Dancing in the Moonlight
~
Erisa
~
Erisa peered over the dashboard to the front of Hell Blues bar.
It was blooming with people going in and out through the entrance door. Drinking, making out and all-around craziness Erisa would rather run away from.
Once, she lived for these days, the days of drinking the night away and pining for the attention boys could offer. But those days drifted into bleak and resentful nightmares that clouded blue skies into gloomy and black obscures.
Erisa had grown to despise what the night of parties and mayhem had to offer. She had despised every single thing that reminded her of that night.
Going to a bar that reeked of drunks and creeps reminded her of it.
"You sure about this, Bub?" Frankie said to his niece and gestured to the exit of the car park. "We can always leave if you want to. You owe no one nothing."
Erisa told herself that for the past week, but every time the faces of Cadence and Accalia came to her mind, she vanquished her doubt.
"I'll be fine. Besides, I'll have my phone on me and I'll be in a public place."
I won't be lured out, I won't be led astray and I won't fall for anything.
"I just worry about you. Ever since your dad passed and your mother left, I can't help but think a part of you went with them." Frankie fractioned his blue eyes on Erisa.
Erisa closed her eyes and considered if she would ever tell her uncle what happened to her. Frankie was the only male touch she could handle, his arms wrapping her in a bear hug and kissing her on top of the head, confirming the unfaltering love he had for her.
Frankie's brother, Erisa's father, died on a hunting trip and her mother spiralled, kicking Erisa to the curb shortly after. Franklin Jaeger was the only family Erisa had.
Erisa loved her uncle like a father, and like a father, he would want to kill them, even if it wasn't in his nature, and would go after their families.
No part of Erisa expected Cadence to do it, kill them in cold blood without a hint of remorse — but the newspapers and local media reported such demises.
That night, Erisa never doubted a person again and what they were capable of.
Erisa unbuckled herself and sprayed herself with the unfamiliar perfume she had been using to throw off her natural odour.
"I'm going in," Erisa smoothed down her leather pants and secured her long sleeve mesh top that covered a crop top. "If I don't come back, give Cadence my horror movies and send Thea my love."
"Don't say such things, Erisa Jaeger." Frankie reprimanded.
Erisa hugged her uncle briefly, asking him to look after her jacket and left, not wanting to settle in goodbyes.
——
The bar was smoky and blazing in old music that reminded Erisa of bonfires she would attend in the woods with hunters years ago.
Surrounded by woods, in widespread clearings for everyone to sit and a bonfire to warm the coldness in their souls.
Those stopped years ago, the flame being blown out and leaving only burnt wood in their wake. The bonfires and cause for the celebration were long dead shortly after Cadence's mother died.
The song Stumblin' In streamed through the bar like a wave, washing everyone over in bliss and glory. They followed the flow of the music like the tides reaching the sands and dragging back out to sea.
And Cole was in deep. His lean stature was in the middle of the dancing bodies and he drowned in the sweet-sounding music for however long it would last.
Two women saddled to his sides, swaying against him and on him in whatever way he would have them. He clasped their hips, skin to skin and whispered into their ears.
Cole paused for a second against the swarm of dancing girls clinging onto him and turned his head. Erisa cringed, lacing her fingers together nervously as she fought the urge to run off to get away from him.
"Erin." Cole's voice boomed and he drifted through the crowd to get to her, leaving the sulking girls behind.
"Um—hey," Erisa waved awkwardly at him and swallowed the nerves rising in her throat as she peered up at him.
He stared down at her like she was a piece of meat, delectable and mouth-watering as his pupils dilated, the whites of his eyes darkening.
Erisa found it surprising he didn't notice his abnormality of controlling his animalistic side, he let it run rampant without a clue. Or care.
His black hair was combed back, loose strands brushing across his pale forehead and revealing those stormy grey eyes that took Erisa in like an elixir.
"Fuck," Cole breathed and stepped back to scan her carefully. "You look beautiful."
Erisa's face filled with colour and she fiddled with her sleeves, trying to control her discomfort. "I could say the same to you, you're catching everyone's attention tonight."
Cole grinned and waved her off dramatically. "Are you saying I'm cute, Erin?"
Erisa scoffed at his antics and shook her head, laughing to herself. Cole was something else. "I'm assuming you think you are."
Cole's smile widened and gripped her wrist, pulling her in. "Only on the outside, Moonbeam."
He winked and without warning, dragged Erisa through the throng of people that danced and sang to the song playing throughout the bar.
Cole whipped around and grabbed both of Erisa's hands lifting them into the air to the flow of the music.
"Come on, Erin, dance with me." Cole sang a sweet tune and smiled down at her, drifting her around like he was the puppeteer and Erisa the puppet.
Erisa reluctantly followed his movements, letting herself sway in front of him and felt the nervous tingles ripple through her arms as he had yet to release her.
"I don't know how to dance," Erisa mumbled mindlessly.
Cole rolled his eyes and let loose of one hand as his fingers encircled her forefinger. "Twirl for me,"
Erisa reached her tiptoes as Cole twirled her around in a full circle and met his striking face once again.
"Good girl." Cole praised and urged her close. "You know, I think everyone's eyes are on you now."
Erisa didn't take kindly to that and stepped away from Cole with a forced smile. "Wanna get a drink?"
"You buying?"
Erisa rolled her eyes and turned away, gesturing Cole to the bar.
Cadence and the others would be near the Canus pack by now and preparing to cross the barrier into the land of chaos and cannibals. Erisa wanted to vomit at the thought of them coming across werewolves and lycans cannibalising each other but walking through the gates of hell, that would be something bound to happen.
All Erisa knew about the tradition was that it only occurred in their lycan and werewolf forms. For the hell of it.
Cole took a seat next to her and appeared collected. The Alpha of death, the one that exacted it, revelled in it and fed from it.
"What do you want to drink?" Erisa asked Cole.
"You."
Erisa turned to face him with a cool expression, brows rising as she felt the urge to throw a chair at him. Son of a bitch. "Huh?"
"Huh?" Cole taunted and brought his face closer to hers, scanning every detail of her face. "You have cold eyes, Erin. A pretty face, but cold eyes."
That's numbness jackass, Erisa wished to spit. Numbness that turned bitter and cold.
"Do I?" Erisa teased back and splayed her wrists on the bar bench as she rounded on him. "How so?"
Cole pressed forward and so quickly, Erisa could have missed it, he brushed the tip of his finger across her inner wrist, fanning his skin across a faint scar.
"Have you ever hurt yourself, Erin?"
Erisa bit back a gasp and snatched her wrist away from him, hating the feeling of his touch on her skin. Her hand latched around her left wrist, feeling her pulse spike up and realised she wouldn't be able to dig her way out of this.
It was so simple, pine for his attention and gather the information that was needed. But somehow, a part of Erisa's true and real life seemed to seep into the facade she was carrying in front of Cole.
She was supposed to be Erin, the flirty, teased-dressed and pretty-eyed girl that gave all her attention to Cole even if he was with other girls. She was supposed to fall for him, be easy to him and ... conquerable.
Not Erisa Jaeger. Not the girl that covered her body and hid behind Cadence to seek out the protection of the huntress that feared nothing. Erisa had snark, she had a say, but she also had more downfalls than uprisings.
Erisa wasn't supposed to reveal anything about herself to Cole, not the briefest and deepest pieces of information.
"It was an accident."
It was intentional, days after her attack, Cadence had gone on a hunt and Erisa felt the walls around her closing in. Suffocating her to the point of no return, nightmares barrelling in and shadows following her every move. There was no escape, the memories, the torment. Erisa drove a knife across her wrist that night and wished to never come back from it.
But she returned in a white room, in a hospital bed, the cut patched up and her uncle Frankie asking what led up to this. Erisa lied, fed into her uncle's worries about missing her dead dad and her mother that abandoned her.
Frankie urged Erisa to see a counsellor, she did and was able to seek a semblance of help from that. Cadence was around her more after that, her shadow that kept the other shadows away.
"Liar, liar pants on fire," Cole sang a dark chime and glared at her, not appreciating her fibs.
Erisa rolled her eyes and wished she had her leather jacket to keep her warm and safe. "Do you want a drink or not?"
Cole licked his lips, wearing a taunting expression and said, "A pint of beer, Moonbeam."
Erisa ordered that and brought herself a Coke, turning back around to face Cole with a flirty grin on her face. "So, why do you call me Moonbeam?"
Their drinks landed in front of them and Cole didn't hesitate in taking a swing, downing all of it in one go.
Erisa's eyes went round and Cole placed the glass down, wiping his mouth with an exhale.
"A beam of light that comes from the moon," Cole mused and gave Erisa a curious look. "And your eyes shine like the moon, Erin. Moonbeam."
Erisa sat frazzled with doubt. So sly and manipulative, and sadly enough, women fell for it. Fell for him. They were all victims at his hand and Erisa didn't want to think about being one of them.
A ray of light from the moon.
Erisa felt like messaging Cadence but held off on the idea. She needed to give the hunters time to find what they need from whatever Erisa couldn't find with Cole. Whatever it may be, she hoped it would be good, because she couldn't handle another second with a creature like this in front of her.
Another song drifted through the jukebox and Cole slammed his hand on the bench, jumping out of his seat. "Come on, lovely, we gotta dance to this one too."
Erisa stood up and laid out her palm to Cole, eyes that reminded him of the moon beaming down at him. "May I have this dance, Cole?"
Cole's reaction was immediate and desperate, slithering his hand into hers and tugging her along back to the dance floor.
"It will be a pleasure, Moonbeam."
Erisa gripped Cole's hand tightly, wanting it to cause him pain even when she knew it wouldn't.
The song Dancing Queen by Abba played through and Erisa nearly lost it, completely floored. Of all music, all raving songs that Cole wanted to dance to, it was this?
Erisa was positive he would never fail to amaze her, in the strangest ways possible.
"You can dance," Cole shouted over the music, grinning wildly at her, threading his hand through Erisa's fingers and pulling her close as bodies danced around them. "You can jive."
Erisa couldn't say she was having the time of her life, spending her night with a cannibalistic lycan wouldn't be a moment of prime but a stained memory she would never forget.
Cole twirled Erisa around like she was a puppet on strings connected to his fingers and twirled their arms together as they lost themselves in the beat of the music.
The dancing was foolish, whimsical, but wild and exhilarating.
As the song came to an end, the hymn fading, Cole picked Erisa up and gave her one final twirl.
Her head spun once her feet met earth and Cole's smoky laugh vibrated through her ears.
"You look worn out, darling—" Cole's sentence cut off into the air as he pulled a phone out from his pocket and turned away from Erisa to answer it.
Erisa stepped away from him, his hand falling from her waist and wondered why he would have a phone, a technological device, if he was tied to his lycan.
Even in such a short time, two encounters, Erisa had discovered Cole's love for women, alcohol and music, all human longings. He must be more bound to his humanity than he led others to believe.
"What the fuck do you mean three?"
Erisa blinked at that statement, a dark slither dripping from Cole's tongue as he spoke into the phone, trying to keep his voice stable.
Three?
Erisa clenched her jaw from making a move that could set him off because on their own accord, Cole's shoulders rolled back and a crack popped off into the air.
A sheer clue came to Erisa and she exhaled in disbelief from it. Cadence.
Cole inclined his head upon hearing her breath and turned to her, his storm eyes blinking back the darkness that threatened to pool across him.
"I'm on my way." Cole hung up the phone and pocketed it.
Erisa brushed her arms across the thin fabric of her sleeves and gave him a tight lip smile. "Something wrong?"
Cole looked ready to lunge, clamp his teeth on her and end her. At least, that was what Erisa thought he would do, but he merely stepped up to her.
"Can I have your number?" Cole simply asked.
Erisa tried not to steer away as she felt Cole breathe her in.
Play the game, play the game.
"Sure."
Her shaky hands stabbed into her leather jean pockets as she fought the urge to demand to know what was said in that phone call. Whatever it was, it had something to do with the Larren cousins and hybrid going into the pack. Did Rexton do something? An irreversible act that all of their lives were lost in the pits of hell?
Because that was what the Canus pack was. A pit of hell that was ignited in chaos and flames.
Erisa forced the digits of her phone number out of her mouth and Cole nodded in response.
Hopefully he dials the wrong number, Erisa wished and felt the air clear as Cole pushed away from her.
"I have to go," Cole announced.
"So soon?" Erisa asked, faking a pout and that got him, a deer in headlights.
Cole's face lit up and scanned her lips to her gaze that went doe-eyed for him.
"That's why I got your number, Angeleyes," Cole smirked and rounded past her, brushing his finger along her collarbone in a teasing caress. "I'll give you a call."
Cole left after that, his foul face and touch left in his wake.
——
What do you guys think of Cole? He's quite a fun character to write about. There are such complexities to him, varying from his playfulness and murderous tendencies.
Edited as best as I could.
— Caranyx.