The First Touch

by Alice Sweet

  He stared at her his expression brightening, “You haven’t spoken to Grayton?”

  She shook her head and replied, “But I was serious about wanting to meet him. I have thought about it a lot since he saved me from that roof top, that I need to at least thank him.”

  Ivan asked bewildered now, “Saved you from a roof top?”

  “Yes. I was sleep walking and ended up on the top of my building. I was about to jump when I heard his voice saying, Wake up. I know that he wasn’t talking to me; as a matter of fact I think it was Serena. He had sounded very...angry that night. He managed to save my life though, and I would like the opportunity to thank him. Now what is all the other non-sense about match and how old is Grayton.”

  “He is one of the oldest members of our clan.”

  She twisted her head and said, “How old?”

  He swallowed and replied, “Five hundred years or so.” She gasped, thinking, five hundred.

  “What did you mean when you said match?” She asked after the shock wore off.

  He took longer to answer than she wanted and Autumn became impatient. So she slid her hand up to his cheek again, hoping to get him to speak up. The response was not what she had expected he seemed almost unable to answer then as if her touch were somehow too much for him. He shut his eyes tightly and breathed raggedly for a moment. When she removed her hand, there were red lines as if she had been scratching his skin with her nails on his cheek. “What is wrong with your skin?”

  Ivan reached his hand up to his face, “It is nothing.”

  She asked now concerned, “Does it hurt when I touch you?”

  The intensity in his eyes was sheer desire, and his voice was husky when he spoke, “No it does not hurt.”

  Then Autumn asked as she continued to touch him, “What does it feel like?” He did not meet her eyes this time, “It feels like I am on fire.”

  She yanked her hand away sharply, “What? Why?”

  Ivan furrowed his brows and replied hazily avoiding the truth, “It is normal for us.”

  Autumn nodded, “So is that why you wore the gloves?” Ivan nodded frowning and Autumn redirected herself frowning as well, “Good fire or bad fire?”

  He looked at her with desire in his eyes and let a smile slip as he replied huskily, “Bad fire.”

  She smiled widely, and said, “Oh you mean good fire.” He nodded and watched as she slid her hand up and caressed his cheek again, adding, “Well then if I were you I would walk around half naked.” Ivan smiled and sat back enjoying the moment; as she redirected his attention back to the topic at hand, frowning as she asked, “Why do you think that I might be Grayton’s match?”

  He tightened at the mention of his friend and she stopped tracing and left her hand resting it on his warm skin.

  “I am not certain if you are, though it is still very likely. When you listened to his voice was it clearer than the others?”

  She shook her head no and said, “I don’t even see him that way, I just like the way that his voice sounds. It’s calming, fatherly even.” He stared at her and smiled a little looking slightly better.

  “Fatherly?” He asked for her to clarify.

  She repeated, “Yes fatherly, I listen to him reading at night.”

  Ivan cocked his head, “He reads to you at night?”

  She shook her head, “No he reads to himself at night, I just listen.”

  Ivan asked cautiously, “What kinds of books does he read?”

  She replied flatly, “Classics mostly, though lately he has been reading books in other languages. Right now I think it’s a French novel.”

  He smiled, “French.”

  “Besides,” she added, “I dreamt that someone was supposed to kiss, Sophia too, I think.”

  Ivan paused, a look of true bewilderment in his eyes, “What?”

  “The woman that lives in my building… But hers doesn’t happen at the coffee shop, hers is at a dinner …I think. She has kind eyes...” Ivan stared at her disbelievingly and Autumn added, “What does three vessels mean?” His jaw dropped open and he sat there speechless, his eyes almost tearful.

  “Where did you hear that?” She smiled and said cautiously, “Serena, told Grayton about it. He seemed very upset; he just keeps repeating three vessels. It has gotten me so worried that it has been affecting my sleep lately, worse than when he reads romance….”

  “No, who told you that Sophia was a vessel?”

  She said, “A what?” His look was unsettling; he looked as though he were no longer aware of his surroundings. As if he lost grip with reality. Autumn swallowed hard against the rising emotions in her chest, but to no avail.

  She looked at him and placed her hand over her mouth, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I have said too much. I am sorry. I thought you would be happy and I have been carrying all of this in my head for so long. I just couldn’t wait any longer to get it off of my chest. I really had begun to think that I was going crazy!” She said this last line with a bit of hysteria returning to her voice, as she slid off his lap.

  The sound snapped him back into action. He spoke quickly gripping her hips firmly as he rose, “You are not crazy Autumn, I think you are.... special.” He sounded a little anxious now, as he continued, “I want you to take me to the woman that you think might be one of the kiss girls.” He grabbed her arm again and pulled her down the sidewalk to the corner looking around for something. Autumn spoke frantically, “No wait your kiss girl; we need to go back to the coffee shop.”

  He hailed a passing taxi cab and replied, “She will be there tomorrow.”

  Autumn looked at him wide-eyed, “What? How do you know that?”

  He lied, “I dreamt it,” as he ushered her into the taxi cab.

  “But what if you are wrong?” He looked at her with a confidence that seemed free of worry but somehow she knew it wasn’t.

  “My dreams are never wrong.” He lied, as he slid in next to her.

  He swiftly dialed a number on a phone that he pulled from his pocket, while Autumn told the driver the address to her apartment. Ivan spoke quickly in a foreign language to a female while she listened anxiously wondering what he was saying about her. Once he finished he gave her a reassuring squeeze on her knee, and then glanced out the window, at a passing vehicle his protective need in overdrive.

  If she was right he would have Grayton preoccupied with another female, so that he would not need to feel guilty about his need for Autumn. He watched as she stared out the window anxiously and wondered what she was worried about.

  Her thoughts were about his safety as well. This was a bad idea. Her stomach hurt terribly. She did not want Ivan...what... she wanted him...not dead. Why was he so focused on Sophia? Shouldn’t he be worried about meeting that girl, the one who was supposed to keep him from burning up in the sunlight? Nervously she asked, “So you think that I am right about her? Maybe she’s the kiss girl for you?”

  Ivan looked at her and said gently, “It is simple enough to check.”

  “She has full lips.”

  He looked over at her for a moment and he replied, “One of our kind only needs to touch her skin once to know.”

  She smiled brightly, understanding at once, “So I will get to meet Grayton then?”

  “He will be here in the morning.”

  She frowned, “Oh that long? Where is he now?”

  Ivan replied seriously, “France.”

  “Figures….” She muttered as she thought, What am I going to say to Sophia? What time was it? She looked down at her watch and saw that it was almost ten o’clock. She looked over at him, “It will seem strange if I knock on her door at this hour.”

  Ivan replied, “We will wait until morning when Grayton arrives. What is your relationship with her?”

  She shook her head gravely as she replied, “Honestly I don’t know her very well. I get her mail from time to time by accident, so I return it to her when I see her. She is always very warm to me though.�
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  He asked the obvious question then, “Do you have any of her mail now?”

  She shook her head no, his brow furrowed, “We will just have to get some then.”

  ***

  They arrived a little after ten o’clock at her apartment building. Ivan threw the driver a large sum of money and joined her on the front walk, seconds later. His eyes were clear and he seemed suddenly very happy. The doorman Frank opened the door for them and eyed Ivan up cautiously as he placed his arm around Autumn protectively. Frank greeted Autumn as usual, making no attempt to hide his surprise at her guest. Autumn shrugged Ivan’s arm off as she returned the greeting shyly and introduced Ivan to Frank, “This is my friend Ivan.”

  They exchanged polite if not strained greetings and Autumn gave Ivan a tug. Frank replied after them slightly bemused, “You know I was beginning to worry about you Mrs. Benson. It’s good to see that you finally have....company.” She smiled back politely slid her hand into Ivan’s and tugged him along.

  She waved, embarrassed, “Goodnight Frank.” The doorman’s curious gaze followed them as they headed off for the bay of elevators at the end of the hall. She leaned forward to press the button but stopped herself in midair. She snapped her fingers remembering the plan and pointed to a small door that was labeled Mail. He nodded and the two headed for the door. Inside of the small room lined with mailboxes she found hers quickly and opened it. As she searched through the small pile she found what she was looking for, “Got it.”

  Once back on her floor, she pointed at Sophia’s door across the hall, “Sophia lives there.” He nodded, and Autumn opened her own door slowly being careful not to let her cat out. He was waiting for her when she opened the door meowing loudly. She turned on the four light switches at once illuminating the apartment. They slipped inside and closed the door behind them.

  Home

  Autumn placed her keys on the long narrow stand, next to a coat rack. As she leaned down and petted the large black cat while Ivan stood watching tensely. She apologized to the cat for making him wait for his nighttime snack while Ivan followed behind her, as did her cat.

  The cat ignored Ivan completely and continued to meow at Autumn as she headed into the kitchen. The cat jumped up on to the center island in the kitchen and watched as she prepared the snack. Ivan stood in the door way and watched patiently as she worked quickly finishing her task by washing her hands at the sink.

  She asked him politely if she could get him anything and he shook his head no. She smiled sweetly and said, “Would you like a tour?”

  He smiled, “Yes.” It was the first time since the cab that he had spoken to her. She felt suddenly painfully aware of his beauty again. He felt more real inside her home and her excitement of having him there began to build. His face was after all perfect, for the lack of a better word.

  She found herself blushing and remembering her bold behaviors in the park announcing, “Well this is my kitchen and my cat, Jack.”

  He offered, “Most animals shy away from me.”

  “Jack is a special cat. He doesn’t usually even notice other people besides me. I think he might have kitty autism or something.” As Autumn spoke she knelt down and petted his head. Jack made strange sounds of pleasure with each brush.

  Ivan smiled eyeing the cat in amusement, “I see,” wondering if that was how he sounded when she stroked his skin.

  Autumn stood and walked out of the kitchen, continuing down the main hall that opened out to an even larger main space. Autumn gestured to the rest of the apartment and said, “My dinning room, living room and office.” The dark dining table was set up to their right, and the living room with an oversized television screen was dead center. While to her left was a large fireplace and floor to ceiling book shelves.

  The dark shelves covered every inch of the available wall space to the left of the living room, even above the two other doors to their left. There was a small step up to a desk that faced out towards the living area. Next to it sat an over stuffed couch and chair similar in color to the one in the living room that had been placed in front of a large stone fire place.

  She walked to the farther of the two doors and opened it saying, “Bathroom.” Then she breezed past him and headed to the second door, announcing, “My room.”

  He pushed past her for the first time, and inspected the room. While she stood awkwardly hoping that he did not realize what a shut in she was, suddenly very self conscious about her living spaces. It was a typical bedroom, expect, there were shelves in here, wrapping around both sides of the bed. He noticed that these walls were the only ones colored in the entire apartment, a grayish blue. Every item in her home was simple and dark, textured in tones set against fresh clean white walls. He liked it instantly, this fit into his vision of her quite nicely, dark but rich in detail.

  He looked at her again sending her shrinking from the room, back out to the living room. There she sat on the couch turning on the television, nervously. He did not join her right away instead; he shot around the room inspecting it more thoroughly. It had two doors; behind the first was a closet, the other door connected to the bath room that he had seen earlier.

  Back inside her room, he saw a small box on the night stands where note pads and piles of scribbled pieces of paper were hidden. His quick reading skills proved that she was thorough with her dream journals and visions. He was about to leave when he realized that there were drawers hidden under the bed. He opened them and discovered files from the last two years, where she had been keeping track of her ability. He was surprised at the thoroughness of it all, names, dates, and times.

  Then he heard her giggle in the living room and went out to investigate. Jack the cat was playing with Autumn on the couch attempting to bat at a stray chunk of hair that had managed to dangle free from the rest of the bun. She smiled and swayed her head from side to side, as the cat attempted to capture the chunk. Ivan sat next to Autumn, and she seemed a little embarrassed by being caught playing and he smiled at her wider.

  She yawned admitting, “It’s been a long night and I would like to get a shower in.” He nodded and she handed him the channel changer and heading for the bedroom. Jack the cat jumped up as well and followed her dutifully. Ivan did not change the channel he simply muted the volume. Then he listened as she undressed and showered and put on her pajamas and a robe.

  Then for the next twenty minutes or so he listened as she turned on a blow-dryer, brushed her teeth and put lotion on her skin. He smiled at her reflection in the television screen and watched as she slowly crept back into the living room. He turned to look at her and she jumped suddenly, placing her hand on her chest, “Oh, I thought you were asleep.”

  “I don’t sleep much.”

  She sat down next to him, and asked, “How much do you sleep?”

  He replied, “A few hours a day.”

  Autumn asked curiously then, “So no sun light then?”

  He smiled, “I have no problem with sunlight.”

  Autumn frowned and replied, “So what can hurt you then?”

  He looked at her seriously and thought, you, though he replied, “We have to be beheaded and burned.”

  She looked worried, “So the fire thing is a real possibility then?”

  He replied flatly, “Yes.”

  She looked upset for a moment and asked, “You said Grayton was old, how old are you?”

  He answered casually, “A little over two hundred years.”

  She gasped, “Two hundred.” She paused asking, “So forever then, huh?”

  He smiled and said, “Yes, forever.”

  She laid her head back on the couch and closed her eyes, “Wow,” in amazement, “Forever.” She sighed, “It will take me a while to wrap my head around that one.” He smiled at her closed lids.

  Autumn was just about to fall off to sleep, when she caught herself adding, “Ivan as soon as Grayton touches Sophia and he sees that I am right about her being a kiss girl. I want to go straight to the
coffee shop and look for your kiss girl. I don’t think I could live with myself if you died testing one of my stupid theories instead of being at that coffee shop tomorrow.”

  He replied, “No worries, Love.” She huffed again as her mind tugged at her a bit and he looked at her curiously. She mumbled her eyes still closed, “You always say that when your lying, bet you’re a horrible card player.....” Within seconds she was sound asleep and Ivan watched her until the sun rose the next morning.

  Guests

  Autumn awoke to Ivan shaking her hand a little and as she awoke groggily, “What,” still disoriented.

  Ivan said in a low voice, “Grayton is here.” Autumn sat up quickly, wiping the sleep from her eyes and accidentally knocking Jack out of her lap. He complained with a sharp meow, and she apologized, “Sorry Jack.” Jack did not seem too bothered as he jumped back up on to the couch and sat in her warm spot. Seconds later, a knock sounded at the door. Autumn motioned for Ivan to answer it and she said, “I will get dressed.”

  He nodded and walked towards the door. Autumn bolted for the bed room and choose some jeans and a plain long-sleeved shirt. She dressed quickly and rushed to the bathroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth.

  She looked at the clock, five thirty am, no wonder she was so tired, it was early. She decided then that she had plenty of time to apply her makeup, regime; Sophia would definitely not be up for hours. She smiled at her reflection as she finished, happy that she was having a good skin day. She skipped the perfume today thinking that she would probably be better off without it and came out.

  To her surprise there were two people in the living room. Ivan had his sleeve up and was showing the female something on his wrist. She was chastising him for something though Autumn was not certain what it was since she was speaking a language that she had never heard before. When she stepped closer, she watched as the two stepped back. The woman was especially taken a back placing her hand over her chest. Then Ivan said, “You see?” The woman nodded and the man simply stood unmoving, unblinking.