Flirting with Danger Bk 1
Bloody Hands
Two months had passed gruelingly by with no sign of Rudi and now that it was February, his continuance of this cat-and-mouse game was grating evermore deeply on everyone’s nerves. It was almost time for our next dance competition and Rudi hadn’t shown his face even once. But Mira and Alister kept working hard though, trying to find him and locating his smell in one place and then in another miles away.
Connelly on the other hand, since he was on watch 24/7 either on me and Sue or Moran, was going insane from not spending time with me. We were talking on the phone now, something we’d never done, and I never thought I would see that as weird, but it was with us. Every so often though, he would start thinking of just coming over to me, saying he would deal with Rudi when he came, but Mira always reminded him of the danger it would bring. Though I’m pretty sure she did it for her family and Moran, not for me. I can’t say I was surprised.
I would hear her through the phone during these times. “You can’t be too close to her Connelly. It’ll draw more attention to her than there already is because of your smell. Rudi can’t know that we affiliate with humans or he’s liable to use it against us.” she would say and Connelly would sigh in frustration, knowing it was true.
We went through that first week of February without even having a scent from Rudi and that was with Mira and Alister scouring the entire state. They didn’t know what to make of this and suggested the slight possibility, and I mean paper thin possibility, that maybe he’d gone.
I automatically relaxed when Connelly told me this, though he told me it still wasn’t safe just yet. He said that even though Rudi might be gone, he might also be pulling away just before he strikes, which meant he still couldn’t spend time with me just yet. I nodded sadly at this, knowing he was right. I mean they had fought Rudi before, they knew what they were doing.
On Monday the next week, I walked up to the school with the guys, still feeling more relaxed than I knew I should. But I justified it by telling myself that it would look more suspicious if I wasn’t relaxed, like I was expecting something I shouldn’t even know about in the first place.
I looked around for Connelly as usual when we all got inside, but when I didn’t find him, I went to History where he was bound to be. And there he was, sitting in his regular spot, but he didn’t look like himself. He was tense and leaning over his work, the veins popping up in his arm so noticeably that I was afraid he was going to send the pencil through the desk. I rushed to my seat beside him, my stomach clenched with dread.
“Connelly, what’s wrong?” I asked urgently, putting a hand on his arm.
“When I got here this morning, I smelled something.” he said, not looking at me, though he did stop writing.
“Is it him?” I asked.
“No, but it was his new crew, with his scent on them. There’re three of them and they’re here somewhere.” he said.
“Where?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but you need to be very careful. You need to act like you don’t know me. Ignore me, and don’t look at me.” he said, and I took my hand off his arm.
“Okay.” I said and looked down at my notebook.
“Do you know what they look like?” I asked, getting out my homework.
“I haven’t seen one, but the others are working on that. There’s two males and one female, so just look for unfamiliar faces.” he said and then stopped talking when kids started filing in.
I stared at my paper, knowing that this was the moment I had been dreading. I had hoped it was over, but it had finally come. I set my mind to scan every face and see if there was anyone here I didn’t remember. Everyone in my History class was human and when class ended, I rushed out at the most normal pace I could and into my next class.
Louis met me at the door with a smile and an arm around my shoulders. I was grateful for the security he gave me and let him lead me to our table while I scanned the near empty room. There was one boy at the very back of the class, sitting at one of the tables we never used. He was tall, skinny, and had very sharp features in his face. His blonde hair was cut close to his head and his blue eyes were dark and menacing, making me uneasy.
He looked at us as we walked in and I saw the same dark aura around him as I had seen once around Connelly. This guy was no human. But the thing that struck me as odd was how he looked at me, like for a second he was surprised to see me, but then it was quickly gone. His eyes then seemed to linger on Louis, and they shared an odd look, Louis’s arm growing stiff and protective around me.
I tore my eyes away from the boy as Louis and I sat down and turned our backs to him, which seemed a little suicidal to me. I looked over at Louis, who was still a little stiff, but was otherwise acting normal. I let my eyes fall to the notebook in front of me, not knowing what to do, and there was tense electricity running through the room from all of us. I was scared to death that this guy was going to jump me or something and scooted closer to Louis, who leaned towards me in return.
Then he suddenly slid his notebook over so I could see it and it read: “Did you see that guy at the back of the class?”
I wrote back, “Yeah, he’s creeping me out. Why?”
“There’s something not right about him.” he wrote.
You’re more right than you’ll ever know. I thought, but said, “What do you mean?” I was supposed to be oblivious to the fact that two vampire races were warring in my high school.
“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. But I just know something’s wrong. And I’m sorry to bring this up, but it’s the same wrong feeling I get about Connelly, only worse.” he gave me an apologetic look when I saw this.
“It’s okay, but I kind of know what you mean. I feel something like that too. (Not from Connelly.)” I said and he nodded slightly. There were a few more kids in the classroom now, and I felt like it would be normal for me to look back at him now.
And when I turned around, his eyes shot to mine in the same way Alister had looked at me when we first met, all that hatred for me, but unlike Alister this boy looked like he actually wanted to kill me. I turned back around and looked down, seeing chilly bumps coming up on my arms and feeling them go all over my body.
“Kota, are you cold?” Louis asked, looking at my arm and then to me.
Connelly on the other hand, since he was on watch 24/7 either on me and Sue or Moran, was going insane from not spending time with me. We were talking on the phone now, something we’d never done, and I never thought I would see that as weird, but it was with us. Every so often though, he would start thinking of just coming over to me, saying he would deal with Rudi when he came, but Mira always reminded him of the danger it would bring. Though I’m pretty sure she did it for her family and Moran, not for me. I can’t say I was surprised.
I would hear her through the phone during these times. “You can’t be too close to her Connelly. It’ll draw more attention to her than there already is because of your smell. Rudi can’t know that we affiliate with humans or he’s liable to use it against us.” she would say and Connelly would sigh in frustration, knowing it was true.
We went through that first week of February without even having a scent from Rudi and that was with Mira and Alister scouring the entire state. They didn’t know what to make of this and suggested the slight possibility, and I mean paper thin possibility, that maybe he’d gone.
I automatically relaxed when Connelly told me this, though he told me it still wasn’t safe just yet. He said that even though Rudi might be gone, he might also be pulling away just before he strikes, which meant he still couldn’t spend time with me just yet. I nodded sadly at this, knowing he was right. I mean they had fought Rudi before, they knew what they were doing.
On Monday the next week, I walked up to the school with the guys, still feeling more relaxed than I knew I should. But I justified it by telling myself that it would look more suspicious if I wasn’t relaxed, like I was expecting something I shouldn’t even know about in the first place.
I looked around for Connelly as usual when we all got inside, but when I didn’t find him, I went to History where he was bound to be. And there he was, sitting in his regular spot, but he didn’t look like himself. He was tense and leaning over his work, the veins popping up in his arm so noticeably that I was afraid he was going to send the pencil through the desk. I rushed to my seat beside him, my stomach clenched with dread.
“Connelly, what’s wrong?” I asked urgently, putting a hand on his arm.
“When I got here this morning, I smelled something.” he said, not looking at me, though he did stop writing.
“Is it him?” I asked.
“No, but it was his new crew, with his scent on them. There’re three of them and they’re here somewhere.” he said.
“Where?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but you need to be very careful. You need to act like you don’t know me. Ignore me, and don’t look at me.” he said, and I took my hand off his arm.
“Okay.” I said and looked down at my notebook.
“Do you know what they look like?” I asked, getting out my homework.
“I haven’t seen one, but the others are working on that. There’s two males and one female, so just look for unfamiliar faces.” he said and then stopped talking when kids started filing in.
I stared at my paper, knowing that this was the moment I had been dreading. I had hoped it was over, but it had finally come. I set my mind to scan every face and see if there was anyone here I didn’t remember. Everyone in my History class was human and when class ended, I rushed out at the most normal pace I could and into my next class.
Louis met me at the door with a smile and an arm around my shoulders. I was grateful for the security he gave me and let him lead me to our table while I scanned the near empty room. There was one boy at the very back of the class, sitting at one of the tables we never used. He was tall, skinny, and had very sharp features in his face. His blonde hair was cut close to his head and his blue eyes were dark and menacing, making me uneasy.
He looked at us as we walked in and I saw the same dark aura around him as I had seen once around Connelly. This guy was no human. But the thing that struck me as odd was how he looked at me, like for a second he was surprised to see me, but then it was quickly gone. His eyes then seemed to linger on Louis, and they shared an odd look, Louis’s arm growing stiff and protective around me.
I tore my eyes away from the boy as Louis and I sat down and turned our backs to him, which seemed a little suicidal to me. I looked over at Louis, who was still a little stiff, but was otherwise acting normal. I let my eyes fall to the notebook in front of me, not knowing what to do, and there was tense electricity running through the room from all of us. I was scared to death that this guy was going to jump me or something and scooted closer to Louis, who leaned towards me in return.
Then he suddenly slid his notebook over so I could see it and it read: “Did you see that guy at the back of the class?”
I wrote back, “Yeah, he’s creeping me out. Why?”
“There’s something not right about him.” he wrote.
You’re more right than you’ll ever know. I thought, but said, “What do you mean?” I was supposed to be oblivious to the fact that two vampire races were warring in my high school.
“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. But I just know something’s wrong. And I’m sorry to bring this up, but it’s the same wrong feeling I get about Connelly, only worse.” he gave me an apologetic look when I saw this.
“It’s okay, but I kind of know what you mean. I feel something like that too. (Not from Connelly.)” I said and he nodded slightly. There were a few more kids in the classroom now, and I felt like it would be normal for me to look back at him now.
And when I turned around, his eyes shot to mine in the same way Alister had looked at me when we first met, all that hatred for me, but unlike Alister this boy looked like he actually wanted to kill me. I turned back around and looked down, seeing chilly bumps coming up on my arms and feeling them go all over my body.
“Kota, are you cold?” Louis asked, looking at my arm and then to me.