Captivated (22 page)

It didn’t take us long to get to the entrance of The Blue Hole. I thought back to the deer, never had I seen such marks. Regular animals didn’t make puncture wounds like that. It just wasn’t normal. Dean didn’t seem like he cared too much…or he didn’t want to talk about it. Something had sucked the blood right out of the deer. And why didn’t Dean want me to see it? He was eager for me to get away from it.

We drove down the winding street trail, past the neighborhood houses. The pet cemetery was to our right. It had to have been here before the houses. Why would they even have one where kids played? Passing it gave me a creepy feeling that made my skin crawl. It reminded me about a movie I saw about a pet cemetery, which left an impression on me when I was a child. I never watched it again out of fear.

We slowly drove by the river. It was a natural spring with a man made barrier across the center. On one side the water was deep. The water cascaded over the other side of the barrier. It looked like a calm waterfall landing in a creek. A child was playing in the shallow side. He looked a little over five years old. He splashed his feet in the water as he walked in it with a long stick at hand. The stick had string hanging off the tip of it, a child-made fishing pole. I searched for a parent, but there wasn’t anyone else around. Although the shallow water didn’t cause a threat to him, he still shouldn’t have been around it alone.

We drove past the barrier and headed up the hill to the seating area. There were many benches with grills beside them scattered along the waterside. Some were shaded with enormous trees and others were in the direct sunlight. Dean chose one in the sunlight.

“Can we go to one of the shaded ones?” I asked while blocking my eyes from the sun.

“You want to be in the shade.” Dean stated and scanned the ones that were in the shade. After he paused and thought about it, he agreed and took me and the bike to one.

I liked the one he picked. It was just one bench seat, a trash can, and a grill. As soon as he stopped the bike, I jumped off, just missing his extended arm to help me down.
Ooops. I needed to get used to that whole gentlemen stuff coming from him.
He nodded his head and reached into one of his cubbies. I took in the scenery. Green, green, and some more green. Everywhere you looked, there were enormous green trees. Some had ivy crawling up the trunks. There was luscious grass blanketing the ground everywhere. I loved Texas!

Dean set down a paper bag on the bench top then walked over to the grill. He picked up a stick from the floor and poked at the charcoal at the bottom of the grill. There were a few pieces that were still intact. He pulled a small matchbox from his shorts and threw a lit match in. The small flame ignited the coal. Dean came back to the bench and opened the bag. I observed him quietly. He pulled out a tiny tin the size of my fist and set it down on the table. The next thing he pulled out was a bag of Hershey’s kisses. Dean began peeling off the foil wrappings of my temptation. His hands were quick, I would have asked him if he needed help, but I would’ve just fumbled on the wrapping and made a fool of myself and possibly slow down the process.

Every kiss he unwrapped, he threw in the tin. When he filled it up with chocolate, he took it over to the grill. The flame had died down a little by this time. Dean set the tin on the grill and walked back to me and sat down.

I took this opportunity to ask him some questions about himself. I felt so left behind from the years that had passed by us. I needed to catch up.

“You live with your aunt right?” I asked.

Dean set his elbows on the table top and cupped one fist in the other palm. His gaze was boring into me. “I live with my aunt.” he stated.

“How come I’ve never seen her around? This is a small town, I usually bump into everyone from time to time.” I said.

“She’s out of town most of the time, on business. She only stays a couple of days out of the week if she has a chance. I do all the shopping. There’s no need for her to leave the house.” Dean said quickly. Then he waited.

I heard a woman yell out a name. Daniel I think it was? I turned to find a woman stomping across the creek to where the little boy was playing. She was telling him, he wasn’t supposed to be out there by himself. She yelled out a few more things to the boy that I couldn’t make out. Then she pointed to the trees and what I heard put me on alert. She shouted very clearly, as if it were an announcement that Dean and I were supposed to hear. She said,
‘there are monsters in the shadows.’
Then she dragged the boy away.

Dean kept his gaze on me. He let out a huff, as if he knew some more questions were coming his way. They definitely were.

“Something is strange.” I wrinkled my forehead. “It’s off somehow.” I thought out loud. He waited for a question, but I couldn’t conjure one up at the moment. I wasn’t sure where to start. I chose one that seemed easy.

“Why do you always send me home when it starts to get dark?” I asked.

“Look what happened last time you were alone in the dark,” Dean continued, “some ass-hole tried to
hurt
you.” he said through his teeth.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“Anyone could have heard you screaming. I wasn’t out there for a particular reason if that’s what you’re implying.” Dean snapped.

“But you were there. Out in the forest. Why?” I asked.

“Next question.” Dean said.

“One time,” I hesitated, “one time I saw you at The Impulse. You were in the alley with some big sword. There was a couple there.”
I couldn’t believe I was asking him this. Here goes.
“Did you use the sword on them?” I asked.

“No. I don’t go around hurting people with a sword Lina.” Dean said sharply.

People…he said people. “But what about vampires?” I blurted wanting to suck the ridiculous question back in.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Do you…uh…use it on vampires?” I softly asked hoping he didn’t hear the question.

“Are you really going to play a game of twenty questions with me or are you going to enjoy the day I have planned for us?” Dean asked. There wasn’t annoyance on his face, it was more like worry. Like he was afraid to answer my questions.

Dean reached into the bag and pulled out a spoon. Then he rose up and walked over to the grill to check on the chocolate. After stirring for a couple of minutes, he grabbed the tin and brought it over to the table. The melted chocolate reached my nose. Dean pulled out a zip lock bag with strawberries in it. The stems were already cut and they looked moist, like he washed them before placing them in the bag. Dean pulled a small paper plate out of the bag and pushed it aside. He set the plate down, dipped a strawberry in the chocolate, and placed it on the plate. He continued with the rest of the strawberries and finally looked up at me when he was finished.

“Wow. They look delicious.” I said while reaching for one. They were already cooled down, but the chocolate was still melted. I didn’t want to wait for them to harden. As I chewed on the first bite, the melted chocolate swirled with the juice of the strawberry, taking over my mouth. When I finished that first bite, my mouth watered for the next. I had lost myself in the flavor. When I finished, I looked at Dean and noticed he hadn’t taken a bite of one. He was gazing at me with a smile.

“What? Are you going to watch me stuff my face?” I asked him wondering why he hadn’t reached for one.

“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.” Dean gave a sexy chuckle.

Had he been serious? He has watched me stuff my face at school? Crap! What if I was being really sloppy!

“Did you know about your O.C.D.?” Dean asked.

“O.C.D.?” I tilted my head to the side. What was he talking about?

“You have a particular way of eating.” Dean said with a smile.

“I chew my food just like everyone else. What are you talking about? I don’t have an O.C.D.” I said.

“You pick at your food and eat at equal portions. Like, when you eat a salad. You pick at it with your fork so that you have one of each item. A cucumber, a tomato, and a couple of lettuce pieces. And when there are no more equal portions, you stop eating.” Dean chuckled.

“Wha-” My jaw dropped. I wasn’t sure if it was because of this weird discovery. I did recall doing that with my food, but it came naturally to me and I never realized what I was doing exactly. Or was it because it seemed that Dean knew every detail about me and had been watching me for some time when I thought I didn’t exist to him?

To change the subject, “So, are you going to eat some strawberries?” I asked.

“No.” Dean said with ease.

“Why not?” I asked while reaching for another one.

“I’m on a diet.” Dean said.

“So am I.” Before I placed the strawberry in my mouth I continued, “You better eat one before I start asking questions about your
special diet
.” I bit half of the strawberry and chewed roughly as I dared him with my eyes.

Dean stared back with a challenge in his eyes. Without breaking gaze with me, he grabbed a strawberry and plopped the whole thing in his mouth. He was chewing it slowly as it rested tightly on the inside of one of his cheeks. His jaw muscles were working at it. Usually, it was kind of gross watching a guy eat. There was the chewing sound, the smacking, it wasn’t something that I liked watching. But with Dean…the way I could see the skin of his cheek formed around the food and the way his jaw muscles were working together to eliminate the food was…well…cute. His eyes were still on me. When he swallowed, his eyes smiled. Being with him and seeing that happiness in him filled me with peace.

“Where were you going to take me?” I asked.

“After we eat, I’m planning on taking you to the Space Cavern. I heard you say you wanted to go there.” Dean said quickly.

Markus was telling me the other day that the Space Cavern had been closed for a couple of weeks. A dead body was found down there. He said her arms and her neck were mangled. Why would Dean want to take me there if there was going to be no one around? A quiver of fear shot through me. The woman they found down there, she had puncture wounds on her. They didn’t describe them with detail, but I was betting they were the same as the deer’s I found. Was that why Markus said to be careful while I was with him? Was Dean really a vampire? No. Impossible!
Okay…breath! Breath.

We both exchanged looks in silence. I studied his eyes, the green in his eyes were sometimes so dark they looked nearly black. On other days, like today, they glittered like a lit up Christmas tree. He was strong enough to punch through brick walls. I never saw him around at night. When I did, he was (according to Markus) making people (or vampires) disappear.

I let out a huff and forced a smile. “You’re a vampire.” I stated.

Dean tilted his chin up and smiled. “I have no fangs.” he said through his teeth.

I examined the glistening white canines. They were normal, just like mine. “You retract them when you don’t need them.” I said.

Dean moved across the table and put his face up to mine. His mouth was a torturous breath away from my own. “Then why haven’t I sucked your blood Lina?” He whispered right before pressing his soft lips against mine. Then he inched towards my neck and lingered his lips on my pulse. His soft breathing tickled my skin and triggered a chill that shot up my spine. My blood jumped to a rush and began to throb for him. If he were a vampire, I swear I’d let him suck me. “Why aren’t I biting you right now?” He whispered. It took everything I had in me not to melt into the bench and land as a puddle on the ground.

“There! That! You see what you did?” I exclaimed and pointed at him with accusation.

Dean pulled back and sat back down, cocked his head and raised his eyebrow.

“You vampires are known to hypnotize us
humans!
That’s why I always feel like I’m floating around you!” I leaned forward crossing my arms and setting my elbows on the table. I smiled and awaited his reply.

“I do that to you?” Dean asked in a whimper. He blissfully smiled and looked down at the table to hide it. He blushed as he looked back up at me.

“I don’t want to come off as strong, but do you watch me at night?” I asked.

Immediately his smile disappeared and a pressed line took its place. “What do you mean?”

“Well, every time you send me home, eventually I look out the window and see someone standing there.”

Dean shot up. “Why haven’t you told me about this?” He snapped.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think much of it. I just thought it was coincidental. For all I know it could be someone going for a walk. Forget I said anything.” I snapped back.

“Lina! It could be a-” Dean stopped and took a breath.

“A what? A
vampire?
” I teased.

“I’m done with this. I’m taking you back.” Dean spat out while walking to the grill. He scooped up some dirt with his hand and threw it in the dying flame. It was scary how pensive he was as he stared down at the smoke. It was as if he had an important decision to make. One that wasn’t easy.

Once again…I was left with no answers.