I awoke sometime late afternoon the next day. I looked around, confused until I realized I had slept on the couch. I stood up and looked at the clock on the cable box above my television. It read five o’clock. What the fuck am I doing up at five o’clock?!
As soon as that thought was done running through my brain, I heard a loud thump from the wall next to mine. What the hell? That apartment has been vacant since I moved in here a few years ago. I walked over to the door and stuck my head out in the hallway. There were large brown boxes lining the sides of the hall and a bunch of big burly men bringing them into the door next to mine.
One of them walked past my door toward the elevator. As he passed, the breeze he created caused my nose to scrunch. Werewolves. Great, just what I need. Werewolves are moving in next door. Fan-fucking-tastic.
I continued grumbling to myself as I closed the door and walked into my room to look for a towel. I found one in the third pile I searched through.
I showered quickly, wanting to get out of this building as fast as possible. I really didn’t want a confrontation so soon after waking up. It just wasn’t a nice way to start out my night. After drying off, I got dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark grey long sleeve t-shirt.
I quickly slipped my shoes on, donned my jacket and grabbed my keys as I made it to my front door. I turned around to lock the door. I don’t usually, but with werewolves living next door now, I can’t be too careful.
I turned to the right after exiting my door, intending on going straight for the elevators. However, curiosity got the best of me. I turned left instead and casually walked past the opened door of my new neighbor.
When I was not even halfway past the open door I froze. There, sitting in the middle of the floor unpacking a large box was Crescentia. As if I had just called her name aloud, she suddenly jerked her head up to look at me.
I watched her face rapidly change from shock to fury. Suddenly a glass vase came hurtling at my head and I just had enough time to duck out of the way. I looked back at Crescentia to see her looking for something else to throw at me. I decided it would be better if I didn’t wait around to see what she finds.
I turned on my heel making it to the end of the hallway and into the elevator without further mishap. I leaned back against the wall of the elevator, taking deep breaths to calm myself before I did something stupid. Too late. I turned to my side and punched the wall of the elevator. The metal made a sickening groan and buckled under the power of my fist. When I pulled back there was a nice little dent the shape of my fist.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal an elderly couple on their way upstairs. I smiled tightly at them and exited the elevator, swiftly making my way to the street.
Once outside I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. What the hell have I ever done to Murphy to make him hate me so? First, I am captivated by this girl I assume is a human. Alright, I’ll let that one slide because, vampire or not, I am still a man.
However, then I find out she is a werewolf. How is it that I let my guard down enough that I didn’t notice what she was until I was practically biting her? I began walking away from my apartment building, hell bent on getting as much distance between that woman and myself.
During my walk, I couldn’t help but let my thoughts run wild. Now it’s bad enough that she is a werewolf that I was mildly (alright extremely) attracted to, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Even after I found out what she was, I was completely taken by her! She’s all I could think about since we first met.
Then I find out that dirty mongrels are moving in next door to me. That is a problem in and of itself. Now, to make matters worse, Crescentia is living there! In a matter of forty-eight hours, my whole existence has been turned upside down and my hallway turned into a battle ground with me in the trenches.
I stopped suddenly and shook my head to clear it. Taking a deep breath, I decide to go hunting; maybe when I’m full I will be able to think clearly. I looked around to figure out where I was. Recognizing the area, I walked toward the closest night club around.
I walked up to the bouncer, he doesn’t know me as well as the other one but after locking eyes with him, I am admitted to the club without further hassle. Quickly scanning my potential prey, I settled on a red head not too far away from me.
We began dancing to the loud hip-hop song blaring around us. I stared coldly around us, surveying the other people. The girl I was with was a decent dancer but I couldn’t relax enough to enjoy.
I decided to cut this dance short by spinning her around and locking my eyes with hers. I watched coolly as her light green eyes began to glass over. Her eyes were a nice color, but nothing compared to Crescentia’s. I growled to myself under my breath and leaned over to sink my teeth into her pale flesh.
After a few moments I closed her wound with my own blood and turned to lead her outside where I would finish my meal. Halfway through the dance floor I stopped suddenly, remembering the young girl I had fed off of last night. The image of her soft innocent face mixed with the harsh red lines up and down her arms swam through my mind.
I roughly dropped my meal’s hand and stalked away from her. What the hell is going on with me?! I looked around the dance floor hoping to spot another dancer to feed on. I felt something on my chest and looked down to see tan hands with perfectly manicured nails rubbing the front of me. I turned around quickly to find a short girl with light brown skin and shoulder length brown hair.
I smirked before pulling her small frame against my own. We had only danced a few moments before I leaned down and began drinking from her. Her blood was thin and tasted of heavy alcohol. I healed the bite mark I left on her and pulled away. I didn’t feel like getting a buzz right now, I reasoned with myself.
I looked around the club again hoping to find someone to entertain myself with. Quickly becoming bored, I left the club and started to make my way back to my apartment.
On the way back I busied myself with observing the humans around me. I purposely filled my head with my useless observations so my mind couldn’t wander elsewhere. I had fed, but wasn’t full and that irritated me. How I let this mangy wolf get to me like this is unimaginable.
I walked into my apartment building just as the elevator doors were beginning to close. I quickly ran over to them, putting my hand in between to stop the doors progress. I just wanted to get back to my apartment and waiting for another elevator was not an option.
The doors pulled back open and I quickly stepped in. I reached over to press the button for my floor when I realized that light was already lit. Just as I was realizing this I felt the other passenger’s gaze boring into the back of my neck.
I turned slowly to see who I was riding this elevator with. Oh fuck me! I stared back into the large beautiful eyes of Crescentia. Those eyes that I had seen looking so calm and beautiful were now filled with betrayal and fury.
I frowned to myself and turned away from her. I don’t need this right now. I could see our reflections in the shiny elevator doors in front of me. We both stood stock still, the tension rolling off of us almost visible.
A thought came to me and I quickly scanned the small confines of the elevator. I relaxed when I realized there was nothing in here she could throw at me.
I looked up at the small digital floor counter above the elevator doors. We were only on the seventh fucking floor. Christ, this is going to be a long elevator ride.
I leaned back against the wall in the opposite corner as Crescentia. I let my eyes drift to the side so I could watch her. She was wearing tight jeans that accentuated her hips and well toned legs. Her shirt was a plain white tank top that hugged her waist and showed off just a sliver of her cleavage. I should walk over there and—
“Anhalten!” I mumbled harshly to myself.
“Excuse me?” she spat.
Shit! I didn’t mean for her to hear that, “It was nothing, I was talking to myself,” I quickly explained.
“Yeah, well could you not? It’s bad enough that I have to see you, but I don’t want to have to hear you as well,” she hissed.
Filled with rage I snapped my head to look at her. “If I remember clearly,
you are the one who moved into
my building,” I reminded her through my clenched teeth.
I watched as she squared her shoulders and narrowed her eyes at me, “If I had known what kind of assholes they let live here I assure you, I would have moved elsewhere.”
“So I’m an asshole now? And why is that? Because I backed away from your little advances?”
I watched as she pushed off of the wall she had been leaning against. She walked slowly over to me with a ruthless grin plastered to her face. I vaguely felt the elevator slow down. Without warning, Crescentia’s hand shot out and slapped me across the face.
She quickly turned around and exited the slowly opening elevator doors. I stood there dumbfounded. The doors began to close again but I regained my wits and rushed out of them.
I stormed down the hall, following Crescentia’s retreating figure, trying my hardest to not watch the way her hips moved in her tight jeans. Just before she made it to her door I grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. I then pushed her up against the opposite wall and held her there by pressing my body against hers.
“What the hell was that for,” I growled menacingly.
She didn’t seem phased, “
That was for being an arrogant bastard.”
I felt her squirm beneath my hold but didn’t budge. “Why? Because I pulled away when you tried to kiss me in the club?”
“Fuck you,” she replied vehemently.
I just stood there for a moment, watching her squirm with a satisfying smirk on my face. Suddenly, the movement of her curvy body under mine started to affect me. I felt the heat rise in the pit of my stomach. I panicked and reacted without thinking.
I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. She instantly froze and I pressed myself against her harder. I slowly let my tongue trace the outline of her bottom lip, tasting the sweetness of them.
Just as suddenly, I pulled away from her. I looked down at Crescentia’s shocked face. She hesitantly raised her hand to her mouth, staring off to the side of me.
“There, now we’ve kissed,” I said simply.
She inclined her head slightly to meet my eyes. Her vibrant green eyes clouded in confusion. I wanted to wait around for her response but realized that she was too close to her apartment where she could undoubtedly find something hard to throw.
I turned on my heel and unlocked my door. I stepped in and turned to close the door, taking a quick peek out at Crescentia, still standing shocked in the hallway. I smirked to myself and locked the deadbolt.
“Gut getan, Lukas,” I mumbled with a satisfied grin.
Moving away from the door, I walked over to my entertainment center and pressed the ‘power’ button. Instantly the living room was filled with the opening cords of Tool’s “Schism”. I walked away, content on letting the play list run its course.
I made my way to the kitchen and took several bags of blood out of the refrigerator. Sullenly, I placed two full bags of blood into a container before putting it in the microwave to heat. It disgusted me that I had to be reduced to bagged blood, but hunting wasn’t working out for me tonight.
The microwave beeped and I removed the container. I walked into the living room and turned on my game console. Turning up the music a few notches to an almost obnoxious level, I sat on the couch, content to play video games for the night.
After a few rounds of my favorite sports game I heard a loud knock on my front door. I grumbled and pressed pause on the controller. I swiftly made my way over to the door and swung it open violently.
“What?!” I yelled.
I instantly recognized the wolf from the other night. It was Tom. “Turn the fucking music down,” he snarled at me.
“Fuck off,” I replied, slamming the door in his face.
I stormed back over to the couch and sat down violently. I grabbed the controller and began playing my game again. The other team had just scored when I heard another knock on the door.
“Wer auch immer das besser ist bewaffnet zu werden,“ I mumbled angrily to myself.
I huffed over to the door and swung it open forcefully, almost ripping it off the hindges. A tall, broad shouldered man stood before me. I guess he was trying to be intimidating by folding his arms across his chest. I didn’t work.
“What the fuck do you want?!” I yelled.
“Turn down the goddamn music,” he said slowly in his deep voice.
“I’ll explain to you, what I explained to the last mangy bastard that came over here: Fuck. Off.”
With that I slammed the door in his face like I did the other. “Wer denken sie, dass sie sind? ” I grumbled to myself.
I sat down once more on the couch. Another fifteen minutes passed by without interruption. Finally, they got the point.
Just then I heard another knock on the door, this one slightly softer than the others. I stormed over to the door and ripped it open so hard it crashed into the wall behind it; making a dent were the doorknob hit.
I looked down, surprised to see Crescentia standing there, “Oh, it’s you,” I mumbled, relaxing slightly.
“Yes, it’s me,” she responded coolly.
I smiled at her, letting my eyes rake over her appearance. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt that was form fitting and baggy grey sweatpants. She was obviously ready for bed. Then I noticed a crystal clear vase in her right hand.
“Did you bring that to throw at me?” I smirked.
She shook her head and looked down at what she held in her right hand. She raised her head again to lock eyes with me, “If need be.”
My grin got wider, “Well, Crescentia, to what do I owe this extreme…” I paused to look her up and down again, “Pleasure?”
I watched as her cheeks began to turn red. I didn’t know if it was from my gaze or her anger. “I came over here to ask you, one last time, to turn down the fucking music,” she yelled.
“Natürlich, Schönheit,” I responded smoothly. Leaving her standing in the open doorway, I walked over to the stereo and turned it off. I slowly made my way back to where Crescentia stood and leaned against the door frame.
“U-u-um…thanks,” she stuttered, turning away to walk back to her apartment.
“Where are your friends,” I asked her.
Crescentia stopped and whipped her head around to me, “Excuse me?” she asked confused.
“The other wolves, where are they? Do they live here with you?”
She stared, wide-eyed at me before answering, “No, I live alone here.”
“And what about your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she answered quickly then grimaced to herself.
I smirked, “Why not?”
“What the hell kind of question is that? Do
you have a girlfriend?” she asked, mimicking me.
“No,” I answered simply.
“
Why not?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know if I’ve met anyone that’s worth the trouble,” I answered honestly.
“Well, how can you tell who is and isn’t worth the trouble?”
I stared at her, dumbfounded, “I don’t know.”
She smiled a little, “So, if you can’t tell who is worth it and who isn’t, why don’t you try?”
“I don’t know,” I repeated quietly.
She smiled smugly and turned to leave again. I watched her for a moment before my mouth disobeyed my brain, “Crescentia,” I called out.
She stopped and turned around slowly, “Yes?”
“Would you like to come in?” The little voice in the back of my head was still grumbling but I wasn’t listening anymore.
“Why?”
I smirked, “Why not?”
I watched as a mischievous smile spread across her gentle features. She began to take slow deliberate steps toward me. I was briefly hypnotized by the sensuous swaying of her small hips.
She was in front of me now with only a few cramped inches between us. I froze as she rose on her tip toes and leaned in closer to me. I could faintly make out the scent of her beast, similar to the smell of the fallen leaves in the woods. Masking that scent almost completely was the sweet smell of honey. The mixture of the two scents imbedded themselves in my brain in that one instant. It was Crescentia.
“Not tonight Lukas,” she purred in my ear, her hot breath tickling the hair on the side of my head. “We’re neighbors after all; maybe you will have to come borrow a cup of sugar sometime.” With that she quickly turned around and made her way back to her door.
“Touche,” I replied, more to myself than anything.
“I thought you spoke German,” she called over her shoulder before stepping in her apartment and closing the door behind her.
I felt a large, ridiculous grin spread across my face before I quickly let my features fall back into place. I can’t let this girl effect me like this. I turned around and shut my door, slamming it in my haste to shut her out of my apartment and my thoughts.
Translations:
Anhalten: Stop
Gut getan, Lukas: Well done, Lukas
Wer auch immer das besser ist bewaffnet zu werden: Whoever this is better to be armed. (I know that isn’t grammatically correct in English but that is the rough translation. In English it should read something like: Whoever that is better be armed. You get the point…)
Wer denken sie, dass sie sind?: Who do they think they are?
Natürlich, Schönheit: Of course, Beauty.
