The Nocturnals

Chapter Two: Joshua Kray

The man stares at Eliora as if unsure whether to kill or befriend, that is, if he could kill. He's still paralyzed, just not from the neck up.

"Who are you? What do you want with me? Why can't I move?" he rushes his words as Eliora furrows her brows and rests down on her lawn chair.

She gives him a confused glance as he mumbles to himself, "Dude, calm down. I can't answer a billion questions at once. What's your first question you want answered?"

He looks at her for a moment with his now blue eyes, still a little grey, but more natural this time, "Who are you?"

"My name is Cassandra."

He gives her a look as if saying, 'Tell me the truth, cause you're fooling no one.'

"Can I trust you to tell me your name?" Eliora crosses her arms over her modest chest.

He looks at her with a raised eyebrow, "Well, I can trust you, because you saved my dang life," Eliora looks at him with suspicion. She'd saved many lives before, and no one had thanked her, and she guesses, in a way, he's saying thank you, "so, my name's Joshua Kray, I'm from Alabama, I don't like being asked questions, and I-" he chokes suddenly, the blood red spreading through his eyes again.

A sigh escapes her lips as she grabs the cilantro butts and waves them in front of his face, the same temporary effect happening.

"What the hell happened?!" he shouts out.

Eliora shushes him, looking over her shoulder, then gives him an apologetic glance, "That neurolizer lasts for six hours... It's only been two."

Joshua blinks his eyes, "What about the thing you did to me to unparalyze me?"

"It's only temporary. It brings focus of your brain onto your five sense, but it only spreads through your head," Eliora hugs her elbows, sitting back down in her chair. Eliora thinks of how weird it would be to have someone next to her, assisting her. She's been lonely for two years with no one except her gazebo. It's not really her thing, but she could make an exception. What if he's dead weight though? Her thoughts spread through her head as if waves, crashing into her mind and making her headache worse.

"What are you doing?" Joshua breaks her train of thought.

Eliora breaks her zone out and looks up at him, "What?"

"You're biting your lip," he comments.

Eliora notices her front teeth digging into her lip, "If you knew what I was doing, why did you ask?"

Joshua tries to turn his head, but ended up making it look like a twitch, "I don't know. Do you always do that when talking to an attractive man?" He gives her a playful wink.

'Why is he being so nice to me? Ill just play along in the sharade,' her mind wonders. Eliora glares at him, "No, idiot, I do it when I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking about?" he takes a forced breath.

"Nothing you need to know," she tears her gaze from him, "So... What now?" She waits a minute for response, "Um... Joshua?" she turns around and sees him with red coated eyes. She rolls her own eyes and lets her eyelids droop. She had forgotten how exhausted she was from running from the vampires all night, and slips away into blissful sleep.

A large thump makes her burst upright and jump out of the pool lounger. Her heart drops as a hushed voice whispers, "Shut up! I think there's someone living here!"