Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)

by Dara Nelson

  He walked to the edge of the bed and sat down. He couldn’t remember when the last time was that he’d had a woman in his bed. There had been women, lots of women, but only one night stands and only in hotel rooms. The last time a woman had been in his bed had been…..no, don’t even think her name.

  The voice in his bathroom thankfully brought him back to the present, “Ummmm, Colton? This is really embarrassing, but I can’t seem to stand up.”

  Colton chuckled slightly and walked to the door, “I’m coming in. Is that okay?”

  “I guess it’ll have to be unless I want to spend the night on the toilet.”

  Ever the gentleman, when he walked in, his eyes went straight to the linen closet on the opposite side of the room. He pulled out a towel and then walked with his eyes closed over to her. He held the towel out as a curtain, but kept his eyes closed. “Grab onto my forearms,” he said.

  She did and in one surprising and incredibly strong move, he pulled her up. She held tight to one of his arms as she pulled up the baggy sweatpants with her other. “I’m decent now. Thanks,” she mumbled.

  “Do you want to try walking to the bed?” he asked.

  She hesitated with her answer. She knew she should say yes, but damn it, she liked it when he scooped her up in his arms and held her tight to his chest. Not only did it feel good, but, man, did he smell amazing – like sex on a lazy afternoon in a field of freshly cut grass, with a stream running through it and a cool breeze blowing from the pine trees, and……what was she supposed to be doing? Oh yeah, “Mmmm, I guess I can try to walk,” she whispered, disappointed with herself for not having the guts to beg him to sweep him into her arms. What was going on with her? Why did she feel this way when she was around him? She didn’t even know who she was. She should only be concerned with figuring that out, right? A part of her wanted that, wanted that more than anything. But then there was that other part. The part that knew what had been done to her, but didn’t want to know the details. Knowing what had happened was bad enough. Knowing the details just might drive her insane. That was something that she definitely didn’t want. But for some reason none of that mattered when Colton was near her. Whenever he was around she felt safe, more importantly, whenever he was around she felt wanted.

  She placed her hand on the counter, carefully swung the boot leg forward, tried, honestly tried, to put weight on the foot but the intense pain that shot through her body instantly brought tears to her eyes and make her cry out. In less than a second she was in his arms

  He carried her to the bed and was gently setting her down when there was a knock at the door.

  “Come,” he said.

  Hansen opened the door and the smell of pancakes and syrup and bacon and coffee wafted into the room before he entered. She licked her lips. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until just then. Colton took the tray from Hansen and placed it carefully over her legs. As she began to dig in he started walking towards the door. She swallowed a big mouthful of food and the panic that wanted to explode out of her, “Where, where are you going?” she mumbled.

  He smiled at her, “I just have to grab something. I’ll be right back.”

  She listened to his footsteps going down the hall and down the stairs. She could hear muffled voices at the bottom of the stairs, one of which didn’t sound happy. “Hansen,” she said, smiling and taking another mouthful of food.

  “Sir, this is not a good idea, having her here. You know that, right?” Hansen said.

  Colton glanced up the stairs, “Keep your voice down. I don’t want her to hear you. Of course I know it’s not a good idea, Hansen. But what am I supposed to do? She doesn’t even know who she is. Where am I supposed to take her? I can’t take her home, she doesn’t know where that is. And I don’t want to take her to the police station because they’ll just send her to a mental hospital for evaluation. I can’t let her go through that. And if I did that I wouldn’t be able to find him for her. And I’m going to find him, Hansen. I’m going to find him and I’m going to kill him. I owe her that.”

  “Excuse me? You owe her that? Why on earth do you feel that you owe her, Sir? Aren’t you the one who saved her? Doesn’t she technically owe you?” Hansen said.

  Colton looked at Hansen. How was he supposed to tell him that this woman that he barely knew was the one who had saved him, not the other way around. Hansen would tell him he was insane. Hell, even he thought he might have lost it. But there was something about her. Something that woke up his heart – a heart that had been dormant for a long, long time – and for that he was grateful. “For now she’s our guest, Hansen. Try to remember that,” he said as he walked into his office. He grabbed his laptop and his American Express card and headed back up the stairs. When he opened the door it was to a scene that made laugh out loud – ‘Miss’ was in the middle of licking the syrup off of her empty plate. She gave him a surprised look over the top of the plate then she gave him a sheepish grin, blushing several shades of pink.

  “The syrup is really good,” she mumbled.

  “So I gather,” he said, chuckling as he walked to the bed, “Would you like some more?”

  She shook her head, “No, I’m full. But thanks.”

  He set the laptop on the edge of the bed then lifted the tray from over her legs and set it on the floor. Then he picked p the laptop.

  “What’s that for?” she asked.

  He motioned to the bed, “May I,” he said then he smiled slightly when her heart beat quickened as she nodded. He sat down next to her and fired up the laptop. He entered his password and then brought up the internet. He set the laptop on her legs and then handed her his credit card, “I want you to order anything that you need: clothes, shampoo, female supplies, anything. I mean it. Anything at all. And then when you’re done with that, you can use this to do some research to try to figure out who you are.”

  She tried to hand his card back to him, “Colton, I can’t do that. I can’t take your money,” she whispered.

  He stopped her hand by placing his on the back of hers. He tried not to react but he could tell that she felt the tingle that shot up his arm just like he did. Amazing. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his own heart. “Miss. Please. Money is not the issue here. The issue is that you’re staying here until you can figure out who you are and where you live (or hopefully longer, he thought suddenly, surprising himself) and you’re going to need some things – and I’m going to need my sweatpants back,” he added, grinning. “Besides, if it feels better, you can consider it a loan and pay me back. Will that work?”

  She dropped her hand back to the bed, “I, I guess,” she mumbled.

  “Great,” he said as he stood up. He grabbed a pen and paper from the nightstand, “Make sure you have it shipped overnight. I have a post office box in town. I can send Hansen to pick it up tomorrow.” He turned to head out the door, “I have a few things to take care of downstairs but I’ll be back up here to check on you this afternoon. And if you need anything at all – food, drink, a helping hand to the bathroom – just holler. It’s a big house, but sounds in it really carry,” he said, thinking – no, it’s my vampire hearing that will hear you.

  She had to bite her lip to keep herself from asking him to please not leave. And, truthfully, he really didn’t have anything to take care of downstairs, but he didn’t want to hover – and he didn’t want to tempt himself further.

  He carried the tray downstairs and found Hansen, brooding of course, in the kitchen. He walked to the sink and began rinsing the dishes. Hansen walked over and tried to move him out of the way, “I can do that, Sir,” he said as his hands tried to push Colton’s out of the way.

  Colton smiled at Hansen, “Relax, Hansen. Let me do this for a change. Besides, I need you to sit down and make up a shopping list. You’ll need to go to the store tomorrow and stock up on enough food for the two of you.”

  Hansen shot him a dirty look, but kept his mouth closed. Finally he sighed as he sat down at the t
able, “For how long, Sir?” he said.

  “I don’t know, Hansen. It could be a while.”

  Colton could hear Hansen’s jaw muscles clenching. Finally, Hansen pushed the chair back from the table and stormed to the refrigerator. As he pulled it open he said, “Fine. I understand. I guess I’ll fix the two of us steaks for dinner.” He stood up and tossed two packages of raw meat onto the counter. As Hansen tore open the plastic so that he could marinate the steaks, the scent of the raw blood oozing from the fresh meat hit Colton like a sledgehammer, reminding him that it had now been a few days since he’d fed. He inhaled sharply and felt his fangs push into his mouth. He could see that Hansen really wanted to scold him for allowing him to go so long, but Hansen held his tongue. “It’s almost sunset. You should go into town for a little while and feed. I can keep an eye on the girl,” he said.

  Colton’s eyes lifted up, towards the second floor. It shouldn’t take him more than an hour.

  But he didn’t want to leave her. Not right now. He shook his head, “No. I’m fine. I’ll wait until she’s asleep and then I’ll go.”

  Hansen shot him a look. He wanted to say something to Colton, but he didn’t. He didn’t because he owed Colton. He owed him everything. Colton had saved him, saved him from himself, over three hundred years ago. And that was a debt that he felt would never be repaid, not as long as he was alive.

  Colton looked a little concerned as he studied Hansen. Finally he said, “It’s almost time for you, isn’t it? We’re coming up on a year, right?”

  Hansen squeezed his eyes shut. He still hated this part of himself, but at least it was controlled now. Thanks to Colton, he could control it. You see, Hansen was what was known, in modern terminology, as a Devourer. He stole people’s life essence, not their blood. That was how he survived and was made immortal. In every other way he was human except for the fact that he was over three hundred years old. When Colton had first found him, Hansen had just been made, well, just - as in about fifty years before. He had been made and then his maker had abandoned him without any training or anything. So for fifty years he roamed the countryside taking every life essence he could, thinking that that’s what he needed to survive. Young, old, male, female – he didn’t discriminate because he thought he needed it – and he was going insane because of it, he was becoming a monster. Until Colton saved him. Colton found him when Hansen tried to take Colton’s life essence. Colton had laughed at first, “Young man, don’t you know what I am?” he had said. Hansen replied, “No, and I don’t give a damn,” and had lunged at him again. In an instant, Hansen had been flipped around so that his back was pressed to Colton’s chest. Colton’s hands were squeezed around his neck. And then he felt Colton’s breath on his neck, felt his fangs scrape the skin but not pierce it. Hansen’s eyes went wide and he stopped breathing. “I could drain you in ten seconds. Do you know what I am now?”

  Hansen’s Adams apple bounced on Colton’s fingers as he swallowed hard. He nodded and managed a raspy, “Yes.”

  “You need to learn some self-control, young man. And some manners. Would you like me to teach you?” Colton had said.

  Hansen knew instantly that he would learn so much from this vampire. He barely hesitated before he nodded and said, “please.”

  They had been together ever since. Teacher and pupil to the end.

  Hansen looked at Colton and tilted his head to the side. He finally wanted to ask the one question that he had never asked before, “Why didn’t you drain me that night, Sir? The night that you met me, why didn’t you kill me?”

  Colton looked surprised at first, then he smiled, “Finally getting around to asking that, huh Hansen? Okay, truthfully? I’ve tasted a few Devourers in my life. Your blood is, how shall I put this, pretty f-in’ nasty,” he said grinning as he walked out of the kitchen. Colton smiled when he heard Hansen mumble, “liar,” as he walked up the stairs. Yeah, he was a liar. Hansen knew him too well.

  He knocked lightly on the door. “Come in,” she said from the other side. He smiled as he walked in and saw her furrowed brow as she studied what was on the computer screen. She looked simply adorable. “Did you order your things?”

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, I did. I’m looking for missing persons articles in newspapers right now.”

  Colton pulled his phone out of his pocket. He knew his credit card account was linked to his email, so he would have an email confirmation of the order in his inbox. He brought it up on his phone. “Eighty-three dollars? That’s all you spent?”

  “What? Oh, well, yeah, I don’t need much,” she whispered.

  He sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the order on his phone as he spoke, “Miss, two t-shirts, one pair of jeans, one bra and one pair of panties? That’s it? Look, not to be blunt here, but what about feminine pads, tampons, shampoo, deodorant? And that foot will take about six weeks to heal. If your memory doesn’t come back before then, then you will be staying here that entire time. Do you really think that one set of under garments is going to be enough for six weeks? And one pair of pants? What are you going to wear when everything is being washed? And what are you going to sleep in?”

  She blushed as she stared at him, “Oh,” she mumbled.

  He moved a little closer so that he was sitting next to her on the bed, “Let’s place another order, shall we?”

  She watched him for a few seconds. “You’re not going to let me say no, are you?”

  He shook his head, “Nope.”

  Thirty minutes later – after trying to argue with him at every turn - (“I don’t need a dozen pairs of underwear”, “Oh, come on, four yoga pants?” “Slippers? Seriously? I do not need slippers.”) - she finally clicked on the ‘confirm order’ button.

  “God, you are as stubborn as a mule. Do you always get your way?” she said.

  He smiled with a playful glint in his eye, “Usually.”

  “Somebody’s going to have to do something about that,” she mumbled, smiling. She sighed and closed the laptop.

  “Something wrong?” he said.

  She shook her head, “No. I’m just tired of looking at this thing.”

  “Haven’t found anything yet?”

  “Nope,” she said then she turned and looked at him, “Since I might have to be here awhile, I think I’d like to know a few things about you.”

  “Like?”

  “Like, is there a Misses Colton Renner?”

  “No.”

  “Girlfriend?”

  “No.”

  “So you’re gay? You and Hansen are a couple?” she asked, although she really felt that this one wasn’t true. She felt it in her gut.

  Colton laughed. “No. We’re not a couple. Not sexually anyways. I suppose in every other way we could be seen that way – I mean we’re always together and we finish each other’s sentences. But friendship is as far as it goes.”

  “So why do you live out here, in the middle of nowhere? Are you agoraphobic?”

  “Me? Afraid of people? Hardly,” he said.

  “Shy?” she said.

  “A little, I suppose.”

  “Are you a serial killer?”

  Colton’s head whipped around, “What? Really? What do you think? Do you think I’m a serial killer?”

  She stared at him for a minute, “No. I don’t think so. But I’m guessing you wouldn’t tell me if you were.”

  “No. I probably wouldn’t.”

  Suddenly a wolf howled in the distance – and Miss screamed.

  Colton was wrapping her arms around her before her next breath. “Shhhh, it’s okay, Miss. It’s okay. Nothing is going to hurt you, I promise.”

  She dug her fingers into his arm as she tried to get herself under control. She had never had a panic attack in her life – and she didn’t like it.

  After about fifteen minutes, her crying into his chest began to quiet down. She tried to wipe the tears away from her eyes as she said, “I’m sorry. I’ve never been afraid of w…www…wwwolves before. I don’t
know what came over me.”

  “You were being chased by wolves when you came to my house, Miss. I’m sure that has something to do with it.”

  “I was being chased by wolves? What the hell was I doing out in the woods?” then she suddenly got a surprised look on her face, “A house! A white house with a green door! I have something to do with a white house with a green door and a sign out front. But I can’t see what the sign says. I wonder if that’s where I work? Or maybe it’s where I live? Wait! I remember that sign. It says “Annie’s Place” Is that me? Is my name Annie? I don’t know. Why can’t I remember if my name is Annie or not?”

  “Calm down. You’re trying to force it. It won’t come back that way. You have to relax. It’ll come to you. I promise,” he said as her sobs started again.

  Colton automatically reached his arm around her shoulders. Her head came down onto his thighs as she cried. He caressed her hair as he tried to soothe her fears, “Shhhh. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

  She cried until she had no more tears left and then she drifted off to sleep. Colton continued to caress her hair, even as Hansen quietly poked his head in the room and whispered, “Dinner for her, sir?”

  Colton shook his head and whispered, “She’s too tired tonight. Let her sleep. You can fix her breakfast in the morning.”

  “And dinner for you, Sir?” Hansen said, giving Colton that ‘you have to go feed tonight’ look.

  Colton nodded his head, “I will. As soon as she’s in a deep sleep, I’ll slip out.”

  Hansen gave him a ‘make sure you go or I’ll have to come back up here’ look.

  “I’ll go. I promise. Now go to bed. That’s an order,” Colton said, smiling. Hansen quietly closed the door behind him. Colton stayed for another two hours – longer than he planned, but he wanted to make sure she was sound asleep. When she rolled off of his lap and did an adorable snort in her sleep, he knew that was his chance. He grabbed his coat and was out the door and on the way to town within thirty seconds. He ran – it was faster than driving – covering the twenty three miles into town in a few minutes. He was hanging around in the alley outside one of the local seedy bars for only a few minutes before his first inebriated snack stumbled out. Colton’s diet for half a century now had been drunk men. He preferred not to tempt himself by feeding on women. As the drunk man braced himself against the alley wall, pulled his cock out of his pants and began urinating against the wall, Colton made his move. He stepped behind the man and in one swift move Colton’s fangs sunk into the man’s neck while his hand pressed against the man’s forehead – erasing his memory as he drank. The man never knew that anything was happening other than he was peeing on the wall. As the man shook the last few drops, Colton licked the wounds, closing them – and then stepped back into the shadows – waiting for his next taste. This was how his feedings went – five or six in a night was usually enough.