Note: this story has been published through Self Publishing. Keep in mind that the Wattpad version is only the first draft! For the polished version without the many mistakes, buy a copy!
Where can you order a copy, you ask? Please use Create Space, because they give me more royalties!
Create Space: https://www.createspace.com/4799393
On Amazon (but they barely give me any royalties).
Don't hesitate to message me about where to buy it!
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The first fifteen minutes of the dance were just awful. Simon and I were stuck at the back of the room, right next to the tables that were loaded with snacks. People kept bumping into us without even apologizing. But we couldn’t go anywhere else because we’d have to go across the overcrowded dance floor to get to the other, less crowded side.
After a while, Eve and Drew came to talk to us and they knew a short-cut. There was a back door and if we just walked across the courtyard for a minute, we could enter the room at the other side. Once we were there, things got better. Simon was in good spirits, talking and joking all the time. We were actually enjoying ourselves. I even overheard a girl wondering who the hot guy with the freaky vamp girl was.
“I’m going to get some drinks, all right?” Simon offered after a while, touching my arm for a moment. “I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks,” I replied, relaxing against the wall. “I’ll be right here.”
The second he left, someone else took his chance to hold me company. “You look absolutely amazing tonight, my dearest Demona.” A low voice sounded in my ear, making cold shivers run all over my body. “Gold is most definitely your color.”
“Eros,” I said with a sigh. “It’s really not all that polite to just start talking right into someone’s ear. You could try the good old way of approaching someone at normal speed and from the front. You might like it.”
“I just paid you a pretty nice compliment,” Eros commented with a winning smile. “I’m not gonna get a thanks for that?”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks, how kind of you.” I looked around to see if Simon was anywhere near with our drinks, but he was nowhere to be seen. Couldn’t I just get lucky for once?
“Would you allow me one dance?” He actually bowed in a graceful and old-fashioned way, his dark eyes twinkling. “Please?”
“I was under the impression you had a date tonight,” I replied, irritated. There was nothing I hated more than a guy who treated his date badly. I once went on a date with this guy from my football team when I was about fourteen, and he flirted with the girl behind the counter at the movie theatre. I still haven’t got a clue what’s so hot about a girl in an ugly yellow uniform selling you shitty popcorn, but apparently, she was more interesting than me. When he made me pay for the popcorn, I got so mad I actually hit him. He swore to all of his friends he’d received his black eye from a huge guy and that he’d won the fist fight – I don’t think anyone believed him though. And I’d learned that when a guy doesn’t treat his date right, he shouldn’t have gone out with her. Guys who go out with girls they don’t even like are worth absolutely nothing.
“Yeah, but so do you and you’re still here talking to me.” Eros wiggled his eyebrows and took my left wrist in his cold hand. “Come on, allow me one dance.”
I jerked back my wrist and stepped away from him. “If you really think that this is the way to treat your date, then you are even more stupid than I thought.”
“You don’t even like the girl,” Eros protested.
“I am not going to dance with you and I am only talking to you because I know there’s no fucking way you’ll just shut the hell up and leave me alone. So what’s the point in ignoring you? I am here with Simon and you know it.” I turned around, hoping he’d just let me stalk out of there and look for Simon. Of course, I had no such luck.
“You are here with Simon, I get it. But you’re not his girlfriend, are you?”
“That’s none of your business, actually,” I retorted, smiling sweetly. That took him by surprise: he looked seriously dumb-struck. That had been the effect I’d been going for; it might allow me to get away from him. I was in no mood for Eros tonight.
“Well, it seems your date is coming back,” he spat. “Enjoy your evening.” With that, Eros stalked off.
“Demona, here,” Simon was suddenly right in front of me, handing me my drink. “Did Eros bug you much?”
I rolled my eyes. “What else to expect from him, huh?”
“Yeah, I saw him just now, figured you’d want to give him a piece of your mind before I joined you.”
I grinned, throwing an arm around Simon’s shoulders. “Actually, I was kind of desperately wishing for you to get back as fast as you could.”
“No, you weren’t,” he disagreed, frowning.
“What-” I started, but he didn’t let me finish.
“Well, at first you did, but when I came near I’m sure I felt…” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
“What’s going on?” I demanded. “What the hell are you talking about, Simon Summers?”
He shook his head again. “I don’t know. I just… I thought I knew what you wanted.”
“Well…” I thought about what he’d said for a moment. “I did want to give him a piece of my mind, I guess. I like making him feel sorry about the way he sometimes – well, most of the time really – treats people. But I also wanted you to get back.”
“Ah,” was all he said.
“Now, let’s go dance, shall we?” I proposed with a bow – that was a thing I’d just picked up from Eros. The guy might be a total nuisance, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t steel some of his less lame moves, now did it?
“I’d be honored,” Simon replied with a smile, gulping down his Coke. “This is a dance after all.”
“This is the last dance, people, make it count,” the DJ announced through the speakers. A really cheesy song from the movie Titanic sounded all around us.
“It’s already the end of the dance?” Simon asked, surprised.
“Are they seriously playing this cheesy song?” I asked, rolling my eyes. But no matter how cheesy the song was, I put my arms around Simon’s neck anyway.
He looked surprised. “Slow dancing? Really?”
“Well, you are my date…” I said, winking. “Come on, just one song.”
“Fine, but only because you ask it so nicely.”
Before we’d had time to actually dance, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around to face a tall girl in a dress that barely covered anything. Yet, no matter how trashy she looked, I couldn’t deny the fact that she was simply stunning. I immediately realized who she was - Eros’ date. The tension I felt coming from Simon told me he was as aware of her identity as I was. What was she doing here, interrupting me dancing with Simon? From across the crowded room, I caught Eros’ steady gaze. His eyes were definitely smoldering and even from this distance it was undeniable that he was smirking.
“How may I help you?” I asked in my nicest tone of voice.
The girl looked dreamily down on me, her eyelids drooping. “Shall we swap partners?” she asked, sounding perky in spite of her vague expression.
One look at Simon was enough to confirm what I already suspected: she was compelled. Eros had used his mind control on yet another girl. “Fine,” I decided. “What’s your name?”
The girl blinked, taking a second to recall her own name. “Sheila.”
“Demona!” Simon yelled after me when I stalked away, but I didn’t listen. I would give that bastard a piece of my mind – and maybe a knee in the groin, just for good measure.
It took Eros only a split second to reach me and steer me to a corner of the room. He smiled down on me, his hands on my hips. “So… I didn’t think you’d leave Simon for me, but I am glad you did.”
“How could you control Sheila’s mind? She’s your date for God’s sake!” I yelled in his face. I was beyond reason now, my hands shaking with fury. I took a step away from his cold hands, bumping into the wall.
Eros’ eyes widened for a second, but he caught himself and smirked. “You don’t even like the girl,” he protested for the second time that night. “Besides, I just wanted to dance with you.”
I narrowed my eyes and looked him up and down. There was something wrong here, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. When I told him he’d compelled the girl, he’d looked… astounded, I guess. But that couldn’t be, now could it?
“Why did Sheila leave you right before the last dance started?” I asked, my arms folded.
“No idea,” Eros said lightly, closing the gap between us. “She just stalked away. Guess she caught me staring at you and decided it was time to tell you to back off or something. What did she tell you?”
“She told me she wanted to swap partners,” I replied, watching his face very closely. I could swear I saw him swallow. “And she seemed a bit off. Like someone… clouded her mind or something.”
“Well, blood loss can do that to people. Especially to weak little girls like her. I’m sure you would have taken it gracefully.” His voice was harsh – even for him.
“Hmm – that’s only supposed to happen when you take way too much blood,” I mused, bluffing. “Maybe I should tell a teacher – she could pass out any moment. Or you could go find her and let her take some of your blood, to make it even.”
Eros laughed. “No one has ever taken my blood, sweet Demona. I’m a taker, not a giver.”
“Well, I figured that out the day I met you,” I spat. I was pissed, but at the same time I had the feeling something was wrong. Maybe I was only imagining it, but I had the faint impression Eros was only acting so unkind to cover up the fact he hadn’t meant to control Sheila’s mind. But maybe that was just wishful thinking.
“Are you going to dance with me or not, 'cause if you’re not, I might as well find me some other girl and do some more disgusting bloodsucking.” His face was expressionless. “Nothing else I love more than draining hot girls.”
I took a deep breath, deciding to trust my instincts. “Look, how about I’ll owe you that dance. You can come get it next dance. Right now, I think we had better go outside for a moment. You really need to come clean, Eros.”
“Come clean?” he asked me, laughing. “I’m not doing drugs or anything.”
“You need to tell someone the truth and I’m kind of the only person who’ll actually listen to you. Who’ll at least try to help you, who will even believe you.” I raised my eyebrows at him, seeing in his eyes I’d been right all along. There was slight panic in there, just barely covered by rudeness and darkness.
“I hate it when you’re right,” Eros sneered, rolling his eyes to cover up his embarrassment. “Fine, we’ll go outside and spend some quality time together. But don’t expect me to cry – I can’t pull off the puffy red eyes look.”
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Where can you order a copy of this book, you ask?
Create Space: https://www.createspace.com/4799393
On Amazon (but they barely give me any royalties).
Don't hesitate to message me about where to buy it!
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