Nightmare

“So what do you wanna eat?” Zacky asked as he opened the refrigerator door, peering inside of it.

When he got no response, he looked over his shoulder, back at me. I quietly slid into a chair at the bar, shrugging lightly.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” I said quietly. “I’m fine with anything.”

“Anything, huh?” Zacky chuckled, turning his attention back to the refrigerator, reaching for something. “Is there anything that you don’t eat?”

I didn’t answer him because I didn’t even hear what he said; I was too preoccupied with how his jeans fit him.

“What?” I asked, snapping out of it.

He smirked again. “Is there anything that you don’t eat?”

“Uhm…” I tried to think. “I don’t eat eggplant. I’m allergic to it. But other than that, I’ll eat just about anything.”

“Okay then,” he said, placing a few things on the counter in front of me. “I’m gonna cook for you.”

I tried to hold back a little laugh at that, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out as well as I would have liked.

Zacky gave me a strange look. “What?”

“You just don’t really strike me as the cooking type,” I giggled. “I mean, with the piercings, tattoos, and you badass style.”

Zacky smirked again, something I had a feeling that he did quite a lot, tilting his head slightly to the side, observing me. I was trying not to let the blush creep up onto my face, as he stared at me, thinking about nothing more than how gorgeous he is, like a Greek god. Zacky bit down on his lip rings lightly, reaching out to brush a few strands of my hair out of my eyes, tucking it behind my ear.

It seemed as if as quickly as the moment had arrived, Zacky pulled his hand back, looking away, taking a step back.

“Let’s see what I can make for you,” he said.

Watching Zacky in the kitchen, working his magic, was like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. He paid such close attention to what he was doing; making sure that his food was as close to perfection as possible for me.

He made Italian food for me, after letting me know that was a part of his heritage, and it instantly clicked as to where he got his good-looks from. He made an assortment of foods that were all equally delicious, including chicken marsala stuffed with tomatoes, cheese and mushrooms, with mashed potatoes, zucchini sautéed with tomatoes and basil, and dates stuffed with pine nuts and cooked with honey and wine.

“Zacky, I must say, you are an amazing cook,” I told him as I finished my meal.

“Well, I’m glad you liked it,” Zacky said quite proudly.

I leaned back in my chair a bit, holding my glass of red wine, staring at Zacky, with a smile on my face. “Thank you, Zacky.”

“I’m not done yet,” Zacky told me.

I gave him a questioning glance, but he only smirked. He stood up, going over to the refrigerator, and brought back a small tiramisu cake. I couldn’t help but smile as he sat back down across from me.

“I believe this is your favorite dessert,” he said smoothly.

I nodded. “I believe you’re right.”

Zacky picked up the fork, cut a little piece of the cake off, holding it out to me. I leaned forward taking the dessert into my mouth, smiling as the coffee flavour hit my tongue. Zacky continued to feed me, and I all seemed too surreal for me as I stared into his eyes.

You know, if someone were to ask me, I heard Johnny’s voice in the back of my head. It sure does seem like Zacky’s doing some romancing tonight, Starr…

I was about to protest that, but when I stopped to think about it, I couldn’t. Yes, Zacky and I were in the kitchen alone, but he had just cooked me dinner. He cooked me dinner, but now we were sitting across from each other at a small dinner table, lit by candle light, and there was a single red rose resting on the table in front of me. Not to mention that Zacky was indeed feeding me with quite a sweet look on his face.

“Zacky, this was really nice,” I said with a smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Zacky said. “I’m glad that you liked it.”

His eyes shone in the dim lighting that surrounded us, making me feel as if I were in some sort of fairy tale where the guy of your dreams is staring at you with all the love in the world.

Slowly, everything was falling into place in my mind; at least, in my mind it all was making sense. I wanted Zacky. I wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to know that he was mine. He was the guy of my dreams, despite the fact that I didn’t know the first thing about him.

Zacky was gorgeous, the perfect being, as far as I could tell, and was a lot different from all the other losers that I had dated over the years. Even though I didn’t know him, it was if I could sense his being, knowing his soul, and how he was.

Something told me that was my necromancer’s powers coming out, since it was my job to judge the souls of the dead here in the underworld. Even though I was terrified at first when I was brought here and found out who I was, I didn’t feel the same anymore. I was almost happy to be here now-- happy that Zacky had kidnapped me, bringing me here, where I would be living with him.

“So how do you feel knowing that you‘re going to be living here from now on?” Zacky asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

I smiled. “I actually don’t mind it. It doesn’t seem too bad in this house.”

Zacky reached out, placing his hand on top of mine, before sliding his fingers in-between mine, knotting them together. He slowly lifted his eyes from our entwined hands to meet mine with a look that I would place as being a mix of longing and want.

Zacky then stood up, still holding my hand, gently pulling on my hand so I could stand up too. I did so, and Zacky instantly brought my body closer to his, so that there was no space between us.

His eyes were on our clasped hands that was by our sides, before his eyes met mine with the same look burning in them, a mix of longing and want. He quickly let go of my hand, his arm wrapping around my waist, still urging me closer, while his other hand came up to my face, cradling my head.

All I could do was stare at him, into the depths of his captivating eyes, wanting nothing more than to have his lips on mine.

Don’t worry, Johnny’s voice rang in my head once more. He wants to kiss you too. Zacky has wanted to kiss you for a while now.

Hearing that actually made me feel a bit happier than I thought it would. Did that mean that Zacky wanted me like I wanted him?

Babe, Zacky wants you way more than you want him.

Wow, Johnny wasn’t one to keep his mouth shut. What happened to the Johnny that was in my room earlier? The one who couldn’t answer me why Zacky had been watching me for all those years?

I couldn’t talk because Zacky might have been listening. But there is no way that he, or anyone else, can hear our little conversation, Starr. So I can basically say whatever I want. Zacky wants you, just like you want him, so you really need to kiss him right now, and just get it over with, okay?

I returned from my little sidetrack so my attention landed on Zacky again.

“Zacky…” I whispered.

“Yeah Starr?” he asked, his voice low as his lips brushed along my jaw.

I felt as if an electric current was zapped into me, rushing through my blood stream, causing an uncontrollable shudder to run through me. I squeezed my eyes shut biting down on my lower lip to try to contain the sparks that were radiating off of my body, but there really wasn’t much use.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe, the ecstasy I was facing was that great.

“Oh, no way…”

Both Zacky and I jerked apart upon hearing the voice, turning towards it, Zacky looking so angry that he appeared to be ready to rip the head off the intruder. Standing not too far away from the two of us, with a dumbfounded, shocked look on his face stood Johnny.

“Johnny…” I started, not sure what to say next, maybe about to say the cliché line ‘it’s not what it looks like’.

“What are you doing here?” Zacky asked as if he were interrogating someone for a crime.

Johnny closed his mouth, giving off a small shrug. “I got hungry.”

I heard Zacky growl lightly, making Johnny chuckle. They stared at one another, and I had a feeling that Johnny had just tapped into Zacky’s brain, talking with him so I couldn’t hear. I saw Zacky narrow his eyes as Johnny, only making the other one laugh hysterically in response.

“Vengeance, seriously?” He chuckled. “You really think that?”

“Yeah, I do,” Zacky said in all seriousness.

That made Johnny stop laughing as he just stared at Zacky with an incredulous look on his face. “You are serious…”

He looked over at me and I suddenly became a bit afraid of what they were talking about, knowing it concerned me. The look of absolute determination on Zacky’s face combined with the shocked look of Johnny’s made me look back and forth between the two vampires curiously.

“Is everything okay?” I asked carefully, as if I were treading on thin ice.

“Of course,” Zacky looked down at me, a small smile on his sweet lips. “Everything is going perfectly.”

I turned to look at Johnny, knowing immediately that Zacky could speak a lie and I would easily believe it. Johnny was still just staring at us with the same shocked expression, looking as if he didn’t know what to do at the moment.

“Johnny…?”

Johnny snapped out of the trance-like state he had just previously been in at the sound of my voice, shaking his head a few times as if to clear his thoughts. “Uh… yeah, Starr?”

“Is everything okay?” I repeated.

Johnny opened his mouth, but closed it, slowly nodding his head yes. “Everything’s fine, Starr… but if you don’t mind, do you think I could take you back to your room? I need to talk to you.”

He glanced at Zacky, and once again, I had a feeling that they were exchanging a few words.

“Fine,” Zacky said after a moment’s pause as he looked back at me. “Go ahead with Johnny. You’re probably tired anyways. I’ll clean this stuff up.”

“O-okay,” I said shakily. I could definitely tell that there was something wrong here.

Zacky removed his arms from around my waist, handing me over to Johnny who took hold of my arm. I felt as if I were someone with the reputation on John Dillinger, and I was under arrest, with the most extreme caution being taken place while I was transported so I wouldn’t break out.

I heard Johnny chuckling in the back of my mind. I wouldn’t say you’re Dillinger, per say, but you are just as important to us as it was for the US Government to catch him.

Johnny, where are we going?—I asked in my mind.

To your room, he responded. Say bye to Zacky.

I looked up into Zacky’s eyes, feeling them captivate me once more. “Bye Zacky,” I almost whispered.

Zacky didn’t say anything, only kept his eyes on me as Johnny ushered me out of the
kitchen, and out from under Zacky’s gaze.

“Johnny, what’s really going on?” I asked after we reached my room.

Don’t speak out loud, Johnny told me. I know Zacky is trying to listen in.

Okay then—I thought—What’s going on? Really?

Johnny opened my door, leading me in, and quickly closing and locking the door. He sat me down on my bed, sitting across from me, just staring at me for a moment before speaking.

Do you like Zacky?

I was a bit shocked by the boldness of his question. I really wasn’t expecting him to ask me that.

Uhm… well, yeah. I mean he’s my friend, just like you, Johnny—I thought.

No babe, I mean, do you like him, as in, do you have the hotts for him?

I just stared at Johnny once more, shocked by what he asked me. Did he really just ask me if
I had the hotts for Zacky? What are we, fifteen?

Johnny, what are you talking about?—I asked.

I’m talking about you thinking Zacky is hot.

Johnny, of course Zacky is hot—I said—Johnny, you’re hot, Brian is hot, Matt is hot… I live in a house full of sexy guys! What do you want from me?

I am wanting to talk about you wanting to kiss Zack, and basically, just wanting him in general. Although I do appreciate the fact that you think I’m hot.

Great. This really wasn’t what I was hoping to talk about with Johnny.

Don’t worry; Zacky isn’t all that thrilled about this either. But I’ve gotta know. In all honestly, Starr, do you like Zacky?