Dangerously Illogical

Dangerously Illogical
Chapter Two: Meeting

By Selenity Jade (Jadesama@aol.com)


Shit!

I wasn't sure why my girl suddenly started to run, and for one brief second, it occurred to me that she might have perhaps sensed me following her, or seen me. Of course, that thought was quickly dismissed. I was too good for that…

So, what had scared her like that?

The moment she started to run, I ran after her. It was perhaps one of the stupidest moves I had ever made, considering it hadn't even occurred to me that whatever frightened her might be a problem for me. The only thought that had entered my mind consisted on making her *stop* running like the prey she apparently felt she was. If she wasn't in danger before, she most certainly was now.

After all, I was not the only bad in the city. I was simply the only bad undead, excluding zombies and ghouls and ghosts of course.

I ran effortlessly, having no breath that I needed to catch, and soon caught up with her, stepping in front of her. I knew I had probably appeared out of nowhere to her… almost as if I were simply there. I knew I did not look as if I had been running. I moved fast.

She screamed, reeling back so fast that she fell backwards onto her rear. Her blue eyes were so wide and frightened that I felt something odd stir within me. I didn't know what it was, and I didn't exactly have the time to ponder on it.

I didn't move to stop her fall – I didn't want to frighten her further – and watched as she trembled before me for just a moment before her mind finally started working again and she slowly pushed herself back away from me, pulling herself with her hands and pushing with her legs in a sort of crab-walk. A vain attempt to put distance between her and me.

I let my eyes drift from her flushed, terrified face to scan the shadows. Now that she had finally stopped acting like a deer set upon by a pack of wolves, I could see what had scared her so badly. It would have been quite unfortunate to lose her to something that had been attracted by her mad dash down the street while I had been preoccupied with the original thing that had startled her.

A slight darkening of the shadows on the other side of the street, just below the overhang of a novelty shop alerted me to the fact that a mass was there if the slight flicker of movement within that shadow was any indication. But it didn't mean that was what had scared her. Just another predator out in the night. Most likely an ordinary human one.

My gaze fell back to the woman on the ground, bundled up in that black suede coat so tightly, and trembling with fear now, not cold. I supposed I did look quite imposing, but this was getting ridiculous. My girl should not fear so much.

"Have you not learned that running attracts attention?" I asked softly.

She blinked almost incomprehensibly at me, as if she hadn't heard me at all.

"Do you understand?" I asked softly, trying to appear as familiar as possible instead of the alien beauty I often gave off.

She nodded almost dumbly at me, her frosty blue eyes still impossibly wide and scared.

"When you run like that, it attracts a lot of bad things. Understand?"

She nodded again.

I felt like I was talking to a child. It was not how I pictured my first meeting with her. It was quickly becoming burdensome. "Get up," I ordered quietly, tired of watching her shiver on the concrete sidewalk in terror.

Her eyes widened even more, if possible, and she shrank from me. Honestly, what did she think I was going to do to her?

"I am not going to hurt you, girl. I am going to take you home," I told her quietly, paying close attention to the slight movement out of the corner of my eye. It was definitely human and male, but I wouldn't be sure of his intentions until I probed his mind. And I didn't want to. Human minds were crude things.

She blinked at me in surprise, but still with a lot of fear.

"I promise," I told her, holding out a thin, perfect hand to her.

She eyed the hand carefully for a few long moments before finally taking it, if a bit unsure and shy. Perhaps she realized that if I wanted to hurt her, I could do it now or later, and nothing she did would change that.

I wasn't going to hurt her though.

The shock of feeling her smooth, warm flesh in my hand nearly gave me enough pause that she might have noticed had she not been scared out of her mind. I gently pulled her to her feet before reluctantly releasing that perfect, small, delicate hand of hers.

She stood there staring at me as if I were some kind of alien monster, and I didn't think she realized just how close to that was the truth. I wasn't human. She only thought I was some kind of human monster, not undead.

I let the side of my mouth curve upwards slightly, and nodded in the direction she had been headed. "Shall we?" I asked.

She weakly nodded, shakily took a step in that direction, and then took another, and another. She slowly started in a walk. I moved with her as silently as I was used to doing, simply walking beside her, letting her lead, although I was very aware of where she lived.

But she didn't know that.

We walked the entire distance to her home in silence. It was comfortable for me… After all, I was walking with the object of my desire, the one I had yearned for these past seven months. It was as close to peace as I was likely to feel. I knew I had no real chance of obtaining her; it was an impossible dream for me. One that I still held onto with everything I was. But who ever heard of a vampire and a human together?

Hell, who heard of a vampire with anyone for any length of time, even another vampire? We were not companionable creatures, not at all. Trysts rarely happened for us, actually. We were not driven by sex as humans were. After all, we could not create life. There had been a few cases of Vampires pairing off, but it had always been considered flukes, or a side effect of being near so many sexually charged mortals.

So, why then, did I feel the need for this walk to never end?

Unfortunately, though, I knew that it had to sometime soon. And as I feared, it happened all too quickly for my taste. However, it wasn't something I was about to admit to. Not to anyone, least of all the object of my obsession.

She stopped walking, hesitating at the small gate to her apartment building's yard, and turned slowly, fearfully to me.

She was so fragile, so innocent, and so very ordinary, it was just… insanity to want this woman so much. She was scared of shadows, and ran at the feeling of any sort of danger. Who would I be to seduce such a doe?

"Goodnight," I murmured quietly, without looking at her, and moved away from her, too quickly for her to see. It would seem as if I had vanished, and it was something I wanted. I would watch her walk her her home, and I would watch over it all night long. Just in case, we had been followed by whatever had startled her. And if it were human, as I suspected, then I would feed. If not... I would feed in the early morning hours just before dawn, on my mad race to beat the sunrise.


~~~

After I got over my initial shock of the strange, beautiful man *disappearing*, I turned and bolted into my apartment building, and up the side stairwell to the second floor. I must have looked ridiculous to my neighbors as I ran down the hall, and hurriedly – fumbling at least four times – put the keys into the lock, and opened the door, shutting it at soon as I entered the dark apartment.

I didn't relax until I had locked the door, and secured both the deadbolt and the chain. Then checked all three windows to make sure they too were locked.

I then allowed myself to breath.

And think.

I couldn't remember a time I had been that scared. I was more than a bit ashamed of myself for it, too. I didn't even know if I had been in danger or not… I simply bolted.

I sighed and pulled off my coat, throwing it over the back of the recliner, and then slumped down into the small loveseat across from it. Leaning back, I closed my eyes, and tried to calm my overactive heart, which was still beating rapidly.

That man showing up out of nowhere didn't help my terror then, either. Why had he bothered to stop me? Was he the person I had sensed following me?

I couldn't be sure of anything. He was the only one I had seen…

If my mother were still alive, she would have had a fit knowing her daughter let a stranger walk her home. But what else was I supposed to do? He was right there... waiting for me to start walking. He hardly looked the type to take 'no, thank you' for an answer.

I didn't know what it was, but something about that man scared the life out of me. He hadn't hurt me, or made any sort of threatening movements. But just something about him was absolutely terrifying. A feeling, more than anything else.

And the complete stillness that surrounded him.

I didn't think I'd be able to explain it to anyone else, even if I had someone to confide such things to. So, perhaps it was a blessing that I held myself distant. I wouldn't have to explain my irrational fear and irresponsible behavior.

That man knew where I lived now...

And I led him right to it.

I was an idiot.

Sighing, I ran my hands through my blonde tresses. No use beating myself up over it now. It was finished, and nothing I could change. I just had to hope that the man wasn't as dangerous as he seemed to be.

He had been startlingly beautiful, and even in my terror I had noticed that much. But the beauty didn't hide the danger that seemed to hang around him. It also didn't hide the alien feeling I had gotten looking at him. I would have said no man could be *that* beautiful before. He had been stunning.

It was enough to make me – a *very* ordinary woman – jealous.

I supposed there wasn't a purpose in being so irritated with his appearance, but I honestly couldn't help myself. I had always been a plain girl, nothing more. I would never be beautiful, and I had accepted that long ago. Of course, it didn't help that I had run into the sexiest man I had ever seen tonight. It was aggravating.

Deciding that I had enough self-pitying for one night, I pulled myself off the loveseat, and headed into the kitchen for a quick snack. I opened the refrigerator, wrinkled my nose at the less than diverse contents, and grabbed a small container of yogurt. Digging around in the adjacent drawer, I pulled out a spoon. Then promptly opening and digging into to the small snack, I continued to ponder the mysterious man who seemed to have saved my life.

If I hadn't been simply irrationally paranoid tonight.

I didn't know for sure that anyone had been following me, I simply felt it, and then ran. Although, what that man had said did make sense... My frantic dash down the street *was* likely to catch the attention of less-than-exemplary characters.

But why had he bothered with one, simple woman?

Finishing the small meal, I tossed the empty container in the trash, and set the spoon in the dishwasher. It was late, and I was tired. Whatever had happened tonight was not something I could do anything about by staying up and wondering about every detail.

It was finished, and maybe nothing more would happen because of it.

I had the feeling, however, that I would be seeing more of that too-beautiful man.


~~~


I frowned at the page in front of me, slight irritated. Then looking up from my ornate oak desk, my gaze found the dark hazel eyes of the man across from me. "No."

The man's lips curled up slightly on one side – a shadow of a smile, and perhaps the only kind he could express – and he bowes hes head slightly in mock-respect. "I beg your pardon, Vincente, but this matter is not open to negotiation. You have no vote regarding this."

"It is my territory," I reminded the fool irritably as I leaned back in my black leather chair, folding my hands over my stomach in an effort to appear at ease. I knew I looked as I wanted to, despite the very real worry I was beginning to feel.

"So it is," the man stated, looking me straight in the eye, the shadowy smile still apparent. "But you are also only a Master, Vincente. You are not one of the Council, or of their family."

I snorted. Their family consisted of half-demented beasts they had 'infected'. I was not one of the Council because I had always refused to think as they often did. I was too... controversial for them. I was a True Vampire, and as such, a very powerful one. They didn't like the fact that I often disregarded their laws and advice simply because I didn't agree with it. I would never make the Council, and truthfully, I didn't care. I didn't want it.

"No, I am not. But I am ruler here, puppet. I will not allow the Council to enter my home simply because they order it. I need a much better reason than that."

The man's smile slipped just slightly at my insult, but it was back in place almost immediately. "It is confidential, Vincente. Surely you appreciate th

"I do. But not when it concerns *my* territory, Seik. I will know the reason for this invasion before I give my permission. *If* I give it. If they wish to disregard my decision, then they will have to deal with the consequences of my anger. Council or not, this is *my* domain, and I will not tolerate intruders in it."

The man hesitated, scratching the back of one hand absently. Nervous reaction, probably. The man was nothing more than a human slave of one of the Council. A messenger. One who often worships vampires. There were too many freakish humans like that out there.

I didn't see the point in the Council using them.

Except, they certainly were smarter than the mindless beasts that humans become after being infected. They couldn't relay a message for them, so perhaps there was something to the tale of human servants after all. Something more than a power play.

I got along fine without messengers, but I was an unusual Master.

"Well?"

The man averted his gaze just a moment before looking back at me. "You will bring their anger down on you, Vincente. They are powerful."

"I know how powerful they think they are. Thank you for the advice, Seik. I do not need it, however. Go back to your masters and tell them of my decision. I will not allow them access without a viable reason. And until I know of this 'reason', my decision stands."

He hesitated, and then bowed his head again, before he finally turned and exited my office.

What in all hells was going on?

First, almost six weeks ago, Dominick came to me in order to cross my territory, and now, the Council was traveling? It was odd…

And very worrisome. They never leave their den in England. I could count on one hand the number of times they have traveled away from their castle. And never to the United States. And most certainly never out here in the west! There were reasons I had chosen this state to settle in. Not many Vampires wished to live here. I was uncertain as to why, it was not like the weather hindered or harmed any of the undead.

I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I was missing something…

Glancing at the clock on the wall, I stood up, suddenly more irritated that the meeting with Seik had lasted longer than anticipated.

I was too late to follow my girl home.


~~~


AN: This chapters is *brand* new, never before posted and goes out to Rose, who is adoring and waiting for it. ^_^;

Lovies!