“Laura?” he said, finally slowing her pace.
Ironically, walking slower didn't make her feel any better about her surroundings. In fact, as soon as that had slow down to a leisurely pace, she wanted to start power walking again. “What?” She asked, her unease making her sound much more urgent than she intended.
“Are you afraid?” he asked, not even trying to hide the amusement underlying his voice.
Laura cocked her head to one side. “Is that surprising to you?” she asked.
He just shrugged. “I don't know. You seemed so unphased by that horror movie, I just thought you would find this completely normal. In fact, I imagined you doing cartwheels in the bushes.”
Laura glowered at him. “Why would you ever imagine me doing cartwheels?”
He laughed, immediately understanding the joke underlying that. “I don't know. Didn't you say you were in gymnastics once?” he asked.
Laura laughed at that, remembering that night, so many weeks ago when they were standing on her stoop, trying to prolong the good-bye kiss and she told him about the most embarrassing day of her life, which, incidentally, happened to occur while she was in gymnastics class. “Yeah but that was only for a year, when I was like five.” she replied.
“Oh come on. But doesn't everyone know how to do a cartwheel?” He asked.
Laura raised an eyebrow at this generalization. “I'm sorry, do you know how to do a cartwheel?” She then demanded.
But to her surprise. He nodded.
Her eyes went wide as another laugh forced its way to the top of her throat in mere anticipation of the seeing him twirling over his head like a clown or a child on a sugar high. “Do one!” she demanded. “Right now.”
He shrugged, as if it was nothing, then let go of her hand. Before Laura could utter a gasp of surprise, he had set off into a running start.
“Wait! You'll get a splinter!” she hissed, for fear of waking the hobos or the racoons that she very well believed would dart out of the bushes and take her right there.
He gave her a look that suggested he believed her to be a little bit more than a bit insane. “On asphalt?” he asked in a disbelieving voice.
She shrugged, running to catch up with him. “I don't know! Broken glass?”
He just laughed at her. “Lighten up!” he exclaimed as he launched himself into a cartwheel.
Her eyes went wide as she was caught in utter disbelief as to how he could always make everything look so effortless. “Oh, don't do that.” she mumbled.
“Do what?” he asked as he jogged back to her. For all that energy he had just expelled he wasn't even panting.
“Make yourself look so superhuman in front of a mere mortal like me.” she replied, more to herself than to him.
He released a heavy breath, placing his hand under her chin and lifting her face towards him. “Look, you are so much more than just a woman.” he replied. “And that's a lot coming from me.” but his last words were lost in yet another kiss.
“But I do have to say. I am a bit disappointed.” he replied once they drew away.
Laura's eyes went wide. “Oh God. I have been dreading this moment.” she muttered. “What are you surprised about.”
“I don't know, I just thought you would be more of a woman of the night.” he replied with a shrug.
Laura narrowed her eyes. “I really just have no idea what you're talking about.” She replied..
He just kept looking at her. “You are so afraid right now. I can see you trembling in your shoes.”
Laura couldn't help but get a little annoyed at this. He takes her to one of the most sketchiest parks in New York in the middle of the night, and then gets surprised that she's not “totally feeling it”? “Uh. Hell yeah I'm scared. Haven't you seen rent?” she demanded.
He nodded. “Yes, but I don't see how that applies.”
“Well, they all had aides and did heroine, and lived here.” she explained, wondering why she had to draw the connections for him in the first place.
“But they were friendly drug addicts.”
Laura burst out laughing at the paradox that just slipped out of his mouth. “I don't even know what that means.”
Roy opened his mouth to respond, but nothing but laughter came out of it, so he just put his arm around her again and drew her in even closer. “Look, I'm sorry if I've made you feel uncomfortable.” he replied.
He wasn't wrong about making her feel uncomfortable, but merely acknowledging it was enough grounds for forgiveness. “It's okay.” She replied. Then, in an attempt to redeem herself from sounding like such a wimp in the whole night, she continued with, “This isn't so bad anyway. I kind of like it out here at night. It's calming.”
He planted a kiss on her forehead. “Good. Because my woman has to be a creature of the night.”
Laura ignored the way that her heart swelled when he called her, “my woman,” and continued with, “Why, because you're a vampire?” she asked.
It was as if those words flipped a switch in him. He drew away from her, putting a yard of distance between them and with enough force to stop her in her tracks. Her heart raced in her chest as she gazed at his rigid stance with wide eyes. “What's wrong?” She demanded, as she took a step towards him.
But, as if by complete reflex, he stepped back, maintaining the distance between them.
Laura couldn't decide whether she was more embarrassed that she had said something so obviously incredibly wrong, or bewildered at the fact that what she said had elicited such a response out of him. “What did I say?” she demanded, desperate to get him acting normal again.
Then, as if he, himself, had turned that switch in the back of his head, back to the off position, he shook his head and stepped towards him. “It's nothing. I just used to have nightmares about those as a kid. It was pretty bad. My mom had to take me to therapy at one point.” By the time he had finished saying that, he had reached her side and the two were on their way again.
“That's odd.” Laura replied, a mischievous look in her eye.
“What? The vampire thing? I know.” he replied absentmindedly.
Laura shook her head. “No, the thought of you having a mom.” She retorted.
He let out a fit of hearty laughter, and Laura knew that she had won back his favor. “Everyone has one.” he replied in a joking voice.
Laura glowered at him. “Oh you know what I mean.”
After that, the two of them settled into a calm silence, occupying their senses by taking in the night around them. Roy tried his best to keep a firm hold on her to keep her from freaking out and Laura tried her best not to think of every rustle in the bushes as her killer coming to slash her throat. They had almost reached the other side when Laura saw something move out of the corner of her eye. “Oh my God, Roy.”she muttered in an excited voice.
“What?” He demanded, darting around them.
But Laura had her eyes trained on a small rabbit who had found its way to the asphalt trail. His white fur gleamed silver in the moonlight, and his almond eyes, big and beady, seemed to carry the depth of all the oceans in the world inside of them. She found herself entranced as she slipped her phone out of her small clutch and knelt for a picture. “Oh, wait. I have to get this. Oh my God. It's going to look so good when I edit it.” she replied and focused her camera on it, her eyes wide as she was still mesmerized by the beauty of the creature right in front of her. For a moment, she had completely forgotten her fears about being in that park; had completely forgotten that it was so late at night to begin with.
Roy chuckled at this. “Hashtag. No filter.” he muttered.
It took everything in Laura to suppress that laughter. The truth was that she didn't want to scare that rabbit away. However, before she could even get a good picture of it, it scurried away. It's little feet moved so fast that it was completely out of sight before she could snap even one picture. “What the-” she started as she darted up, her gaze sweeping the ground around her.... but h
e was nowhere to be found. “Oh no!” she cried, finding herself stupidly disappointed that she could not get a good look at that rabbit.
But Roy had already taken his first step towards the bushes. “Don't worry. I know where it went.” he replied, reaching his hand out for her phone.
At the sight of him putting in so much effort for this, Laura already felt as if she had overreacted with the whole thing. “Oh, it's not that important. Don't worry about it.” she told him.
But he just shook his head and swiped her phone out of her hand. “I'd feel awful if you didn't get at least one little thing out of this insanely scary walk.”
Laura dropped her shoulders. “Okay. It's not that scary.” she replied, still a little hesitant about sending the guy she was dating after a random rabbit, just so that she could have a cool picture for social media.
But he didn't want to wait any longer. “Laura, just let me do this. I don't understand.” With that, he disappeared into the bushes with nothing but his footsteps to indicate that he was still there.
Laura sighed a little at a loss for what to do or think about in his absence. She paced back and forth, her heart swelling in that scary way that it does when she realizes that she might like someone a little bit more than they liked her. “How am I even going to ask him to be exclusive?” she muttered to herself as she stared at her white, pointed flats. Was tonight the night? Just as she was telling herself to calm down before she got way too ahead of herself, she looked up to find a man towering over her. His eyes were ice blue and his body, though draped in layers of torn clothing, was heavy revealing two forearms with his veins protruding just under the thin surface of worn skin. He held on hand out to her, but in the other hand was a blade, glinting in the moonlight.
Chapter 3
“Give me your money.” his voice shook enough to let her know that he was definitely doped out on something, but firm enough for her to realize that he would not hesitate to use that knife in his hand.
Eight years in New York had hardened Laura enough to say, “No.”
He raised one of those bushy eyebrows, cocking his head to the side as if he couldn't believe she would refuse him. He took another step towards her, then stood his ground, shifting his weight from foot to foot swaying back and forward.
Laura could say that she was incredibly frightened even though he couldn't even hold her gaze. She stood frozen in her spot, her stomach lurching and her skin covered in goosebumps. She could muster enough brain power to refuse him the expensive bag her late mother had given her for her 21st birthday. “I can't give you this. I'm sorry.” she replied, but because he had demanded it of her and not even deigned to ask her like a nice person, she wasn't the least bit sorry. Besides, Roy was coming back at any moment.... wasn't he?
“It wasn't a question.” he replied in his sickly voice.
Laura shook her head frantically, her heart fluttering in her chest and desperately calling out for Roy to come to her rescue. Yet, conveniently, his footsteps had already faded away. “Okay. Fine.” She replied, but she failed at keeping her frustration out of her voice. She rummaged through her clutched for her small wallet, but she always packed light when she went out with Roy, taking nothing but a credit card just in case, by some freak accident, one of his declined. Aside from that, she'd only have cash if it had been left in it from the last time she used it. A sigh slipped out of her lips as she shook her head. This guy was in for a big disappointment. “Look. I don't have any money in here.” she muttered as she opened her small wallet for him to see for himself.
He glowered disbelievingly at her. “Then give me the bag.” he demanded, lunging for it.
Laura jumped out of his reach, some sort of primal protective instinct igniting inside of her. “I can't give this to you. I refuse.” she hissed, wondering how the hell Roy still hadn't shown up yet.
He winced as if in complete disbelief that she would deny him; a man clearly much bigger than her and brandishing a weapon of his own, when she stood there, caught off guard and unarmed. “It wasn't a request.”
“I know, but it's a waste of time. You won't get anything for it.” She replied, misguidedly thinking that she was going to be able to reason with him.
He just took another step at her and wrapped his rough hand around her wrist, yanking her so that she was standing that much closer to him. She could smell his foul breath and rancid odor of a body that had not seen a shower in weeks. “Give it to me!” he growled.
Laura gasped, trying to yank herself free of his grip, but it was completely useless. He was much stronger than his red eyes lot off that he was. She had no hope of getting free. That's when she realized that once she gave this man her purse, whose to say he would stop there? What if she had just found herself in a textbook mugging situation? How was she going to defend herself? She wasn't sure if it was the horror movie, or the ice cream, or all that time spent with Roy, but Laura was starting to feel a bit reckless and a little more sure of herself. She drew her clutch away from him and drove it into his face as hard as she could.
“Agh!” he let go of her and stumbled a few steps back, his hand flying to the rapidly forming bruise on the side of his face.
This time, Laura didn't wait for him to recover, or count on anymore reasoning for him. She pivoted on her heal and launched herself in the opposite direction, blindly running in the opposite direction from him. “Roy!” she roared breathlessly as she struggled to put one heavy foot in front of the other. Yoga had done nothing to prepare her for this kind of physical activity, but the sound of her attacker rapidly pursuing her was enough to edge her on.
“Come back!” he roared after.
She could feel him catching up to her, fancying that she could just hear the sound of his ragged breath shadowing over her neck. Just like that, she thought of darting off the trail, for as long as she stayed on the path, he could follow her, and it was becoming apparent that it was all too easy for him to outrun her. But if she jumped off, she could hide and hopefully he would give up the pursuit? But by the time she had reached the right place to jump away, he had caught up to her.
He threw himself at her, landing like a boulder on top of her. She tumbled to the ground, her ankle twisting in the process. A pained scream slipped out of her lips as she landed on the ground, her face scratching on the pavement. She gasped, a cracking sound ringing through the night as her skull slapped the asphalt. Her hands, which had flown in front of her in the hopes of catching her fall were scathed and bleeding. She turned to get back up, but he had already mounted her. This time, when she looked into his eyes, she saw nothing but stupid anger, uncontrollable and unfocused.
“Shit.” she hissed, just as he threw a punch.
Her head slammed to the right, her neck snapping to pick up the impact of it all. Her head rung from the blow, but something about that only made her more angry. She tried to pressed her body against him, throwing a punch of her own, but the force of that alone was enough to fracture her own fist. “Ughhh!” she screeched, but, luckily for her, he swayed a little backward. That punch, plus the impact of her purse was enough to fracture the bone beneath his tough skin.
Laura sucked in a deep breath and ignored the pain in her fist enough to throw yet another punch at him. This was enough to weaken his grip so that she could slither away from him. She twisted her body and crawled away, fully intending to stand up once she had put enough space between herself and him. But she had only crawled a foot away from him when he reached out and grabbed a handfull of the thick head of hair she had spent over an hour curling for that very date. A screech slipped through her lips as her neck yanked backwards. He lifted her onto her knees through the sheer force of pulling on her hair as he stood up.
Laura through her hand frantically upwards, trying her best to get a grip on him to stop him or anything. But nothing worked. He lifted her over her ankles, then drove the back of her head into the ground. Her eyes went wide as her brain slammed against the inside of her skull.
The stars and the moon turned into white light as every hair on her skin stood on end. Her jaw hung stupidly open as she struggled to keep taking in oxygen. But nothing could help the mind blowing pain frying her every nerve. “Stoppit. Stoppit!” she gasped, as he grabbed her head yet again and began to drag her by it, a crazy laugh tumbling out of his mouth.
Just when she thought he would never stop, he did, haphazardly dropping her onto the pavement again. He began to rummage in his pockets for his knife, but, this time, Laura could do nothing to take advantage of this little bit of time. She willed herself to get up, but even sitting upright was to much for her to manage. She twisted onto her stomach and began to crawl away from him her arms giving out beneath her on every third step. Even though she could hear him walking beside her, taking delight in her every pained step, she couldn't give up and just accept defeat. “Roy?” she spat as her arm gave out for the last time.
VAMPIRE:Vampire Guardian Series: Paranormal Mystery Vampire Alpha Male Romance (New Adult Contemporary Paranormal Royalty Fantasy Romance Collection)) Page 52
