by Luna James
He retrieved his wallet from his back pocket, opened it up and got out his license. When I reached to get it out of his hands, our fingertips grazed. It sent a shiver through my body. It was a similar electric feeling that I got from Damien, but better and more intense. From the looks of his face, he felt it as well. I took the license and scanned it. His name was Lucien Steele. He was from the town next to mine, Garden Hill. I found his birthdate and noticed he just turned twenty-one.
“Happy late Birthday Lucien!” I said as I handed his license back. I made sure not to touch his fingertips.
“Thank you.” Lucien winked.
“Do you want draft or bottle?”
“Draft please,” Lucien replied.
“Ok. I’ll be right back with your drinks.” I turned and made my way over to the bar. While I filled their drinks, I kept looking over at their table admiring Lucien. He had long, wavy sandy brown hair, and had a full-face beard that was the same color. His eyes are a mesmerizing shade of blue. When he walked in with Derek, I noticed he was tall, maybe six feet five or taller. That alone was sexy as hell to me.
“Tori.” I heard Samantha say.
I shook my head and turned towards Samantha. “Yeah?”
“Girl, you’re in a daze.” Samantha gave me a wink. That made me smile because if she was talking to me that meant she may be willing to accept me.
“You see that guy that came in with Derek, Chris, and Eric?” I asked her gesturing towards their table with my head.
Samantha looked over and smiled. “Yes. I don’t know who the new guy is, but he is fine as hell.”
“His name is Lucien,” I said, while pouring Lucien’s beer from the Bud Light tap. “Be right back.”
I walked over to their table and placed their drinks in front of them. “Do y’all know what you want to eat?” I asked looking at each of them.
I took their orders and then took them to the cook. I had to get out of there and get to my car. Smelling everyone, especially Lucien, was driving me crazy. Samantha was behind the bar fixing drinks. “Hey girl, I need to take a quick break,” I leaned in and whispered, “I need something to drink if you know what I mean.”
Samantha looked at me knowing exactly what I meant and nodded her head. “I’ll cover for ya for a few minutes.”
I rushed out the back door to the employee parking area. As soon as I got in my car, I got two blood bags from my backpack. I drank them as quickly as possible. By the time I was done, I felt a lot better.
KNOCK, KNOCK
Startled, I turned and hissed at the person standing outside my car. It was Sebastian. I opened my door. “What the fuck man? You scared the shit out of me!” I growled at him.
Sebastian stood with his arms crossed and laughed. “Sorry. I thought you would’ve heard me coming.”
“Ugh! No! I had my mind on something else.” I put the bags I was drinking from back in my backpack.
“Clearly,” was all he said.
After I put the bags away, I got out and locked my car. “What are you doing here Sebastian?” I asked, walking towards the back door to Rick’s.
“I came to see how things were going. Seems you have it under control for the time being.” He followed me.
“Yes, I do, so leave me alone.” I opened the back door.
“Wait. Damien and I were wondering if you wanted to go out to eat with us after you get off work?” Sebastian winked.
I knew exactly what he meant. They wanted me to go drink from someone with them. “Sure. I get off at three o’clock.” I walked in the door and slammed it shut.
Derek and his friends were done eating when I got back to their table. I got their bills ready and took them back to the table. After they paid for their meals, they got up to leave. Derek came over to the bar where I was putting the money in the cash register.
“See ya later Tori. Don’t work too hard.” Derek winked.
“I’ll try not to.” I looked at the entrance and caught Lucien staring at me. “Who’s your friend, Lucien?”
“I met him at college. He’s cool as hell,” Derek replied.
“He’s hot as hell,” I grinned.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Bye Tori.”
I laughed. “Bye.”
****
Lucien
Tori caught me staring at her while she spoke to Derek and I couldn’t help but blush. She is absolutely gorgeous. How could one not stare at her? I felt drawn to her and I had to get to know her. Breaking our eye contact, I followed Chris and Eric out the door. We waited for Derek outside by the door.
When we walked out to our vehicles, I pulled Derek to the side. “Your step-sister is gorgeous. You gotta tell me about her.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “Find out yourself. I’m not her matchmaker,” he grunted.
“Damn dude. You ain’t got to get all pissy about it,” I replied, as I got my phone out of my back pocket. “I’ll just look her up on social media.”
“Man, I ain’t being pissy. I just get aggravated with guys asking me about her. It happens all the time.”
“That’s understandable. She’s gorgeous,” I said looking down at my phone. “What’s her last name?”
“Lane.”
I opened Instagram and searched for her name. I found her and send a request to follow her. I sure hope she accepts it. I need to know this girl. She sparked a fire in me and I won’t be satisfied until I get to know her.
“Thanks man. I gotta run to the auto parts store and get brakes for my dad’s truck. I’ll holler at you later,” I said to Derek, as I opened my truck door.
Derek nodded and walked off to his car. I don’t know why he was so frustrated with me for asking about Tori. Maybe he likes her or he’s just overprotective of her. Either way, he was going to have to get over it because I wanted to make Tori mine.
As soon as I started my truck, my phone dinged. It was Tori accepting my request to follow her. I instantly sent her a message. I hoped she didn’t mind.
****
Tori
A few minutes after Derek and his friends left, I felt my phone vibrate. I pulled it out of my back pocket and looked at it. Lucien sent a request to follow me on Instagram. Of course, I approved it and sent a request to follow him back. I put my phone back in my pocket and got back to work.
At three o’clock I clocked out and told everyone bye. Samantha walked with me to the back door. She told me she was ready to talk about things and to message her later and we would plan it. Samantha even gave me a hug.
When I went out to my car, Sebastian and Damien were standing up against it talking. I admired them for a minute before walking over to them. They were both very handsome and mysterious. Damien must have heard my thoughts because he suddenly smiled and made eye contact with me.
“So, how was your day?” Damien asked.
“It was a struggle, but I made it through the day without biting anyone,” I replied. “Thank goodness I brought those blood bags. I could smell everyone and hear their heartbeats. It drove me crazy at times.”
“I forgot to tell you to hold your breath. That helps when you are around a lot of people,” Sebastian said.
“Well, I am glad I know this now. You could’ve mentioned that earlier today you know.” I gave Sebastian a side look.
“It completely slipped my mind. Sorry love,” Sebastian apologized.
I felt like my brain was going to explode with all this new information about vampyres. I had to change the subject. “So, are y’all ready to go?” I asked, as I unlocked my car. I put my purse in the back with the backpack.
“Yes. We can take my car.” Damien smiled.
I locked my car and followed them to Damien’s Shelby Mustang. I got into the back seat, and then Sebastian climbed into the passenger seat. I was excited to go with them. I was so thirsty; I needed blood badly. When I got settled in, I got out my phone. Lucien had sent me a message on Instagram.
Hi Tori. It was nice meeting you today.
> Reading his message put a smile on my face. I couldn’t believe he was messaging me. I sent a reply.
Hi Lucien. It was nice meeting you, too.
“What are you back there smiling about?” Damien asked, looking into the rearview mirror.
“None of your business,” I glanced at him in the mirror, “and stay out of my head. A girl deserves some privacy.”
Damien chuckled. “Fair enough. I will do my best not to invade your private thoughts.”
“So, where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll see.” Damien winked.
I laid my phone in the seat beside me. There was no need for me to be on it talking to Lucien because I knew Damien would listen in on my thoughts. That got on my damn nerves. I mean yeah it was a cool ability, but fuck a girl needs privacy.
“I promised to try my best to not invade your thoughts.” Damien looked in the rearview mirror at me.
“Ugh! You just fucking did Damien. What the hell man!” I cut my eyes at him.
“Sorry. You are really loud with your thoughts. From now on I will tune into something else.” Damien looked sincere. I knew he couldn’t help it.
“Please do!” I hissed.
Damien drove like a bat out of hell across Shortt’s Gap mountain. His Shelby handled the curvy mountain road like it was on rails. We listened to music and talked about random stuff. I really was enjoying spending time with them. Sebastian was growing on me. I had to try to get past being mad at him since I needed him and Damien to get through being a new vampyre.
Damien drove to a bar on the edge of Raven. Raven was a lovely, small-town just on the other side of Shortt’s Gap mountain. He parked the car, and they got out. Sebastian let me out of the back seat.
“I don’t have my ID on me. I left my purse in my car,” I said, as I straighten my clothes.
“Victoria, my dear, we are vampyres. We can go anywhere we want and not have to worry about having an ID.” Sebastian laughed.
“Oh. I guess we can.” I smiled feeling dumb for forgetting that we can just use mind compulsion on someone.
We walked in and sat down at the bar. Damien sat down next to me. Then Sebastian came to the other side and sat down. The bartender came over to us asking for our IDs. Sebastian worked his magic and then ordered the three of us beers.
“So, what’s the plan?” I asked looking over at Damien.
“We are going to drink a few beers while scoping out the place. Once we find who we want to drink from we will persuade them to go outside with us. Always make sure that it looks like you are making out with the person you chose. That way if someone sees you, they’ll just think you are horny and couldn’t wait to get in your car,” Damien answered grinning.
“Ha! That makes sense,” I replied snickering.
We enjoyed a few beers while talking to the locals. There was a handsome man with a few of his friends shooting pool that kept catching my eye. I decided that he was going to be my snack. Ha! I can’t believe I think of humans as food now. I strolled over to the pool table.
“Hello, guys.” I smiled.
“Well hello there gorgeous,” said one of the guys.
“Would y’all mind if I got in on the next game?” I asked, batting my eyelashes at them. I wasn’t very good at flirting.
The guy that had caught my eye answered. “You sure can. We are almost done with this game.”
I played a few games with them. It had been a while since I shot pool, but it was fun. We talked and drank a few beers while playing. I kept noticing that Damien was watching us. He was with Sebastian talking to a group of middle age women. The women were eating them up. Little did they know Sebastian and Damien would be eating them up…literally. I was very thirsty and was getting a little antsy. I had been flirting with the one guy a lot and was confident that he was into me enough to want to go outside with me.
“I need some air. Would you like to go outside with me?” I asked him.
“Hell yeah! Let’s go. It’s hot as hell in here. I could use some fresh air.”
We walked outside. The sun was setting making the sky a beautiful pink color. Thankfully there wasn’t anyone in the parking lot. I walked over to the side of the building. The guy followed me. I was tired of flirting and playing around; I was hungry! I pushed him against the building.
I looked deep into his eyes. “Do not make a sound and do not move,” I demanded.
He shook his head letting me know he understood. I felt that familiar pain in my teeth. I allowed my primal instincts to take over and bit into his neck. His blood felt so silky going down my throat. I could feel myself getting stronger with each gulp. I realized I needed to drink blood more often than I was. When I felt his pulse get faint, I released my grip on him.
“I want you to drink the blood from my wrist now,” I commanded. I bite my wrist to draw blood and put it to his mouth. I only let him have a little bit because that was all he needed. Then I made him look into my eyes again. “Forget that I just bit you. We came out here and talked while getting some fresh air. That’s it.”
Then I walked back into the bar leaving him outside in a daze. Sebastian and Damien were coming out of the men's bathroom when I sat down at the bar. I could sense that they had fed. Did they just feed on those women in the men's bathroom? Ewww!
“Hey, don’t judge us,” Damien said, laughing as he sat down beside me at the bar.
“Stop that!” I responded jokingly. “You promised damnit.”
“What was she thinking?” Sebastian asked sitting on the other side of me.
“I was thinking that it was gross that y’all fed on those women in the bathroom,” I answered, making a disgusted face.
“Well, it would have looked funny all of us ‘making out’ outside, so we improvised. They were delicious no matter where we would have taken them.” Sebastian winked.
I rolled my eyes. “Can we get out of here now?” I asked. “I’d like to go home.”
“Your wish is my command,” Damien grinned.
They took me back to my car parked at Rick’s. I felt so much better now that I had more blood. Damien got out of the car and walked over to my car with me.
“Did you have a good time?” he asked.
“Yes. I did,” I replied.
“Tori, before you go, I would like to talk to you about something I heard in your thoughts this afternoon,” he said, with a serious look on his face.
“What?”
“I heard the name, Lucien. If it is who I think it is, I would highly recommend you stay away from him,” Damien said in a whisper, “I don’t want Sebastian to know that you have met him, so please don’t mention Lucien around him.”
“Why do you want me to stay away from him?” I asked.
“I can’t explain that to you right now, Tori. Just know that he is trouble and stay away!” Damien leaned in close to me. “I will explain it more to you when Sebastian isn’t around,” he whispered.
“Okay. I will hold you to that,” I said, as I turned and unlocked my car door.
“I’m glad you had a good time tonight. You are doing such a great job.” Damien spoke up. “We’ll get together and do something tomorrow if you would like,” he smiled.
“Sounds good to me,” I said, opening my car door.
“Have a great night Tori.” Damien leaned in and kissed me on the forehead.
“You, too.” I blushed.
“Goodnight Victoria,” Sebastian yelled from the car.
I looked over at him and smiled. “Goodnight Sebastian.”
When I got home, I went straight to my apartment. I didn’t want to be around my family right now. I changed into a white tank top and pink shorts. My bed was calling me. I know I don’t sleep, but I was tired and couldn’t think of anything better than to curl up in my bed with my favorite blanket. After I got comfortable, I checked my phone. Lucien had messaged me on Instagram a few times. I was curious as to why Damien wanted me to stay away from Lucien. I planned to make
him explain it to me tomorrow. I decided to ignore his warning and text Lucien back.
What you up to this evening?
Sorry if I am bothering you.
Message me if you ever want to talk.
I instantly began typing a message back to him. I didn’t want him to think I was avoiding him.
Hey Lucien. Sorry about earlier. I was away from my phone for a while. You aren’t bothering me at all.
While I waited on Lucien to message me back, I grabbed the book on my nightstand that I had been reading, Rock Star by Jackie Collins. It felt like forever since I had just chilled in my bed and read. I made it through a few pages before my phone dinged alerting me of a message.
Hey Tori. I’m glad I’m not bothering you. Would you mind if I called you?
I was shocked that Lucien wanted to talk to me on the phone. Most of the guys I knew only want to talk through messages. I messaged him back and gave him my phone number. He called immediately. We talked for almost an hour. We planned to meet each other soon to hang out. After we got off the phone, I laid in my bed smiling.
Chapter 7
Tori
The next day at work, Samantha was working the exact same hours as me. I loved it when we worked together. It made the day go by so much faster. She was so much fun to be around no matter if we were at work or hanging out.
Samantha came over to me as I was wiping a table. “I just looked at the schedule and we are both off tomorrow. Do you want to have a girls day so we can talk about your,” she made air quotes, “new life?”
“That sounds perfect!” I cheered.
“Okay, great. I’ll message you the details. Gotta get back to stocking the bar,” Samantha replied.
Thirty minutes before I was to clock out, I started getting things settled for the next shift. I filled up the salt and pepper shakers and wiped off the empty tables. Rick’s wasn’t very busy, so I took my time. While wiping on a table, I heard Samantha in the background flirting with someone. When I turned around my jaw practically hit the floor. She was talking to an incredibly handsome guy. He was tall and muscular with short sandy blonde hair. I had never seen him here before. Samantha led him to a table in my section. I walked over immediately.