-Alex-
I looked at myself in the mirror for perhaps the hundredth time that night and smiled a little. I never found myself to be attractive, but I had to say that I cleaned up nicely when I wanted to. It wasn't much, but I had shaved, showered, put on cologne, and even put in a little gel in my hair. I didn't slick it back of anything, just make it seem a little tamer than it's usual choppy mess.
Wearing a pair of darker jeans that I typically didn't wear too often, and an untucked maroon dress-shirt, I felt ready to go. I picked up a light leather jacket that I had found hanging in the back of my closet earlier and headed out to my jeep. I made it to the front door before my mom rounded a corner.
"And where are you going?" She asked, sounding suspicious.
"I'm just hanging out with Jack," I replied a little too quickly, not wanting to deal with her usual antics when I did anything regarding my love life.
She shook her head. "I smell you wearing cologne and you never wear a dress shirt. What's up?"
"I... uh..." I was saved by a text tone. I pulled it out if my pocket only to have it snagged by her. Good lord, she seemed to fast to be human sometimes.
"Mom! I'm going to be late!" I protested.
She takes one look at the text and raises an eyebrow. I felt like she was going to say something, but she closed her mouth, obviously considering it. She handed me my phone sighed.
"Thanks," I said, opening the door.
"Tell her I say 'hello'" she said, smirking a little.
I felt my face turn a few shades of red, before darting outside and to my jeep before something else came up.
~*~
When I reached the small restaurant, I smiled to myself. Amber had chosen a small mom and pop Italian restaurant. It was always good, but I only came here when I was on a group date or playing an awkward conversation buffer to a friend. It was very romantic and I had yet to see anyone ever coming by themselves. I pulled up in front of it and paused, checking my face, hair, teeth, whatever else I could in the small mirror. It had been a very long time since I had started to feel self-conscious. I wasn't anything close to a male model and I knew I had flaws, yet nothing ever quite gave me a reason to care.
Until then, obviously. The nerves were making my hands a little sweaty and I found myself shifting a lot in the driver's seat, even though I hadn't even walked in yet. I almost found myself feeling like I had the other night after the nightmare.
"Why am I freaking out now?" I whisper-yelled to myself, trying to calm down. A deep breath and a huff of personal annoyance later, I jumped out and headed towards the door. The night was definitely cooler, helping calm my nerves and snap me out of whatever self-doubting state I was in.
I was still a few minutes early, but I spotted Amber in one of the corner booths and found my feet heading her way. I only had to see and know it was her for the nerves to evaporate and the shaky feeling to subside.
She smiled widely when I sat down across from her.
'All worked up for nothing' Xavier mused. I tried not to roll my eyes.
"I was afraid you might be late," she teased.
I mockingly looked offended. "Me? Why I could never."
She laughed, "Hey, that's my line!"
I smiled back, simply shrugging. The waiter came by and took our order, giving me a chance to look at her. She was wearing only jeans and what I think girls called a blouse, and I saw her wearing a couple of nice owl-earrings. She was absolutely stunning.
'She'd look even better with nothing on,' Xavier commented.
'Shut it! I'm going to look like I'm crazy if I just start blushing for no reason!' I said, fighting to keep a straight face.
'You know I'm right! God I wonder just how sexy her body would be... she always wears too-'
"What's your favorite color?" Amber asked me suddenly.
"Black... why?"
She looked at me strangely. "Why black?"
I chuckled a little cockily. "Because I look good in it."
"I'm serious though. Why black?" She pried, rolling her eyes in amusement.
"When most people think black, they think dark, and death. I don't. I think of it like a shadow. A place to hide when the going gets rough, or when you need it to escape. It also serves as an advantage to go unseen." I explained.
"Huh..." Amber said, taking a small sip of her water. Fortunately, it was small for she turned about eight shades of red, before nearly choking on it.
Something I said?
"You okay?" I asked, passing her an extra napkin that was on the table
She nodded, taking it, still beet red. "Yeah... sorry. Um, favorite book?"
"Anything with mythology and or legends," I responded, eyeing her warily. I wondered what was going through that head of hers. "Why?"
"Favorite movie?"
"Top Gun, and why all the questions?"
Amber shrugged. "I guess... I guess I just want to know more about you. Favorite food?"
"Italian," I replied with a sarcastic smirk.
"Hilarious," she said, rolling her eyes. "Favorite sweet food?"
"Dark-chocolate."
"Season?"
"Fall."
"And finally," she said, "If your house caught on fire, and you had to choose one thing to save what would-?"
"You," I said before she could finish. I wasn't quite sure where that came from as she did say "thing," and not "person." It just popped into my head as if someone had said it for me
Silence. Figures.
I got a sly smile from the girl in front of me. "That would imply that I'd be living with you."
She got me there.
"Would you really mind such an idea?" I asked teasingly.
The blush that rose with the question followed by a brief spout of stuttering had me grinning like a fool. So instead of embarrassing myself and her even further, I quickly changed the topic, firing all the same questions back at her.
"Blue, because it represents a lot. Like a clear sky or nice rivers and oceans. Fall as well, because I love the color of the trees and the weather is always the way I like it. I don't read too much, but it would have to be anything with fantasy, as I am one of the few that still wishes to find her knight-in-shining-armor. I love any and all Disney movies, and if you disrespect one, I will find you and make you pay dearly. My favorite food... yes I'm a sucker for pasta. I don't know why I just love it. And I will give in to anything you want me to do, as long as it comes with a tub of chocolate mint Ice-cream."
I felt myself laughing by the time she was finished.
"What's so funny?" She asked.
I shook my head. "I guess I just think you're god damned cute when you do... anything really, and that I really, really like you. It's awesome just to talk to you or even just to be with you. So why am I laughing? 'Cause I'm just downright happy."
The words tumbled from my lips faster than I could stop them, yet I didn't find myself caring. I sat there, watching her cute little lips split into a large smile on her face. She was so beautiful every time she did that. I know that, even if everything I said was a sappy mess that would have had me shaking my head otherwise, it was all true. It seemed to make her happy and in that moment, that was all I cared about.
The rest of dinner went pretty smoothly after that.
We were walking in the park when it happened.
I thought a small walk around would be nice afterward. Nice ended up being an understatement. After only a few minutes of just holding hands, it soon turned into a PG-13 make-out session. It was getting late, and although it was a Friday night, the park was deserted, so I didn't worry too much.
I was kissing down Amber's neck, savoring how good her skin tasted. The moans that she was giving me were driving me wild. Before I knew it though, she quickly whipped me behind her and was looking around frantically.
"Amber?" I asked, "What's wrong."
I was a little startled by the quick actions, my mind coming out of a lust-filled haze. If she was a succubus it would have explained a lot...
She didn't reply. She only kept muttering to herself about how it couldn't be happening now.
I was about to ask her again when I heard a twig to my left snap. I whirled to the spot, unconsciously putting an arm around Amber. Xavier was quiet. Not absent, but silent. A sense of focused and deadly calm seemed to flood through me, making me feel alert yet relaxed. A strange combination that had the hairs of my skin standing on end. This wasn't going to end well.
"My, my, my. What do we have here?" A gruff voice said. A tall, well-built man stepped out of the tree line and into the pale moonlight. He was holding some sort of hunting rifle in his hands and it was pointed right at Amber. "Looks like the bitch finally got herself a chew-toy," he snickered.
I felt myself growl loudly and I pulled a slightly shocked Amber behind me. I no longer had the sense to ask questions, feeling detached as if I was watching myself. I wasn't in control anymore. Some kind of instinct was; the instinct that felt dreadfully familiar.
"Oh? So you are something." He said, directing it at me. You were always the tricky case. Well, no matter, Caleb will pay well for both of your heads."
As he raised his rifle, I shoved Amber out if the way, only to get hit in the side by something. I didn't feel it at first, but a searing pain came forward, followed by the feeling of some warm liquid pouring down my side. I looked down to see that the man had shot me. As crazy as it would sound, I didn't care. Amber's safety came first.
The man watched in shock as I lunged at him. He didn't even react, seeming motionless as I grabbed the rifle from him, whirled around, and shot him in the thigh, where I know it would hurt most. Life seemed to animate back into him as he bent over, where I rammed the butt end of the rifle into his head, leaving him out cold.
I knew wasn't doing this. I felt as though I was pushed to the sidelines of my body, and I was merely a witness to what was happening. My head turned to Amber, who was looking at me in shock.
"There are others. You get away, while I lead them off. They will smell my blood and follow me." I said. I said it but the voice didn't belong to me. It was calm, dark, and far more rough than my own.
"Xavier?" Amber asked softly, hesitantly and uncertainty filling her voice.
My head nodded, and I ran off.
'Xavier?' I tried to ask but heard no sound.
'Sorry, Alex. But I have to do this.' Came his familiar voice, just like it used to. But I wasn't in control. I was just a passenger as my body continued to run into the woods.
What happened next was only up to my imagination, as there seemed to be a deep fog in my memory. It was like when you suddenly wake up in the night and you don't remember falling asleep or opening your eyes. Just an absence of what happened in the time you weren't conscious.
And then, I came out of it and found hell.
There was blood everywhere.
I couldn't seem to grasp anything that was happening, my mind still in a fuddled daze. I jumped as another gun-shot rang through the air. There had already been so many gun-shots, I knew that but couldn't actively remember any. I held my side, gasping for air as another wave of pain racked my body. Being shot sucked. And it didn't seem to be a regular bullet either. Where I was bleeding was steaming, and oozing a silvery liquid.
Just great. And to top it off was the fact that I didn't know where Amber ran off to. I just told her to run, but it's like she knew something. I didn't know what, but she didn't completely freak out when she saw what was happening. Not like she should have. I struggled to stand, the pain causing me to bite my lip until it started to bleed. As if I wasn't bleeding enough already.
I turned around and faced the dark woods, peaking out from behind the tree I found myself leaning against. Motionless bodies lay everywhere, all ripped apart from... something. I prayed to god that it wasn't me. I didn't know what happened in that blank spot of my memory. I squinted through the trees when I saw a pale shadow moving. It came closer, and I started to back up a little. I stumbled on an unseen body and fell back hard. Pain rolled through me like a burning fire, causing the edges of my vision to blur. Trying to ignore the pain, I scooted even further away. The adrenaline of fear pulsing through my body. The form stopped a mere few feet in front of me. It was a dark silver wolf, with a white tipped tail, and frost blue eyes. It only looked a little bigger than the ones that usually were around here. I felt fear amplify in my chest at the sight, but some small voice told me that it would be okay. That I could trust this wolf with my life. But fear had taken its firm grip in my heart.
But everything vanished at the next sight. The wolf turned. Like, it stood up and very quickly took human form. One minute was a wolf, then next was of a human girl.
It was my Amber.
And she was standing stark naked in front of me.
Confusion and blood loss finally took its grip on me, and I passed out. Darkness for once, becoming a welcoming bliss.