“Oh you will. Trust me,” he replied with a cute grin.
He walked out, and immediately, she blushed again. She didn’t know what to think about this man. He was so mysterious, but so forward with his words. A part of her wanted to go after it, but there was something within her that said otherwise. For whatever reason, she got a bad feeling about this, and she wanted to figure out just what those bad feelings that enveloped over her were.
She didn’t see the man for a few weeks. A part of her thought that it was because she was trying too hard, and she was asking for too much. But then, one day as she was working yet another night shift, she saw him enter the store once again, smiling at her.
“Oh great, I caught you once again,” he said with a suave voice.
“You did,” she squeaked.
He moved towards her, looking at her with a smile.
“I need some more screws. This project has been pretty hard on me,” he told her.
“Well I can help you with that,” she blurted out.
They got the screws once again, their arms brushing against one another. Alex didn’t want to fall too fast for this man, but it was already proving fruitless. She didn’t know what to think about all of this, but instead she went with the flow, hoping to god that everything would be okay.
At the end of it, she looked at him once again, and the two of them made eye contact.
“Your total is $16.55,” she said.
“Thanks. Also, I have something else to give you,” he murmured. He gave her something, and when she looked at it, she could feel the blood rush to her face.
“What’s this for?” she asked.
“Well, I figured I should give you my number. You seem like a very interesting woman, and I definitely am curious about you,” he cooed.
She immediately reddened. This damn man was making her go crazy with want and need. She wanted to give into her desires, but at the same time, a part of her wanted to take this slow, to wait for the right moment.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Not a problem. I hope you have a great night,” he told her.
He left, and Alex looked at the number. She wanted to call the man right away, but at the same time, she was very nervous about what would happen next. She was definitely wanting to learn more, and this man certainly seemed like the perfect type for her, that’s for sure. She didn’t know if she could trust him or not, especially since he seemed to be hiding something. What it was, she didn’t really know.
Chapter Two
She called him after her shift, and after a couple of rings, he picked up.
“Hello?” he asked.
“Hey. This is Alex. From the store,” she stated.
“Oh hey! What’s up?” he asked.
“Oh not much. Just the usual things. I wanted to call you back, since you gave me your number and all,” she replied.
“Oh yeah. You seemed pretty cool, and I wanted to get to know you better. You want to come hang out sometime this weekend? I work at a local bar, where sometimes I perform, but mostly I bartend. I’m off this weekend though, and it’s a decent hangout spot, so if you want to meet up there, I’m game,” he offered.
She thought about it. It wasn’t every day that she was asked out by a guy that she liked.
“Sure, that sounds fine by me,” she said.
“Great, I’ll text you the details. I feel weird, I haven’t really told you a whole lot about myself,” he admitted.
“It’s fine. That’s what our time this weekend is going to be for,” she replied. She did want to get to know him, and it made sense that it would be a fitting time to discuss everything.
“Hell yeah. I’ll see you then,” he said.
He ended the call, and for a moment, Alex wondered if there was more to this than what met the eye. She thought he seemed interesting, but Darren was acting almost as if he was hiding something, and she didn’t know what it was. She felt like she wanted to learn more about him, but she wasn’t too sure of how to do that. Maybe it would be okay though. Maybe.
That day, Alex felt like a bundle of nerves. She put her brown hair down for once, and she wore a pretty pink dress with pink shoes, which was a stark contrast from what she normally wore. She felt like dressing up and being pretty, and this would be one of those moments. She went to the location, and when she got there, she immediately started to grow more nervous.
This was a happening place, with girls dancing with guys and some guys talking with girls. Was Darren really here for her? It’s not like she was ugly or anything, but she was a stark contrast to the normal girls that frequented places like this. She saw him in the corner, and when she waved, he waved back.
“Hey there,” she said as she slipped into the booth.
“Hey yourself. Sorry for being so obscure, it’s busy tonight,” he told her.
“Yeah, I imagine,” she replied.
“Well, I guess introductions are in order. I feel weird for never telling you about this until now, but I’m glad that you agreed to this meetup, so we can get to know one another better,” he said.
“Yeah, totally,” she replied. It was obvious that she was nervous as hell about this whole thing.
“So for starters, I’m Darren. I’m a former navy seal, and I’ve been out for about a year now. I did my service, and I was happy with the results. I just didn’t think a career in that was fitting for me, if you get what I mean,” he said.
“Kind of. I’m shocked that you didn’t go into that to be honest,” she admitted.
“Well, there were a few complications associated with it. I don’t feel comfortable getting into that just yet, but I hope someday I can tell you a bit more about it,” he explained.
She nodded. There was something almost hidden within his words. What exactly was he hiding from her? This seemed almost surreal in a sense, and a part of her wanted to know more information about this. She wanted to ask, but she wasn’t so sure.
“Well, I’m Alex. I work in a hardware store, and I usually just do that and sometimes work on my writing. See, I’m writing a story, and hopefully when it gets published I can make money off of that. I also am working on my accounting degree online, but mostly working to keep myself afloat through all of this,” she said.
“That’s interesting. What’s your story about?” he asked.
“Well, I writing about vampires and werewolves, so that’s the gist of it,” she explained.
He looked at her with a wry eye, curious about this.
“Is there a chance I can read it? I mean, if you’re not okay with that, then fine. I mean, I don’t want to push you or anything,” he said.
“No it’s totally fine! I’m a bit self-conscious about the writing, but if you want to read it, you’re more than welcome to,” she admitted. In truth, she had never shown anyone her writing.
“Well if you’re comfortable with it, I would love to see it,” he uttered.
She looked at him, and he was smiling at her. She felt comfortable around him, which was different from the normal protocol of feelings that she felt around attractive men like him. His brown hair was looking gorgeous at the moment, and his blue eyes looked at her with intent. She blushed, knowing full well that she was going to be distracted by him all night,
The two of them talked about everything going on, from what she was striving to do with her life, to even about some of the experiences he’s had here at the bar. It was strange though, because for whatever reason, he didn’t seem keen on talking about his past, or about his time in the military. It seemed almost strange in a way, but maybe he would open up about that later on.
The music was thumping, and people were dancing, but for the most part, she felt like she was in her own little world with him. The date went without a hitch, and right now she felt like she was really enjoying everything about this man. It was definitely amazing, something that was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Alex was feeling a connection with this man that she hadn’t
felt with any other guy she’s gone on a date with in the past, and that’s what made it all exciting.
At the end of the night, she went with him to the parking lot, and when she gazed at him once again, she blushed.
“I had a great time tonight,” she said.
“Same here. Hopefully I’ll get to see what you’ve written sometime soon,” he said with a smile.
She gazed upon him with a reassuring smirk. “Totally. I’ll send it over when I can,” she replied.
They parted ways, and Alex pinched herself for a moment to see if she was dreaming. Sure enough, she wasn’t, and when she thought about it, she realized that it was the best first date she had ever been on. But there was still something odd about all of this, and she didn’t really know what to think about it all. She turned around, but he was gone, vanishing without a trace.
“This is getting weird,” she told herself. Even though she did think it was almost the perfect first date, at the same time, she had a strange feeling bubbling up within her, a feeling that things were about to get a bit weird really fast.
Chapter Three
Alex took a deep breath as soon as she got home. She wanted to send him the story, and she wanted to see if maybe, just maybe he would be gentle with it. She had never shown anyone her work before, but this time would prove to be an interesting experience for her. She never had the confidence to show off her work to others, but this time was an exception. After hovering over whether she should send the story to him for about ten minutes, she finally pressed the button, sighing in worry.
She had no idea what in the world was going to happen next. Would he love it? Or would he hate it? She really didn’t know, and the fact that it was hovering over those two choices did scare her. She wanted to imagine that he would like it, but at the same time, she really didn’t know for sure. After a few days, she got a reply back from him, the only reply she had gotten from him over the last few days.
She started to read the message, and at first, she thought it would be something terrible. She was expecting to be told that her work sucks, and that she should quit, but it was far from that. He praised her, telling her about how much he enjoyed reading it, and how the story engaged him in more ways than one. He loved the erotic scenes between the heroine and the vampire, and he also enjoyed the werewolf.
But then, the message got even more interesting. She started to read it, and instead of him getting angry about the problems, he was giving her advice. He told her a bit about how the werewolf should be portrayed, and even some tidbits to work on. A she read it, it was almost like she was reading his interpretation on werewolves, and the fact that it seemed almost realistic made her wonder.
“Really?” she asked herself. She would’ve never thought of all the things he was telling her, and he did also tell her that not all werewolves change during the full moon, and that some are able to change at will.
“How does he know that though?” she asked herself. It seemed like the man knew almost too much about this, and she wanted to find out why.
She wrote him back, telling him thanks for the information, but then she asked him how he knew about all of that. She paused, wondering if this was the fitting way for the messages to go. She sent it anyways, and then she waited.
He responded immediately. She expected a dissertation, a long story about how he knew so much, but the only thing he did say, was one sentence.
Everyone has their own secrets and special information that they keep to themselves. I’m one of them.
What did that message mean? It seemed almost like he was alluding to something. But what was it? That was the biggest question of them all.
She shook her head, trying to get the feelings of annoyance that she felt at the present moment out of her head. She wanted to learn more about this man, and she wanted to get a feel for him.
Unfortunately, he started to grow less talkative at some point. She didn’t know why that was, but when she messaged him about things, he stopped being so responsive. It then got to the point where she wasn’t able to reach him at all. She wondered why that was, and a part of her wanted to figure out why. It seemed like she was going in the right direction towards finding out the truth about this man.
It was frustrating her, and one day, she decided to just go visit him. She went over to the bar, looking around at the place and wondering if he was present. He was, standing in the back cleaning glasses. She went over to him, sitting on the stool in front of him.
“Hey there Alex,” he said.
“Hey. Are you okay? I didn’t hear from you for a while,” she said.
He paused, looking at her with a worried glance. “Sorry, I’ve been really busy recently. It’s a bit awkward to talk about here, but just trust me on this. Don’t get mixed up in my life,” he told her.
“What do you mean?” she asked him.
He looked around. Most of the patrons weren’t listening, all of them engaged in their own social discourse. He turned to her, glancing at her for a moment before speaking.
“I don’t want to get into details here, but I would rather we not date right now. I’m going through a few things myself, and I don’t really want to get you mixed up in them. You’re a great woman, and I enjoyed your story. I hope the information I gave you helped,” he said.
“It did, but what do you mean we can’t see each other? I thought we were friends?” she asked him.
“Well, I would rather you not get mixed up in my affairs. I have my own personal issues to attend to, and I would rather you not worry about them as well,” he said.
What the hell did he mean by that? This was getting out of hand, and she wanted to ask him about this.
“But—“
“That’s all. I’m not getting into details at work. Maybe I’ll tell you in the future, when things aren’t so tight right now. I just don’t want you to get mixed up in it all,” he said.
She wondered what it was, assuming it was probably something that involved his personal life. A part of her thought that it was unfair that he treated her like that, but another part of her felt like this might be for the best. Whatever it was that he was hiding, it was something important, and right now, the only thing that she could do was wait and see what would happen next.
Chapter Four
She hadn’t heard from him in about two months. A part of her wanted to cry, to ask him what was going on, but the other part of her felt like it would be best if he came to her with the information on why he acted the way that he did. Something seemed off about it all, and she didn’t have a good feeling about this. She wanted to ask him about it, but she was still afraid of the truth.
One night, she was walking home, wondering if there was anything out there. However, in front of her was a strange creature, almost like an animal, but bigger than a dog. She walked into the forest, looking around at the creature that was in front of her. It didn’t see her yet, but when Alex looked at it, a sense of happiness rushed through her.
It was beautiful, she had to admit. It seemed almost like she was staring at an ethereal creature, one that wasn’t just your average animal. It was a wolf, but it seemed almost sentient in a way. It then turned, staring at her for a moment, and for whatever reason, her heart raced.
The creature was so beautiful. She wanted to go out and touch it, but she knew better than to get mixed up with wild animals. She didn’t want to get hurt, but it looked like the wolf wasn’t too afraid of humans. It didn’t attack, nor did it run away, but instead it just stared at her, and it looked at her with questioning eyes. Did this creature know her? She didn’t think so, but it didn’t want to run away.
It stepped closer to her, and Alex breathed out. She hoped it wouldn’t attack. The last thing that she wanted to do was to hurt a poor creature, but if it did hurt her in any way, she would use self-defense. But it just gazed at her with a sad look. It looked like it wanted to tell her something, but it wasn’t sure of how. She paused, thinking she should say somethi
ng, but before she could, it went away.
She went back to her home, and when she got there, she saw an email once again. It was from Darren, and he was talkative once again. It was strange, because he hadn’t spoken to her in months, but now he was talking to her like they were old friends. They were friends, but it almost seemed like he was holding himself back for whatever reason. Why that was, she really didn’t know.
“Maybe he’ll tell me the truth. Maybe,” she said to herself. She wasn’t going to bet on it, but maybe he would come around eventually.
Chapter Five
She continued on with this pattern of talking to Darren, not speaking to him for a while, and then talking to him once again after she saw that mysterious wolf. She wondered if there was a connection to that or not.
She mused on it, but in truth, she didn’t know for sure. A part of her assumed there was a connection, but the other part thought that it was just a coincidence. She wondered if the wolf would ever come closer though.
A few days later, she went home from work, staring at the area around her. It seemed a bit odd, because tonight was a full moon, and a part of her wondered if there was a connection to the way the moon looked and the incidents these last few weeks.
A part of Alex wanted to find out more, so she went to the forest nearby. She went on in, looking at the night sky above and staring at the trees all around. It was peaceful, and it was definitely gorgeous outside. However, there was an eerie presence, and when she turned around, she immediately saw stars.
She was pushed to the ground, mauled by some animal that was intent on killing her. It immediately started to dive towards her face, his muzzle trying to gorge at her neck. She screamed out, her body shaking with worry. When she looked at it, she realized that it was some sort of mysterious wolf like creature.
She had no idea if she would make it out alive. It was scary to imagine that this could be the end of it all, that this could be the fate that she was about to face. However, she then felt something push the other body off her, and when she looked up, she noticed it was that wolf from before again. The other creature wasn’t a wolf, but instead looked like a mountain lion.
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