14. Scared

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I stayed at Randall’s house the rest of the evening. I didn’t know the exact reason why I didn’t want to go back after darkness had fallen. Maybe Randall had me a little paranoid, or maybe I just didn’t want to confront Lilith the vampire. I was afraid that she knew my secret, that she could smell the werewolf on me in the same way I could smell the vampire odor coming from her room. Would it be awkward? The way Randall spoke of vampires, they seemed to be enemies rather than friends. But her actions toward me were always nothing but friendly. She actually seemed quite lonely.

I couldn’t stay at his house forever, but I wanted to. I could avoid her if I tried, the same way my other roommates avoided us. Maybe she would just move on.

“You can spend the night if you would like,” Sylvea told me, “We have several guest bedrooms for pack members.” Randall had told both his parents earlier that night about what we discovered about my roommate.

“There’s no mistaking how I felt in the hallway, and Randall confirmed it. What do we do?” I whined to them.

“Well,” Quinn told me, “There’s nothing we can do, unless she hurts you or one of us. There are laws, and though I don’t like her being in our territory, there isn’t much we can do at this time.”

“Thank you for your offer, but I probably should go back tonight. I’m sure she won’t try anything. She hasn’t tried anything yet, she’s been nothing but nice. Plus, I have class in the morning.”

“Well just know you’re always welcome here. You’re very brave,” She smiled at me.

Randall took me back home after a while. We sat in front of the dorm and I realized that I didn’t want to go inside. Randall knew that I was scared.

“Selene,” He grabbed my hand, his skin warmer than the Texas night. He looked into my eyes, “If something happens, no matter what time it is, no matter what the problem, call me and I will come get you.”

“Do you do this for everyone in the Pack?” I asked him. My heart was beating faster and I knew he could hear it in the confined space of the truck, if he was paying attention.

“No, I don’t. I do it for the ones I care about,” He smiled, still holding my hand. I realized that our faces were nearly touching, but I didn’t remember moving. We were still looking into each other’s eyes.

“Thanks, then. I’ll remember your offer.” I didn’t want to move away. I felt so safe in the truck. Randall was such a good friend.

He closed the gap between us and kissed me. It was so sudden that I was startled at first, but then I parted my lips, letting his tongue explore my mouth as I did his. I leaned closer to him, propping one hand on the center console and bringing my other hand up to his face, feeling the rough stubble on his cheek. One of his hands gripped the steering wheel while the other found its way to rest on the back of my neck, keeping my mouth locked onto his, fingers playing through my hair. Not that I was complaining. Up so close, I could smell his cologne, but also something underneath, the smell of wolf, the smell of trees and wilderness. I realized that the kiss was opening up my other senses, the more supernatural ones. I felt the heat of his lips, his tongue pour over me, filling me up and warming me all over. Something inside me stirred, intrigued by the kiss, hungry for more.

When we eventually broke apart, I was blushing. I was glad it was dark.

“Please don’t forget,” He said seriously. His eyes were different now, yellow and foreign. More animal than human.

Still speechless from the kiss, I nodded. He seemed to enjoy it as well. I wanted to kiss him again, but I was scared to do so. If we continued on, would the creature inside me come closer to waking, making me lose control?

He smiled and hit the unlock button for the doors so I wouldn’t have to fiddle with the mechanism. “Goodnight Selene, dream with me.”

I nodded once more and grinned goofily as I got out of the car, carefully shutting the door behind me. I watched him drive off and I could still taste him. I could still feel his lips on mine, his hands on me. I wanted more, but he was gone. I went up to my room, my heart still racing with the rush of the kiss. I’d been kissed before, but it was never like that. It was almost as if something inside our bodies, something otherworldly had awakened in that kiss. As if the creatures we bore inside were separate beings that craved each other. I felt alive in the night, and while I couldn’t wait until our next kiss, I was also afraid of it. What would happen if we tried again?

* * * * *

Randall’s little gift had dulled my sense of reality, because as I went up to my room, I had completely forgotten about my undead roommate. It’s amazing what a boy can do to cloud your judgment, especially a handsome one that’s a great kisser.

I was brought back to reality once I stepped into the living area of our suite and saw my problem lying on the couch, watching something on the television.

She waved at me as I came in, “I just started this movie if you want to watch it with me,” she sat up on the couch, making room for me.

“Don’t you have class?”

“I finished early tonight, it was mostly just a course introduction,” She looked up at me. Maybe I was being too suspicious, too obvious. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”

I looked away quickly and began walking toward the bathroom. I glanced in the mirror and saw that they had changed as well, thought they were already starting to bleed back from yellow to their normal brownish-green. I yelled to her from the bathroom, making up a weak lie, “I was trying out some new contacts, but I don’t think I like them.”

“Oh, you wear contacts?” She appeared in the doorway, looking into the bathroom.

“Only sometimes,” I said, looking down, averting my eyes, trying to get away from her. She moved out of my way as I turned off the bathroom light and went towards my room. “Well anyway, I have homework and tons of reading to do. Maybe I’ll watch that movie with you another time,” I said as I went into my room and shut the door behind me.

“Another time, then,” I heard her say softly through the door. I locked it when I heard her walk away.

I had no homework and I was too restless to read for classes, so I spent the rest of my evening online, researching vampires. Unfortunately, there is so much about vampires on the Internet that it’s hard to decipher fact from fiction. I tried to find websites that had werewolves as well as vampires on them, and if their werewolf information was correct for the most part, then it was easier to believe more of the vampire information. Eventually, my head began to hurt from the overwhelming amount of information, and I finally gave up and went to bed, not having learned much. There were too many stories and legends to make sense of it all.

I could still hear Lilith out in the living room watching her movie. I could have been out there, if not for my condition. If I didn’t have insights into the non-human world, then I would have no reason to avoid her. I could have been out there watching the movie with her, not even realizing what was sitting next to me. Blissfully oblivious.

Still, no one had said I had to avoid her completely, they just told me to be careful. Maybe it wasn’t my condition at all.

Maybe it was just cowardice. Maybe Sylvea was wrong. I wasn’t brave; I was just a scared little pup.

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Yay! My first post from my new MacBook. Sorry if any formatting is screwed up at first. I'm trying to find the best way to post from this computer.

So yeah, this chapter got a little steamy. Randall/Selene fans should like. I changed the title, because "A First" was originally going to refer to the kiss, but I didn't want that to be her first kiss. That woulda been kind of odd.

Poor Lilith.

Oh Rio, I think I stole Randall's "Goodnight" line from you a long time ago when I originally wrote this. :P