by Lane Hart
I took a quick shower then rummaged through my messy room to find a clean pair of boxers, white t-shirt and jeans. I looked at the clock and it was only seven. Damn. I was raring to go and almost had an hour to kill. There was only one thing do to in this situation – hit up the game store. I grabbed my phone, keys and wallet and got Chris’s order. He wanted a large chocolate shake from anywhere.
After getting to the game store I was too excited to even look at the walls of new releases and finally said screw it, I’d go to Donut World and just wait it out. I pulled up in the parking lot fifteen minutes early and was surprised to see Kate already sitting at one of the patio tables. She was checking her cell phone and glancing around like she was waiting for someone. Hell yeah, she was waiting for me. Stepping out of my car I pulled out what swagger I had and headed towards her.
Chapter Four
Kate
My emotions were going to war inside of me. There was the worry I felt as I wondered what the hell was wrong with me, but then there was the excitement that a guy, who I was pretty sure wasn’t gay, had made plans to meet me tonight. Thinking about how gorgeous Sam was almost made me forget about my blood issue.
After I left the blood mobile I’d gone to all three of my classes like a good little girl. Unfortunately, I was so distracted I didn’t take any notes and I couldn’t remember anything that the professors had said.
I started to call my dad and ask if he knew about my blood, but I didn’t want to worry him. I wasn’t willing to take the chance that he would make me drop out of school and move back home if he didn’t already know.
I did try to get on Google and find the answer to my question. The one place that knows everything couldn’t tell me why my blood was almost black. The only thing that came up was something about the Salem witch trials, and I figured it was because “black magic” and “black blood” were as close of a match as Google could give me.
My stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels as I sat and waited for Sam. Finally, a guy had actually talked to me and asked me out. Not just any guy, but an incredibly hot guy. I knew he had to be several years older than me, but that didn’t bother me. It just meant he was more mature and less likely to be a player. Hopefully. But it also meant he was more experienced and wouldn’t want some clueless girl like me.
I probably should have been more worried about meeting a stranger at night, but I was in a public place, and the guy worked for a freaking blood bank. He helped save people’s lives for a living, therefore he had to be a good guy. And he was so hot. Hopefully that wouldn’t be my last thought as he kidnapped and killed me, or I’d feel like such a fool. But for whatever reason, I didn’t think I had to worry about meeting Sam at a doughnut shop on a Friday night. Besides, some cops were bound to pull up any moment.
I’d gotten here way too early though. I probably shouldn’t have started getting ready for our date around three this afternoon. Dammit! I had to stop calling it a date. He was just meeting me to tell me what the hell was wrong with my blood. Then he’d probably walk away with a, “See ya’ and have a nice life,” never thinking about me again except for how weird my blood had been.
I’d gone into the doughnut shop and bought a slushy to have something to do while I waited. I’d been here so long I’d almost finished it. I pulled out my phone and it said I still had about fifteen more minutes to wait, that is, if he didn’t stand me up. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did – that was just my luck. But then I looked up as a blue car pulled into the lot and instantly recognized him.
Regardless of what else happened, at least he hadn’t stood me up. It looked like there was one thing we had in common. I tried not to stare at him as he got out of his own Mazda and strolled up to the table, but whoa! He was really tall, now that I could see him standing up. He had to be well over six-feet tall, and he looked so damn good from head to toe. I wondered again why they don’t use him as the poster boy for the blood bank. Women would drive across state lines to give him their blood and anything else he wanted from them.
There was something more than just his looks that made him hot. He had a sexy air of confidence about him that made me think he’d be amazing in bed and a heart stopping smile that said, “Wouldn’t you like to find out how amazing?” Oh yes, yes I would.
The muscles down his arms were yummy, and with his golden brown tan I could almost see the lines defining his chiseled abs and chest through his white t-shirt. His relaxed fit jeans showed off his long and lean body, and I hadn’t even made it back up to his face, which was even better than all the rest.
“Hey, you’re early. I guess you’re pretty anxious to find out why I freaked out,” he said giving me a swoon worthy smile, before sitting in the empty patio chair across from me. Oh yeah, I was anxious alright, to find out what it would be like to have your incredibly full and erotic lips on mine. I could smell his delicious cologne or body wash and I had to catch myself before I leaned in closer to him.
“Yeah, I’ve been doing some research on the internet,” I finally said looking away from him and nodding to my phone. My face flamed in embarrassment from my straying suggestive thoughts.
“So, did you find any answers?” he asked.
Even if I had, I would have showed up here and played dumb just for a chance to see you again, I thought as I stared at him.
“No. Will you just tell me what is wrong with me?” I asked impatiently since I was getting frazzled. I had one of the highest grade point averages in my private school, so why were my brain and mouth having a failure to communicate now? It could be that my mind was too distracted picturing him without any clothes on. Oh what I’d give to actually see and touch the real life version of the man sitting across the table from me. Shit, now my face is really on fire.
Looking around Sam checked to make sure we were the only ones at the store and on the block. It looked pretty safe, so he started telling me a story.
“You may or may not know that back in the 1600’s the Destroyers of Religious Abominations, or D.R.A., was formed by the colonies to hunt and kill anyone they thought had some sort of supernatural abilities. You know witches, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and so on, because they were all thought to be evil and dangerous. Around that time the population of 1upernatural in the colonies was pretty high, since they were all coming here to escape persecution in Europe.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with the D.R.A.,” I told him. I knew them all too well, since oddly enough that’s the small and extremely intense government agency my dad happened to work for.
“Well, the first few years the D.R.A did a pretty good job, and only a few of each race were able to head west or hide from them. But the ones who survived went on to spread out, reproduce, and keep their supernatural species from completely dying out.”
“Yeah, so?” I didn’t understand where he was going with all this.
“Well, there are various ways to identify some of those supernatural species, even though most are on the verge of extinction. Nowadays the average person probably wouldn’t even know right off about those identifiers, but there are still a few people around that would. That’s the problem. When someone is reported to be a supernatural, the D.R.A. still exists today as a federal law enforcement agency to hunt them down and execute them. They are all perceived as dangerous, and the D.R.A. doesn’t want them to reproduce, further spreading their “abomination”,” he said the last part with air quotes.
“I know all that. My dad’s a D.R.A. agent,” I said dismissively. “But what does-“
“Are you fucking serious?” he jumped up so fast his chair almost fell over backwards. He looked around the building and toward the street nervously, before he finally sat back down, his chest still rising and falling from deep breaths. Why would that simple statement cause him to have that sort of reaction? I guess to most people the D.R.A. was sort of a scary organization. They basically had the freedom to order the execution of anyone they thought associated with, helped hide, o
r didn’t report a known supernatural.
“What? It’s no big deal. My dad’s been an agent since before I was born,” I told him, without explaining how sheltered my life had been because of that fact. “What does all that have to do with me?”
He had calmed down somewhat and then looked at me for a while in hesitation before finally exhaling.
“Did your dad ever tell you the color of warlocks and witches’ blood?” he asked quietly.
I felt like the air was knocked out of me. “Black?” I whispered, already knowing the answer.
“Yep,” he responded enthusiastically. “How fucking ironic for you to be a witch and your dad to be a D.R.A. agent.” He smiled and shook his head like it was the best joke he’d heard in a long time, while my world seemed to crumble.
“Oh!” he exclaimed. “That means either your mom or dad has to be a witch or warlock too.”
I was speechless as I thought back over my life with this new piece of information. Raised by my dad because my mother had died when I was little. Why he’d been so protective of me. Why he’d insisted I go to church whenever the doors were open, and Catholic school. Why he had me baptized not once but three times. Did he think I was evil or the person I came from was evil?
I had to swallow a few times before I could speak. “My mother.”
“Do you think your dad knows she’s a witch? I mean he has to, right?” he asked. “Poor son of a bitch,” he said shaking his head. “He is going to be in biggg trouble if they ever find out.”
“She died when I was a baby.”
“Oh, shit, Kate, I’m so sorry,” he said as he reached across the table, then pulled his hand back.
“Now I feel like a complete jackass. I say things before thinking and I can be a real insensitive jerk. I can’t imagine how big of a shock this must be for you,” he said quickly as he ran his hand through his hair.
“How do you know all this?” I asked looking him over. He seemed to know a lot about 1upernatural, and he was really freaked out about the D.R.A.
He cleared his throat then looked away. “We learned about the blood when I was getting my phlebotomy certification.”
For some reason I got the feeling he was lying, but I guess it made sense that they would cover the subject.
“Look, you’re going to be fine, especially with your dad working where he does. Just don’t try and donate blood again, and hope you never bleed more than a paper cut out in public,” Sam joked, then suddenly looked thoughtful as he rubbed his scruffy goatee chin fuzz. Even after the bomb he’d dropped on me I couldn’t help thinking I wanted to run my hands through his golden facial hair to see it felt as soft as it looked.
“How is it you’ve never seen your own blood before? I mean, didn’t you scrape your elbow or knee or something when you were little? Have a bloody nose?” he asked with his brow furrowed.
I shook my head still trying to process everything, although it was tough since he was so distracting. “Not that I remember. My dad barely let me out of my room except for school. I couldn’t even go outside and play.”
“But what about, well, don’t you have, you know, every month?” he asked as he shifted uncomfortably and looked away from me.
It took me a second to realize what he was referring to. My face flamed red hot again. I couldn’t believe he would ask me about that!
“That’s really personal and none of your business, but no, I’ve never had one of those.” I covered my face and thought I was going to die right here from embarrassment. First time a guy talks to me and we end up talking about this subject? Now he knows it’s possible I haven’t ever actually gone through puberty like the little girl that I am. Maybe I should just give up and become a nun, especially now since no one’s going to want me because I’m a witch.
“Maybe it’s a witch thing,” Sam said, shrugging and embarrassed. He let out a long sigh then stood up from the table, as if to leave.
“Kate, I’m sorry you had to find out this way, and I’m sorry for being so insensitive. I just wanted you to know how much danger you were in so nothing bad would happen to you,” he said before turning and walking back toward his car.
He was just up and leaving. I knew it. He only showed up to tell me I was a freaking witch of all things, and then he couldn’t wait to get away from me. But now I was just confused, and I had no idea what being a witch even meant.
“Sam, wait!” I called out.
He stopped and spun around casually on his heel with his hands in his pockets. There was a smirk on his face as he waited for me to walk over to him. Fine, I’d go.
“Thank you for letting me know,” I told him when I caught up. Standing this close to him I had to look up since he was well over a foot taller than me. I was only about eye level with his broad chest that I wanted to run my hands over. Back to reality. What was I saying? Oh yeah.
“If someone else would have seen it, I mean, when I tried to donate, well, I don’t know what would have happened if it hadn’t been you.”
What he’d just done was a death sentence if the D.R.A. found out, and I’m sure he knew that since he had insisted on meeting me here to tell me. He didn’t even seem the least bit worried about that.
“You’re welcome,” he said with a grin, but he didn’t immediately turn around and leave.
The way his eyes roamed down my body, I was pretty sure he was checking me out. With that little bit of confidence it was now or never if I wanted to see or talk to him again. The chance of rejection was worth risking because I was so tired of being lonely, and he was so gorgeous.
“Could I maybe call you if I have any more questions?” I asked hesitantly.
His mouth dropped open. “Hell yes. I mean yeah, sure. Please call me,” he stuttered in what seemed like maybe surprise, making me sigh in relief.
I pulled my phone from my pocket to quickly put his name in my contacts before he changed his mind. All I knew was that his first name was Sam.
“Um, what’s your last name?” I asked embarrassed.
“West, it’s Sam West,” he said with a sweet smile.
“Okay, what’s your number?” I asked, my fingers hovering over the numbers on the screen waiting.
“Eight, six, seven, five, three oh nine,” he called out. I started putting the numbers in then stopped. Why did that sequence of numbers sound so familiar? Wasn’t it an old song?
“Is that really your number?” I asked as I looked back up at him.
Sam actually laughed out loud. Catching him off guard, he looked like such a happy and carefree guy, and even more adorable. There was something about his eyes that had seemed sad before now, even with the perfect smile he was usually flashing.
“Yes, that’s really my number, why? You think I’d give you a fake one?” he asked still grinning as he pushed his long hair out of his eyes.
I was so captivated by the sight of him that I completely forgot what we were talking about again.
“Call it and make sure if you want,” he said when I didn’t respond. “I just have horrible taste in music.”
If I called him then he’d have my number in his phone too, without me trying to force it on him like the desperate girl that I was. Not that he’d ever actually call me.
I smiled as I finished entering in the number then hit send.
“Boop boop boop,” what sounded like the Super Mario Brothers theme song blared out from his behind. Without taking his eyes from mine he grabbed his phone from his back pocket and answered it.
“Helllooo? Jenny’s busy right now, but I can give you a good time,” he said referencing the old song with an even deeper and sexier rumble to his normal masculine voice. Oh, and I bet he really could too, I thought blushing again.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I ended the call, and if felt so good that I was sad that he was leaving.
“Okay, now I know it’s really your number,” I said as I put my phone back in my jean pocket and tried not to let him see how pathetic I was.
“I hope you’ll call me,” he said so sincerely that my eyes shot back up to his. His ever-present sexy boyish grin was gone, and instead he looked so serious and genuine that I thought I’d melt into a puddle.
“I mean, again. When I’m not standing in front of you,” he amended making my smile widen.
“Well, now you’ve got my number too,” I said as I pushed my hair behind my ear, and glanced back down at my shoes.
He just stood there without saying anything until I looked back up at him.
“Okay, I’ll call you. But just to warn you, I’m going to try and talk you into going on a date with me,” he said with a nervous but hopeful smile.
I’m sure my mouth must have dropped open. He’d said “date”. This incredibly gorgeous man wanted to go on a real date with me? But I didn’t want to have to wait for him to call me, if he ever actually decided to call.
“I’ll answer, and I could probably be convinced,” I finally said with a smile as I turned around and started walking away before I made a bigger fool of myself.
“I hope so. Bye, Kate,” he said.
“Bye, Sam,” I responded, still in shock, as I made my way across the parking lot.
About the time I reached for my car’s door handle I felt my phone start vibrating from the back pocket of my jeans. Unlike everyone else my age, or everyone else in the world, I didn’t send hundreds of text messages a month or talk non-stop to friends. As depressing as it was, no one ever called me except for my dad.
I spun around and Sam was leaning against his car with his ankles crossed, grinning at me and holding his phone up to his ear. I stood there frozen for a few seconds before finally pulling out my phone. His name showed up on the screen like I knew it would. I smiled and answered, leaning against my own car.