually don’t do well at these sorts of events. I like to have someone I’m at least familiar with around, and as you can see my uh… friends left.”
“Friends? You came with Dave right?” Celeste asked, confused as she looked around for him. “Well, I guess I can keep ya company then. Travis couldn’t make it right away, something about a family thing that he had ta go ta first, so I really don’t have someone ta hang out with either since it seems that Kat disappeared on me.”
“You sure you’re okay with this?” I asked. She looked a bit uncomfortable.
“Oh. Yeah. I’m sorry.” She chuckled and looked up at me with that dazzling smile of hers. “I jus’ had a rather… interestin’ dream the other night.” She turned away and waved to a couple of people she knew.
“So why all this in the middle of the summer? Aren’t most of the students on break right now? I mean I know we have the weird schedule with our Aetheric classes, but that’s because they’re new. I don’t recognize anyone here from our classes except you and Kat.”
“Oh, yeah it is. But the fraternity and the sorority put these on all summer ta raise money fer our fall activities. Say, mind if I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Really, I want the honest truth. Why are ya stalkin’ me? Is it because I look like this dead girlfriend of yers?” she asked, but she didn’t sound mad or upset.
“I’m… I’m not. I… it really is just…”
“Really? Coincidence? Kat thinks you’re stalkin’ me because ya want ta be with me an’ rub her face in it. I didn’t tell her that I remind ya of this dead girl,” she said.
“Look, if we’re going to continue this, can we… go somewhere a bit more quiet? I can’t even hear myself try to think,” I asked. It was risky. Usually going somewhere more quiet also meant more intimate, and I knew what I was asking.
“Sure. If it’ll get me the truth.” She led me to a gazebo behind the pool area that was pretty quiet.
“That’s better,” I said as I sat down on a bench. She was still standing, but I wasn’t going to ask her to join me. I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable and scare her away.
“So. The truth?” she prodded again.
“I… I don’t have an answer for you. I’m really sorry. I just… there’s something pulling me towards you, and I can’t explain it.” I said, shaking my head.
“Ya expect me ta believe that? Ya expect me ta believe that ya were destined ta find me after the girl that I look like died however many years ago? Huh? Really?” she said, giving me a look that said that she definitely didn’t believe me. She thought I was crazy.
“I’m sorry, but I just… I really can’t help it. You really do look like her, and right now, this… just being near you hurts so much. Because I know it could never happen. It hurt every time we were in class together, but I… I didn’t care. I just wanted to be around you because it was like being with her,” I admitted.
Her face softened, and she gave me an apologetic look. “How much like her do I look?” she asked softly.
“A lot. Identical. Here. See?” I took out my wallet and showed her the picture I had of Serena wearing the monokini she had worn at her birthday party.
She looked at it and took in a sharp breath. “That’s… not possible. I have that exact picture of mahself from when I was younger. How did ya get this?”
“Serena gave it to me. It was taken at her fifteenth birthday party. She kept one for herself and gave one to me. Though it wasn’t really her birthday that day. She had just wanted a pool party for her birthday, and since it was in October, her sister held her party a bit earlier in the year so she could have what she wanted.”
“I… remember that. Mah sister wanted ta… I begged my parents but they wouldn’t do it. How do ya know these things about me? How… why…?” She had inadvertently scooted closer to me when she had taken the picture, and now she was inches from me. I stared into her eyes and lost myself in them. “The dream….”
“What dream?” I asked, backing off a little.
“I had a dream last night. Ya were in it. It was so… vivid. I… we… uh…”
“Made love?” I whispered, leaning in closer, literally an inch away from kissing her. I felt something settle lightly onto my shoulder and realized that Lucien had joined us.
“How did ya…? No, it doesn’t matter. I don’t even know who ya are. How can I be havin’ dreams like that ‘bout you? How can I be havin’ these types of feelings fer ya? I have a boyfriend.”
“Did you ever think that…?”
“There you are, babe,” I heard a male voice say, and I pulled away from Celeste quickly. “What the fuck is going on here?!” Travis demanded as he approached us. Or more particularly, me. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with his house Greek letters on it, a pair of jeans and a baseball cap with the UNLV logo on it. I was almost hoping he would start something with me.
“Uh. Nothin’, babe. Don’t worry ‘bout it, we were just talkin’,” Celeste said, standing up to intercept Travis. I knew this situation. I’d been in it, only on the opposite side.
“Wait. That’s Aerick, isn’t it?” he asked her, then looked at me. “That right? Your name Aerick?”
“Yeah, and?” I asked, really hoping he would take a swing. If I did, he’d end up dead. I felt Lucien flutter a bit and felt his mind touching mine, trying to help keep me calm. He knew what was at stake here. He knew I didn’t want her to know, and if I flew off the handle at this guy she would find out in the worst possible way.
“Yeah. She
told me about you. How you think she’s your dead girlfriend or whatever. She’s not. She’s my living girlfriend, so you can just back the fuck off,” Travis said, pointing at me to emphasize his rant.
“Travis, language,” I heard her mutter to him.
“Isn’t it her choice if she wants to hang out with me?” I asked.
“No, it isn’t. You’re just some creep pervert that’s out to take advantage of her because she’s a bit naïve. I’m supposed to keep guys like you away from her,” he said smugly.
“Says who? Her?” I asked pointedly.
“No. Her parents asked me to. She’s been through a lot recently, and she doesn’t need creeps like you trying to cop a feel and attempting to get down her pants,” he said.
“Go fuck yourself. You have no idea who I am. Or who she is,” I said as I stood and took a step towards him.
“Oh, bring it, perv boy. I’ll fuck your world up,” Travis said, bringing his fists up.
Good! part of me yelled in my head. Bring it the fuck on, douche! I didn’t listen to that part though. I really wanted to, but I just couldn’t. Now wasn’t the time.
“You aren’t worth the energy,” I said and turned to walk away. “I’ll see you later, Celeste. Maybe after you’ve ditched the douche there.”
“Hey! Don’t talk at me like that. Maybe it’d be better if ya just stayed away like Travis says?” she said, though there was a tremor in her voice.
It took every ounce of self-control I had not to turn there and then a let her have it. Let every emotion I was feeling out and hurl it at her, just to see if it would illicit some form of response. I also had to try not to turn Travis into a pillar of ash where he stood. Travis followed me out, and I knew that Celeste wasn’t far behind him. I got to the limo and kept walking. After we were out of sight, Lucien flew ahead of me a few feet and shifted into his human form.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice tinged with genuine concern.
“No. Not really. She didn’t mean it. Did she?” I asked, fighting to keep the tears back, my voice trembling.
