[The Shifters Committee 05.0] Sensual Hero

by Rebecca Foxx

  I spot the human cowering on the floor behind Loraine. He is an incredibly attractive human. His hair is blonde, his eyes blue, and he is strong and sturdy looking. I love a man with a strong jawline.

  I prefer a braver acting gentleman, but I’m assuming he’s never run into one vampire let alone two who are arguing over who gets to drink him dry. I smile at him, “Hi, how are you?”

  He looks like he is going to be sick, “Um… I’ve seen better days,” he manages to say in a shaky voice. He obviously does not realize I’m one of them.

  While Loraine and Damion are arguing, I reach a hand out to the man and help him stand. His knees are shaking. “I’m Sahara.” I say.

  He looks like he is going to pass out. He keeps looking at me like he thinks I am insane for not being afraid. “Um… Thomas…” he says.

  “Oh I love that name!” I say excitedly.

  “Tell your sister to stop flirting with him,” Damion says and waves a finger in my face.

  “I get to choose a human this year, not you.” Lorain says, “If she wants to flirt with him.

  “Great!” I say and hook my arm into Thomas’s.

  Loraine rolls her eyes at me, and she and Damion walk back deeper into the cave- arguing the whole way about me and my, what Loraine calls, quirkiness. “I’m going to be sick,” Thomas yanks his arm away, bends over, and vomits.

  Well, that’s not very attractive. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.” I say and pull him by his wrist up the stairs and back out into the cemetery.

  Once he is able to get some air, he looks a lot calmer. Color returns, and I can see he has slightly rosy cheeks. Cute. He looks at me and forces himself to give me a subtle smile, “I’m confused.” He says, “Do you live with a bunch of vampires in a cemetery?”

  I laugh, “Well, yes. I’m a vampire too.” His eyes widen. He looks sick again. “Relax,” I say, “I’m not going to drink your blood or anything. But I do need you to keep your mouth shut about our little hiding place. If you don’t, I probably will have to let Loraine have her dinner.”

  He nods nervously, “Okay. I…I can keep a secret.”

  “And quit being so nervous.” I say with a smile. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

  He nods, but this time he does not say anything else. He is nervous. It is kind of cute. After a long moment of absolute silence, he looks me up and down and forces himself to smile again. “You don’t look like a vampire.”

  “And just how many vampires have you met in order to come to that conclusion?” I ask.

  He suddenly laughs. I like his laugh. “Good point,” he says and looks at his watch. “My relief should be getting here soon. I’m supposed to be getting off work in just a little bit.”

  “You work in the cemetery?” I ask.

  “It’s just temporary.” He says. “So… a vampire, huh?”

  “That’s me.” I say.

  He grins, “If I had not just almost died, I would be much more fascinated by that.” He turns and looks towards the entrance where a man is entering into the cemetery dressed in a similar work uniform as Thomas. “Looks like my relief is here.” He nervously wrings his wrists, “Glad I get to walk home in the middle of the night knowing my town is home to a bunch of blood suckers.”

  “That’s awfully derogatory.” I say.

  “Really?”

  “No, I’m just screwing with you.” I say.

  He laughs again, “You’re kind of funny.” He nervously looks towards the cemetery entryway, “Should I warn that guy that someone might try to have him for dinner tonight?”

  “No. My sister and the others do not normally attack grounds keepers. We prefer to go a little further from home for our meals to avoid detection.” I explain. “Damion was just being an ass.”

  “That creepy vampire was yours sister?” Thomas questions.

  “Sure was.” I smile at him, “How about I walk you home? Nothing that goes bump in the night is going to go after you with a vampire escort.”

  He seems to like this idea, but there is obviously a part of him that still does not quite trust me. I link my arm with his again, and he flinches only slightly. As we are heading towards the exit, Thomas’ relief man stops us. “Thomas, you can’t bring your girlfriend up here while you are working.” He says.

  “Oh, she’s not-”

  Before Thomas can complete his sentence, I stick my hand out towards his fellow grounds keeper, “Sahara,” I say. The man smiles and shakes my hand, introducing himself as Willie. The man blushes slightly as he looks me up and down and releases my hand. “Come on, Thomas,” I say and pull him by his arm out through the main gate.

  The two of us begin our walk into town. Come to find out Thomas lives in the historical district in a small home he had recently purchased. I like a man who has his act together, and Thomas clearly does.

  During our walk towards his home I had learned a lot about him: he is a barista, he has bunch of older brothers, and he is from Detroit originally but wanted to move to move to a smaller town.

  As we approach the front of his house, he pauses, “I just realized I showed a vampire where I live. Was that a good idea?” he is much more relaxed now, and his tone suggests that he is joking.

  “So long as I don’t get thirsty.” I say.

  “This is kind of cool,” Thomas admits, “I mean, who else can say they met a vampire?”

  We wind up talking for a bit longer before he finally heads inside. I smile and wait until he goes inside. I’m not sure what it is, but I have a good feeling about this one.

  Ch4

  Thomas

  Surely it had been a dream. No, I don’t think it was. I blink my eyes open as my obnoxious alarm clock wakes me up the morning after my confrontation with a group of vampires. Had it been real?

  Did a cute looking vampire walk me home last night after saving me from being someone else’s dinner? Did it really happen or did I make all of that up? I don’t think I did. I think I honestly to God had a run in with vampires! It is almost hard to believe.

  I get up and go shower in an attempt to give myself time to process everything. I keep trying to convince myself that I made the whole thing up, but I don’t think that I did.

  By the time my shower is over, I have convinced myself that everything that had happened last night had been real. There are vampires living in my town, and I think one of them likes me. For now, I have to put the maddening night behind me. I have a busy day ahead.

  After getting dress and eating a simple bowl of cereal for breakfast, I head out. My first stop is at a small bakery where I get two cinnamon rolls. I also stop by a flower shop and pick up a bouquet of roses.

  Finally, I go through a drive through to purchase two cups of coffee. Now that I have everything that I need, I head over to the town’s city hall where I had planned to meet Abigail for breakfast once she went on her break.

  Abigail works as a sort of secretary at city hall. As I am pulling up to the building, my stomach growls at the smell of the coffee and cinnamon rolls.

  I’m not waiting too long before the clock in my car reads 9:25- five minutes before Abigail goes on her morning break. I hurry out of my car, leaving the cinnamon rolls and coffee behind to meet her out front. She exits the building, and I cannot resist but to jump out and scare her a little bit.

  She laughs; Abigail has always thought that I was funny. “Morning, babe!” my voice chimes, and I give her a big hug from behind.

  “Please tell me you have cinnamon rolls,” she says, knowing that I had mentioned maybe getting some for us to have for breakfast.

  “Of course.” I say, and she looks positively thrilled.

  The two of us take my car to the local park to have lunch on one of the benches. Once we are seated, Abigail is quick to dive into the cinnamon rolls and enjoy the coffee I got her. “You go to my favorite place to get cinnamon rolls, and you pick up my favorite coffee? Are you trying to spoil me?” she asks.

  “Hold on,�
� I say and hurry back to the car. I grab the flowers and rush back to the bench, but something stops me dead in my tracks. I see Sahara.

  She is standing right next to Abigail in her same little sundress, but now she is wearing a large hate, sunglasses, small shawl, and is carrying a dainty umbrella to keep herself out of the sun.

  She is talking to Abigail quite casually- like how a strange might compliment another woman’s shoes. It seems as though Sahara has followed me, but I cannot be entirely sure. My jaw had dropped when I first spotted her. I certainly did not expect to see Sahara ever again, and something about this meeting does not feel quite right.

  Before I make it over to Abigail, Sahara has already left. “Um… who was that?” I anxiously ask Abigail.

  “Not sure,” she says, “She was kind of weird. She was asking about you. Do you know her?”

  I wait for a moment to process things before sitting down. I give Abigail the flowers, and she takes them excitedly. “Okay, I got to be honest with you. Try not to think I’m crazy,” I begin, “but I met her last night while I was working at the cemetery. She’s a vampire.”

  Abigail immediately begins to laugh as though it is the most ridiculous thing she has ever heard in her life. “You’re almost too ridiculous.” She says.

  Suddenly Sahara is gone. It is as though she has just vanished. I jump up out of my seat, “She’s gone!”

  Abigail looks around, “Hmm… that’s weird.” She then turns her attention back to the cinnamon roll. Clearly she is not the least bit concerned that she had just had a conversation with a vampire. Why would she be? She did not believe that Sahara was one.

  Eventually our breakfast date is over, and Abigail has to return to work. My shift at the café is about to start, so I have to head out also. I am hardly able to concentrate while I am working.

  Had Sahara followed me to the park? Am I being stalked by a blood sucker? I spend the rest of the day nervously thinking about the vampire. I feel like I am looking over my shoulder every couple of minutes.

  At the café where I work there is a large bay window that looks out onto the street. As people pass by their reflections gleam off the window and block a bit of the sunlight each time they do so. Suddenly there she is, umbrella in hand. She is looking in through the bay window, and she does not have a reflection.

  Holding her umbrella tight, she lowers her sunglasses just a bit so where I can see her eyes. She winks at me, and my stomach starts doing flips. I feel like I might fall out, but she passes on. She heads down the street in the direction of the cemetery. I’m just glad that I am not working at the cemetery tonight.

  Ch5

  Sahara

  I do not normally go out during the day, but I could not help myself. I dressed up in my most covering sundress. We vampires are quite sensitive to the sun.

  The sundress did a good job as keeping most of me covered, but I had added sunglasses and carried a colorful umbrella to further shield me from the sun’s rays. Thomas had seen like such a kind hearted soul when I had met him at the cemetery and saved him from being feasted on.

  He was quite the looker, and I always find the nervousness of humans when they are around vampires to be rather refreshing.

  After spending most of the day spying on Thomas, I decided I needed to return to the underground tunnels to feast so as to regain some of the strength that being out in the daylight had taken away. Now that I am back, I find myself sitting at my desk sketching once again.

  Normally I do not sketch a man until after our relationship has ended, but there is something about Thomas that is special. I am careful to draw every inch of his face with great precision. He is worth every miniscule second of my labors.

  I am still working on his eyes when Loraine sneaks up behind me and hisses in my ear. “Loraine!” I shriek and spin around in my chair, “Why do you insist on frightening me?”

  “You frighten too easily.” Loraine says and leans against my desk. Beside my desk is a bookshelf where I keep various first editions of some of the world’s great classics.

  Loraine begins browsing through my selections. Many other vampires from our clan have come to me over the decades to borrow books for entertainment. My collection is incredibly impressive.

  “I do not.” I argue as sisters often do. “You are not funny. I do not appreciate it when you… what are you doing anyways?”

  “Looking for something to read.” Lorain picks up a modern book from this century. “Any good?” she asks, showing me the black and white cover that was awarded a hint of color with the bright red apple on the front.

  “I rather enjoyed it,” I say, “But I suspect that you would hate it.”

  Loraine opens the book and skims through it. She sticks out her tongue, “Why in this century have humans fetishized us?” she holds the book out to me.

  “It’s not so awful.” I say as I hold the young adult romance novel that depicts the story of a male vampire who had fallen in love with a human. “Although the vampires in this story are strange. They are not weakened by the sun but instead they seem to shimmer.”

  Loraine laughs. And it sounds like an honest laugh. She takes the book back and says, “I think I will read this. Perhaps it will give me an insight on your strange fantasies with humans.”

  “It’s not so strange.” I say and stand, “I am going out. It is dark out now.”

  “Do be careful, Sahara.” Loraine says, “And don’t do anything stupid.”

  I roll my eyes and head out. The sun is down, so I do not need my umbrella and sun glasses. I head straight to Thomas’s home. I walk right up to the door and knock. “Go away!” I hear a frightened Thomas shout from the other side of the door.

  “That’s awfully rude.” I say. I look to my right and see that he is peering out of the window at me. “Let me in. I want to talk.”

  “You can’t come in,” he says, “unless I invite you in.”

  “Well that’s just ridiculous.” I say, “And awfully prejudice. Most vampires are not that polite.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” he snaps and then I see him hold up a glove of garlic, “Go away.”

  “I’m not allergic to garlic, dumbass.” I grab the doorknob and yank on it, breaking it clear off the door. I push open the door and step inside. “Listen to me. Just because you read it in a book does not mean it’s true. Not all vampires are allergic to garlic.”

  “Allergic?” he questions as he steps several feet back. “I thought it was some sort of magic voodoo thing.”

  I roll my eyes. “You’re kind of an idiot,” I say, lean forward, and slap the garlic to the floor. “But I think you’re sweet.”

  “So where does all that lore about vampires come from? I saw you today. You did not have a reflection.” He says; he sounds somewhat less fearful now and more so curious.

  “Well the reflection thing is true. The rest is just old stereotypes.” I say. “Garlic allergies are pretty common in my clan.”

  “This is just too weird.” Thomas says.

  I come towards him until our noses are practically touching, “There is a lot about us your probably don’t know. I can teach you.”

  He jerks back, “Okay, I don’t want to sound arrogant or vain or anything like that, but are you coming on to me?”

  “Bingo.” I say and forcefully press my lips onto his.

  He yanks away and backs into a wall, “Listen, um… Sahara, I’m engaged. I got a girl. I’m not really interested. The whole undead thing is not really my style.”

  “How do you know? You just found out vampires existed last night. How do you know what is your style?” I wave my hand in front of his eyes. It’s an old hypnotic spell vampires have been using for over a millennium. Humans are so easily persuaded. He smiles at me. “Where’s your bedroom, Thomas?” I ask.

  He is not concerned about where the bedroom is. He lunges forward and wraps me in his arms. Before I can even process what was taking place, his hands are up my dress and h
e is dragging me into a small den area and throwing me onto the couch.

  I must have been a little forceful when I casted my hypnosis; it have never worked this well before. I smile, realizing that in order for it to work this well he must have already had an attraction for me.

  Thomas gets me out of my dress and he is out of his own clothes in the blink of an eye. I hiss excitedly as he plunges into me, and we share a lustful evening of romance and borderline violent sex.

  My toes curl up in the excitement, and I have to resist biting into his neck. I probably should have feasted on a chicken or something before coming here so as to curve my appetite.

  He is soon drenched in sweat and is panting like a dog after letting loose such an animalistic nature from within himself.