by Gayle Keo
“Where is the sun?” Metimeh asked.
William laughed. “Sun in England? Ha. If you blink, you’ll miss it.”
Metimeh giggled. She wasn’t used to the dreary weather that met them when they arrived, but she would get used to it for as long as they remained in England.
“What is the name of the ship we will be going to America on?” Metimeh asked William.
“Titanic,” he answered. “Supposed to be a mighty fine ship. Unsinkable!”
Anna rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe that. They are tempting fate with a nickname like that.”
The small house that belonged to William and Anna in southern England overlooked the ocean. It was secluded, remote, ideal for the three of them. No nosy neighbors, no London expectations. They could live the way they wanted tom, not completely free of fear of judgment, but close enough.
“I love the sound of the ocean now,” Metimeh said. She opened the one of the windows in the reception room and poked her head out. She could see the waves churning and knew the storm wasn’t over yet.
“Do you miss Egypt?” Anna asked.
Metimeh thought before she answered. “Honestly? A little bit. But not enough for me to return just yet.”
Anna smiled and pecked Metimeh on the lips. She was so happy that Metimeh was with them. Anna didn’t think she had room in her heart to love again, especially when her dear Haji died, but the love she felt for Metimeh was there. She couldn’t help but wonder if everything that happened to them happened for a reason. She considered the possibility that it was all Haji’s doing from the other side. Whatever the reason, she was happy.
“Have you ever been to America?” Metimeh asked, breaking Anna’s thoughts.
William shook his head. “We haven’t. But I’m looking forward to it.”
Metimeh smiled. “Me too.”
THE END
Another bonus story is on the next page.
Bonus Story 6 of 36
Hot’s Bite
Nathan hurried about getting ready for college. He was running late and did not want to miss out on a good place to sit in the lecture hall during the first lecture of the day. That was because he wanted to sit as close as possible to Ethan Myers, a very handsome and hot looking dude that he had grown pretty fond of, and to an extent even had a crush on. He hummed a nameless tune as he stepped out of the shower to get dressed. His head still felt heavy because of too much drinking while they were clubbing last night, and he vowed to himself never to club on a weekday again. He quickly changed into a pair of slacks and a polo shirt. Then pulling on a pair of loafers, he made his way out of the house. His jeep was parked in the garage at the back of the house and he quickly entered it and fired the powerful engines. He drank a dozen pints of his blood supply that he kept in the fridge and it already made him feel much better as he pulled out of his compound.
He lived on the very far end of Smallville, a small town on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He loved the place because it was a quiet place, the sort of place where almost everyone knew each other. The main reason that he had moved here was to escape from the bad breed of vampires. Nathan Loft was a vampire and had been around for centuries. In the vampire world, there were both good and bad vampires. The bad vampires tended to attack anyone, and especially human beings, sucking their blood and then killing them. Most of them had been hunted out of the country, but they still existed in certain parts of the country, mostly remote areas. The good vampires on the other hand, seldom ever sucked blood from human beings, and were never up to anything bad. They survived on blood from hunted animals, which they usually kept refrigerated to take care of their cravings whenever they came. This was blood mainly from animals like antelopes and deer, which was one of the main reasons that Nathan had moved to Smallville.
Smallville was a town that was far away from the crowded cities and here he could live a quiet life and go unnoticed. It was also surrounded by forests and hills and those were convenient places for him to go hunting for animals. That was one of the reason why he was the one that lived at the very end of the town, where the forest began. He would spend some of his weekends hunting down game for blood and then store it away in the fridge. Most vampires recognized each other although there were some who knew how to hide their identity, even from other vampires. Those were usually the most dangerous because they were the bad breed of vampires. Nathan suspected that there were some that even existed in the small town where he lived, although he had not heard of a killing there in quite a while. All the same he was always on the lookout because the bad vampires hated the good vampires, and any wrong move would mean that he was dead meat. There were a lot of new people moving into the town and he was going to have to be a lot more vigilant. His cell phone went off, interrupting his thoughts.
“Hi Nathan, where are you, don’t tell me that you went out and drank too much last night?” Sandy said into the phone.
“I'm on my way, Sandy, I should be there in the next twenty minutes or so,” he said to her knowing that Sandy was probably already at the college waiting for him.
Sandy Cruise was one of his kind and they had always looked after each other like brother and sister ever since she had moved to Smallville and found him there. In the beginning, she’d had a mad crush on him, but when she had realized that Nathan was more interested in men, she had instead become like a sister to him. Many people thought that they were probably an item, which was not bad because it was one good way of maintaining their identity.
“Okay, honey, don’t take too long,” she said, hanging up the call as Nathan pressed his foot down against the gas a little harder.
Naturally he would have preferred to run to school and enjoy the cool breeze in his hair, but he could not even try to imagine what the humans would do when they discovered that he was not a normal human being. He had the power to run at super human speeds from point A to point B in seconds and that was among many other things that he could do that could only be known by him and his kind. Nathan had tried to convince Sandy to move somewhere closer to him so that they could look out for each other better, but as usual, she was always so stubborn, insisting that she could take care of herself, even against the bad vampires. Nathan knew that he was going to have to find a way to make her change her mind and move somewhere closer to him, and soon. He had this really bad vibe inside and he felt as if something bad was going to happen, especially since the full moon would be at its peak in a couple of days.
*****
Ethan Myers ran his fingers through his long dark hair as he sat back in his chair. He was glad that the week was finally coming to an end because all that he wanted to do was to spend the weekend sleeping. It had been a tough week and although he would have loved to go out partying, it was rumored that there were vampires roaming out there, among them, and they could get pretty dangerous at night. A couple of months ago, a body of a woman had turned up with fang marks around the neck, and her body completely drained of all blood. Ethan knew that Smallville had always been a very safe place to live and that was probably the reason why his parents had moved to the town when he was still in high school. Despite that, he was still very cautious and had also taken it upon himself to learn more about vampires so that he could understand them better and learn how to tackle their blood drinking problem.
Ethan got all of his information online and from the college library, but it was not enough for him to make out much so that he could finally understand vampires like he wanted to. He was sure that there had to be some sort of solution to their drinking of human blood, but he could not get that information unless he actually got a body sample of a vampire or something of the sort so that he could carry out experiments. He was a medical student at Smallville University, which meant that he knew quite a lot about what he was doing. He, however, knew that the only way that he could ever get his results would be if he met up with an actual vampire, and that would be like a death sentence for him.
“You're looking kind
of quiet today,” Nathan Loft said to him as he walked up to his seat, interrupting his thoughts.
“Nathan, I didn’t think that you were still here,” Ethan said, beginning to gather his books as he looked Nathan in the eyes.
Nathan was one of the hottest dudes on the campus and it seemed like all the women were after him, but he never showed an interest in any of them. He was usually hanging around Sandy Cruise and at times Ethan thought that they were a couple even though they tried to hide it. It was really too bad, because Ethan thought Nathan was a very hot dude and had often fantasized being with him. Nathan was tall and mysterious. He had a body that anyone would die for, deep blue eyes, a muscular chest, and once at the swimming pool, Ethan had even noticed that the guy had a six pack. In short, Nathan was sexy as hell, and Ethan would not mind being a part of the action with him. There was also this very strange look that was always in his eyes, a sort of mysterious look that could at times make chills ran down Ethan's spine. Nathan looked at him sometimes as though he wanted to eat him alive, to bite him, but maybe that was just Ethan's own imagination.
“It’s Friday. What are you planning on doing tonight?” Nathan asked, slapping Ethan on the back.
“I think I'm just going to go home and sleep off the weekend. There’s really nothing much to do in this boring town,” Ethan said, straddling his bag over his shoulder as they began making their way out of the room.
“Come on, stop being such a bore. Why don’t you go out with me for a couple of drinks and then I can drop you off at home later on?” Nathan said to him.
“I don’t think that’s a really good idea, being out very late in this town gives me the creeps,” Ethan replied, turning down the opportunity of a lifetime and wondering why Nathan had never given him such an opportunity during the day.
“Come on, don’t tell me that you are scared of all that vampire nonsense. Okay, why don’t we do this, why don’t we go out, I'll buy you one or two drinks and personally ensure that you get home safe and sound,” Nathan said convincingly as they headed out to the car park, where Nathan's jeep was parked.
Ethan thought it over in his mind. He did not know why he felt so safe when he was around Nathan, and even felt as if Nathan would do anything to protect him. And then there was the fact that he had a mad crush on the guy and for some reason, Ethan felt as if Nathan felt the same way too.
“Okay, but I hope that we don’t stay out too long,” Ethan agreed as Nathan opened the door to his car, offering him the ride since Ethan did not have his own ride.
“So, what about your girlfriend, aren’t you inviting her out too?” Ethan asked as they entered the jeep.
“Girlfriend? Ah, you must mean Sandy. She is more like a sister to me and not my girlfriend. We just get along very well, I guess, and that makes most people think that she and I are one thing. I'm not sure if she will be at the Vampire’s Bite, the club where we are headed.
“I can't believe that, I have always believed that she was your woman, I mean, she is very pretty but won't let any other man get very close to her,” Ethan said, feeling a little surprised even though he couldn’t hide his relief.
“I guess she has her reasons for staying so guarded, I mean, nowadays it’s very hard to trust anyone, especially when you haven’t been in the town for very long. She has barely lived in this town for a year and with all the bad vampire rumors, I think that it is only logical,” Nathan said, and Ethan couldn’t help but think that Nathan knew more than he was telling him. It was as if there were some secrets that he knew about but was not saying, something very mysterious that Ethan could not quite figure out.
“I guess you have a point there,” Ethan said as the jeep pulled out of the parking lot and began making its way into town.
They headed into town and Nathan drove the jeep towards the Vampire’s Bite, which was located at the far end of the town. It was a Friday and so as usual, the place was bustling with life and it was almost impossible to believe that this was the same town that was rumored to have vampires. Most of the older people were preparing to go home, while the younger ones like Nathan and Ethan looked like they were ready to party until morning. The parking lot was already full with cars by the time that they got there, and Nathan had to drive around for a while in search of an empty space, eventually finding one and parking the jeep.
*****
Nathan could barely believe that he had finally asked Ethan out with him, even though he could not quite classify it as a date. It was, however, one step toward his quest to get to know this handsome hell of a guy better. Ethan's scent was almost irresistible, and while in the jeep, it had affected Nathan so much, his cock had been raging hard the whole time. Nobody else had ever gotten him turned on like this without even laying a hand on him, and yet just sitting next to Ethan in the same cabin had done it.
“Dude, get a hold of yourself, don’t rush this,” he whispered to himself as he opened his door and stepped out of the jeep.
“Do you party a lot?” Ethan asked, walking around from the passenger’s side as they began to make their way toward the building where loud music was booming.
“Every once in a while, I think that it’s a nice way to unwind after a busy day in class. It’s also good to socialize and meet people that are new in town,” Nathan said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked at Ethan through the corner of his eye.
The guy was tall with a medium build unlike his own build. Ethan had his hair neatly combed backwards in a sexy way, and as Nathan checked him out, he couldn’t help but wonder how the guy would look without his clothes on. He was the spitting image of sexy and he made Nathan aroused in the wildest ways possible. The club was packed like it was every Friday. Nathan led Ethan towards the back, where he knew there would be vacant tables for them to sit at.
“Well, here we are,” he said, pulling out a chair and settling on it as Ethan sat opposite him. “Excuse me, can you get us two bottles of beer please?”
A waiter nodded at him, jotting down in his notebook as he hurried away to get the order, and Nathan sat back to listen to the music booming in the background.
“Why was this place given the name, the Vampire’s Bite?” Ethan asked as he took a sip of his beer as soon as they were placed before them.
“Why, does the name sound creepy?” Nathan asked, smiling at Ethan and wondering what the man thought of vampires, and what he knew about them.
“No, it doesn’t really creep me out, but it is quite a weird name, especially being that it operates at night when vampires are most likely to strike,” he replied thoughtfully as Nathan checked him out from across the table.
“Actually, I've never thought of it from that point of view,” Nathan said, looking at the blondes that were wiggling their butts near their table, looking for attention.
“I might have an idea,” Sandy said, interrupting them out of nowhere as both men turned to look at her standing next to the table.
Nathan noted the way that Ethan did not react, despite that Sandy was very sexily dressed in a tight dress that had wide frills at the bottom that barely left anything below her crotch hidden. Her V-shaped neckline showed off her cleavage in a sexy way that would have driven any man crazy with desire, but it did not seem to have that effect on Ethan, even as she leaned over him to give him a hug.
“Sandy, what a pleasant surprise. I thought that you had already gone home since your classes ended pretty early today,” Nathan smiled at her as she walked over to his side, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek, before pulling out a seat to the disappointment of the blondes that eyes their table with jealousy.
“Did you think that I was going to let you two hunks party alone while I slept?” she said, flagging a waiter. “Bring me a beer on their bill, will ya.”
Sandy always had a way of bringing life to something, and right now she had already breathed life into their night out, although that was not what Nathan initially had in mind. She was an outgoing person that fit into any situation
, and besides, when she was around him, it made him feel much better, knowing that she was safe.
“So, what were you guys talking about, the Vampire’s Bite, or should I conclude that you were having man talk?” she laughed loudly.
“Actually yes, I was asking Nathan about the name, and where it came from,” Ethan seemed to have caught on with Sandy's bright sense of humor.
“Well, handsome, I think that this joint probably belonged to a vampire and there was usually a lot of biting and blood sucking going on here back in the day,” she said in a matter of fact way.
“Come on, Sandy, are you trying to give us the creeps or something?” Nathan frowned at her and then quickly looked at Ethan to see his reaction. It was still one that he could not quite read.
“Maybe you should speak for yourself, Nathan, I'm not freaked out at all. I actually find it very intriguing, you know, the whole vampire thing,” Ethan said, to Nathan's surprise.
“Well, finally I meet someone with some real balls,” Sandy piped up.
Nathan sat back and looked at Ethan, trying to read his mind. If he concentrated very well and looked into a person’s eyes, Nathan had the ability to read their minds, but he hated doing that. To him that was something that was done by the bad breed of vampires, and it was a breach of someone’s privacy. He quickly turned away from Ethan and looked at the dancing blondes, who seemed to have taken their attention to a table that had just been occupied by another group of men that Nathan had never seen before. They were probably new in town, and being around their own age, they would probably be joining the university very soon. There were two guys, and for some reason, they sent a chill down Nathan's spine, although that was probably just a reaction because they were new around here. One of the blonde chicks sat on one of the guy’s laps, and within no time, the guys hand had disappeared under her dress, in between her thighs. Nathan did not know why he got a bad vibe about this whole situation, but it was probably just that, a bad vibe.
