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BRANDON LOOKED SURPRISED when Alex stood in front of his car in the full light of his headlights and waved. He immediately stopped and climbed out. “Hey, Alex. Wow, you look amazing,” he said as he rounded the front bumper. Eyes wide, he opened the door for her. She climbed inside. His car smelled of his cologne, a fresh, masculine scent that mingled with mint. She glanced at his center console and saw a bottle of Lacoste Pour Homme cologne next to a pack of Extra spearmint gum.
Guess that explains the smell, she thought to herself just as Brandon slipped behind the steering wheel of his Nissan Altima. But as he leaned over and placed a light peck on her cheek, additional notes hung in the air. Hard to define, the warm scents reminded her of plum and cinnamon. The scent was intense. For reasons she couldn’t understand, the combination of smells overwhelmed her senses, filling her with a strange, almost visceral need to skim his neck with her nose and perhaps nibble the space below his ear.
“That was okay, right? I mean, you don’t mind that I kissed your cheek, do you?” Brandon fumbled.
“Of course it was okay,” Alex replied, wondering why the typically-calm Brandon was acting so nervous tonight. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I-I don’t know.” Brandon laughed and didn’t take his eyes off her.
Alex smiled. “So, where are we headed? Where are we meeting up with your friends?”
“Meeting up with my friends?” he asked and looked confused for a brief moment.
“Yeah, meeting up with your friends was the extremely romantic sales pitch for this rendezvous.” She gestured between them and crinkled her nose teasingly.
“You’re so cute it’s ridiculous,” he blurted then looked shocked by what he’d said. He cleared his throat and shifted the car into reverse. Looking over his shoulder and out the back window despite the fact that he had a rearview camera just above the radio, he said, “Um, yeah, I thought it’d be more fun if we just spent some time together and got to know each other better.” When he reached the end of the driveway, he backed out on to the main road then shifted gears.
“Hmm,” Alex said, her tone still mischievous. “So the friend thing was all a ploy to get me alone. I feel so betrayed.” She delivered the last sentence in a monotone.
“You caught me. Guilty as charged.” He looked away for a moment and smiled sheepishly, his tone more like she was used to hearing it. He followed the winding backroad, obeying the speed limit as his gaze vacillated from the street to her. “I took a wild guess and thought you’d prefer dinner and a movie over beers with my loud, rowdy friends.”
“Good call.” She nodded.
“Thanks,” Brandon replied as he looked at her once again.
Alex couldn’t be sure, but it almost felt as if he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She doubted any such thing was true. Still, the very idea that of that being true caused a smile to involuntarily curl the corners of her mouth.
She continued to smile as they chatted about their behavioral science class and their professors for the entire ride to the movie theater. The theater parking lot, located at the rear of a large mall, was packed.
“Wow, looks like everyone had the same idea tonight, huh?” Brandon said as he wove up and down rows of cars in search of an empty spot.
“I guess so,” Alex agreed. “It’s a cold January night. A movie or dinner are really the only options.” She shrugged. “Right?”
“You’re right.” He bobbed his head then said, “Oh! I see a guy pulling out!” and headed toward the spot that was about to be vacated. But as the SUV pulled out, a small, two-door sedan zipped in ahead of Brandon.
“What the...” Brandon pointed to the sedan. “Did you just see that?”
“Of course! What the heck was that about?” Alex fumed. “That was messed up!” Alex was about to comment further when she saw a hunched, old lady exit the car. She walked around to the passenger side and helped an even older-looking man, stooped deeply, from the vehicle.
“Oh wow,” Brandon said plainly. “I wasn’t all that mad to begin with but it’s impossible to be even a little annoyed after seeing that.” He pointed to the elderly couple, who held hands and shuffled through the crosswalk to the movie theater entrance.
Alex laughed. “I know, right. They’re adorable.” In her periphery, she noticed that Brandon had stopped watching the couple and watched her instead. She fidgeted a little, smoothing her hands down her thighs then tapping her fingertips against her leg. She was unaccustomed to such focused attention. “Don’t worry about finding a spot close to the theater. I don’t mind walking a little.”
“I’m glad you don’t mind,” he said as the car started moving again. “Because there’s nothing up close.” He drove slowly to the edge of the lot where there were many open parking spaces. Everyone fought to find a spot nearest the entrance so they could spend as little time as possible in the bitter cold.
Alex slipped her arms into her coat and zipped the front closed. She found a pair of gloves in her pocket and slipped them on, too.
“Look at you all prepared. If you produce a hat from somewhere, I’ll be impressed.” Brandon dug around in the backseat and found gloves and a hat for himself.
“Nope, I usually don’t mess around and bring a hat but I lost track of time and forgot,” she said honestly.
“Here, take mine.” Brandon took the hat that was in his hands and leaned across the console. He placed it on her head. The act was so gentle, his touch so light, it almost seemed tender. He carefully smoothed the hair back from her temples and adjusted the material so that it covered her ears. His scent reached out to her once again, stroking receptors in her brain that, before now, had been dormant. The warm, inviting notes sent a wash of goosebumps over her skin, drawing her to him, to the sweet pulse point at his wrist that seemed to diffuse the scent. As if of its own volition, her head turned toward it, her lips just a breath away from the source from which it emanated. Closing her eyes, she breathed it in, rapt. She couldn’t explain what was happening, why she was reacting as she was to this scent that Brandon possessed, but it gripped her. Filling her with thirst. A hunger like no other.
“There you go.” Brandon pulled away suddenly, denying her the intoxicating effect of his elixir. And like that, whatever spell had been cast was broken. He leaned back to admire his handiwork. Face lit by the interior lights, his eyes, the color of dark-chocolate, brimmed with something enigmatic—an emotion she could not name or a secret only he knew. “You look so cute.” His smile was wide as he’d said the words then he immediately lowered his gaze to his lap. Was he nervous? He certainly seemed so. If he only knew the odd reaction she’d just had to the scent produced near his wrist, she was sure he’d get over his nervousness quickly. And possibly, her as well.
Brandon cleared his throat. He checked the time on his phone and said, “We’d better get inside. The movie starts in fifteen minutes.”
“Oh, yeah, I guess it’s time to brave the cold. Lucky me I have your hat.” Alex smiled and winked and Brandon beamed. She climbed out of the passenger seat.
Brandon came around to meet her. “Hey, I was going to get that.” A note of disappointment touched his tone. Covering it, he laughed. “You know, it’s all part of my plan.”
“Your plan?” Alex quirked a brow at him.
“Yup.” He nodded.
“And what, may I ask, is this plan?” she asked as they walked toward the theater.
A bitter wind blew. Alex lowered her head to shield herself but still felt it whip against her face.
“Wow that’s cold. It’s so cold it hurts,” Brandon joked. Alex could hear the shiver in his voice. “Come here.” Brandon wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her toward him. “I can see you’re freezing. This’ll help.”
“Thank you,” she said and settled herself beneath his arm. Slightly warmer beside Brandon, his large frame deflected some of the wind.
“My pleasure.” He rubbed her upper arm to warm it.
“Is this part of your plan?” she nudged him and joked.
“Are you kidding me? I may write a thank-you note to Mother Nature for this wind. It’s a great excuse to put my arm around you and seem chivalrous at the same time, don’t you think?” He looked down at her and wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.
Alex gave him a light shove. “Well when you send that note, be sure to beg her for seventy-degree weather on my behalf. I’ve had enough winter already.” She smiled to herself. “Then you can find another way to be chivalrous.”
Brandon laughed out loud. “Don’t hold back or anything. Tell me what you really think.”
“No worries about that.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed.
“I can tell.” He leaned toward her and she swore she could hear the echo of his heart thundering in his chest. It maintained its quick tempo all the way to the entrance of the movie theater. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside. “Ah, warmth.” He took off his gloves and rubbed his hands together.
The warmth and the overwhelming smell of buttery popcorn greeted Alex. Typically, it would make her mouth water, but tonight, though hungry, the smell nauseated her. “Where’s the ticket line?” she looked at the concession line and at the line on the opposite side of the vestibule. She stood on her tiptoes. “It’s so crowded I can’t tell. And what movie are we seeing?”
“I bought the tickets ahead of time. I hope you don’t mind I picked that new movie with Matt Damon.”
“No, that’s great. When you said we were going to the movies, I was going to suggest seeing that.”
Brandon’s face lit up. He ran a hand through the front of his spiky, fawn-hued hair. “That’s great. It sounds really cool.” He smiled, looking into her eyes as if mesmerized. “You have such pretty eyes.” He looked startled by what he’d just said then covered his mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m slobbering all over this, aren’t I?”
“Huh?” Alex asked, unsure of what he’d meant.
“This date, I’m slobbering all over it like a German Shepherd.” He scrubbed his hands down his face. “I like you. I have since we had English together. I just never worked up the nerve to ask you out. I don’t date much, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
Alex laughed.
“Thanks. Thanks for that.” He rocked back and forth from the balls of his feet to his heels. He stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“No, no. I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing because I never would’ve guessed that you liked me.”
“Really? You’re kidding right?” Brandon asked sincerely.
“I’m serious,” Alex replied and racked her brain for an example of when he’d given her the impression that he liked her as more than a friend. She came up empty.
“Wow, I never thought I was subtle. I mean, if I had followed around after you any more than I did, I think I’d be a card-carrying stalker.” He laughed nervously. “Did you notice that like every time you were at the library I was, too? Or that I waited outside of both classes until you got there? And always left when you left? Or that I always had a million questions about the simplest assignments? Or that no one else ever sat next to you because I’d essentially stare them down and growl until they moved?” He took a deep breath and studied her face. “Any of that ring a bell?”
Alex stood with her lips parted, dumbfounded. Of course what he’d said was true. He had done all that he’d just listed. She’d simply never assumed that he’d done any of it with intent. She’d believed all of it was coincidental. “Oh,” she finally said after a long, awkward pause.
“Oh.” He smiled and bobbed his head. “It’s all coming together now, right?”
“I-I just...I never thought...” she searched for the right words, thinking out loud in the process.
“It’s okay.” A faint blush crept across his cheeks.
Spontaneously, Alex closed the distance between them and placed a kiss on Brandon’s cheek. “Yeah it is. We’re here now.”
“I’m glad we are.” Brandon’s gaze grew serious as he stared at her.
“Me, too.” Alex smiled.
“But I have to know something.”
“Sure, shoot.” Alex said.
“That kiss on the cheek you just gave me...was that a pity kiss you’d give a cousin or uncle?” He crinkled his nose cutely.
“No! It wasn’t!” Alex slapped her hand to her forehead. “Jeez, can’t a girl plant one on her date?” she joked.
“Yes, yes she can. In fact I encourage her to.”
Alex shook her head at him. Then, reaching out, she took his hand and pulled him along as she began walking, leading him through a maze of people and roped off lines. “Come on. Let’s see a movie.”
“No popcorn?” Brandon pointed to the concession stand as she dragged him along.
“I’m good. Do you want some?” she asked and slowed only marginally.
“Nope, I’m angling to keep you from eating here so you’ll have dinner with me afterward.”
Alex laughed. “All you had to do was ask,” she said as they stepped into the theater. The seats were filling fast but two seats near the rear of the space were vacant. “Let’s sit there.” She pointed to the empty seats.
“Okay and I’m asking.” Brandon stopped walking.
Alex turned to face him. “Asking what?”
“Really?” he looked at her incredulously. “Dinner?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Oh yes?” he questioned.
“Yes, dinner afterward sounds great.” She smiled and dashed off to the empty seats.
“Great!” he said cheerily.
They sat down just in time to watch a singing cup of soda dance with a box of Snowcaps. Before long, previews began. After what felt like an endless array of trailers played on the screen, their film began.
Two hours flew by. Brandon held her hand through the entire movie, a fact that made Alex smile inside through the entire movie. Before long, however, the credits rolled and the movie ended.
“That was great!” Alex commented as the theater lights brightened and the people began to clear.
“I’m glad you liked it.” Brandon held her hand as they stood, only releasing it so Alex could put on her coat. They walked hand-in-hand to the lobby and out into the biting cold of the parking lot. Once inside Brandon’s car and with the heat blasted, they waited as it warmed. Turning to face Alex, Brandon said, “So what are you in the mood to eat. There’s a Chili’s nearby, an Italian place, Outback Steakhouse, diners, a Mexican restaurant I hear is good. Anything jump out at you?”
“Chili’s sounds good,” she said. Oddly enough, she couldn’t remember when she’d eaten last but wasn’t hungry in the least. In fact, the thought of just about any food made her queasy. Forcing food to the back of her mind, she smiled at Brandon.
“You really look beautiful tonight,” he surprised her by saying.
Dropping her gaze, she felt heat bloom across her cheeks. “Thank you.” She peeked at him through her lashes.
Hooking his finger under her chin, he lifted it so that she looked at him. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.
Nostrils filling with his heady scent, Alex was captivated. Drawn to the irresistible smell, she was overpowered by it, engulfed and overcome by it. And an urge arose. One she was unprepared for.
The urge to kill him beckoned.
Thrumming in time with her pulse, primal instinct whispered that it was his blood giving off the delicious scent. The very scent that permeated her flesh, her bones. Her core. And called to her like a lover. It demanded to be tasted. The call to heed that demand burgeoned.
Feeling her canines lengthen suddenly, Alex recoiled, pulling back suddenly and throwing her hands between them. “Stop, please!” she said forcefully.
Brandon’s head reared as if he’d just been struck. His expression was pure confusion. “Wh-what?” he stammered. His face was flush with embarrassment. In a small voice, he said, “I’m sorry. I thought you wanted me to kiss you.”
“I did! And I do!” Alex blurted. She touched her fingertips to her forehead, her mind flooded with unclear thoughts that left her utterly mystified. She’d reacted to him like an animal. Like some creature from a horror movie. And her teeth! Had she imagined her canines lengthening to razor-sharp points? Maybe she was having some sort of mental breakdown. Her head began to spin as panic settled over her like a frozen mist. She needed to get home, and fast. “I’m so sorry, Brandon. I had a really weird night last night. Horrible, really. Something happened after work and I’m still freaking out about it,” she rambled on. “I was going to cancel tonight, but I felt better and wanted to see you. But now...” Her voice cracked. “Now, I’m not feeling well again.”
Brandon’s features softened. “What happened last night?” he asked and tilted his head to one side.
The light from the dashboard highlighted the steady drumming of his pulse just below his chin. Mesmerized by it, Alex used every bit of strength she had to pry her eyes away from it. “I-I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Oh.” Brandon’s gaze dropped. “I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. I guess we’ll skip dinner and I’ll drive you home.” Dejection laced his every word. His expression. His posture. Shoulders slumped, he turned from Alex and was about to shift the car into gear when a burst of guilt collided caused Alex to act.
“Brandon, I really like you and I can see you’re disappointed. I don’t want you to think this is all a lie and that I’m just trying to get out of this date,” she blurted.
Brandon’s head swiveled to face her. “You really like me?”
“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” What she was thinking was, Trust me, if you knew the night I had last night, what I went through, and that I still showed for this date, you’d have an ego the size of Texas! But she didn’t say any such thing. She’d messed things up enough already.
Brandon smiled. “Well that’s good news.” He looked into her eyes. “I don’t know what happened last night and I would never push you to talk about something you don’t want to talk about, but please know that if you want to talk, I’m here. I don’t care what time it is. If you need me, I’ll be there.”
“Thank you,” Alex replied, genuinely touched by his words.
“No need to thank me. I’m really glad you came out tonight. It means a lot to me that in spite of whatever happened to you last night, you still came.” Brandon’s smile faded and his gaze grew intense. The air around them became charged, like the atmosphere before a storm. Brandon leaned in as if he were going to kiss her.
Alex saw it as if it were happening in slow motion.
Brandon slowly closed the distance between them. His head tilted to the left. His carotid artery was exposed.
Her canines extended. Her mouth watered.
And the overwhelming urge to attack him, to sink her lengthened teeth into his flesh, possessed her.
Without knowing what else to do, Alex tried to protect him from her. She brought her hands up between them and thrust them forward. She thought the motion would simply stop him from advancing. But shockingly, her light touch sent his upper body flying backward.
Head slamming the driver’s side window and shattering it, glass exploded in a shower of dichroic shards. They rained down on Brandon’s lap as he gripped his head. “Oh God! My head!” With a disoriented expression, he touched his fingertips to his hair line to where a thin rivulet of blood trickled down his temple. He looked at his bloodstained fingers then to the glass. What had just transpired took shape in his mind. Alex could practically see the puzzle pieces fitting into place as realization that she’d shoved him hard enough to cause his skull to smash his car window washed over him. His features hardened immediately. “Are you some kind of psycho?” he demanded. “What the hell did you do to me?” his voice was raised and his face was red. She supposed she should’ve been frightened, but all she could focus on was the drops of blood dripping down his cheek. The scent of it pervaded her senses, soaking her thoughts in crimson and filling them with violence. She wanted to lap at the scarlet trail. To descend upon him. To taste his blood. To kill him.
Panic permeated every cell in her body. Alex twisted in her seat and opened the door. She bolted off, as fast as her legs could take her. She ran from Brandon. Ran from what had just happened. From what she felt and what she feared was happening. She was a “psycho” as Brandon had said. She’d seriously considered killing her date!
Head down, she watched her feet take turns hitting the pavement until they moved so quickly they became little more than a blur. She didn’t know how she was moving so fast or where she was going. Hell, she couldn’t even be sure she wasn’t hallucinating at this point. But whatever was happening, sitting there in Brandon’s car with the scent and sight of his blood had been more than she could bear. Whatever delusions she was having were also producing violent tendencies. She couldn’t allow herself to act on them. She was grateful she’d been able to stop herself.
Alex wasn’t sure how long she’d been running or where she was when finally she stopped. She found herself on a dark side street in a neighborhood she’d never been. One she would never have wanted to be in. All around her, buildings in varying states of dilapidation and disrepair sagged, as if bowing under the weight of neglect and poverty. Graffiti marred entire brick walls and cars sat on cinderblocks in driveways. The scent of garbage hung heavily in the air, along with the stink of corruption and desperation. Ordinarily, she’d feel fearful if she’d ended up in a place such as this. But Alex felt no such fear.
A voice caught her attention. Loud and clear as if it were right beside her, Alex turned and expected to find someone near. But no one was there. She was alone, save for the two shadows she saw at the mouth of an alleyway to her right.
She took a few steps toward them, moving toward the sound of their voices, and watched as a man around her age handed a child around Carly’s age a bag of opaque crystals. The kid handed the man money in exchange for the bag. “Now get on out of here,” the man ordered the child.
The child obliged, turning and jogging off, holding his sagging pants to keep them from falling around his ankles as he did.
Alex knew she shouldn’t have been able to hear the interaction as clearly as she had, and she certainly shouldn’t have been able to clearly make out the details of the man’s face. But she had, and she could.
The man began walking toward her, his gait confident and filled with swagger. He stopped when he saw Alex, eyeing her up and down and licking his lips. “Daaaamn,” he said. “You want something?”
Alex didn’t reply.
“I want something.” He grabbed his crotch and licked his lips again. “Why don’t you come over here and give it to me.”
Alex stared at him hard, her breathing eerily steady despite the tsunami of anger lapping at the shores of her being.
“What the fuck you lookin’ at me like you hard or somthin’? You think you hard? You think you scarin’ me?”
Alex stood stock still. Her voice was velvet edged in steel when she said, “You should be,” in a voice as calm as she felt.
The man tossed his head back and laughed at her. The sound was pure malice. Then the laughter stopped and he drilled her with eyes as cold and hard as onyx. “You think you scare me, bitch?” He lifted up the front of his shirt dramatically to reveal a large handgun tucked in the front waistband of his pants.
Heat snapped up Alex’s spine, clapping like the crack of a whip. Fire ignited in her veins, spreading as untamed and uncontrolled as the flames of a wildfire. Consumed by it completely, she felt a part of her—the part of her that governed self-control and restrained her—fall away. All that remained was the inherent need to feed.
In a flash, her field of vision was soaked in ruby red and she was atop the man who’d licked his lips at her and had threatened her with a gun. The scent of his lifeblood surrounded her. Pulled her. Drowned her. Frenzied by it, need was all she felt. Need was all she was.
Straddling his torso and pinning him in place with ease, his power was no match for hers. Before he could react or cry out, she sank her canines into his throat. Draining him, the taste was supreme, unparalleled. The scent had been tantalizing but the effect of what produced it—blood—was intoxicating.
Once he’d been emptied, Alex no longer felt weak and ineffective. She no longer felt enslaved by a life that had always left her at a disadvantage. She no longer felt fearful. She no longer felt insecure. She felt powerful, in control and poised to take on whatever crossed her path.
She felt alive.
For the first time in her life, Alex Lockhart was free.