Crimson Dreams

It had been two weeks since Hayden and I made our little living arrangement. We stayed out of each others way and I didn't see much of him except when I came home from school. We'd sit and talk for an hour or so after I got home and then I would come to my room and read. My calls with Marco were scarce with nothing for me to report. Mostly I complained that I had to be missing something and that this wasn't working. I wanted to just capture and torture Hayden to get information. At the same my body was practically screaming for him.

We were sitting in the living room watching the news. I was eating some eggs and grits with some toast while he sipped on a mix drink. Vampires didn't really need to drink but it was common to see them with alcohol. Alex had once told me it was more of a habit than anything and it helped them blend into the human race. He was wearing his usual night attire which consisted of blue sweat pants and black wife-beater. His shoes were by the door with mine and Vlad had happily made himself a bed on them.

Outside were the sounds of people laughing and talking. Some were kissing and saying their good byes while one happy family was crying happy tears and talking about a loved one who had recently passed. Thanksgiving was coming to an end and it was nothing more than a day too me. Hayden had told me happy Thanksgiving but after that it was never brought up again. The six o'clock news was on and the man was reporting another woman’s body had been found. She had been found not to far from my old apartment that I shared with Ethan.

Hayden stood up and stretched before going to his room and locking the door. He always went out about this time to feed. Normally I would be going to class but it was a holiday so there was no class. Besides, I wanted to go to this most recent dump site and see if I could smell anything or find a clue as to who was doing this or maybe even why. I was already dressed except for my shoes which I had to pry Vlad from. When Hayden came back in the room in his black jeans and shirt with his black trench coat complete with his black boots on I was standing by the door about to walk out. A look of discomfort crossed his face.

"I thought school was out today?" He asked.

"It is. I just want to go out."

"Okay." He sounded skeptical. "I am not taking you with me to feed. That would be odd."

I laughed when he said that. He thought I wanted to go with him to watch him feed? He is attractive but not to the point I want to go watch him suck on some ones neck.

"I'm not into watching people eat." I said. "I am going to the park for a walk. Hearing all these families happily celebrate has had me thinking about how alone I am right now. I don't want to listen to it anymore." The lie was quick and easy and partly true.

"Oh." He nodded as he walked out the door.

"Got your key?" I asked before I started pulling the door closed. I had made him a key the night after we made our arrangement. I also changed the code for the alarm and told him what it was. "I may not be here when you get back."

"Yes I do." He was already at the road.

I watched him look left and then right before running full speed to the left. He had checked to see if anyone was going to see him. Holidays were the best time for vampires and demons to go unnoticed but harder to feed from. Most people were safely in their homes with their family. I shut the door and jumped into my car. Luckily the closest park to here was less than a block from my old apartment.


I actually did go to the park in case Hayden had decided to follow me. I got out the car and walked to the swing set. No one else was here so I hopped on a swing but I just sat there. I looked at my feet for a long time as I rocked slightly on the swing.

I was getting frustrated that this case with Hayden was getting no where. Women were still turning up dead and if the routine continued another would soon be taken. I made a sound of frustration and stood from the swing. I aimlessly walked the park and kicked fallen pine cones around. Eventually I made my way to the road and started the walk towards my old apartment.

Once at the entry way I sent my senses out to see if there were undead or demons here. I came up with nothing but families in there houses. The manager lived in the first apartment and her daughter's family in the one right next door. Her daughter had a beautiful little boy and I could hear them in the managers’ apartment laughing and celebrating. For once the daughter and her husband didn't sound to be fighting. I would sit in my apartment many nights and listen to the two of them fight. I honestly didn't understand why they stayed together until the one night I saw them and that little boy outside. Their love for that boy was so strong I almost cried. It over rode their hate for one another. My last few nights here were spent listening to her cry herself to sleep. They didn't sleep in the same room. He slept upstairs in the room and she slept on the couch but they made it work for the sake of their son.

I walked down the hill and to the left. I could still smell the woman’s body. As I got closer I smelled the humans who had been here. Probably the cops and reporters. This side of the complex was practically empty. Most of them had moved out last year when the rent went up seventy-five dollars. Money hadn't been an issue for me so I didn't leave and I had to admit it was a lot quieter for me without all those people down here.

I stopped just short of where the body had been laying. I closed my eyes and focused on the smells. The smell of cops and other humans faded away and left the faint smell of demons. The strongest smell was vampire. I took another deep breath and the smell hit me full force. This smell had been in my house for over two weeks. Hayden had been here. Recently. I opened my eyes and scanned the woods around the apartment complex while sending my senses out to search further and within the empty apartment.

My inhuman senses touched something across the creek that felt familiar. It wasn't Hayden. It was something I wanted to hold. I let my power caress it and it didn't move as I started walking towards it. I jumped the creek in one shot and landed on the other side beside what I was looking for. It was the body of a demon. His heart was gone and the surrounding trees were leaning away from him. There had been a fight and the demon lost. I tried smelling out whom or what had fought him but all I could catch was his blood.

I put my hands in the demons front pocket and pulled out gum and a lighter. I reached into the other one and came out with over nine hundred in cash before rolling the demon on to his stomach. I looked around once more to make sure no one was watching before reaching into his back pockets. Didn't want to be caught fondling a dead demon. All I found were his wallet and car keys. I sat down beside him and pulled my cell phone out to call Marco.

"Yeppers?" Polo had answered Marco's phone. That threw me and I didn't respond. "Alex?"

"Yeah." I recovered. "Sorry. It threw me when you answered."

"Marco is in the shower. What’s up?"

"I need someone to meet me near my old apartment across the creek."

"Are you safe to sit there and wait?" His voice had gone from casual to serious in one sentence.

"For now. How soon can you get here?"

"A few minutes. I am about seven miles from there."

"Okay." I didn't wait for more from him before I hung up the phone.

I looked at the demon and shook my head. I don't know what happened but it looked like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I let my thoughts drift back to Hayden. He had been here and it had been recently. There was no denying the smell. Some part of me was hurt to have my suspicions of him confirmed. He really did play the nice guy well enough to the point it had gotten harder and harder to remind myself he was the bad guy over these past two weeks.

I sighed and opened the demons wallet. His drivers’ license said his name was Joseph Jones. I snorted at the obvious fake name. He wasn't very original, was he? There was another twelve hundred dollars in the wallet. I pulled it out and added it with the rest I had gotten from his pocket. Maybe he was a drug dealer and a deal had gone bad. It was a well known fact that demons really ran the drug circle in Georgia. Easier for them not to get caught like the humans would.

The sound of running brought my attention back to where I was. Someone was coming in fast. They were about a mile away and headed straight for me. More than likely it was Polo but just in case I moved further back from the demon and took cover behind a tree. I didn't have any weapons with me so I prayed this was Polo. I heard the person stop on the bank of the creek across from me.

"Alex." Polo said before I heard the whoosh of his jump and the thud of his landing.

I rolled out from behind the tree and gave him a small smile. "Thank god it was you. I am unarmed."

"Since when?" He asked as he kicked the demon over.

"Since I have some one in my home who would question why I am going to the park loaded with silver weapons."

"You should keep a back pack full of weapons in your car."

"Wouldn't do me much good considering my car is at the park."

"So what’s going on?" He sat down beside me and let his leg press against mine.

I told him everything about why I went out in the first place, the excuse I had given Hayden and the fact that I felt this demon when I tried searching the woods for Hayden. The fact that Hayden's smell was all over the dump site. Everything.

"I am going to say this even though I know you won't listen to me." He took a deep breath. "You really should back out."

"I'm in too deep now." I laid my head on his shoulder. It had been so long since I touched someone. Vampires were a very touchy kind of people. They really didn't know what a personal bubble was. It had taken me almost a year to get over that whole personal space deal and learn that it wasn't personal. Now I missed having my space invaded all the time. There had been countless times I had went to bed alone and woke up with some one cuddled to me. Mostly Sherri on that one.

"I know you're in too deep." He said. "There’s something no one has been able to tell you."

"What’s that?"

"Raphael is claiming one of his has gone rogue he thinks he is here. He wants to be granted access to our city. Alex has been saying no due to a current turf war with the demons but soon Raphael will grow restless and just cross over."

"Maybe he and Hayden are planning on coming in and taking me out together."

"I think Hayden has told Raphael that you are without Alex and lonely. I think he thinks you would willingly go to his side."

"That'll never happen." I snorted.

"I know." He wrapped one arm around me. "Hayden was already in the house when I ran by. You should get home before he starts to wonder. I will keep you posted and the moment Raphael steps into this city I will be at your door." He stood up quickly and held a hand out to me.

I took his hand and let him pull me up. He didn't stop pulling once I was standing and, instead, pulled me against him. He pressed his face to my neck and took a deep breath.

"You smell of me." He stated.

"I wonder why."

"You will have to shower or do something to cover my scent on you or we will be busted."

"Just like the good ol' days huh?"

He laughed and pulled back from me before releasing my hand. "Good thing you have practice then huh?" His words were light but the liquid brown fire in his eyes suggested otherwise.

"If I didn't think I was broken then I would take you up on that offer."

"Why do you think you are broken?"

"Once you remove the clothes and start the sex act my body shuts down and I feel nothing."

"So you're saying one can bring you without ever putting a hand, or other part, through your clothes?"

"It's the only way I have been brought."

"That sounds like fun." His tongue traced the inside of his lip and I watched the action. "I wouldn't mind giving it a go."

"I'll keep that mind." I hugged him tightly and wished my body felt the way my mind felt for him. If my mind controlled everything I could do Polo now and feel that bliss of orgasm by him. But my body controlled that and I knew I would never feel him like that.

"Go home Alex. I will handle this." He said is as he pushed away from me and walked to the demon. I seen him throw the demon over his shoulder and then disappear into the night.

I shook my head as I turned and ran in the opposite direction from my car. There was a bar up ahead. I could get some human to come out and have a round in his car to get the smell of Polo off of me. Of course then I would be going home smelling of sex and other things but at least it would be human and Hayden would be none the wiser. Polo was right. I had made a hobby out of getting their scents off me. But it wasn't for reasons he was thinking. I did it because I couldn't stand having their scent on me and know I could never have them. He thought I did it just to keep Alex from knowing I was getting close with his vampires.


I was standing on the porch petting Satan when the front door opened. Vlad walked to me in that graceful way animals have while purring. His black glistened in the light coming from the moon. He had one white patch in the shape of a half moon around his neck. I seen Hayden's arm still holding the door and took a quick scent check. All I could smell was the human man on me.

He had been a short man for my standards. Maybe 5'6. Most men I looked for were around six foot even. I liked a man that could cradle me into his body but mostly I loved that they were the perfect size for me to cuddle to with my head on their chest. But the man had done his job to get the scent of Polo off of me. For that he was the perfect man.

"I was starting to wonder if you were coming back." He said before stopping beside me.

I looked up just as he recovered himself. I didn't recognize the look that had crossed his face but I recognized him covering quickly. He must be offended at the smell coming from me. The man had been a sloppy drunk and a very heavy smoker. And he had wasted no cologne. He smelled as if he had bathed in the bottle before going out. I was almost certain that just sitting with him for an hour had done the trick but I couldn't risk it. I had followed through on the game.

"I'd like to talk to you after you finish your nightly routine." Said through clenched teeth before walking back into the house.

My nightly routine was to eat, shower, brush my teeth, brush my hair, put my pajamas on, feed the animals, and then go to bed. He had nicely told me that he wanted to talk to me but only after I had cleaned the offending smells from me. If he was really that powerful of a vampire he would be able to smell the human and sex that clung to me. Satan and Vlad didn't seem to mind the smell at all.

I pushed away from them and walked into the house. I was going to take a shower and clean up, go talk to Hayden and then go to bed. As I started down the hall towards our rooms his door opened. He stood in the door way with his usual attire of black jeans, black t-shirt, black trench coat and black boots. He had used gel to spike the hair on top of his head which was just a touch longer than the rest of his hair. He looked ready to go to a party or be a stripper from hell at one.

"We need more food for the pets." He explained.

"Okay." I said. "Do you need some money?"

"I was thinking maybe you would like to come with. They are your pets after all."

"Oh." I fought to keep a neutral face. He could be leading me into a trap. Was it time to kill me already? "I still need to shower and other stuff." I tried stalling. I would need to contact Marco again if I was going out with Hayden.

"That’s fine. I will be in the sitting room reading when you are ready." He started walking to the living room and when he passed by me the smell of him had me reeling. He smelled so good. He had that spicy vampire scent but under it was a smell that was all his. The scent was crisp and clean. Like a grassland on a perfect sunny day with no pollutants. The smell made me warm in more ways than one. "Take your time, Alex."

I closed my eyes and walked to my room with out saying anything. I had a new routine for tonight. Take a shower, find something to wear, keep sight on the fact Hayden is a bad guy, pack myself down with tons of weapons, and then go get pet food. I sorted through my weapons mentally while showering.

When I got out I threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt. The shirt was tight enough to show my body off and the V-neck showed my cleavage but it was also loose enough to conceal the six blades tucked into the waist of my pants. I strapped on my upper arm sheaths and slipped two knives into each on before slipping on my tennis shoes. I strapped on my ankle sheaths as well. Slipped two more blades into each one before pulling my hair into a tight ponytail and putting in my silver dagger clips.

My nails had been re-done two days ago so I didn't worry about that but I still felt under-armed. I pulled out the knife that was tucked into the waste of my pants at the small of my back. Alex had had these custom made for me. They had a clip on the handles that allowed me to hook them onto my pants. The clips also doubled as a tool to help cut the hearts out of demons or the heads off of vampires. I threw the knife back in its drawer before pulling out my Ruger P89 and it's small of back (SOB) holster.

The holster was another custom job designed to sit at the small of my back with virtually no line and easy access. Alex had sparred with me until I had learned to pull the holster out smooth and fire in one quick motion with deadly accuracy. I checked the clip and put a round in the chamber before checking the safety and sliding it effortlessly into the holster. I pulled out four more clips and set them on the bed before going to get my jacket. The bullets were hollow silver and designed to release holy water on contact. A shot to the heart would kill a vampire but anywhere else it was just painful. Enough shots and it would be a painful death.

The jacket was just a black wind breaker with nothing flashy or special about it. Once I put it on and slipped the extra clips in to the pockets - two on each side to keep the weight even - I looked like any twenty-one year old out to buy pet food. The jeans were a little tight for fighting but I could make do. Alex had made sure I had practiced in any clothing and naked. Course the naked one he didn't teach me personally. That was Sherri.

I did a few flexes in the mirror and moved in all kinds of directions to make sure no lines showed from the weapons. When I was satisfied I put on some eye liner and took a deep breath. There was no way I could contact Marco so I was taking this one alone. If I went down then I was taking a hell of a lot with me and Hayden would be first. I left my room to meet the man who was luring me out of my house and possibly into a trap. I only hoped the song currently playing my head wouldn't be engraved on my tombstone. "We're following the leader to where ever he may go."