All this had gotten me to thinking. I’d been meaning to stop by Professor Walker’s office in the Faculty Tower to ask him a question about an assignment he’d given us last week. I’d been putting off a visit to his office for obvious reasons but now I was thinking this might be my opportunity to see what all the fuss about this Daniel character was about. I figured if there were any place I’d be likely to run into him, it would be in the Art History Department offices. Perhaps catching a glimpse of the elusive Daniel would take a little of the sting out of having to be alone in a room with Professor Walker.
The next morning, I ate my cereal and dashed out the door to Art History to meet up with Tabitha at her usual spot on the steps out front. She was a morning person through and through and always early to class. I envied her that. God had given me many gifts, but the ability to embrace the earliest hours of the day was not among them.
Class started promptly as always. And as always, about twenty minutes into the lecture I heard “Miss Donnelly, what are the main buildings that make up the Acropolis in Athens?”
“The Parthenon, the Old Temple of Athena, the Erechtheum, the Sanctuary of Artemis, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaea,” I answered.
Professor Walker nodded and continued his lecture. I’d have to go through this again in another twenty minutes or so.
This was our routine, the Professor and I. It didn’t bother me as much as I’d thought it would. I guess since the subject interested me, I didn’t mind the extra time I spent studying. And besides, I wouldn’t have settled for anything less than an A anyway.
My life had been filled with a series of tough instructors in a variety of subjects, which I guessed was why it didn’t bother me the way it had his past chosen students. As my mother would say, there’s nothing new under the sun. At least the Professor wasn’t standing an inch from my face screaming his questions about the Italian Renaissance in rapid fire succession. Still, if he chose to ask a question of someone else from time to time, I wouldn’t have minded that either.
Gathering up my books, I headed over to the Faculty Tower to see if I could catch the Professor during his office hours. He had, as was his usual custom, hastily exited the moment class ended with Rodney in tow. I’d been told, and it appeared to be true, that the Professor wasn’t one to answer questions after class except on rare occasions. For someone who seemed so comfortable in front of a crowded lecture hall of students, he seemed strangely uncomfortable when he didn’t have a slide above his head to talk about.
I took my time walking across campus, unsure of what to expect when I got there. As I exited the elevator in the Faculty Tower, I followed the signs to the Art History Department offices which turned out to be a small corridor tucked off the far end of the fifth floor. Up here you were high enough to take in the sweeping panoramic view of the valley below. As I passed the windows, I paused for a moment to take in the rapidly changing colors of the fall foliage. Fall had always been my favorite time of year.
Walking around a corner, I came to a stop in front of a door marked Prof. J. Walker in gold lettering. Hesitating for a moment, I took in a deep breath and knocked.
“Come in,” I heard through the frosted glass of the door. The tone of the voice was unreadable, providing me no warning of what to expect.
Blowing out my deep breath, I turned the knob and slowly opened the door. His office was lined with dark wooden book shelves filled with magnificent collections of leather bound volumes. If I wasn’t mistaken, the faint odor of old pipe tobacco hung pleasantly in the air. Did he smoke a pipe? Strangely enough, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he did. A large ornately carved wooden desk sat in the center of the room. On top was a small brass lamp with a green shade that glowed, casting most of the light in the small room. The Professor sat behind the desk in an old wooden swivel chair and looked up at my entrance. To my astonishment, he didn’t look surprised. Well, not exactly not surprised, but certainly not altogether comfortable. Again, he was very hard to read. His facial expressions and body language gave ambiguous signals that often left me baffled.
“Miss Donnelly, to what do I owe the honor of your visit? You’re not thinking of dropping my class are you?” he said in a soft velvet tone.
Somehow, I managed to say “No.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.” He actually smiled at me. “More often than not, my chosen students elect not to continue under my added attentions. But I’m glad to hear that’s not the case with you. Actually, I’d have been surprised if it were. So again, what can I do for you?”
His face wore a pleasant expression that was completely foreign to me. Those eyes had never looked at me before without some perceived sinister aspect behind them.
“I have a question about the paper you assigned in class.”
He leaned back in his chair and motioned towards an empty seat across the desk from him. I sat down, for some reason eyeing the chair suspiciously.
“Go ahead,” he said, patiently waiting for me to continue.
“I’ve had a hard time picking a topic for my paper and thought I’d ask your advice. I have three different ideas I’ve been throwing around. Since it’s important to me to do a good job, I was hoping you might give me a little advice on which one I should choose.”
He smiled again, looking somewhat pleased at my question. Again, I could not make him out.
I gave him a brief overview of the topics I’d been considering and paused, waiting for his response.
“Well, you really couldn’t go wrong with any of them” he said “but since you asked for my advice I’d go with Byzantine architecture and Hagia Sophia. I think it would best suit your style.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by that but decided not to pursue it. I got up, thanked him and started for the door.
“It was very nice to see you, Sara,” he said with a sincere tone as he stood behind the desk.
Eager to leave, I hastily thanked him again and left. After I closed the door behind me as quickly as I could, I exhaled, leaning against the wall for support. Why was I reacting this way? He had been perfectly pleasant and cordial. Why did that unnerve me so much? Something about the way he had looked at me throughout the whole encounter left me feeling exposed and I didn’t like that feeling at all. Yet being alone with him like that … I don’t know. Something seemed different about him. Maybe it seemed like he’d let his guard down, or maybe it was his smile. But for some bizarre reason I couldn’t begin to understand, I think he liked me. Problem was, I just wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Suddenly I heard footsteps echoing down the deserted hallway. Startled, I looked up to see a tall, amazingly well-built man standing at the far end of the hall. He was staring at me, frozen in place like a statue. His shadowy blue eyes were locked on me like missiles, and for a moment I just stared back at him. I don’t think he was breathing or even blinking for that matter, but then again neither was I.
The expression in his furrowed brow scared me. The way he looked at me felt like a cross between the way you’d look at a Martian if you saw him walking down the street and how a man looks at a shiny new sports car on the showroom floor. Whatever it was, it shook me to my core and all I wanted to do was to act on some primal urge to flee. Like a tidal wave had suddenly washed over me I was hit with the overwhelming need to run as quickly as possible. And breaking his visual hold on me, I turned on my heel and hurried down the hall in the opposite direction. Oddly enough, it wasn’t fear I was feeling. To be honest, I’m not sure what it was, frustration maybe, or anger. I didn’t like anything that flustered me that much. And standing there in front of the Professor’s door, I felt my wits being scattered to the four winds.
Seizing upon the quickest exit, I opened the door of the stairwell and quickly darted through only to hear Rodney’s nasally voice from behind echoing down the hallway saying “Hi, Daniel.”
Chapter Two
DANIEL
It had been more than a day si
nce I’d seen that girl with the flaming red hair in the hallway, and as hard as I tried, I still couldn’t get the image of her out of my mind. She had to be the one he’d warned me about, the one I wasn’t supposed to have any contact with. I hadn’t told him I’d seen her, but what did it matter, I knew he was already aware of it.
I was ashamed of my reaction. I’d mistakenly thought I possessed some measure of self-control, but when tested; my darker half reared its ugly head without warning. How could I not have seen it coming? After all these years, all I could do was stand idly by and watch as, without a whisper of a warning, it quickly took greater possession of me.
Instead of leaving the office together as we usually did, I’d left early. I needed to drive. I wasn’t sure where I was going, only that I needed to put distance between myself and the space she occupied. And so leaving New Paltz behind, I headed up the mountain unsure of my destination.
As it had been all day, my head was full of her. I was trying my hardest to chase the memory of her out of my mind, trying to concentrate on nothing but the pavement as I raced up the switch backing roads. It was working to some degree. The alarmed looks of passing motorists and the occasional pedestrian as I sped by were a small distraction. But not enough. Not nearly enough.
I’d decided to leave town. I had to get out of New Paltz at least for a while. There was no other way to shake the desires that had formed in my head without the aid of both time and distance. When I’d told him of my plan, he’d made no objection. He knew it was as necessary as I did, but I could tell it made him unhappy. I hoped I hadn’t been a disappointment to him. Of anything, that was the last thing in the world I wanted to do.
I closed my eyes for the briefest of seconds only to find her there. That red head of hair whirling away, those brown eyes looking right through me. If only they’d been the problem. I could have avoided her eyes.
The sun disappeared, only to be replaced by the moon rising low on the horizon. By the time I finally pulled down the private gravel drive leading to the house, it was starting to get late.
We’d bought this land I couldn’t remember how many years ago, but only recently built the house. It had cost us a small fortune to build in such a remote location and into the solid rock of the cliff as we had. But the house was one of a kind, and made our self-imposed semi isolation all the more enjoyable.
After parking the car in the garage, I got out. But I could feel something was wrong; it hung in the air like a thick fog around our home. As I closed the car door, the muscles in my neck and shoulders tensed up in reaction to whatever it was.
When I walked inside, I heard sounds of activity coming from his room at the back of the house. Slowly navigating the hallway, I made my way to their bedroom and stopped in the doorway. He was quickly, almost frantically, throwing items into a suitcase. Hearing my approach, he looked up to see me watching him in confusion.
“Thank God your back,” he said as he tossed a pair of pants into the case. “I have to leave.”
I could feel the waves of anxiety rolling off him.
He looked flustered. Had I ever seen him look flustered before?
He closed the lid on the case and quickly brushed past me as he walked down the hallway, suitcase now in hand. He was visibly agitated; a state I rarely saw him in. Something had happened, but what?
“Where are you going?” I could hear the alarm in my voice as it cracked.
“I can’t tell you that. It’s best that you don’t know the specifics right now. All I’ll say is that someone important to me is in danger and I have to go while there’s still time.”
“Is it mother?” I asked, praying the answer would be no.
“No, she’s fine. – At least she was last time I heard from her. No, this is someone else. I have to leave now. – Look, I know it’s sudden but the worst of our kind is involved and I’m the only one who can take care of the situation properly.”
Situation? What situation?
I was in shock. This was very unlike him. He wasn’t usually the cagey type, well at least not with me. I stood there in silence not knowing what to say or how to react. Surely after all our years together he’d explain his actions to me.
“I need you to do me a great favor, Daniel. I am forced to entrust you with the safety of something of great value to me, something I want you to protect with your life. I know it won’t be easy for you, but I have faith that you’re strong enough to find the will within yourself to do as I ask.”
“What? What is it?” I stuttered out. Eyes wide open, I was standing perfectly still.
“A blood hunter has been on campus. I believe he’s spotted her. I know you have many questions, but I can’t answer them now.” He stopped, taking a deep breath. “I’m trusting Sara to your care, Daniel. She is more important to me than you could possibly know, and her life may be in grave danger.”
“But she’s the one you told me to stay away from, isn’t she.” I could barely get the words out of my mouth.
“I know. It’s dangerous for you to be around her. I’ve done my best over our years together to shield you from this sort of thing. I only hope that I’ve prepared you well enough.”
He picked up his bag and started for the garage door.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, so I’ll need you to cover my classes in my absence. I’ve already called the Dean. I told her I’ve been called away on a family emergency. She knows you’re more than qualified to teach in my absence.” He started for the garage door.
“I don’t understand. What’s happening? First you tell me to stay as far away from her as possible, and now you want me to look after her?”
It made no sense. He made no sense. The center of my life was making no sense. This was not possible.
“I can’t … No, I won’t do it. I’m leaving town tomorrow!”
He stopped in his tracks, his look deadly serious.
“Yes you can, and you will, Daniel. You will guard her with your life. She is more valuable to me than you could possibly imagine, and I am holding you personally responsible for her safety until I return. I think you know I would never ask this of you, son, if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.” He smiled a reluctant half smile. “I need you, Daniel. Now more than ever.”
He picked up his bag and disappeared into the garage. A moment later, I heard his car start, followed by the sound it made as it raced up the driveway towards the road. Then he was gone, leaving me alone in the stillness of our empty house.
Unable to move from where I stood, I just stared at the closed door he’d left through. None of it made any sense. If Sara was going to be in danger from anyone, it was going to be me. How on earth was I supposed to protect her when just being around one of her kind was enough to bring out every dark impulse I’d ever struggled to repress? And struggle as I might against it, I knew at my core I was an evil thing, quite possibly incapable of completing his request.
I turned and looked out the solid piece of glass that made up the back wall of the living room. Any trace of the sun now gone, it was a wall of black. Circling the room, I dropped down onto the sofa, still taking in the emptiness of the view. I hadn’t felt this alone in a long time.
Where had he gone?
Why couldn’t he trust me enough to tell me?
What could possibly be so extraordinarily special about this girl … well, beyond the obvious … that she warranted our protection? Questions flooded my mind, but none with corresponding answers that made any sense. My trust in him was absolute and I would try to do as he asked, but I was by no means as certain of the outcome as he appeared to be.
She was odd even for your average human female. She didn’t dress or style herself in an overtly feminine way. And yet there was something unmistakably female in the way she carried herself and looked out through those deep brown eyes. Of course, it wouldn’t matter what she wore, with curves like that, she’d always look like a woman.
Tomorrow I would have to see her aga
in. But before then I’d have to find a way to be in the same room as her and not have my face betray the longing that burned through every fiber of my being.
I wanted to kill her.
Chapter Three
SARA
“So tomorrow’s the big day!” Tabitha said with more than her usual morning enthusiasm. She practically jumped to her feet at my approach.
“The hiking trip, yes,” I replied after a pause. It took me a second to remember what she was talking about. I’d been looking forward to this trip since I’d arrived at NPU, but my studies had kept me so busy over the past few days that I’d almost forgotten.
After signing in and taking our seats, we talked about the trip and what to bring for our picnic lunch on the trail. The boys had left us in charge of food while we left them in charge of navigation and transportation.
While we debated sandwich meats, in the back of my mind I was thinking about my encounter with the Professor and the elusive Daniel. Our private conference had been the last time I’d seen the Professor, and his gracious behavior towards me still stood in stark unresolved contrast to his usual behavior towards me in public. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t reconcile his motivations even in the slightest.
When I heard the side door open, I looked up to see Rodney enter alone. While he took his usual place at the side table, the class started to settle down expecting Professor Walker’s momentary entry. But he didn’t appear. No one did for a few moments. I opened my notebook to a fresh page and had leaned down to pull my favorite pen out of my backpack when I heard Tabitha mumble “Whoa!”
The Purity of Blood: Volume I Page 4