Enchant Me

by Anne Violet

  Michelle clapped her hands and drew our attention. “I want to thank everyone for doing such an amazing job, especially Shirley, for her grandmother donating the candelabras and some of the antique furniture. I also want to single out our honorary senior Alexis Maher for being the mastermind behind the Masquerade Ball idea; I think, thanks to her, we will have the best prom ever. Let’s all give her a hand!”

  I rolled my eyes at Michelle but tried to smile in appreciation as everyone around me clapped and took turns hugging me as they took off to the dressing rooms to change. When Michelle hugged me on her way to change, I didn’t have the heart to give her a hard time about anything and let her go with a smile. The temptation to leave was strong. Technically we were all done, but if any problems cropped up I didn’t want any of them to have to miss their own prom to deal with it. So I tucked myself behind a column near the DJ and settled in to watch everyone arrive. I was amazed and impressed by how all the seniors seemed to embrace the theme. Almost everyone had worn masks of one sort or another. Some people even wore costumes whether it was medieval, vampire, animal or even super-heroes.

  When Michelle re-entered the ball on the arm of her boyfriend, she was given a standing ovation for helming the prom party, and when it came down to it the school paper and yearbook too. She panned the room until she found me, then gave me a little nod of thanks. I shook her off and pointed right back at her. She and Craig had dressed as the title characters in Phantom of the Opera. They truly were the king and queen of the night. As the music started up I realized I hadn’t hidden myself very well because soon enough, a couple of Nicolas’s friends placed themselves in front of me blocking my view. They turned their backs to me but it didn’t matter though; they made sure I could hear every word they said.

  “Did you hear that Christian Marino is bringing Susan Michaels?” Jenny said so loudly I was sure people in Canada could hear her.

  Tom, her boyfriend, leaned down as if to whisper but his voice bellowed out too. “No, but that’s a good choice, she’s pretty hot.”

  I watched in something close to amusement as Jenny stared up at him, not sure whether to be happy he was following along or pissed that he thought some other girl was hot. I rolled my eyes and moved away. It was hard to believe they wanted to waste their prom trying to antagonize me. I knew what they were trying to do and somehow that made it easier to deal with. Maybe more importantly I didn’t think Christian would be that cruel. Luckily I was soon wrapped up in minor and not so minor problems, and I was called away to help the theatre staff resolve them.

  At one point, a petite girl came up to me frantic with worry. Apparently someone had spiked the punch bowl and she was afraid if one of the adults found out, the party would be ended. I swore to her I would take care of it and went in search of a theatre employee. After a fresh bowl was put out, I stood next to it playing guard dog, and scanned for the most likely suspects. So absorbed was I, that I didn’t even hear the booming voice of the announcer as he called out more guests as they came in. The prom had probably been in full swing for an hour or two before I finally had another chance to breathe and take it all in. That’s when it occurred to me where I was standing. A feeling of Déjà vu swept over me, but it wasn’t a mystery why. My vision was once again unpleasantly coming to life before my eyes.

  Alarmed, I felt dizziness threaten and my temples start to throb. I beat and railed against it until it slinked back into the darkness of my mind. Almost as if my turmoil had called him, I then saw Christian. I wasn’t able to see his eyes but I felt his glare on me from across the room. I shivered, but not with excitement. That coldness that I had seen in last night’s vision seemed to invest his body as he approached me. In a dark suit and full face mask, I saw and felt very little of the guy I knew, but then it seemed I had never really known him. He had slicked back his dark hair which didn’t seem to suit him, but who was I to say. When he reached me, he extended his hand, his eyes in shadow. I stared at it awhile, frozen into inaction.

  Ultimately I took a deep breath, and without looking into his eyes I let him lead me into our first and last dance. I noticed myriad little things as we headed onto the floor. His hand was not protectively at my back. Instead of holding my hand he was grasping my wrist, pulling me along, and his always warm skin was cold. I blocked out whatever song was playing, I didn’t want anything to remind me of this moment. The absence of our connection was bad enough. Although I felt him staring at me I did not look at him once. Oddly we both seemed to be extremely careful maintaining the distance between our bodies. I wondered why he had even bothered. After what seemed like an eternity the song must have come to an end because he was already pulling away. Unexpectedly, in the quiet before the next song, the announcer called out another guest’s entrance.

  “Christian Marino.”

  My head whipped around to the entrance and I felt that awareness rock through me as I met his eyes. He was drama personified; a dark cloak over a classic tux, his straight hair falling across the simple black eye mask that couldn’t hide the fierceness of his face. That was Christian. I watched as his eyes moved to who was holding me, and so did mine. As I looked up, the light from one of the mirrored balls finally hit his face and I saw the icy blue eyes of Nicolas staring back at me.

  In shock and fear I jerked away but then he grabbed my arms and drew me closer. He wasn’t even looking at me but at Christian’s approach. “You’ll be seeing me again,” he whispered in my ear.

  “Let her go,” Christian warned, his voice low and quiet but the threat was still there.

  Without another word Nicolas abruptly shoved me at Christian, and quickly stalked off into the crowd. Christian’s warm hands cupped my shoulders and spun me around.

  “Are you ok?”

  I tried to nod my head but I wasn’t sure if I was conveying what I was supposed to. I could tell he wanted to go after Nicolas, but I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried myself so deep into his embrace that he couldn’t break away from me if he tried, which thankfully he didn’t.

  “Please don’t go,” I pleaded softly.

  He took a deep breath in but didn’t promise anything. He pulled his cloak around us and wrapped his warmth around me. Slowly my shuddering eased and I relaxed into his hold. I heard the small crowd around us dissipate in disappointment now that the drama had ended. At last I could hear what Christian had obviously been waiting for. Jim and a couple of my other guy friends walked back up to us.

  “I don’t know how he got out, he just disappeared. We checked all the rooms. He’s not here anymore.” I could hear the puzzled frustration in Jim’s voice.

  With his chin resting gently on the top of my head I felt him shake someone off. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight, so let’s not worry about it. I will make sure Lex gets home.”

  I couldn’t help but smile at his commanding tone and manner. He led me away from the dance floor and into a small curtained alcove. A chaise lounge was placed within the small private space. He sat down and leaned against the back of it pulling me into his lap, his arms around my waist. Keeping my arms around his neck I rested my head on his shoulder. One hand came up to grasp my chin, tilting my head so he could see into my eyes.

  “How could you not know that he wasn’t me?” He muttered.

  I was amazed at how much he had correctly deduced and mildly amused by the fact that he was more offended than hurt. Gently I removed his mask and just gazed at him. He was so handsome it hurt. Even in the dim light of the lantern on the side table next to us, I could see his dark eyes were soft and gentle as he looked at me. Whatever issue there had been between us was gone now. I tried to think of a way to tell him without mentioning my vision that I had obviously misinterpreted. It had been a warning but different from what I had thought. That’s what I get for fighting my gift I suppose. Disaster…

  “I wasn’t paying that much attention, he has your basic build, height, and he obviously colored his hair.”

  Th
e more I thought about it the more panicky I felt. He had gone to a lot of trouble for that one dance. If Christian hadn’t shown up would he have tried to lure me outside…? I started to shake.

  “Lex,” he said, trying to get my attention, tilting my head higher so I was forced to look at him. “What are you thinking about?”

  “He went to a lot of trouble to impersonate you. If you hadn’t shown up…”

  His brows crashed together and a flash of rage crossed his face. I immediately regretted telling him. I didn’t want him to get into a fight with Nicolas. I peered at him warily as he looked at me. I felt his care and possessiveness from my head to my toes. Gradually the rage faded and he took both my hands in his, lightly massaging them as he regarded me. “What did I tell you?”

  Confused after all that had happened, I searched back trying to figure out what he wanted me to recall. Then I remembered. “That you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

  “Yes,” he breathed bringing up my hands to his lips and brushing a kiss across my knuckles, then flipping them over and placing a kiss inside each of my palms. As we looked at each other I saw regret infuse his expression.

  “I’m sorry. I should never have left you.”

  He leaned heavily back against the chair again. I had a feeling he almost hated himself for it.

  “Why did you?” I asked quietly, looking away and down at our joined hands.

  “It’s not something I think either of us wants to get into too deeply right now, but…I know you’re different,” he murmured.

  Startled I jerked my head up to stare at him. He calmly regarded me back. I looked away from his penetrating gaze as I thought back on the last couple weeks and especially last night; his reactions to my headaches, the motorcycle race and his odd question about getting headaches around only him, which I still didn’t understand. Could he actually know? How? I decided I really didn’t care if he knew or not. I wanted no more secrets between us, but he was right. Neither of us wanted to get into it tonight… Peeking at him, I was still a little nervous as I considered what to say.

  “Are you afraid of me?” I breathed.

  His tantalizing lips curled up at the corners. “Maybe, but I was also afraid of me.”

  I gave him the most confused look I could muster, but he shook his head. “Not tonight, you deserve to enjoy prom too.”

  I smiled and arched a brow at him, wondering what he had in mind. Enthralled, I watched as admiration took hold of him and his hand drifted down from my chin to caress my bare shoulder and down my arm. For a moment I just closed my eyes and tracked his hands as they moved down and around my waist until I felt their heat on my bare back. Slowly I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you are tonight?”

  “No,” I said pertly.

  He laughed so soft and low I barely heard it, and I was charmed by him all over again. “You are breathtaking,” he breathed. As his hands caressed my back, I let mine trace over his tux covered arms, chest and shoulders, eventually spearing my fingers in his hair at the nape of his neck. “Well I think you are absolutely beautiful,” I said, daring him to have a problem with it. No longer able to resist, I leaned against him, my lips hovering just above his. Letting the moment stretch I took in the strength of his warm hard body around me and the slight scent of his cologne. The look of desire in his eyes and his breath upon my lips completely captured me. The sensation of his hand trailing up my back and cupping the back of my neck sent delicious tremors through my body, and I let him draw my lips to his for our softest kiss yet, like we were truly meeting for the first time. As we kissed I couldn’t stop my hands from caressing his face, neck and shoulders.

  Everything about him captivated me. I felt like I was melting into him, our souls merging in some luscious way that defied description. Nothing existed beyond this moment and that was fine by me. Bit by bit we drifted back into the real world, permitting a breath’s space between our lips. I opened my eyes to find him regarding me rather seriously.

  “I love you,” he murmured. Awestruck, I just stared at him for a moment, my heart beating so fast I was embarrassed that he would hear it. “I love you too,” I breathed. Now it seemed his turn to look stunned. Did he really believe I couldn’t love him? What woman could resist him? I could tell him that I also worshiped and adored him but I didn’t want him to get a big head, so I left it at love. Cupping my head in both hands he kissed me deeply, let me get a glimmer of the depth of the desire he felt before he pulled away. He sighed as he swung his feet off the chaise and onto the floor, hands around my waist he pulled us both up to standing. I felt him run the back of his hand down my naked spine as we stood there and I leaned against him. “You are so lucky we are surrounded by all these people or I would ravish you on the spot.”

  I smiled up at him. “We could always leave.”

  He chucked me under the chin. “Don’t tempt me.”

  Smiling and laughing we returned to prom. As soon as Tina saw us she swept us up into a picture frenzy that I now happily endured. It made me so happy to see the light back in Christian’s eyes. Watching him talk and laugh amongst our friends, the darkness gone now, hopefully forever. I didn’t even mind when the DJ announced the last song of the night because I was in Christian’s arms. I put my hands inside his coat and around his waist. For his part, he seemed fascinated with my bare back, his hands moving up and down in an endless caress.

  He bent down towards my ear. “You have the softest skin.”

  I didn’t look up, instead I burrowed deeper into his embrace. “I must, since you can’t seem to stop petting me.”

  He laughed and nuzzled against the side of my face. “I really do love you,” he whispered in my ear.

  My heart swelled at his words. I believed him. “You better or I will replace you with another hot Irish-Italian painter.”

  Laughing again he nudged at my head to make me look up. “Not a chance, they broke the mold when they made me.”

  Moving my hands up around his neck I started to raise up to kiss him, only to have him wrap his arms around my waist and lift me up; my feet no longer touched the ground. “I’m sure they did,” I gasped.

  I was in the middle of peppering Christian’s face with kisses when a masculine hand grabbed Christian’s sleeve and started tugging on him. Thoroughly irritated we both turned to the source.

  Jim was looking at us amused and apologetic, Tina beside him was trying to contain her smile.

  “I hate to tell you this but we all have to go. The theatre people want to lock up and go home,” he said.

  Chagrined now, Christian let me down. We rushed to get our things and headed out the door to his car, our friends trailing behind us, laughing their butts off. As we walked to his car I felt the heat of his hand protectively at my back. Now I definitely knew all was right with the world. It had been a magical night after all.

  CHAPTER 10

  I had only been home and sleeping for a couple of hours when the pounding in my head forced me from a blissful sleep. Disoriented, I wanted to scream from the pain but I couldn’t risk waking up my mom. The agonizing roar in my ears was almost deafening. I forced myself to sit up, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Cody pacing anxiously. He padded over to me, sniffed me and twitched his tail, then went back to his pacing. I groaned. This had to be the moment I had been dreading and my grandmother had been dreaming about. There couldn’t be a worse pain than this one. Clutching my head, trying to hold it together, I stumbled to my vanity to get my phone. My head throbbed so bad I could barely see, but eventually I was able to pull up my grandmother’s number and the phone rang for what felt like hours, before she answered. “Grandma Anne?”

  “Yes honey, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s happening; I need you to come get me. I won’t be able to drive.”

  “Ok honey, you are going to be fine, I am on my way now.”

  After hanging up, I had planned on changing out of my nightg
own and into some clothes but when the world started teetering around me, I settled for the robe at the end of my bed. Then I started to make my way carefully into the living room, Cody following at a safe distance. It was oddly comforting that he was near. It was an eternity until I made it to the door and unlocked it in preparation, and then I collapsed on the couch. It seemed like I had just laid down when my grandmother quietly knocked and then opened the door. Her boyfriend Charles, a nice elderly gentleman, also part of our grove, was on her heels. She kneeled down next to me, brushing sweat-drenched hair out of my face.

  “How are you doing?”

  “Terrible,” I groaned.

  “Can you walk?”

  I shook my head; I didn’t want to even move, but then she got out of the way and Charles gently lifted me up in his arms and carried me out to the car, settling me in the back that had been furnished with pillows and blankets. I laid down putting a pillow beneath my head and braced my arms between the front and back seat to keep my rocking to a minimum. As they both got into the car they were careful as they closed the doors, trying not to jar my head at all.

  “Alexis, I left your mom a note that you weren’t feeling well and I took you to my place.”

  “She is going to be insulted that I went to you for help since she was right there.”