Flirting with Danger Bk 1

I dreamt I was in the city with Louis. We were walking around in the middle of night, with barely anyone else around, and we turned down this two-way alley. It was dead quiet in the alley, a street lamp behind us not bright enough to cast light over the entire alley, so the very back was still bathed in black shadow. We continued down the alley anyway until we saw a shadow move up ahead, Louis stepping in front of me and focused on where we’d seen the shadow.

“Who’s there?” he asked in a strong and fearless voice.

“Step away from her.” threatened a dark voice and Connelly stepped out of the shadows. His skin was letting off that same dark cloud as the theater monster and his eyes were such a dark shade of red, they looked almost black. His top lip curled up, revealing sharp fangs and a bloodthirsty snarl rumbled from him. Black smoke leaked from his mouth, falling on the ground around him. Still more smoke seeped from his skin and was at his feet, billowing around him like a cloud. He took a step towards us, his hands outstretched to me.

“Get back Connelly!” Louis yelled thunderously. He took a confronting step towards Connelly and waved his arm threateningly.

Connelly crouched down, ready to spring, when I yelled, “Wait! Stop!” I ran in between them, holding up a hand for both of them to stop. I looked at Louis, a normal human and a good guy, and then at Connelly, who looked like a demon, but who I knew loved me souly for me and not my blood, or so I hoped.

I spent the next week moving skittishly about the school and anywhere else I went. Though I was always with someone; Dale, Louis, Connelly, Sue, Jack and Jason… but mostly Connelly. He made me feel safer so I could relax a little bit more with him. We talked about normal stuff, having an occasional fight but always resolving it quickly, usually ending it with me laughing. And Sue, well she couldn’t muster up the courage to even suggest to Ivan about a date just yet. She said she needed just a little more time, but promised me it would happen soon.

***

“So Louis, tell us about yourself.” said Chase as we all lounged on our floaties at the lake. We had already exhausted ourselves running around chasing and racing each other.

I was lying back in a tube, my eyes closed, feeling the sun flow over me, drying and warming my skin from the cold water, but when he spoke I looked up.

We were all in a circle, Sue was holding onto my foot while Chase had his foot on her floaty, Louis had his hand on Chase’s floaty, and Dale had a hand on both mine and Louis’s floaties. I looked over at Louis and saw that he was staring at me. He continued to stare a second longer and then turned to Chase.

“What do you want to know?” he asked, glancing at Chase and then the water between us all, and then to me, a smile spreading easily across his face. I smiled back confidently. His piercing blue eyes popped against his dark tanned skin and held my gaze.

“I don’t know. Maybe where you came from would be a good place to start.” suggested Dale. Then, seemingly pretending to see a bug on me, he got a concentrating look on his face and then thumped me on the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” I asked, holding my arm and glaring at Dale.

“I’m sorry! I just saw a mosquito on you.” he said, raising his hands like he was really sorry, but I knew better than to believe that.

“Well don’t do it so hard next time.” I said, the hint of a smile on my lips. I knew what Dale was doing, but I didn’t really know why. I let it go though, because I would figure it out later.

“Well, I’ve been to a lot of places. My parents move around a lot, but the last place I was at was The Czech Republic.” Louis looked at all of our impressed faces, ending on me for a second longer again. I could easily picture him in those misty forests. It looked perfect for him.

“What do your parents do?” Sue asked, looking up.

“They’re astrologers… among other things.” Louis said.

“So you move around a lot.” Chase said and it sounded like it was half statement, half question.

“They go where they’re needed.” Louis said.

“How long do you usually stay in each place?” asked Dale.

“It depends.” said Louis.

“Well, do you know how long you’ll be here?” I asked and Dale kind of nudged me, but I ignored him and nudged him back.

“Long enough to finish school at least, but maybe longer. Since I’m turning eighteen early next year, I might be able to convince them to leave me behind.” Louis said and smiled at me, but then looked at the others before it got suspicious.

“I can’t believe we didn’t ask you about this before.” Sue said, looking back up at the sky.

“Yeah, you just fit in so good with us from the first day.” Dale said, glancing at Louis and then laid back his head.

It was quiet for a while after that. We all just laid back and enjoyed the sun’s rays. It was a calm silence and we just floated around in our circle.

“This is a beautiful day.” I said. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining brighter than ever.

“Yes it is.” Sue agreed.

“I could fall asleep right now.” Louis said.

“Yeah.” Dale and Chase agreed. There was silence for just a bit longer, and after a few minutes I looked up to see if they really had fallen asleep. But of course since they all had their eyes open I could tell if they were or if they were just laying there. I looked at Sue, but she was staring at the sky. The look on her face said she was thinking so I didn’t bother her.