by Deb Apodaca
“Well forget you then!” I exclaimed and folded my arms across my chest in an attempt to cover up my humiliation. “What do you need to tell me?” I asked harshly.
“Nothing.” Markus chuckled. “Let’s just forget this. I have to go before you make me late.” He nodded his head to shake the incident off and put the car in drive. I opened the door and as I stepped out, I noticed that I didn’t need his help with it. I popped my head inside the car.
“You fixed your door!” I exclaimed.
“Now you’re paying attention to things.” Markus said proudly. “Mindy-” He paused. “Be careful when you’re with Dean.” his tone got serious.
“You know about him? And me?” I asked.
“It’s obvious.” He paused. “Well…to me it is. Tanya doesn’t suspect a thing.”
“Are you mad? I know you think he’s a murderous vampire-”
“Forget about all that.” Markus interrupted me.
“Ummm…I kind of don’t want people knowing about this.” I said. “It’s just that, I don’t even know if we’re dating or not. I don’t want anyone to know until its official.”
“That sucks. I was dying to tell everyone about your secret rendezvous.” Markus turned to me. “I won’t say a word.”
“I take it, you don’t want to talk about the whole vampire thing either huh?” I asked.
Markus stared at me and from the look on his face, he was thinking about what the right thing to say would have been. Why he was acting this way was beyond me. Before, he was obsessed with finding out what Dean was up to. His theories and anything that involved Dean, was something he would always wanted to talk about with me.
From the stare of contemplation that was directed at me Markus said, “Just be careful when you’re with him.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Things aren’t always what they seem.” Markus took a deep breath and faced straight ahead. “You have to be careful with him.” he added.
“What are you trying to say?” I asked.
“Nothing-it’s just.” Markus let out a loud sigh. “Never mind.”
Without saying another word, he slowly crept the car forward, careful not to run over my foot. When he was in the clear, he sped off.
The words Markus said, ‘be careful when you’re with him,’ played in my head. I couldn’t comprehend why he would say something like that or why he wouldn’t explain himself.
I decided to ask Dean about himself. There were too many questions. I wasn’t sure if I would even get any answers, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying.
As I got closer to the waterfall, I heard the crisp splashing of the pouring water. That sound was enough to ease my discomfort by one notch. Just one. But what I saw next had me on edge. Dean was standing next to his motorcycle. He had a purple helmet in one hand and it didn’t look like it was for him. I had never ridden on a motorcycle. I had never known a person with one. I also didn’t like the idea of being so close to the pavement at high speeds. Dean didn’t look like he brought any protection for himself. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt that hugged his round pecks and roped stomach. His navy blue shorts had splashes of black flowers all over them. His face was radiating with pleasure. I got goose bumps because he looked so happy to see me. He wasn’t scary anymore.
“What’s the motorcycle for?” I asked as I strolled up to him.
Dean pulled me up to him and kissed my lips. “We’re going for a ride.” He brought the helmet up and carefully adjusted it on my head. I gazed at his eyes, they were like two sparkling emeralds looking down at me.
As he released me, it seemed like he was tearing himself away from me unwillingly. In one swift movement, he hopped on the bike and kicked the kickstand into its socket. Dean steadied the bike. I couldn’t stand still as he gazed at me. I was fidgeting uncomfortably hoping he wouldn’t regret telling me he liked me without makeup. A smile formed on his face.
“You’re beautiful.” Dean said while stretching his hand out to me.
Every time those words danced out of his mouth, I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world. I floated to him, even though the thought of being on a motorcycle for the first time scared me. He held me steady with his arm as I climbed up behind him. And when I said steady, I meant it. It didn’t move as I put my weight on it to hop up, not even a centimeter. I adjusted myself on the seat and stuffed my book bag in the small bike compartment.
Dean turned his head to the side. “Hold onto me tightly.” he commanded.
Hold on to him. Got it. So, I lifted my shaky arms and set my hands on his sides. The urge to wrap my arms completely around him was strong. Was it okay to do it? Would I be too forward? I hesitated and finally just kept my hands in the safe zone at his sides.
“Tighter.” Dean said softly as if he were hoping I would do it.
I gladly did. I didn’t set my hand on top of the other when my arms wrapped all around his waist. I made sure to touch as much of him as possible. I pressed my hands against a big section of his stomach muscles and melted into his back. Talk about paradise.
We took off at a low speed through the forest. Dean seemed to know how to navigate to different areas of town that way. Not even a mile away from leaving the water fall, I saw an animal lying on the grassy floor in the distance. It was a dear. We came closer to it and Dean started picking up speed.
“What’s wrong with that deer?” I thought out loud.
“Nature.” Dean said firmly.
“Stop! Maybe it’s still alive!” I exclaimed.
Dean ignored me and passed it. I let go and pounded his solid back. He slowed down to a stop.
“You can’t just let go like that! You can fall-” Dean yelled.
Before he could finish, I was already jumping off the motorcycle and hurrying towards the deer. My stomach queezed as I approached the peaceful animal. It was motionless and there was a patch of blood around its neck. It came from four small openings. This was the strangest bite mark I’d ever seen. Dean was calling me back to the bike, but I ignored him. His heavy steps came quickly.
“What could have done this?” I covered my mouth to keep from vomiting. The facial expression of the deer was frozen in place. Its eyes were wide open, like it saw something unbelievable before it died. It was terrified at whatever attacked it. And that’s when I looked around the forest. I realized why it seemed so different today. No birds singing and jumping from branch to branch. I didn’t see the squirrels darting across the grassy floors and up the trees. Everything was still and silent. Whatever killed this poor deer must have scared the whole forest away.
“Get away from it Lina. Let’s go.” Dean ordered quickly. He reached down and helped me to my feet.
“What could have done that?” I wondered again out loud.
“Forget about the deer. Let’s get going. Okay?” Dean insisted.
I shook his hold on me and stepped away. “Don’t you care?”
“No, I don’t. Let’s go.” Dean said sternly.
“I don’t understand why you don’t care Dean!” I yelled.
“Big deal. It’s a deer. They die.” Dean said through his clenched teeth.
“We used to bury dead birds together. You remember that? Where’s your compassion?” I snapped back.
“I’m not a kid anymore Lina. Deer die all the time. Everything dies. It’s best to just get over it.” Dean said. But the way he said it was so sad. It was like he had convinced himself that death was a sure thing. That it was inevitable. I knew that was what death was. But, he sounded like he thought about death all the time. Then I thought of his parents and felt sorry for snapping at him.
Again, he stepped up to me and gently grabbed me by the shoulders, leading me to the bike. I stood next to it, waiting for him to get on, when I felt his hands on the sides of my stomach. Dean was standing so close behind me that I felt as if his body was up against mine. I anticipated him to press against me so I could feel the full
effect of what I was already experiencing. My breathing quickened as the nano-seconds ticked by. Then his hands maneuvered their way down my sides. His long fingers explored me. They were spread out and feeling every inch as they slowly made their way down to my hips. I silently gasped as he grabbed my hips tightly and lifted me off the ground. He softly set me down on the back seat and grazed his hand up my back as he moved away. When he sat himself down in front of me, he turned his head. “Please don’t let go when I’m driving.” He asked. I nodded my head, with my jaw dropped, and we were off again.
At first, Dean eased on the gas at a low and comfortable speed. I was relieved about that, since it was my first time on a bike. After a short while, Dean picked up the pace. He didn’t ease into a faster speed either. He more liked jumped to another level! I gripped him tighter and pressed myself against him more. I kept my eyes open because I didn’t want to miss a thing. The trees passed by us quickly one after another. My hair trailed behind me, playing tango with the wind. I slightly loosened my grip on Dean. Immediately after, he jumped the speed again. I reflexively gripped him tightly again. That’s when I felt his stomach shake. It wasn’t from the ride, because it was a smooth one. It was coming from within him. He was laughing at me. Dean jumped the speed again and I automatically gripped him even tighter. And I felt the shaking underneath my fingers again. He laughed when I would grip tighter. He was teasing me. I shook my head to what I just realized and I tried pinching a part of his skin to let him know I was on to him.
It didn’t take us long to get to the entrance of The Blue Hole. I thought back to the deer, never had I seen such marks. Regular animals didn’t make puncture wounds like that. It just wasn’t normal. Dean didn’t seem like he cared too much…or he didn’t want to talk about it. Something had sucked the blood right out of the deer. And why didn’t Dean want me to see it? He was eager for me to get away from it.
We drove down the winding street trail, past the neighborhood houses. The pet cemetery was to our right. It had to have been here before the houses. Why would they even have one where kids played? Passing it gave me a creepy feeling that made my skin crawl. It reminded me about a movie I saw about a pet cemetery, which left an impression on me when I was a child. I never watched it again out of fear.
We slowly drove by the river. It was a natural spring with a man made barrier across the center. On one side the water was deep. The water cascaded over the other side of the barrier. It looked like a calm waterfall landing in a creek. A child was playing in the shallow side. He looked a little over five years old. He splashed his feet in the water as he walked in it with a long stick at hand. The stick had string hanging off the tip of it, a child-made fishing pole. I searched for a parent, but there wasn’t anyone else around. Although the shallow water didn’t cause a threat to him, he still shouldn’t have been around it alone.
We drove past the barrier and headed up the hill to the seating area. There were many benches with grills beside them scattered along the waterside. Some were shaded with enormous trees and others were in the direct sunlight. Dean chose one in the sunlight.
“Can we go to one of the shaded ones?” I asked while blocking my eyes from the sun.
“You want to be in the shade.” Dean stated and scanned the ones that were in the shade. After he paused and thought about it, he agreed and took me and the bike to one.
I liked the one he picked. It was just one bench seat, a trash can, and a grill. As soon as he stopped the bike, I jumped off, just missing his extended arm to help me down. Ooops. I needed to get used to that whole gentlemen stuff coming from him. He nodded his head and reached into one of his cubbies. I took in the scenery. Green, green, and some more green. Everywhere you looked, there were enormous green trees. Some had ivy crawling up the trunks. There was luscious grass blanketing the ground everywhere. I loved Texas!
Dean set down a paper bag on the bench top then walked over to the grill. He picked up a stick from the floor and poked at the charcoal at the bottom of the grill. There were a few pieces that were still intact. He pulled a small matchbox from his shorts and threw a lit match in. The small flame ignited the coal. Dean came back to the bench and opened the bag. I observed him quietly. He pulled out a tiny tin the size of my fist and set it down on the table. The next thing he pulled out was a bag of Hershey’s kisses. Dean began peeling off the foil wrappings of my temptation. His hands were quick, I would have asked him if he needed help, but I would’ve just fumbled on the wrapping and made a fool of myself and possibly slow down the process.
Every kiss he unwrapped, he threw in the tin. When he filled it up with chocolate, he took it over to the grill. The flame had died down a little by this time. Dean set the tin on the grill and walked back to me and sat down.
I took this opportunity to ask him some questions about himself. I felt so left behind from the years that had passed by us. I needed to catch up.
“You live with your aunt right?” I asked.
Dean set his elbows on the table top and cupped one fist in the other palm. His gaze was boring into me. “I live with my aunt.” he stated.
“How come I’ve never seen her around? This is a small town, I usually bump into everyone from time to time.” I said.
“She’s out of town most of the time, on business. She only stays a couple of days out of the week if she has a chance. I do all the shopping. There’s no need for her to leave the house.” Dean said quickly. Then he waited.
I heard a woman yell out a name. Daniel I think it was? I turned to find a woman stomping across the creek to where the little boy was playing. She was telling him, he wasn’t supposed to be out there by himself. She yelled out a few more things to the boy that I couldn’t make out. Then she pointed to the trees and what I heard put me on alert. She shouted very clearly, as if it were an announcement that Dean and I were supposed to hear. She said, ‘there are monsters in the shadows.’ Then she dragged the boy away.
Dean kept his gaze on me. He let out a huff, as if he knew some more questions were coming his way. They definitely were.
“Something is strange.” I wrinkled my forehead. “It’s off somehow.” I thought out loud. He waited for a question, but I couldn’t conjure one up at the moment. I wasn’t sure where to start. I chose one that seemed easy.
“Why do you always send me home when it starts to get dark?” I asked.
“Look what happened last time you were alone in the dark,” Dean continued, “some ass-hole tried to hurt you.” he said through his teeth.
“How did you find me?” I asked.
“Anyone could have heard you screaming. I wasn’t out there for a particular reason if that’s what you’re implying.” Dean snapped.
“But you were there. Out in the forest. Why?” I asked.
“Next question.” Dean said.
“One time,” I hesitated, “one time I saw you at The Impulse. You were in the alley with some big sword. There was a couple there.” I couldn’t believe I was asking him this. Here goes. “Did you use the sword on them?” I asked.
“No. I don’t go around hurting people with a sword Lina.” Dean said sharply.
People…he said people. “But what about vampires?” I blurted wanting to suck the ridiculous question back in.
“What?” Dean asked.
“Do you…uh…use it on vampires?” I softly asked hoping he didn’t hear the question.
“Are you really going to play a game of twenty questions with me or are you going to enjoy the day I have planned for us?” Dean asked. There wasn’t annoyance on his face, it was more like worry. Like he was afraid to answer my questions.
Dean reached into the bag and pulled out a spoon. Then he rose up and walked over to the grill to check on the chocolate. After stirring for a couple of minutes, he grabbed the tin and brought it over to the table. The melted chocolate reached my nose. Dean pulled out a zip lock bag with strawberries in it. The stems were already cut and they looked moist, like he washed them bef
ore placing them in the bag. Dean pulled a small paper plate out of the bag and pushed it aside. He set the plate down, dipped a strawberry in the chocolate, and placed it on the plate. He continued with the rest of the strawberries and finally looked up at me when he was finished.
“Wow. They look delicious.” I said while reaching for one. They were already cooled down, but the chocolate was still melted. I didn’t want to wait for them to harden. As I chewed on the first bite, the melted chocolate swirled with the juice of the strawberry, taking over my mouth. When I finished that first bite, my mouth watered for the next. I had lost myself in the flavor. When I finished, I looked at Dean and noticed he hadn’t taken a bite of one. He was gazing at me with a smile.
“What? Are you going to watch me stuff my face?” I asked him wondering why he hadn’t reached for one.
“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.” Dean gave a sexy chuckle.
Had he been serious? He has watched me stuff my face at school? Crap! What if I was being really sloppy!
“Did you know about your O.C.D.?” Dean asked.
“O.C.D.?” I tilted my head to the side. What was he talking about?
“You have a particular way of eating.” Dean said with a smile.
“I chew my food just like everyone else. What are you talking about? I don’t have an O.C.D.” I said.
“You pick at your food and eat at equal portions. Like, when you eat a salad. You pick at it with your fork so that you have one of each item. A cucumber, a tomato, and a couple of lettuce pieces. And when there are no more equal portions, you stop eating.” Dean chuckled.
“Wha-” My jaw dropped. I wasn’t sure if it was because of this weird discovery. I did recall doing that with my food, but it came naturally to me and I never realized what I was doing exactly. Or was it because it seemed that Dean knew every detail about me and had been watching me for some time when I thought I didn’t exist to him?
To change the subject, “So, are you going to eat some strawberries?” I asked.