Three Bloodlines
Christina Mckeefry
Layla twisted her hair into a ponytail, tucking it under her cap and lowering the brim, as she stepped back into the darkness. Regrettably, she realized curiosity very well killed the cat, or in her case, the human, for she knew she had stumbled upon something unearthly. All she could do was pray to find an exit and hope no one noticed her as she did it. Though, Layla had a horrid gut wrenching feeling in her ever sinking stomach that they would notice.
The unearthly beings that surrounded her were incased in a layer of smoke so thin, had she not been trapped in a house with them, she wouldn’t have noticed it. It danced and swirled around them, sending a chilling ominous shiver down her spine. Layla needed to get out of there and never look back.
Heart throwing itself violently against her chest, Layla took a few deep breaths and took a step forward. Her left shoulder smashed into one of the inhuman strangers of the house and fear crawled its way deeper into her heart. The eyes of the stranger met hers and she froze in place. His smoldering copper eyes had her entranced, making the rest of the world falling away.
“Do I know you?” he inquired in a low, soft voice that soothed away all the fear Layla had pumping through her veins. A steady smile began to turn up the edges of his lips as his brows furrowed together as though he were perplexed but enjoying it.
There was a familiarity in his voice though that had Layla staring open mouthed, brain working hard to figure out if perhaps he did.
“Are you okay?” he asked in the same tone as he rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.
Layla sucked in a breath, and the scenery around her quickly changed before her eyes. The young copper-eyed stranger was still standing before her, only he looked different. His black hair was a little longer, shaggier, and his clothes had morphed into a suit from the early eighteen hundreds instead of the zip-up blue hoodie with a grey tee-shirt and jeans he was wearing just moments ago. As Layla looked down, she realized her clothing too had changed from her usual attire of a tee-shirt and jeans to a tightly tied corset beneath an abundance of fabric that was a dress. Her wild untamed deep cherry red hair was no longer caged within a cap; instead it was free flowing down her back in a mass of curls.
Everything felt so strangely familiar, as if she was supposed to be there. The cobble stone beneath her feet, the dank air that filled the air that filled the oxygen they breathed, the heat from her beautiful stranger’s body. He had taken a step forward, hand gently caressing her cheek, and she could feel the heat he emitted even through her breath-restricting corset and heavy dress.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his soft voice filling with concern.
The scene faded and Layla released her breath as the present came back to her. Those same copper eyes still poured into hers, that same distance between them where she could feel his heat. She wanted to step closer.
“Yeah,” Layla smiled breathlessly, earning an award winning smile in return from him. In a heart beats moment, Layla knew he could help her, save her from the darkness she had stumbled upon. Honesty and kindness filled those gorgeous copper eyes, and Layla had more faith in that then she did in herself. She could trust him.
“I’m sorry,” Layla added, giving a soft laugh. “I drifted a little while thinking, but I believe that perhaps we do know each other.”
“I sure hope so,” he replied, his smile warming. “I’m Deon Angel, and you are?”
“A secret,” Layla whispered with a playful smile, leaning in slightly.
“Only to everyone else,” Deon whispered back, “but never to me.”
