Coke would be great.”
“No well water?”
“No well water.”
It was her turn to grin. “Coke was my choice, too.” There was a little change in the lights in his eyes.
“What?”
“You know…I think we may have quite a bit in common.”
She wasn’t sure if he was trying to ease into or hint at something, possibly a future relationship. She wasn’t entirely against the idea, but she wasn’t sure she was quite ready, either. He had a really warm personality, and he wasn’t bad looking at all. She liked the way his blond bangs fell over his forehead, and he had nice eyes. What’s more, they did seem to get along really well. “Yeah…You could be right.” She looked away then, afraid he might see the pain that had suddenly stirred within her.
Though she missed Derek terribly, the loneliness was sometimes unbearable. She was definitely glad to have a good friend, with the possibility of it blossoming into something else eventually. She wasn’t in any hurry, though.
It didn’t take any longer for Paul to set up Amber’s television than it did for her to get their lunch together.
They sat on the bear rug with trays and ate while she surfed through her available channels with the remote, surprised to find she had about as many as she would have with cable.
He was smiling amusedly at her. “What?”
“Nothing…Really.”
“Oh? You sure?”
He sighed. “Really want to know?’
“Please! Out with it!”
“You’re just kind of cute sitting there, all tickled with your new television?”
She chuckled. “Okay…”
“My turn…What?”
“Just kind of cute?” she said, grinning.
“Guess I put my foot in that one…Sorry…Let me rephrase that – I think you’re really cute.”
She bit her bottom lip, suppressing a grin. “You’re not too shabby yourself.”
“Does that mean I am a little shabby?”
She laughed. “Okay…My turn with the foot-mouth thing. You’re not shabby at all. You’re very …”
“Think it through,” he said, grinning.
“Okay…Before I really cook my goose here…so to speak…I think you are very pleasing to the eyes. And let’s leave it at that for now.”
“For now,” he said with a low chuckle. His expression grew more serious and they held each other’s gaze. He was going to kiss her. Then the moment was interrupted by the front door banging open and a gust of cold wind blowing in, startling her to the point of yelling.
He jumped up and closed the door and locked it for her.
“Odd,” she remarked. I could have sworn I locked it when we came in.”
His brow furrowed. “Yeah…Me too.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really…I just think that was really kind of weird.” He broke into a smile. “And the timing absolutely awful.”
She suppressed a grin, stood and gathered up her tray and he took his. They headed for the kitchen. “I’ll clean this up later,” she said. “Just leave things on the table here.”
“I can do that,” he said, eyes on hers again. He went to kiss her again and their lips barely met when they were once more interrupted by honking.
He laughed. “Guess it’s just not meant to be today.”
“Guess not.” She turned and headed for the front door, looking out the window. “It’s Shelia…my realtor.”
“Yeah…I know Shelia. She’s lived in these parts all her life.”
Amber opened the door and Shelia was already coming up the steps. When she saw Paul she looked a little surprised, but greeted him warmly. “Hello, Paul…” She stepped inside as Amber moved back for her. “I see you’ve made a friend already.”
“Hello, Shelia,” Paul greeted.
“Paul took me into Seattle to get that television that you were so right about me probably wanting.”
“That was nice of you, Paul” she stated and went up to the television. “It looks great on the wall here. Is it a plasma?”
“No…Just a high definition. Plasmas are a little more than I care to spend right now, even though I have it. This one’s good enough for me.”
“Well,” Paul sighed. “Guess I should get going…See how Sally and Judy are doing in holding down the store…I know Judy wants to go into Seattle with a couple of new friends, hang out at one of the malls for the afternoon.” He shrugged. “I personally don’t get it. I don’t care to go to the mall unless I have something to buy…But I’m a guy…What can I say? Things like that just elude me.”
“Perfectly normal,” Shelia replied. “Good to see you again…And I hope I didn’t scare you off?” She glanced at Amber and back at Paul.
“Oh…No.” His gaze went to Amber. There was what she took to be a hopeful look in his eyes. “I’ll see you later…Maybe call? See how the television is working out.”
“Please do.” She moved to the door with him.
He smiled down at her. She knew he really wanted to stay longer, but he felt he should let her visit with Shelia. He winked then and went on out the door.
“Am I interrupting something?” Shelia asked, as Amber turned around.
“Oh…No. Nothing at all.” She nodded and then gestured with her hand for Shelia to follow her on into the bedroom. “Want you to see the painting I started.”
“I’d love to!”
Since Paul had left Amber’s cabin, Dorian flew back to his, transformed into his human body and went inside. He thought of getting another beer and then realized it was five O’clock, time for his pill. He only had ten left, which meant he’d have to go to Russia really soon to have them refilled.
No doctor in the US could help him. No doctor anywhere could, for these were a very special prescription, one that only a couple of people in the entire world that he knew of could fill – An old man by the name of Aptyp – Artur – in English, and a younger niece of his, Knapa – Klara – in English. Fortunately, for Dorian, they were vampires, too.
Aptyp had developed the formula for himself shortly after being changed. He’d found an herb, indigenous to Siberia, that when mixed with some other ingredients and taken at daily intervals, allowed him to walk in sunlight. Something vampires could not ordinarily do.
As Dorian filled a glass with water and took the pill he thought about the intruder. Obviously, he was able to be about in the daylight, too.
Dorian couldn’t help but wonder – Did the other vampire have access to the special pills? If so, did he know Aptyp and Knapa? He almost had to. Could be, that he even knew the intruder, but he could not be sure unless he saw him in his human form.
He hated having to leave for even a single day or night, but, unless he wanted to be limited to the dark hours, it was something he couldn’t avoid. He could run like the wind, didn’t need transportation to get to Alaska. It wasn’t that far, anyway. Then it was a hop, skip and a jump into Russia. He would have to be gone for at least twenty-four to forty-eight hours. And right now, all he wanted to do was observe the pretty new female in the area. He wanted to get to know her. Wanted to make friends with her, gain her trust.
He didn’t want to just put her under a hypnotic spell. Something he had done a thousand times or more with other women, something he could so easily do now. Only this one he wanted to really care about him. He wanted real love, not just play with her like some toy.
But it was apparent that he had competition, and, that he’d have to act, and act quickly, if he was going to get her attention. This Paul character wasn’t wasting any time, which ruffled his feathers so to speak. He grinned at the personal pun.
There was one more problem, the other vampire. He didn’t want the only woman that had remotely interested him in years killed by one of his own kind. That would really piss him off. No. He needed to let the other vampire know in no uncertain terms that she was his!
He swallowed his pill and
went back outside, wanted to see if he could sense the other one anywhere around the vicinity.
Shelia visited with Amber for about an hour and then drove off, heading south towards another client’s home, a more mature man of German descent, Joseph Klaus, who had moved in just about the same time as Amber. He was an architect and had landed a contract with some big insurance company to build a skyscraper in Seattle.
Shelia planned on checking in with him, see how things were going, and then heading on home. She wanted to spend the rest of the weekend just relaxing, watching television and spending time with Roger, her husband of nine years. They had no children. It wasn’t that they didn’t want any. She’d just never gotten pregnant, although the doctor said they both checked out just fine. Having children wasn’t some priority on their list, so they just took things as they came. If they were meant to have kids, then it would happen. If not, it wouldn’t. They had full lives at it was, both in real estate and enjoying a good living.
Shelia never got home.
Not bothering to change into a raven, Dorian hung around the woods near Amber’s cabin until after good dark, keeping his eyes and ears attuned to every sound and movement in the forest. When the lights finally went out in her cabin, he transformed into the big black bird and flew in closer, much closer, perching himself on one of the smaller branches of a large tree right outside her bedroom window on the front side of the house. He could see every move she made, tossing and turning, and even groaning because she wasn’t falling asleep. He knew he was quite capable of helping her fall asleep, but the time wasn’t right, not just yet.