A Kiss That Bites

Angerona stared wide-eyed at the huge, crowded airport distastefully. She was having a hard time coping with the sheer number of people; her hands went numb, her brow was sweating, and that familiar feeling was bubbling in the pit of her stomach.

She could feel the anxiety attack coming and she wanted nothing more than to run away very fast from this place. As the idea of turning around and calling a taxi to take her home occurred to her, she felt the hands of her best friends take her by the elbows as they pushed her forward.

“Hang in there, Angie. All we have to do is get our tickets, check our luggage in, and go through security. There’re no delays today so we shouldn’t have long to wait. We’ll be boarding in about an hour.” Eva said comfortingly to the pale woman at her side, while glancing past her to Alexis.

By the time their tickets had been purchased and their luggage checked, Angerona was visibly shaking and she felt like she was about to lose her lunch. She hated crowds and she was seriously reconsidering having ever agreed to fly on a plane. She tried to breathe, but her lungs felt like they were full of concrete and her fight or flight instinct was leaning heavily towards flight. And the fact that some shady looking man kept staring at her wasn’t helping either. He was looking around shiftily and talking quietly into a cell phone. Every time he looked at her, her anxiety seemed to peak a little and her stomach dropped a little lower. She tried to pass this feeling off as just being nervous about the flight, and attempted to ignore him.

The man leaned against a pole in a wrinkled, brown, definitely off-the-rack suit. His hair was slicked back with too much gel making it look stiff and greasy. His cologne was pungent and stung Angerona’s nose even from a distance. He was short and stocky, like a bouncer or security guard. He was still making her extremely nervous, even though she was making her best effort to pretend he wasn’t there. She wanted to get as far away from him as she could as soon as possible.

However, she knew if she tried to make a break for it, Eva and Lexie would drag her back to the line, telling her not to be silly. Swallowing the huge knot in the throat, Angerona swayed slightly where she stood and her lunch was attempting another bid at freedom. She closed her eyes and prayed that she wouldn’t faint there on the spot. What would Eva and Lexie think of her?

Alexis glanced over at Angerona before turning to Eva, “Hey, there’s a guy over there who keeps staring at us. Eva, I think he might be a hunter, but I can’t tell what League family he’s in. I thought I knew them all, but he looks out of place.” She whispered frantically in Eva’s ear, trying to pretend she wasn’t staring the man down.

“Yeah, I see what you mean. To be honest, I don’t think he even belongs to a League family. I could be wrong, but if he is rogue, we’re going to have to keep a close eye on him. He might be after Angerona or he could think we’re invading his turf.” Evahraine whispered back, also glancing at Angerona. She looked seconds from fainting. As annoying and embarrassing as it would be to pick her up off the floor, they would be in bigger trouble if the rouge hunter decided to help out.

“Roger that, I’ll keep my eyes on him and make sure he doesn’t get too close. By the way, we might want to check on Angie. She looks like she’s going to puke.” Lexie said as she stepped towards their very green friend.

Angerona felt something touch her and she jumped a little before turning around see who’s hands were on her. “Oh, it’s you guys.” She said, turning a pale face to Eva and trying to smile. “Sorry I’m so jumpy. I’m so nervous about the flight and I think I might be sick. The thought of flying is churning my stomach and all these people…”

“It’s okay, Angie.” Eva said, patting her on the arm. “It’s just a few more minutes before we’ll be on the plane and on our way to the best vacation ever. Do you want some water or anything? You look like you need it.” She bent down to take a bottled water out of her bag when she noticed the shady man, who was standing one terminal over, start walking in their direction. All three woman became tense and watched the man approach with a fake, friendly smile plastered on his face. When he was only eight feet away, Evahraine and Alexis stepped swiftly in front of Angerona.

The greasy, brown haired man stopped a few feet in front of then, head slightly cocked to one side, as if deciding how to best approach the women. He stepped forward and pulled a large hand out of his pocket, offering it to Eva.

“Hello there. My name is Samuel Leeds, and it’s a great pleasure to meet such lovely ladies. Your friend there is looking a little green around the gills and I thought I could offer some help incase she faints.” He flashed his fake smile again, looking at the girls like they were something very tasty being served on a silver platter.

Eva’s eyes shot daggers at him and crossed her arms to show she would not be shaking his hand. Snorting, she addressed him with great disdain, “I would advise that you return quickly to the other terminal where you came from. We are perfectly capable of taking care of our friend and require no assistance from you.”

The man, Samuel, stopped smiling and dropped his voice, “Well, I was going to be nice, but since you want to play that way, I don’t really have a choice. My boss has a message for you. He said, stay the hell out of our territory. He also would have appreciated a courtesy call mentioning that you were boarding a flight to Colorado.” He spun on his heal and walked away without another word and without giving them a chance to respond. It was unadvisable to pick a flight with so many people around, so he decided to wait until he had back up. His mother hadn’t raised a fool and Samuel knew when to back down. He grinned to himself as he handed his ticket off and had his ID checked. He boarded the flight without a hitch.

Once the man was out of sight, Eva and Lexie frowned at each other. Angerona was extremely agitated and spoke with an edge to her voice. “What a jerk. What was all that talk about ‘territory’? Is there something I should know, because he sure sounded like he knew you guys.” Her nausea faded slightly only to be replaced by annoyance after the encounter. Eva and Lexie sighed, turning towards Angerona and taking her by the elbows again.

“I think it’s time to go.” The said together, as they pulled her forward to board.

The line was short, so it only took a few minutes to have their tickets torn and ID’s checked. Once they had boarded, Eva and Lexie stuck close to Angerona, who kept staring back and forth between them. They found their seats, putting Angerona in the window seat, and taking the other two, Eva on the aisle. They kept dodging and ignoring her questions about the man who had accosted them. She had a distinct feeling that they were hiding something from her which was making her very worried. They all shared everything with each other. She opened her mouth to say as much when the redheaded flight attendant started reviewing safety procedure and protocol.

When she had finished, and retreated to the front of the plain, the pilot’s voice sounded over the intercom announcing they would be taking off within five minutes. Angerona turned towards the window and rested her head against the cool glass. In less than two and a half hours they would be half way across the country and able to begin her vacation with her two best, and suddenly secretive friends.

What a day. She thought to herself as she heard the engines start and closed her eyes when she felt the plane begin to taxi down the runway. “This is going to be a long week,” was the last thought she could remember before drifting off to an uncomfortable sleep.