Chapter 3 - Learning

Chapter 3 – Learning

So, there I was, finding myself incredibly attracted to a gorgeous man who was some kind of creature of the night. Something out of myths and legends. He definitely didn't look like any of the television or movie vampires I'd ever seen before, but there wasn't getting around what he was. He had neither confirmed nor denied what he was, but it was pretty easy to figure it out. Just thinking of him as a Vampire, some kind of obscure lord of the night, made me twitch a little. At the time, I couldn’t imagine what was fueling my attraction. I couldn’t tell if I had some kind of sick fascination with the fact that he was a monster, or maybe I was just feeling particularly suicidal. It might have been those sparkling eyes that seemed to peer into my soul every time he looked at me or the way that his thick dark hair fell around his face. No matter what it was, it was intense, and the feelings weren’t going to go away on their own.

I spent four day after our little rendezvous in the library, debating whether or not I wanted to call him. It was a distinct possibility that he would be able to tell me what I wanted to know. Of course, his little caveat of ‘Nothing is free’ was a little worrying. What exactly did he mean by that? What could I offer him that he couldn’t find elsewhere? And it was pretty obvious that I couldn’t trust him. He had been watching me for weeks, and I must be little more then a tasty treat to him. Then again, as he’d already demonstrated, if he’d really wanted me for dinner, he would have done it already. It made me a little wary. Even so, I had to learn more. I needed someone that I could talk to about what I had seen and what had happened, because it was slowly starting to rip my little silly mind into pieces.

I grew more paranoid by the day. I was always looking around me at the people on the street, searching for the next mythical creature to pop out and scare me. Was the hot dog vendor a Vampire? Or maybe my friendly neighborhood bag lady was a werewolf? Oohh, maybe the security guard at my job was some kind of Frankenstein monster. He certainly had the personality for it, always glaring at me. I was just waiting to find some kind of witch or warlock, or even better, some kind of Cthulu-esque creature with tentacles just waiting for me to happen by, all unsuspecting nubile woman flesh. Yeap, I’ve seen too many movies. It seemed like no matter where I turned, my mind was concocting some new monster that was going to jump out of the shadows and devour me alive. Made for interesting nights, let me tell you.

The thought of calling my new monster friend grew more and more appealing by the day. I couldn’t get my brain to stop working and mulling over what I had seen, I figured I might as well give it some real hard information that it could digest, before it started leaking out my ears. Either I would find out enough from him to ease my brain and hopefully be able to sleep at night, or he’d be having a lovely light snack. Given the choice of everyone in my life knowing that I was a total nut job or my last moments being spent devoured by an incredibly attractive man – well, to be honest, that was kind of a difficult choice to make.

It took my best friend of many years and her latest attempt at relationship intervention to really solidify the decision for me.

I met Annie for lunch a week after my second run-in with the Dark Avenger. I mean, Ciaran. I had known her for years, since college when we’d both been proud members of the same sorority. I had been the Maid of Honor in her wedding, as well as her emotional shoulder through two miscarriages and the death of her mother. Our friendship had endured through the years in a way that I had never anticipated. She knew me better then anyone else in my life, and she knew as soon as she saw me that something was going on. I could see it in her eyes, and in the way she ordered us both a stiff drink moments after seeing me. In true Annie fashion, she didn’t waste any time getting down to business.

“What’s going on with you, Lexy? You look like hell.” Always blunt, thanks Annie.

I was afraid of this. This was precisely the reason I had been avoiding her for the past month. I’d run the gamut of excuses, from work to a vicious cold to having family in town. I had spent the past two days practicing for this moment, knowing that she was going to be the one that I really had to convince. I gave her what I hoped was a winning smile, sipping my drink slowly, “What do you mean, Annie?”

She narrowed her eyes and looked at me. Being a 3^rd grade teacher had made her incredibly astute, and she knew when someone was avoiding the truth. “Don’t play dumb with me, Lex. What’s going on with you? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks. Is it work? Is your boss being a dick again?”

I sighed a little and looked down at my drink. It was one thing to lie to my boss at my co-workers and the other potted plants in my life. It was another thing entirely to try to lie to my best friend and the sister I’d never had. “Just…I’ve been under a lot of stress lately. It’s really nothing big, nothing to worry about. You know how work gets, and they fired the other para so my case load just got heavier. I’m ok though. Really.” Bullshit. I’m such a horrible liar.

She shook her head, watching me closely, “I can’t help but worry about you, Lex. You are my best friend, and you look like you are falling apart. Let me help, Lexy…I want to help. You just gotta tell me what is going on before I can do anything.”

I just sighed a little and shook my head, “Oh Annie…I appreciate it, you know I do. But I just don’t think this is something that you can help with. I don’t think anyone can help me with this.”

She seemed to mull over it for a moment, a grin flashing across her face. Uh-oh. I knew that look. She leaned forward, her voice low, “Is it guy trouble?”

My mind perked up at her excitement and latched onto the one thing that I could tell her that might keep her from badgering me too much. Lucky for both of us, I was starting to get pretty good at the whole lying thing. “No. Well. Kind of, I guess. There is this one guy...”

She grinned at me, practically bouncing her perky blonde ass out of her seat. She had been trying to marry me off for years, always on the lookout for a friend of her husbands' who would make me a happy wife. I still wasn't sure if it was because she wanted couples night with me, or the thrill of being my Maid of Honor and planning my wedding for me. “Yeah? Is he cute? Intelligent? Rich? What does he do for a living? How did you meet? Oh my god, Lexy! I can't believe you didn't call and tell me! You have to tell me everything about him!”

So our conversation turned to Ciaran, and the fantasy world that I had placed him in. Oh yes, he was amazing in my mind. A lawyer, never been married, intelligent and handsome, a fantastic sense of humor and eyes that were always sparkling with some kind of shared joke. He loved cats, fruity drinks, and long walks on moonlit nights. By the time I was finished painting him in the best light I could think of, I was practically in love with hm myself. Annie, as predicted, was entranced, making me swear to introduce her to my new beau as soon as humanly possible. I could see the gears already turning in her head as she started plotting a spring wedding. Lucky for me, she was willing to drop the subject, fully believing that I had finally found a man that had caught my attention.

I guess it wasn't really much of a stretch. I was entranced with him. He had been on my mind constantly, and he was pretty handsome. Oh, who am I kidding, he was drop dead gorgeous. Edward had nothing on him. The visit with Annie also made me realize that I needed answers if I didn't want to spend the rest of my life – as short as it might be – slowly going insane. I needed to know about him and what he was. More then that, I had to know what else was lurking in the parking lot of my local 7-11. Screw the dangers lurking in the heart of man; I wanted to know all about the dangers lurking in every dark alleyway.

So I did the only thing I could think to do. I bit back my pride, swallowed my fear picked up the cell phone and dialed the number I already had saved in my contact list.

It seemed to ring forever. A number of concerns floated through my mind as the boring ringer slammed through my head. 'This guy really needs a ring-back tone...maybe the Buffy theme...' I started to worry that maybe he had changed his mind. What would make a Lord of the Night and Underworld and Doom want to talk to a little paralegal anyway? Maybe he had legal trouble and he needed my advice, though it seems it would be easier to just eat the guy who was trying to take you to small claims court. Or maybe he was just toying with me, and he liked his meals distressed. Could also be that he'd decided to take up suntanning, and was unavailable to answer my call.

Finally, the ringing stopped and I held my breath. There was a momentary pause, and then the voice that seemed so familiar already came on the line. I could hear the soft undertones of an accent long trained from his voice, and I could practically see that little annoying smirk on his face, “Hello, Little Bird. I wondered how long it would take you to contact me. I knew you would, it was just a matter of time.”

His silky, sultry voice made me pause for a moment, relief and desire flooding my stomach. He was the only link I had to this deep dark world that ran concurrently to our own, and I was determined not to lose what little lead I had. “I'm sorry it took me so long to call you.”

There was a hint of amusement in his voice, and I knew that he was laughing at me on the inside. He'd told me that I had something, not really sure what he meant by that, but it obviously wasn't balls, “Why are you apologizing?”

“Oh. Um. Ah, well...because I kept you waiting for so long...”

“Don't apologize. I have nothing but time on my hands, and we're talking now, are we not? That is the only thing that matters to you, I think.”

“I suppose you are probably right.”

“Well then, Alexandra. You wish to learn something from me? About me, about my kind, about what exactly it is that we do and who we are? Is that correct?”

I couldn't breath for a moment. Here he was, offering me the answer to every single question my poor besotted brain could come up with, and the only thing my brain was doing was telling me to run far and fast. Apparently, brain-me was not a big fan of my new buddy. In the end, the driving need for knowledge won out. Like there was any doubt that it would. I gave a sigh and nodded, though I knew he couldn't see it. Probably. “Yeah. I have to know more, Ciaran. About you, about what you are, about...the things that you do, why you do it. This is all just driving me crazy. I don't understand what I saw, and I have to know...”

He chuckled very softly, a sound almost too low to hear, though the bitterness in his voice came through loud and clear. “Yes. Well, insanity is just one of the many things those of the night do best. Very well, Alexandra. You wish to learn of me and mine, and I have offered to teach you what I am able.”

I felt the relief wash over me, and let out a long breath I didn't even know I had been holding. I didn't realize until that moment how worried I had been that he would laugh at me and say it was all a joke. Haha, silly little morsel, erm, mortal...why would I tell you anything! I think I was waiting for him to point and laugh at me...and then rip out my still beating heart. “Thank you, Ciaran. It means a lot to me...”

His voice was low, and I could nearly see him on the other end, shaking his head and practically clucking at me, “Don't thank me yet. I will warn you now, Alexandra. Once you begin down this path you see, you cannot turn back. Your life will be intrinsically changed forever. You will be changed forever, and this is something you cannot undo once it has been done. Are you willing to accept that, and all that it entails?

I suppressed a shudder, wariness creeping back into my voice. I was pretty sure this was where he told me I was going to be his sex slave for the rest of my natural life. “What do you mean by that?”

That voice again, like a long suffering father explaining to his child that holding the bunny by the neck killed your pet, “Are you willing to give up what you have now, in order to see what the night might hold? Are you willing to change your world in order to gain the information that you so desire?”

“What...how much am I going to be giving up here.”

“Possibly everything. It is hard to tell. All I know is that your life will change, and you along with it. I only wish for you to be prepared for such changes.”

Though I had a feeling he was trying to be kind, his tone was hard and offered me no succor. I wanted to tell him no – the crazy mind-me agreed that would be a fabulous idea. I wanted to tell him to forget that I'd ever called and to forget that he'd seen me, oh yeah, and to forget that he knew where I lived and who my family was and what my schedule was like. At the same time, I knew if I hung up right now, I would never know what I was looking for. I've never been the type of girl would could pass up an opportunity that was presented to me, and the carrot that Ciaran was dangling was far too enticing to pass up. I sighed, my voice quiet. I knew he could head me. “Whatever it takes.”

His voice seemed to soften just slightly, and I could almost swear I could hear pity in that rich, chocolatey voice of his. “Very well then. We will meet tomorrow at sunset. At the fountain in Buckingham Plaza. You know the place, I believe.”

“I...well yeah. I know it. But isn't that a little...well...public? We're going to meet out in the middle of the crowds like that?”

“Yes. It is. Goodnight, Little Bird.”

With that, the line went dead. I could feel a deep seed of dread starting to form in the pit of my stomach as I stared at the phone. That voice was crying again, begging me to call him back and call the whole thing off, but I knew that it was way too late for that. Hell, it had been too late the moment I stopped at the edge of that alley way and observed what he was up to. An involuntary shudder ran through my body and I looked down at Fred, the cat my mother had given me when I had moved into this house. He was supposed to be my companionship, but like most cats, he only gave attention when it suited him. I fell onto my love seat, pulling the ball of fur up after me, petting him absently and shaking my head, speaking to no one in particular, “What the hell am I getting myself into...”