by Sia Wales
“Then I’m going running,” continued Stella, avoiding the subject of Vuk as the twinge of jealousy in Jason’s voice did not escape her.
“Where?” he asked, his voice slightly irritated.
“Green Mountain National Forest.”
“Stella, I’ve told you a thousand times that you’re not to go running alone in that forest!”
“Then try to stop me, Jason, if you can…”
“Don’t provoke me, Stella…”
“You know how much I love to…”
“Watch out, Stella, this time I might just respond to your sweet provocation.”
“I really hope so, Jason…”
“You know I’m always here for you, right?”
“Then I hope to see you today, but I really have to go back to class now.”
“Later, Stella.”
Returning to the meeting room, he waited for it to end, then, as they were leaving, he told Aaron he had to go take a trip and asked him to go with him.
Aaron realized something was wrong and agreed right away, getting Jason to fill him in as they took the elevator down to the garage, got on their motorbikes – Jason’s an MV Agusta F4 and Aaron’s a BMW S 1000 – and rode to Warren Towers at 700 Commonwealth Avenue as fast as they could.
Warren Towers
Stella met Vuk in front of the cafeteria and waited there with him for Jamie to catch up after she’d finished talking with her mother on the phone.
Looking at the day’s menu written on the board outside, she let them go ahead to grab a table. Suddenly, she glanced up to see Jason approach her; his figure blurred, disembodied, the smiling expression on his face knowing and wistful, his dark eyes incredibly alluring. He stopped dead in his tracks and vanished into thin air, before her brain fully registered what she’d seen.
Then she saw him again, sitting at the same table in the cafeteria where they used to meet after morning classes, over a year back, like he was still waiting for her. After a first brief glance, he paused, then looked her way until his magnetic eyes found hers and his lips curved into a soft smile; the vision faded into a mere memory once more. After that, she continued to see him, still sitting there waiting, each time wearing different clothes according to the changing seasons visible through the window behind him, but he never changed. Then she saw her own reflection walk past and go kiss Jason deeply, swept away with passion. She gave an ecstatic jump, spellbound by the hazy illusion, marveling that something so ephemeral could seem so real, so palpable.
Throughout this whole mirage, Jason was darting through the busy Boston streets to reach Stella. He once again materialized in an hazy form before her.
“Stella, look behind you,” he whispered, appearing about a hair’s breadth from her, his face creased in concern. She reached out to caress him, thought she felt his gentle touch on her skin but winced at the cold, immortal feel of his hands.
“Don’t be frightened, Stella, you are not alone. I’m with you always,” he exhaled slowly before fading away once again, leaving an empty space in front of her.
Stella realized in that same instant that someone had actually come up to her from behind.
“Stella, don’t yell, I’m not going to hurt you,” she heard a low voice say.
“Who is it?” she asked, turning slightly, startled to see that it was the other werewolf she had seen with Drake and Ian that morning in front of her house. Her face turned scarlet and her heart leaped into her throat, adrenalin rushed through her body.
“You need to come with me now,” the wolf said coldly, his face immobile, circling her waist with firm hands.
“You’re Nathan, right? You were with Drake last night and this morning.”
“That’s right, Stella. But now, please come with me…” And he pushed her a few steps toward the exit.
“No, Nathan, wait!” Stella hesitated to try to buy herself some time.
“Stella, don’t force me to get heavy-handed. I’m sure you don’t want to find out how persuasive I can be when I want to…” he warned, pulling out a knife, and resting the tip of the blade against her lower back.
“Can you feel that, Stella?” He pressed the tip onto her skin.
“Yes…” she said with a frightened whisper.
“Then let’s go.” He was about to force her to the exit but was blocked by Vuk.
“Let her go, Nathan! Right now!” he said, moving menacingly toward the werewolf. Then, worried, he asked Stella if she was ok.
“Erm, I have a knife poking into my back,” she replied, in shock, but still managing a trace of irony.
“How dare you point a knife at her, you despicable excuse for a wolf!” Vuk was losing his self-control; the menace in his tone forced Nathan to retreat a few steps, still grasping the girl.
“Stella, get rid of him, otherwise you’ll find out just how painful my knife can be…” Nathan spit into her ear, making his point by pushing the blade in far enough to pierce her skin.
“Vuk, please, get out of the way…” she begged, her breath ragged, feeling the trickle of blood on her skin as the knife broke the surface. Pain creased her face and made tears well up in her eyes.
“Nathan, I’m the one who’s blocking the way, she has nothing to do with it, so don’t hurt her…” Vuk was shocked at his aggressive behavior, and tortured as he sensed Stella’s blood seeping out.
“Then move it, Vuk, it’s your fault she’s hurting,” he said, pushing the tip of the blade against her back again. Stella felt an acute pain. Determined not to be seen crying, she closed her eyes tightly.
“Vuk, he’s hurting me!” she gasped.
“Nathan, try threatening me with that knife, not her…” His tone became furious.
“Thanks for the offer, Vuk, but I’m already having myself a shitload of fun just being up close and personal with Stella…” Nathan smirked, trying to bait Vuk, one hand spitefully fondling Stella’s hips, the other firmly keeping the knife to her back.
“Please, Vuk, get out the way! Just let him take me.” she begged.
“No, Stella, never.”
“You’ll be to blame if I hurt her now, so move it, dude. Think about it, do you really want to see more of her blood?” And he raised her shirt, crushing it excitedly in his fist, to point ecstatically to the fine red line his knife had made.
Vuk pulled Stella from the wolf’s clutches and furiously shoved Nathan against the wall. She dashed over to Jamie, who had been watching the scene in consternation and dismay.
Nathan rose from the wall and advanced threateningly toward him, his knife once more in his pocket.
Nathan whacked him on the back of the neck, making him crash into some of the cafeteria tables. He caught Stella on the way, grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the cafeteria with him, down the hall.
Vuk, now out of his mind with rage, raced after them. Reaching the pair at the bottom of the stairs, he yanked Nathan away from Stella. He then grabbed Nathan by the neck, squeezing him so hard he almost throttled him, until a security guard came running to break up the fight.
“What the hell are you doing, pal? You could kill him!” the guard yelled, holding Vuk by the shirt as Nathan gradually got his breath back.
Vuk, annoyed, pulled out of the guard’s grip to go to Stella.
“Stella, are you ok? Let me see.” He raised her shirt just enough to check on her injuries.
“Don’t worry, Vuk, nothing serious…” she tried to calm him as he examined the stab wound. He addressed the guard:
“Can I go now?”
“No, I have to detain you.”
“You don’t understand! I can’t leave her, now.” Vuk feared that Drake and Ian were in the neighborhood and that they were just waiting for him to leave her on her own, his suspicions confirmed by the sinister grin on Nathan’s face.
“Not my concern. You and this other boy caused a disruption in the building.” The guard was resolute. He grabbed Vuk by his arm, pulling him away from Stella. She realiz
ed that he was on the brink of losing control again, and tried to make him reason.
“Vuk, it doesn’t matter. Go with him. I don’t want him to call the police.”
“Stella, don’t forget that you are all I care about,” he said passionately, his eyes filling with unbridled desire as he tilted his head toward hers.
“If that’s true, then go with him. Please, for me…” she whispered persuasively. She was staring at his mouth. She put her hand on his chest; Vuk looked at it. He thought of running away with her but then saw a man walking confidently toward them.
He was tall, thin, had blonde hair that glinted gold, green-blue eyes and a fine-featured perfect face that smiled reassuringly and infused a sense of security. He seemed an angel plagued with torment, which made him even more charming. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a blue shirt and casual shoes. He was a vampire. His name was Aaron Dale.
Aaron Dale
"I’ll look after her.” Aaron walked up to Stella, marvelling at how much she reminded him of Charleen Harris. Charleen was the woman he had loved but had killed centuries before, sure he could quell his thirst for her blood even though only a few months had passed since the bite that had made him a vampire.
“You expect me to trust you?” asked Vuk wryly, his eyes full of suspicion as he instantly sensed that Aaron was a vampire of ancient origins.
“It appears you don’t have many other options?” Aaron replied.
“You’re wrong, I’d rather risk going to jail!” The last thing he wanted was to leave Stella in the hands of a vampire he did not even know.
“No, Vuk, please, don’t!” Stella begged him.
“Stella, staying with you is the only way I can protect you.”
“I’ll look after her until you come back,” Aaron added, his fingers circling Vuk’s wrist to communicate the thought that he was there to protect Stella at the request of Jason Rees. Vuk frowned at him in dismay. He understood he was telling the truth. He turned to her, reluctantly:
“Stella, I‘ll be back as soon as I can,” Vuk gave Aaron a meaningful look. He knew he could trust him now. Never taking his eyes off her, he left with the security guard. She was left alone with Aaron. She looked suspiciously at him, an involuntary shiver running down her spine. The strange light shining in from the glass doors of Warren Towers made him half illuminated him, making him seem to be a glorious white angel with a black soul.
“Well, he’s gone now so you might as well consign me to Drake,” Stella said, now resigned to her fate.
“What?” Aaron replied, astonished.
“Come on, what are you waiting for?” she smiled, bewildered.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Aaron said, his brow creasing in confusion.
“Look, I know exactly who and what you are, I only played along to stop Vuk from running away with me and being arrested.”
“Ah. Well, you might have sensed something about me but you certainly do not know who I am.” Aaron said, his initial amazement turning to amusement.
She observed his enigmatic expression with attention, and a doubt crept into her mind…
“At this point I think I was wrong about you. Nice to meet you, I’m Stella Whitely.”
“My pleasure and an honor indeed, Stella. My name is Aaron Dale.”
“Are you a friend of Donn’s?” The ancient and obscure shadows that seemed to flicker across his face making her think immediately of the beautiful vampire.
In fact, the two did actually know one another. Aaron loved the arts, especially books. He owned a fine collection of rare, priceless manuscripts in his apartment, which had a skylight and was on the top floor of a building next to Boston Public Library, where he often went to read and frequently bumped into Donn.
“Amazing, Stella… You’re a smart girl. I’ve heard good things about you…” He was referring to Jason.
“Who would tell you about me?” Suddenly she again saw a mirage of Jason near the main entrance of Warren Towers. He seemed to be smiling, his eyes looking in another direction. Incredulous, she started quickly towards him, Aaron following her with a tiny smile on his lips.
Her breath caught in her throat and silence seemed to reign around her, she could only hear the thud of her heart. He was even more seductive and beguiling than when she had last seen him a year earlier. He looked the same as he did every time he appeared in her dreams, often with dark, or soft red eyes and a penetrating gaze. It was a gaze that met hers for an instant before he vanished into thin air, hidden from view by some passing students.
“You saw him too, right?” She hurried to the place where she had seen Jason standing.
“Who?”
“There was a guy here, near the entrance! I saw him! He had brown hair, blue jeans and a dark blue button-down shirt.” She looked carefully out of the glass doors but could no longer see him.
“If you saw him, Stella, he was there. You should trust your feelings more…” Aaron said, repeating the words she had said to Jason on the phone that morning.
“I always say that…” she replied, a bit puzzled.
“Tell me, who do you think you saw?”
“No one. I can’t have seen him, so it’s pointless telling you who…” As soon as she uttered the words, as she walked out the door, she saw Jason in front of her again and then felt his hands, cold and firm on her hips. She gasped, shocked, but then realized that he had vanished again; she looked at Aaron beside her, intent on reading her innermost thoughts and stealing her most private, intimate feelings.
“I feel I make you uneasy…” Aaron murmured.
“Maybe. You look at me so intensely.” She narrowed her eyes for a moment, losing herself in his eyes and falling under his spell.
“What do you mean?” he asked, although he knew full well what she meant.
“Like now, for example…”
“What a sensitive girl you are, Stella.” The effect his charm was having on her was frightening and disorienting, and she was thrown out of kilter by seeing Jason in such sharp focus.
“Thanks, but we’d better to get Jamie,” she hastened to say.
“Are you afraid of me?” He walked over to her.
“No, it’s not that…” she exhaled.
“Then you’re afraid to be with me?” he asked again.
“No, it’s that I have to go to class.”
Aaron stared into her eyes, realizing that she wanted to get away from him.
“Why won’t you stay with me, Stella?”
“Sorry, I really should go now…” she insisted, confused.
Stella headed to Starbucks. Aaron was on her trail, a short distance away. But she soon realized that someone else was following her. Another two werewolves, one of them Drake Wolf, were tailing her, sticking close, just waiting for the right time to show themselves, far from the crowd and prying eyes.
He kept his eye on her as she entered the coffee shop and came back out shortly after, holding a bag of ice and eating something. Stella stopped under the awning and placed the bag of ice gingerly on her back. Although he didn’t see her grimace in pain, he peered inside her and felt the intense pain she was in as she held the ice pack to her injuries. He reached her under the shelter
“Hello,” he said, with a breathtaking smile.
“Aaron, I see you can’t take no for an answer,” she replied with a slight smile as she saw him cast his eyes around to check that no one was trying to ambush her.
“No, true… And I see that you are cold. Would you like a coffee?” he said, amused, while glaring aggressively at Ian and Drake to warn them that the girl was now under his protection. It seemed to have the desired effect because, unexpectedly, the two werewolves mingled with the crowd, disappearing into the groups of students heading for their afternoon classes.
“I don’t want to cause you any trouble, Aaron,” she said, a little uncomfortably.
“It’s a pleasure, not a problem,” he replied seductively, touching her hand as if by
chance. Then, after first checking that Jason had her in his sights and that Drake and Ian were no longer around, he walked off.
J.
The light drizzle had turned into pelting rain. As Aaron disappeared into Starbucks, Stella looked listlessly at the people in the street. Then she saw Drake heading towards her and froze with terror as she saw him rapidly close the gap that separated them. Her brain churning, she shook her head from side to side to try and clear it but found she was still rooted to the spot, her body unable to react to this new imminent danger.
A pair of strong arms had snaked round her shoulders. She had no idea it was Jason because the man had approached her from behind and she couldn’t see his face, but she did see the effect he had on Drake, who stopped dead in his tracks, his face darkening. The wolf then retraced his steps and vanished into the now pelting rain. Stella retreated in confusion, pressing her body into the unexpected savior.
Jason frowned, his eyes still dark and dilated from catching sight of Drake, his body flooding with sensations he could only define as sublime. He felt an exquisite desire ignite deep in his core and, struggling to lock down his darker, more sinister side, he mustered his last ounce of strength to fight the wild craving to taste her blood, the urge to smell it and to roll it deliciously around his mouth like a connoisseur of the finest wine.
“Who are you?” asked Stella, her voice faint, her body tensing, only to be met by the deafening silence of the pouring rain. But her relief was so great that she let herself sink into the refuge of her unnamed rescuer’s arms. He stared at the back of her head, his hair disheveled by the humidity, his lips quivering.
“How come you’re shivering so?” Jason eventually replied, circling her tightly with his arms, his hands lovingly caressing her body, running like a drop of water down until her butt. He felt a tremor run through her. He disguised his voice, making it deeper, warmer, so that she would not recognize him.
“It’s the damp making me cold… Not to mention how unnerving it is to feel a stranger put his arms around me,” she said, her voice small and quavering. Then a gust of wind enveloped her with his smell and she tried to twist round to see him but found herself gently blocked.
