"No! Juno, get off him!" a voice shouted and the dog leaped off of me. I sat up and removed my glasses rubbing the slobber off my face with my sleeve. I looked up to see a handsome young man clutching at the dog's collar with one hand and holding his other out to me.
"I'm so sorry. She's usually shy around strangers," he said and I just stared at him. His light brown hair ruffled in the light spring breeze, his hazel eyes glittering in the sunlight, his tanned hand still outstretched towards me. My eyes drifted down and I noticed that he was naked to the waist, his skin shining with a thin layer of sweat, a towel slung over his right shoulder. The fact that I hadn't eaten today suddenly dawned on me in the worst kind of way.
I pulled my gaze away from him and shook my head suddenly flustered replying, "It's alright. I-I work at a vet's office so she probably just smells the animals." I ignored his hand, fearing what might happen if I touched him, and pushed myself up off the concrete driveway. His hand fell almost disappointedly to his side and he pat Juno on the head.
I stepped away from him and towards Charlotte saying, "I thought you said Octavia would just be living with you." She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could the young man exclaimed, "I thought I recognized you!" He let go of the dog which immediately came after me and threw his arms around Octavia. She grimaced.
"You've gotten so big! You were just a little girl the last time I saw you!" he said hugging her tight. I almost laughed at her expression. Charlotte sighed and looked at me saying, "This is my oldest son, Nikolai. He moved in after my husband left. I have two other children, Celeste and August, that are Octavia's age, but they are at school right now." I nodded slowly. Nikolai let go of Octavia and glanced at his mom before looking at me and asking, "So you're the guy who killed my uncle?"
"Uh..." I glared down at the ground and bit down on my tongue. I didn't know what to say. There was nothing I could say. I heard him step over to me. I could feel the heat coming off his skin, smell his sweat, hear his heart thumping slow and steady in his chest.
"My dad left us six months ago...and now this. It's been really hard for her," he said softly. He didn't sound angry. Just sad. That made it worse. This man made me feel ten times guiltier than Charlotte did.
"We weren't really close after Aunt Julie died. He sort of retreated. I don't think he and mom had spoken for nearly five years, but...he was family, you know." I did know.
"I'm sorry," I said and he sighed. I couldn't look at him. There was a moment of silence that seemed to last a decade.
"How did you do it?" he asked, his voice quiet.
"Niki!" his mother cried and I finally looked up. Not at her, but at him. He had his arms crossed over his bare chest, his biceps flexing slightly and he was staring at me. There was no anger in his expression.
"I sucked the life out of him," I replied my gaze locked with his.
"Why?"
"He had a broken bottle to Octavia's throat. I didn't think, I just reacted and got stabbed in the chest for my efforts." His eyes drifted down to my chest.
"It must have hurt," he said and I didn't know if he was talking about me being stabbed or his uncle having his life sucked out.
"He didn't feel a thing," I said. That was a lie. He probably felt a lot in those last moments. Mind-numbing pleasure followed by the sudden realization that he was going to die and then nothing.
"I meant you." He reached out as if to touch my chest, but then stopped and his fingers curled back into a fist.
"Niki, it's nearly two-thirty. Can you pick up your sisters?" Charlotte asked and he replied, "I was in the middle of a workout." He continued staring at me his hand still raised. I felt my heart pound in my chest, my breath catching in my throat. What was wrong with me? I went days without feeding on a regular basis, but this man made it feel like it had been weeks.
"Nikolai," she said employing a distinctly mom-ish voice. He sighed and his hand fell. He looked away from me and replied, "Yeah, let me get changed." He whistled for the dog and then went into the house. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and walked over to Octavia. She raised an eyebrow at me and asked, "Are you okay?" I nodded slowly before turning to Charlotte.
"Can I see inside?" She pursed her lips for a moment and then nodded gesturing for us to enter the house. Juno was waiting just on the other side, her entire butt wagging in excitement. I smiled and held my hand out for her to smell. She licked me joyfully and rubbed her body along my leg. I scratched her neck underneath her bright red collar. Octavia tried to pet her as well, but the dog edged away from her. She sighed and motioned, "You've got the mojo." I laughed and Charlotte glanced at us. A strange expression slid across her face, but it disappeared before I could figure out what it was.