by Heather Linn
When I unlocked the door, the smell of roses overwhelmed me. The scent was so sweet that it was almost sickening. This was new, I couldn’t afford to keep fresh flowers, and even if I could with no water for over a week they would be dead. All around there were vases of every color rose that you could imagine. There were roses in colors that I would have never dreamt possible; they were all so vibrant that it almost hurt to look at them. The biggest bunch was placed right in the center of my little kitchenette two-seater.
I had my gun out before I even realized I had reached for it, not that it would do any good if the monster was still there, but it made me feel better just feeling the weight of it in my hands. No one other than Darien had a key to the apartment and the roses were new. They had to be from today and since he had been at the base giving me a hard time all day that ruled him out. Well, that and the fact that there had to be about a thousand dollars’ worth of flowers crammed into my little place and neither of us would ever see that much money at one time.
I went from room to room, checking every hiding place that I could imagine. First, I looked behind the front door and then under the couch, which didn’t prove to be an easy thing to do when you were trying to aim a gun at an unknown target. If the monster was still there, he was more than likely getting a chuckle from how uncoordinated I looked stumbling all over myself, trying to remain in control. I checked in all the closets, behind the curtains, and under the bed. Everything checked out OK; there wasn’t a thing out of place. I was hoping that whoever had been in there really hadn’t been looking for information about me, even though I knew that was unlikely. If anyone had rifled through my things, I couldn’t tell, which meant that they were professionals, which was even worse. I could deal with some common street thug looking for cash, but a professional was going to be a lot trickier.
Then all of a sudden I heard it. Someone was shuffling around in the living room trying to make it out the door unnoticed. I don’t know how I was able to hear such a soft sound, but right now I didn’t have the time to stand there and try to figure it out. I was more concerned with whether or not I was going to be able to kill the bastard before they could get away. I quickly threw myself out into the living room in a double handed shooting stance, gun pointed in front of me until I found my target.
“Drop everything and put your hands on your head, or I will kill you where you stand!” The words that were coming out of my mouth sounded way steadier than I felt. As I was talking, I quickly swept the room with my eyes, moving the gun with me as I went. Much to my surprise the room was quiet and no one was there but my cat Storm, who angrily hissed at my threats and ran to hide. I would find her later and try to make up with her; right now I had to figure out the deal with the roses.
I circled each vibrant vase trying to make sense of it and that is when I saw the black roses; they were dead center on the table, placed there so they would be noticed first, but leave it to me to overlook the obvious. The card was hidden in between all the beautiful black bulbs. On the front of the envelope was my name written in crimson red, calligraphy letters. I suspected where the roses came from even before I read the card, if it wasn’t Darien. I had no other men hooked to the point of such an elaborate show of affection, well I mean besides the one that was going to be the death of me and more than likely my family.
Even though I knew it was Akia, my heart did this odd fluttery thing when I saw his signature at the bottom of the paper. I am sure it was just my nerves reacting to trying to shoot my cat; yeah that sounds good, we will stick with that one. When I finally read the rest of the note, I wasn’t sure whether to cry or find this monster Akia and kick his ass.
“Kitten: 1000 colored roses for 1000 sincere apologies. 50 black roses for the 50 pieces of my broken heart. Please call me.
Yours,
Akia
P.S. None of your things were taken or harmed. My people are always quite professional.”
For the second time in my entire life, I was speechless. This corny little attempt to earn himself forgiveness surely must have cost him a pretty penny. Then again, I guess money is no object when you are the ruler of the superior race. I was flattered and furious at the same time; two emotions that usually don’t mix. I am sure there are not many reasons in the world that would make these two emotions mix; but then again have I ever been normal?
I was a collection of questions. What the hell did he see between us that would make him go to all of this trouble? How did he get someone into my apartment? He truly had the power to do anything that he wanted, and in my line of work, that was bad. What if next time he didn’t want to come into my apartment to leave flowers? What if next time he breaks in, he is looking for something else? What if no matter how careful I am, he manages to find something that tells him I am not one of them?
There were way too many “what ifs” in each of those scenarios. I had to do something, but would moving into another apartment really stop him from finding me? He was the King of the world for crying out loud. I am sure he could find me on a different continent if he truly wanted. There had to be something that could be done to make sure that this never happens again. Other than killing him, I had no idea what it might be.
While Akia’s death wasn’t on the agenda for today so far, something had to be done to try to convey to him that he is never to openly enter my apartment again. Why couldn’t some of the stories be true? How much easier would my life be if I could just stake him in the heart, burn him with a cross, or not invite him in? How many monsters would I be able to avoid with simple garlic? Yes, that would be great; a clove here and a clove there. Sure it wouldn’t smell all that great, but that would be a small inconvenience if I could keep all the bad guys at bay.
Without the benefit of extra time to think about it, I had to come up with something quick. The longer I just stood there dumbfounded, smelling the roses, the worse this mess would become. I thought maybe ignoring him would teach him a lesson, or even get my point across. You know, make him take the hint and maybe stay away from me. Then again, if I was ignoring him, that would mean no talking to him. I couldn’t stand not knowing why he went to all the trouble of doing this. Did he really think breaking into my apartment and filling it with flowers was going to win my heart? Of course, how many females would have given anything to have a guy that would do that for them? I am sure that if Akia was human and the monsters never came, he would be quite the romantic man. Too bad for the both of us that way of life was gone forever; raped and pillaged and burned on the way to creating his very existence. I guess the loss of normal life was a small price to pay when you are creating the perfectly indestructible being.
Since ignoring Akia wasn’t practical, because in all honesty it would drive me nuts, I knew I was going to call him. I had to make sure his people really didn’t know more than they should; yes that is a good reason. I was very careful never to leave anything that might give away my dirty little secret lying around. You never knew when a jealous girlfriend was going to bust in looking for their missing mate. Ok, that had never happened, because if it had I would be dead. I couldn’t fight off a scorned lover. What was that saying? Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I am sure if a human female was scary enough to warrant that saying, a female monster would be a thousand times worse. Of course, I live by the motto better paranoid then dead. The note said that the people that left the flowers all around my apartment were very professional. Was that Akia’s way of saying that he knew something? Was he playing mind games with me now, amusing himself? I could almost picture him sitting in the shadows and laughing at me, watching me go crazy trying to figure out what he was going to do to me. When he gets bored of me, will he jump out and kill me, or does the King not like to get his hands dirty? I was sure I’m probably only merited one of his flunkies.
“Stop it Cat! Get a hold of yourself. You have lived through this life this long, so just make a plan and stick to it. You have been trained for this.” Saying things out lo
ud made me feel a little crazy, but it made me feel a whole lot better as well.
I would hate to have to take out the head monster, but better him then me right? Really, who did he think he was fooling? I am sure that there were women beating down his door just trying to get his attention. Was I supposed to believe that my presence had affected him that much in our short time together? He had to be up to something; this had to be a trick. I mean, getting attached to someone that fast just didn’t happen. Yet, if that wasn’t true, what was the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I had allowed myself to think about him even a little?
There was no reason to stall. I had thought about maybe just going over and getting my wallet; that was more than enough reason to be there. Once I got him alone, I could grill him about the roses. Then my common sense returned and I realized that if it was a trick and he did know what I really was, a blocked phone call would be a much smarter move. Even though I knew somewhere deep down inside that a personal visit would be much more fun, I reached for the phone.
The phone rang about six times before he answered a little breathlessly, “Hello?”
My heart fluttered again. I really should think about getting myself checked out. “You’re Majesty, what the hell is wrong with you? What part of breaking into my apartment seemed like a good idea? I have come to the conclusion that you are completely unhinged.” I sounded as pissed as I felt. Good for me.
“You actually called me?” Akia sounded almost as shocked as I had felt when I opened my door, and then there was silence. He wasn’t saying anything else. I thought about sitting there not encouraging him with conversation, but after about 30 seconds the silence was deafening
“Akia are you even listening to me?”
“I didn’t think you would call. I figured I blew it, and you would never give me the time of day again.” He was really starting to try my patience. What did he mean; I wouldn’t give him the time of day? He was the King; why did he care if someone as nonexistent as me ever talked to him again?
“This isn’t a courtesy call, and stop acting like I am that important to you. You are the King for crying out loud. Stop acting like you care whether or not I called. I want to know who the goons that brought the flowers were, and who you think you are to have sent them? You can’t just invade someone’s home because you feel like it. That has to be breaking the law somehow.” I realized as soon as I said it how stupid it was, there was no law but you when you were the King.
“This is where I must disagree with you kitten, I am the Regent. I can do whatever I please.”
Wow! This man could go from shocked to smug in no time at all. I have been called egotistical a time or two in my day, but this guy was over the top. “Which brings me back to my previous point, you are the King. Can’t you find something more important to do with your time then stalk me? I am of no royal bloodline and way, way below your class. I didn’t think you were allowed to spend time with low class losers.”
“You are right Cat. You are a beggar, a peasant compared to me. Under normal circumstances, I would not give a Dominus of your social standing a second glance, but there is something so different about you. You fascinate me. I can’t put it into words. Kind of the way a cat is fascinated with a mouse. They want to watch it and play with it for a while to see what it is going to do before they finally eat it.” Akia sounded somewhat distant and trance like; in simple terms, incredibly creepy. His was the voice that nightmares were made of.
“Wait a minute. Are you telling me you are going to kill me? Is this some sort of sick game to you?” This time I wasn’t able to keep my voice monotone. If he was looking for a fight, I could handle that better than I could handle the fact that he was interested in me. If that was the case, if I was so tough and I could handle him wanting me dead instead of just wanting me, then why did my heart shatter as I said it?
“No Kitten. Let’s not be ridiculous. I do not wish to harm you. I just want to hunt you to win your heart. I don’t know what it is about you, but I have never been this taken by a woman before. I want to find out why you are able to turn me into a fumbling heartsick fool.”
“I told you never to call me kitten again. Your sick infatuation with me is no reason to break into my apartment and allow your thugs to snoop around in all my personal things.” Ok, good, I sounded pissed again, even if my heart was doing summersaults of relief.
“Amazing! You are quite dramatic. I have to admit that makes this game of cat and mouse even more of a turn on. Before you hurt yourself trying to think of a way to take care of your break-in, there were no thugs, just three little old human women who operate that flower shop on East Main. I told them if there proved to be anything disturbed, I would have their heads. Believe me; they assured me that everything would remain untouched. They have a cushy job and know that as soon as they mess up their use to me will be over and they will be dealt with like every other aging human.”
The way that he said ‘dealt with’ made me shiver. It was comments like that that reminded me why it was us versus them, why I needed to listen to my head which was telling me to straighten up and shut up the part of me that wanted nothing more than to run to him, if even just to see him for a brief second before he killed me. Yeah, I know, sick, right? I needed to remember why I needed to hate him. I thought of the first disturbing truth that came to my mind. The Dominus had no grasp on human life at all. It had gotten so bad that the monsters were now forcing the caged humans in the food class to breed and have babies that would be used for future food supplies. Yes that was a good one; that is why I spent my entire life being training to kill them. That was why they were monsters.
“So Kitten did you enjoy the beautiful roses I sent? I didn’t know what color was your favorite so I had them send all the different colors that they could think of.” OK, I had had enough of this man’s ability to change the conversation to benefit himself.
“Your majesty, you are not forgiven for breaking into my apartment, you are not forgiven for your cocky actions, and you are also not forgiven for using whatever power it is that you were blessed with to invade my head with that kiss. And most importantly, stop calling me Kitten!” I was so close to hanging up the phone. I couldn’t listen to him anymore. He was the worst one of all of them and I was falling for him. I made up my mind that I would end the call, leave my wallet, and never think about him again. I didn’t need his extra drama in my life. I needed simple. I needed good old Darien and a stupid old movie. My ear was away from the phone and I was in mid motion to hang up when his now timid voice broke through my anger.
“Kit- Catalina, I swear to you that I have used no mental powers on you. While I am powerful in other ways, I do not have the mind bending abilities to do what happened to us. To be a hundred percent honest, I thought it was you that was bewitching me. You said so yourself, you are beneath me and I shouldn’t be interested. I really thought that it was your way of teaching me a lesson for looking down upon people in lower standings. Believe me, if that is what it was, a sick lesson, then I got it. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“I don’t believe that you can tell the truth even if your life depended on it.” Yay, the monotone I needed earlier had finally returned and I hung up the phone without giving him a chance to retort. He couldn’t be serious. He had to have found out who I was somehow. This was all a game. I mean, he said so himself; it was a game of cat and mouse. I wasn’t about to let him be the cat though. I had to take care of this problem before someone I loved got hurt.
We were never trained to deal with things like this. There were never supposed to be any feelings involved. There was definitely never to be any head monsters involved. I had to figure out what to do and because of my little fit, I had to figure out how to do it alone. Dr. Walker lived in the scientific world. Maybe if I could find something in this whole mess that could prove to be valuable, Dr. Walker would forgive me for being stupid. I had to be able to figure this out, without falling victim to
those stupid visions that that dead guy had had. I didn’t know much about the world before I was born; there wasn’t much to know. However, I did know that crazy people were just that; crazy.
There were billions of people in the world, and I was supposed to believe that I was the savior that this nut dreamt about? It wasn’t possible. I was no more powerful than the others. The fact that I looked like the monsters was just luck. I mean, Dr. Walker of all people had to realize that there are only so many genetic outcomes that can occur in nature. After all, the Vampires bred with the humans. Common sense says that of course there would be humans that could pass. There had to be something that I could do to debunk his theory. The only other thing I could do was hope that the Doc dropped it. He had promised that he would and he had never given me a reason to doubt him yet.
Darien, on the other hand; I had never seen him act that way. He was usually caring and comforting. He was the rock that had saved me many times. My life was unnerving enough. How much worse would it be if I never got Darien back? I didn’t want to think about that; not yet. It was just one more thing that I was sure I couldn’t live through. I had a monster that wanted to eat me and a best friend that hated me; scarier than that, I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t be the same if I had to live without either of them.
If I could convince the Doc that spending the time that I had with Akia was a good thing, then I could fix it. Maybe I could convince him to let me pretend to be interested in Akia. Yeah, pretend was a good word; I could almost believe it myself. If Akia thought that I cared about him, he would talk to me. Anything that he told me would be something new that we didn’t know. It would be like really having a source on the inside. If I could get close enough to Akia to learn his weaknesses and his fears, it would help the Doctor’s big plans. I could maybe even gain enough trust that he would explain to me how their weapons worked. Maybe if I was good enough, he would explain the invasion step by step. If we knew how everything happened, it would be easier for us to regain control of the planet. There might never be a chance like this again. It was definitely worth trying. I mean worth trying, if I didn’t have to lose my best friend along the way. Why can’t you have your cake and eat it too, damn it?
