Eclipse of the Heart

As the sun sank behind the distant line of hills and true dark encroached, Olanita awoke abruptly. She had this sudden, terrible urge to hide and then remembered why. Caiden was coming over to take her out. Great. Just what she wanted to do… Spend her only day… er… night off with him out on the town. Not that she didn’t like hanging out with Caiden… She just didn’t like going out. The public nightlife wasn’t quite her par and she detested it every time he drug her out into it.
As if just thinking about him had the power to make him appear, Lani heard her front door open and then close, closely followed by that all-too-familiar male voice ringing throughout the building. “Lani? Hey, Lani?! You up yet? Come on!! The sun’s gone!! Get up already!!”
Grumbling under her breath, Lani rolled out of bed, setting Bob, her little stuffed polar bear, on her night table. She slipped on her red fuzzy bigfoot slippers and padded to the door, calling down to him, “Yeah, yeah… I’m up, I’m up. Give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll be right down.”
Knowing full well he would make her come back upstairs and change, Lani threw on an oversized gray sweatshirt and a pair of old, worn blue jeans. She slipped her feet into her slippers again, ran a brush through her hair, and padded from her room. As she came down the stairs, Caiden looked up at her.
Shaking his head, he said, “Oh, no. I know you got my message when you got home. What are you doing dressed like that? We’re going out tonight, remember?”
Lani grumbled once again. “What if I said I don’t want to go out? Does that matter to you at all? Or must I suffer through a relentless evening of being pawed by men because you’re not a big enough one to defend my honor?”
Caiden dropped his eyes. “That’s not fair, Lani. You know that’s not fair. Look what happened last time I tried ‘defending your honor‘. You ended up kicking the crap out of all four of those guys and saving me. I just want to take you out and have a good time. That’s all. Is that really too much to ask? You might have an eternity to be a hermit, but I just have this lifetime. And I’d like to spend it having a good time with you.”
Had Lani been breathing, it would have caught in her throat. She looked at her friend and suddenly felt bad. Very bad. Without a word, she turned around and headed back to her room to get properly dressed.
As she came down the stairs, Caiden’s eyes practically bulged from his head. He never remembered seeing the outfit Lani was dressed in before. She looked incredible! The tight black dress she wore was all but ribbons along both sides, from one end of the dress to the other. What wasn’t ribbon was lace. It was also see-through, showing off matching black bra and panties. Her heels were black stilettos. She had her hair pulled back into intricate ringlets that cascaded down onto her shoulders, framing her face beautifully. He could never figure out how she did her hair and makeup, which was also expertly done, since she could never see herself in the mirror.
As she smiled at him, Caiden suddenly felt completely under-dressed next to her. He spared a glance at himself, noting the white dress shirt, unbuttoned half way down his chest, showing off the white undershirt that was tucked into light blue jeans. His darkest accessory were his shoes, which were really cowboy boots, a dark mahogany brown, piped with a brassy copper threading. With her heels, Lani stood even with Caiden.
She stopped and looked at him. “What’s wrong with you, Caiden? You’re looking at me like you’ve never seen me before.”
Gulping, he replied, “I don’t think I have. You… Look incredible, Lani. I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. Or more dangerous.”
Rolling her eyes, she made her way down the last few stairs, inadvertently tripping on the last one, falling forward toward the hardwood floor. Instinctually, Caiden reached out, stepping forward, catching her in his arms. He smiled down at her, feeling just the slightest bit awkward, holding his vampire friend so close. She was so close now that he could smell the sweet perfume she had on. It was a mix of things she made herself, so he knew it well. He also knew the name she gave it-Eternal Dark. He found that very appropriate, coming from a vampire.