Chapter 3
The pulsing trance music was flowing evenly throughout the club. Diamond Dillingham was dancing with a good looking, blond haired boy. He looked like he was in his early twenties, and more then ready for a good time. Charli watched the two sensually dance together, getting more uncomfortable by the second. She then turned her head to Mona, who was more preoccupied by mingling in the middle of the dance floor while having many people stare at her. The two of them seemed to be enjoying their night very much, and the more Charli looked at them, the more she regretted coming in the first place.
Earlier that day, the three girls Diamond, Belinda and Mona had invited Charli to go to Rave. It was the greatest club that the small town of Sharon had to offer, it was the only club the town had to offer. But as long as you could pay for the entrance fee, the club was opened to just about everyone. Charli had agreed to go to Rave because she did not have anything else to do on a Friday night, and her sister wanted Charli out of the house for a romantic evening with her husband. Now she was stuck there, when all she wanted to do was to go home and take a long bath.
Charli looked for Belinda and she needed to find her soon. Belinda had driven Charli to Rave, and she was hoping she would drive her back home too. Going to clubs and partying all night was just not her, Charli wanted to get out of this place and return to her normal, boring old life.
The small, brunette girl walked aimlessly around the club, until finally spotting Belinda's black sequenced dress. The closer Charli got to the other girl the better she got a look at her. Belinda had her arms tightly wrapped around some guy, while her lips where intertwined with his. He had brown hair with lighter highlights in a few of his locks. The guy was dressed in all black, and by the looks of it, he was really muscular.
Charli could not believe it, all week long Belinda had been so sweet to her. She expected this from both Diamond and Mona, but not Belinda, who had been her friend. She would meet Charli by her locker before and after school, the two of them would talk endlessly during lunch, and during World History the two would behave just like best friends. Belinda had told Charli that she had a boyfriend that was currently studying at Yale University. This guy did not resemble how Belinda described her boyfriend at the least.
Charli was disappointed, her first friend since moving to Massachusetts had been nothing more then pretending. She could see that Belinda would not be going to give her a ride home, but just in case Charli went to her so called friend to tell her that she was leaving. The closer Charli got to the couple the more anxious she got, until she was only a few meters away did her stomach do a back flip.
The guy with Belinda suddenly stiffened. He held still for a couple of seconds and Belinda did not like that. She grabbed his long black overcoat much more tightly, pulling him closer to her. She wanted him to keep kissing her passionately once more. But the guys attention was preoccupied by someone else entirely. He turned around to see Charli, who was not too happy to walk over to them.
Chills began to creep into Charli's skin. The guy had suddenly turned around with a huge smile on his face. It was as though he had sensed that Charli was behind him and something compelled him to turn around. The guy had looked hungrily at her, as if he had just found his new meal, but his attention went back to an angry Belinda. She let go of her partner and walked over to Charli grabbing her tightly by the wrist.
When the two of them where safely in the bathroom and out of earshot did Belinda began to show her true colors.
"You bitch," yelled the angered Belinda. "Who told you to come up to me? Did you not see that I was busy? Where you blind or something?"
Charli stood their gaping at her. She had never been yelled at like that before, not even by her grandmother or her sister. Now Charli was beginning to boil with anger, her own family did not shout as much, she was not going to take being yelled at by some girl who Charli had only known for a couple of days.
"Shut up," bawled Charli. "I only wanted to tell you that I was leaving, that's all. Since you drove me, I thought you'd might want to know where I was going. That's it." As soon as she finished, Charli stalked out of the bathroom, not even bothering to hear Belinda shriek back.
Charli walked out of the club, she was not in the mood to face the bouncer when he tried to get her to stop. She did not have a cell phone to call her sister with, so naturally Charli did not have a ride home. The way to her house was a far one, and the walk to the bus stop was not that near either, so she had to hurry before the day got too late. Unlike New York, the town of Sharon did not have a subway that made going home much easier, and waiting for a bus this time of night took too long.
By the time Charli was only a few kilometers from the bus stop, she had begun to notice that someone was following her. Her skin had soon become all bumpy with goosebumps, her breathing was heavier then before, and her walking pace had sped up. When Charli turned the corner, she managed to look behind her. The dark figure behind seemed to be walking at a normal pace, but that did not make Charli feel any better. The sooner she got to the bus stop, the safer she would feel. After all there might be more people waiting for a bus, then the empty sidewalk that she was unfortunate enough to have to cross.
Charli made another turn, walking past a closed store, and through the ally way that made it to the bus stop. The same one that she had arrived to when Charli had moved to Sharon, Massachusetts. Right before Charli made it to the street light and the sign that spelled 'Bus Stop' in front of her, her mouth was suddenly covered by a hand. The elderly lady that was eagerly waiting for her bus to arrive, did not even hear the muffled up screams that were coming from behind her.
Charli began to thrash and kick as much as she could, but no matter how hard she tried, she just could not get away. Slowly the person that held her began to turn Charli around, clearly he wanted her to see the attacker. Once she was turned far enough to see his face, Charli's eyes widened with surprise. It was the same guy that had been making out with Belinda in the club. He was smiling the same grin that he had in Rave, but now his smile was even more menacing.
The guy started to stroke Charli's hair, then her cheek, finally moving down to her slender neck. With each stroke he made, Charli wanted to shout and run as fast as she could. This guy was going to rape her or even worse, kill her.
"You look very appetizing," said the man. His voice was hard and masculine, and it had a hint of an accent, but Charli could not decipher what kind. "I have never thought a person could smell so scrumptious. Just your scent brings water to my mouth."
Charli's eyes widened in horror as two long and pointed canines protruded from his mouth, his eyes had turned from a dirt brown color, to a glowing crimson one, making him look even more dangerous then before.
The man licked his canines, somehow managing to make them even more profound. Then he looked into Charli frightened eyes, but his focus was short lived as he began to lick the nape of her throat shortly after. His tongue was dry and scratchy, unlike a normal warm tongue, his was cold and lifeless. Finally, the strange man bit into her tender flesh, causing a warm crimson liquid flow into his mouth.
Tears began to stream down Charli's cheeks as the man drank even more of her blood. Until suddenly the stranger was lifted off of her and crashed into the garbage cans behind her. Charli collapsed, waiting to feel the cold and hard cement floor, but instead she felt warm body heat as someone had grabbed hold of her. She could not see the person, but by the sound of his voice she could tell the person was a man. Even though her vision was blurry, Charli could still make out a few of his features. By the looks of it, he had jet black hair, and a pale complexion that made him stand out.
"You pathetic creature," yelled the black haired stranger, but it did not sound like a yell but more of a growl. One that sounded like that of an animal, a ferocious one to say the least. "It is against the codes to drink human blood directly from the source."
The man that had attacked Charli started to laugh, for some reason he was amused by the situation. He had begun to stand up and then ran after the man that was holding Charli up. But before the attacker could inflict any damage, the other man jumped into the air with the small girl in his arms. He sat Charli down by the brick wall on one side of the alley way, then proceeded into assaulting the attacker.
Due to blood loss Charli could not keep her eyes open, no matter how interesting the battle got. When the two men crashed into one another large bone crushing booms would be heard throughout the alley, it was enough to shake the two buildings.
"Now what is a royal knight doing in this part of the world," asked the crimsoned eyed man with definite amusement in his voice.
"My business does not concern a rogue," replied the other. "Really. Do you think that you could possibly beat a trained knight?"
The rogue looked at the enforcer for the first time since meeting seriously. Then he shook his head while saying "no." The assailant moved towards Charli to only be blocked by the knight, but instead of attacking, the rogue just quickly ran the other way escaping into the night.
Charli felt a cool hand on her forehead, eventually opening her eyes. Her vision was much clearer, but her body still felt heavy and lifeless. No matter how hard she tried to get up, she just could not bring herself to be able to. It did not help that her savior wanted her to keep still.
He was a beautiful man, the type of guys that you see in covers of famous magazines. The type of guys that could make any woman faint at the sight of him, and he was definitely not at a loss with Charli. He had very bright, blue eyes that made them even more profound by the blackness of his hair. He was fit and muscular, but he was not ridiculously bulky like most strong men.
The moment that Charli had laid eyes on him, it was as though a connection was made between the two. The only time she was attracted to a guy before was last year, her sophomore year of high school. He was an actor for the school plays, usually landing the lead roles. But he had turned Charli down and had made out with the lead actress. Since then she decided to just not get crushes, they would just hurt too much. But this guy, he was not someone you developed crushes on, but someone you'd fall in love with immediately.
Charli could not help but stare at him, he was hypnotizing her with his mere eyes, but it was more then that, and that worried Charli. Somehow she was completely absorbed by a complete stranger, like electricity passing through her, and she could not extinguish this new found feeling.
"Are you alright?" Her savior had asked, he had a voice that could crush the heart of any singer, so velvety and soft. He was looking at her with both confusion and desire in his eyes. Charli kept staring at him, and she wanted to say something but she could not seem to formulate any words. So Charli did the only thing she could and nodded her head yes.
"That's good....Now can you stand you up?" He asked her, but this time Charli wanted to answer, she did not want to seem like an idiot in front of her hero.
"I think so," was all Charli could reply. When she tried to stand up her feet began to wobble, and she fell for the floor, but instead of hitting the pavement, strong arms were supporting her.
"Thank you uhhh," said Charli, wanting to give her gratitude to the guy who kept helping her, but she did not know what his name was.
"Theron. My name is Theron. And who might you be?" He questioned her.
"Charli, well it is Charlotte but I prefer Charli. I want to thank you for saving me from that..........uhm...vampire." That was when it truly dawned to Charli, she was attacked by that mythical creature. And this Theron guy, he had fought and overpowered the creature. Not only was she feeling sick from the blood loss, but she was stricken with fear at the thought that Theron might attack her as well and she could not bare the thought. She was just too attracted to him.
Theron stayed silently for a few minutes, but he still had his arms around Charli, he did not want her to fall, or he just did not want to let go of her. "Yes, you are right he was a vampire," he said at last. Then it suddenly hit him. What was he doing? He was breaking one of the most important rules, 'mortals shall not know of the existence of the vampire race.' If any mortal shall find out the truth then, he or she should be disposed of before that person can revel the presence of vampires to the world. But the thought of destroying this small and innocent girl pained him more then anything.
"Yes, he was a vampire, a rogue who does not follow the rules." Now he was breaking them too, and he might as well be called a rogue himself. "Now I hope that you can trust me enough to let me take you home, because I do not feel very comfortable letting you go off by yourself." He was hoping she would not turn him down, Theron just wanted to spend more time with her before he had to leave to complete his mission.
Charli stared at him, did she trust him? The truth was she did not know, but she did like him, he seemed like a very polite person. But there was the problem of what he was, probably a vampire like that other man, but he did not seem like a monster. Theron had said that the attacker was rogue and he did not follow the rules. Also when Theron had come to rescue her, he had yelled at the creature that vampires should not drink human blood directly, it was against some kind of rules.
"Would you please give me a ride home? The bus had left when that 'rogue' as you say it, attacked me." The more she stayed near him, the more she began to feel comfortable around him. Charli did not understand what was happening to her, this feeling was completely new and different. But one thing was for sure she felt more like herself then she had ever before.
A large grin appeared on Theron's face, the kind that had not been seen on him for almost two centuries. "Just tell me where and I shall take you there." He helped her up on her feet, and he was hoping that she would stumble again, so that he would be able to carry her in his arms. But she was standing and her ability to walk was better then before, and with a little guidance from Theron the two made it to the car, that would take Charli home after a long night.