The Purity of Blood: Volume I (17 page)

“Well, it’s probably
not the healthiest breakfast in the world, but you could do worse.”

He took out a
can of the fruit cocktail, opened it and poured it in a bowl.
 
Putting it down in front of me with a spoon,
he said “I hope you like fruit.”

I didn’t
mind.
 
I was so hungry I could have cared
less as long as it made my stomach stop growling.
 
He took a seat across the table from me and
watched as I quickly devoured the entire bowl in silence.
 
As I finished, he got up, opened the other
can and walked back to refresh my bowl.
 
Again he sat down and watched me eat in silence.
 
As I ate the last piece of pineapple, my
raging hunger had been abated, for the time being anyway.

“Wow,” he said
quietly.
 
“You really seemed to enjoy
that.
 
I’ve never seen anyone eat so
intently before.”

Getting the last
of the syrup up with a spoon, I looked up at him from under a fallen lock of my
hair.
  

“Do you make a
habit of staring at people while they eat?”
 
I blurted out as a vision of him in the dining hall appeared in my head.

Suddenly he
looked embarrassed.

“No … forgive
me.
 
It’s just … I guess I’m something of
a student of human nature.”

In the mood to
change the subject, I asked “So what were you working on when I came in?”

“Oh that, I was
prepping my lectures for next week.
 
I
have my homework too.”
 
He paused for a
second, appraising me.
 
“You know, if I
take you back to campus looking like that and with a sprained ankle, I think
people will talk.”

“What are you
talking about?”

Raising an
eyebrow, he answered “I’m guessing you haven’t looked in a mirror yet.”

I hadn’t, but
could only guess what I must have looked like.

“Why don’t you
go take a shower and wash up.
 
Give me
your shirt and sweater.
 
I’ll wash them
as well, that way you can look presentable.
 
I wouldn’t want your friends thinking I’d abandoned you in the forest
and made you walk back to town on your own.”

“They wouldn’t
think that.”

“Why not?
 
I know I’m not – the most popular guy on
campus.”

“Well, for one,
they don’t know I’m with you.”
 

Open mouthed, he
stared across the table at me, shocked at my answer.
 

“I never
bothered to tell them I was going with you.
 
They still think I went hiking alone.”

Now he looked
really concerned, angry almost.
 
He got
to his feet and began to pace the length of the kitchen as he ran his fingers
through his hair.

“You should be
more careful, Sara.
 
You don’t know
me.
 
What if I was some ax murderer and
lured you into the woods?
 
I could have
buried your body up in those hills and no one ever would have found you.”
 

His voice
started to grow angrier, and with his hands now squarely on his hips, he stared
down at me.
 

“You have to be
more careful about your safety, Sara.
 
You have no idea what’s out there.
 
You! Of all people have to always be on the lookout.
 
Don’t go anywhere without telling your
friends where you’re going and when you expect to be back.
 
Is your phone in your backpack?” he
demanded.
 
I nodded yes.
 
“Good.
 
It probably doesn’t work too well up here, but you should always have it
nearby.”
 

I sat there
shocked.
 
I think my mouth was hanging
open.
 
Why was he so angry at me?

“Go take a
shower,” he ordered dismissively, pointing towards the back of the house.
 
“There’s a bathroom off the bedroom you were
in.
 
Take some clothes out of the closet
to wear until I can get you yours back.
 
Leave your dirty ones on the bed and I’ll collect them.”
 

Then he waved his hand for me to go.
 
Too tired to argue with him, I got up and
silently did as I was told.

There had been a bathroom off the
back of the bedroom I’d woken up in.
 
I
must have been too out of it to notice before.
 
After I lifted my tee-shirt over my head, I opened the closet and pulled
out a shirt to put on.
 
It felt nice,
like silk, so I looked at the label.
 
Armani.
 
I rolled my eyes, I
should have guessed.
 
Daniel always
dressed impeccably, like a model in some glossy, high fashion magazine.
 
I put the shirt back, not wanting to ruin
something I couldn’t afford to pay for, but ended up pulling it back out again
anyway.
 
Upon closer examination,
everything else was of the same quality.
 
Fortunately, the royal blue long sleeve, button down was long enough to
be a dress on me.

First thing I
did when I walked into the bathroom was look in the mirror.
 
Now I could see what he’d been talking
about.
 
My hair was a disaster.
 
It still retained a few stray bits of leaves
and twigs and my face was stained with dirt in several places.
 
It looked like there had probably been a lot
more, but it had been washed away.
 

By Daniel?
I wondered.
 

I had scratches
all over my arms and chest from the thrashing of the branches as I’d tumbled
down the hill.
 
I really did look like
something the cat dragged in.
 
Something
dead he dragged in.

Sitting down on
the edge of the exquisitely tiled tub, I unwrapped the bandage around my ankle
and hopped in the shower.
 
The warm water
felt good as it made its way down my body.
 
I was grateful when it slowly began to ease my aches and pains.
 
I took my time lathering up my hair, and as I
leaned back into the stream of water to rinse, it felt like I was washing away
a hundred different layers of grime.
 
It
felt wonderful.
 

When I finished,
I dried off with a fluffy white towel and hopped out of the shower.
 
Since I couldn’t find a blow drier, I wrapped
my hair up in a towel and put on the huge men’s dress shirt.
 
Still exhausted, I sat down on the edge of
the tub, took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
 

What am I doing here?
 
I’m practically naked in a professor’s
house!
 
I’m really not that kind of girl.
 

I sat there for
a few minutes too tired to move.
 
The
water had relaxed every single muscle in my body and all I really wanted to do
was go back to bed and curl up in a ball for the rest of the day.
 
Once under the covers, I could allow myself
to slip effortlessly into unconsciousness.
 
I could feel it calling me even now.

I wondered if
any of my friends had noticed my absence.
 
It seemed unlikely.
 
We’d all gone
our separate ways for the weekend and the earliest I’d have expected to see any
of them was at dinner tonight.
 

What would I
tell them?
 

That I’d gone
hiking with Daniel?
 

That I’d spent
the night at his house?
 

That he had a
refrigerator full of blood in the back of a dark closet?
 

I’d have to come
up with some explanation for my ankle.
 
I
was going to be limping around for a few days at the very least.
 
Daniel said it was sprained, but I was pretty
sure it was broken.
 
I couldn’t think
about it now, not here, not dressed like this.

I must have been
sitting there for a long time because there was a soft knock on the door.

“Are you alright
in there?
 
You’ve been in there for a
while.”

I looked
up.
 
“Yes, sorry.
 
I guess I lost track of time.”

“Are you
decent?”

I guessed I was
and said as much.
 
He slowly opened the
door and peered in.
 
As he entered, he
smiled a smile I didn’t understand.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.
 
It’s just … you look kinda cute sitting there
in my shirt with that towel on your head.”

Oh goodness
gracious – I’d forgotten about the towel.
 
I must have looked like a cheap fortune teller.
 
I jumped up, careful to put my weight on my
good leg, and yanked the towel off my head.
 
He frowned as if he was disappointed.

“I couldn’t find
a hair dryer.”

“Yeah, probably
not.
 
We don’t get many ladies up here.
Your clothes are in the dryer.
 
Should be
a few more minutes on them.
 
So I’ll just
leave you then … ” his voice trailing off as he backed out the door.

Didn’t get many ladies up here?
Is that
what he said?
 
I was having a hard time
believing that.
 
Both he and the
Professor were, well – about the best looking men I’d ever seen in person.
 
I guess I kind of assumed they didn’t have
trouble finding dates on a Friday night.

I hobbled over
to the mirror and looked at my reflection.
 
I wished I’d had my make-up bag with me.
 
I could use a little concealer under my eyes and some mascara.
 

Somehow I was
comforted by the knowledge that Daniel was
way
out of my league.
 
Yes, he’d seen me
sitting here with a towel on my head, but what did it matter?
 
I was no super model and guys that look like
that always end up with the models.
 
I
sighed wishing the universe was a different place than it really was.
 

What was I going
to tell my friends?
 

I dried my hair
as best I could with the towel and pulled it back with a band I had in my
backpack.
 
Walking into the bedroom, I
put on my now clean jeans, tied up the front of Daniel’s shirt so it didn’t
hang down and walked out into the living room.
 
Daniel was nowhere to be found so I strolled over to the wall of windows
that looked out over the lake.
 
The view
was magnificent.
 

Curious, I
walked out the glass door to my right and onto a wooden deck that hung over the
edge of the steep rocky cliff high above the lake.
 
Walking up to the railing, I looked straight
down at the black waters of the lake below.
 
The house was built directly into the side of the cliff.
 
It was a sheer vertical drop off the balcony
down to the water.
 

The lake was a
sizeable one.
 
Not half as large as the
one at the top of Mount Mohonk that I’d seen pictures of, but still sizeable
enough that I felt a warm breeze blow up off the water and caress my face as I
leaned over.
 
The sun was past its zenith
now.
 
I could feel it caressing the back
of my head with its warm rays.
 
I still
ached all over, but for some reason had never felt so relaxed in my whole life.

It must be nice
I thought to myself,
to live in a house like this.
 
To enjoy such solitude
,
such a communion with nature.

“I think you
like it here,” Daniel said, in his soft, sexy voice as he came along side me at
the railing.

“Who
wouldn’t?”
 

He didn’t answer
right away but stared out like I did at the lake.

“Tell me what
you’re thinking.” he said in almost a whisper, still looking straight ahead.

“I don’t
know.
 
I wasn’t really thinking
anything.
 
I was more feeling.”

“Feeling what?”

“The wind.
 
The warmth of the sun.
 
The scent of the pine needles.
 
The sound of the breeze through the trees.”

I’d had my eyes
closed while I’d been talking, still drinking it all in deeply.
 
When I opened my eyes again, I realized he’d
been watching me.
 
I blushed, suddenly
feeling self-conscious.
 

“I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t mean to stare.”

“I’ll forgive
you if you tell me why,” I asked, too relaxed to really be upset.

“You’re really
very beautiful.
 
I’m not sure if I
noticed before.”

“Give me a
break,” I said as I rolled my eyes.

“Now why would
you say that?”

“Oh, come
on.
 
First of all, no, I’m not.
 
And second that sounded like the cheesiest
pick up line ever.”
 

“You really have
a low opinion of yourself, don’t you?”