(coming in April 2012)
After the human race evolved the ælven went into hiding, still struggling against their kindred foes, the alben, and now fighting to survive in a world that belonged more and more to humans.
= 1 =
I never should have let them talk me into giving blood.
It was almost eight and the donation center was getting ready to close. Still light outside, since it was late May, and the view from the center's picture windows of the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque was fantastic. All the couches faced those windows, for which I was thankful as I lay squeezing a little foam bar and contributing my pint.
I hated needles, and I didn't much care for the sight of blood even if it was in neat little plastic bags. I was pissed at myself for letting Len wheedle me into this. Ever since she switched to pre-med, she was nuts on this kind of thing.
She and her boyfriend Caeran had already finished donating and were over in the lounge area with the cookies and punch. So sue me, I bleed slow.
The technician came by and jiggled my little bags of blood. “Almost done,” she said cheerily.
I didn't answer. I was working up to a first class sulk.
Ever since Len had hooked up with Caeran, I felt like a third wheel. Now that the semester was over they were heading up north to visit his family—tonight was our farewell fiesta—and I was looking at a boring, lonely summer.
I sighed and gazed out the window. The mountains were turning pink in the sunset, earning their name, “watermelon.” Not as picturesque as the Sangre de Cristo mountains east of Santa Fe, named for the same reason but rather more graphically. Those Catholics.
My eye was caught by movement just outside in the parking lot. A man, I thought: tall and slender in a hooded sweatshirt, walking toward the side of the building. For an instant I thought it was Caeran, but I could hear his voice behind me, and he wasn't dressed like that.
The tech returned and declared me done. She removed the needle and made me hold my arm in the air for a minute, asked me if I felt dizzy, then wound some hot pink vet wrap around my arm and released me to the snacks.
I got up carefully, since I hadn't done this before. I'd heard of people passing out, but I just felt a little lightheaded, and even energized.
Len looked up and smiled as I made a beeline for the drinks. “Feeling OK?”
Ignoring her, I filled a paper cup with lemonade. It was bad, from a powdered mix. I chugged two cups.
“I'm always thirsty too,” Len said. “I wish they'd have something besides all this sugar.”
I glanced involuntarily at Caeran, who was munching an apple. Probably he'd brought it along. He was Mr. Healthy Eater, claimed he didn't like sweets. I could have hated him if only he wasn't so damned gorgeous. And nice. Disgustingly nice.
OK, I was jealous. Len had scored the best-looking guy on campus. I'd had some dates, but none of them came close to Caeran for all-around wonderfulness. I kept telling myself I'd find the right guy eventually, but it was hard not to wish I'd spotted Caeran first. Or rather, that he'd walked up to my station at the library desk instead of Len's.
“Movie starts in twenty minutes,” Len said. “We'd better go.”
She and Caeran headed for the door. I hung back to look through the cookies, grabbed the last packet of Oreos and shoved a Moon Pie into my pocket, then hurried after them.
The front parking lot had been full when we arrived, so we'd parked in the lot to the north. Now the center's lot was empty except for one car at the end of the row. The pavement radiated the day's heat.
I paused to open the Oreos and stuffed one into my mouth. As I looked up, I glimpsed the man I'd seen through the window standing by the blood red wall that surrounded the center.
He had long hair like Caeran's, and it was white even though he looked young. Goth, maybe? His clothes were black. Same lean bones, same high cheekbones as Caeran. I stood ogling him, then he looked at me and his nostrils flared.
Cold flooded my gut. Not a rational reaction; purely instinctive.
My lizard brain knew he was a killer.
April 2012