Disclaimer: I do not own anything I did not create.
A/N: Thank you for those who reviewed, you don't know how much I appreciated it. And also thanks for those of you who are currently reading this. This chapter is slightly shorter than the other chapters, and it is slower. So I am going to apologize right now for that. _ But the events in this chapter was necessary for the story to go on without too much confusion. Please review to tell me what you think about it... even if it was to yell at me for putting out such a slow chapter.
Chapter 5 – Monster
Devin sat on the library floor, stunned, for almost a full two minutes before he was able to recover from the shock and get back up on his feet. How did she do that?
One minute he got her pinned, unable to escape from the confines of his arms no matter how much she struggled, and the next thing he knew, his body went crashing against the bookshelves behind him, and his pretty little prey flew right out of his reach.
He couldn't comprehend what had happened there. She was a human, and human strength shouldn't have been able to push his strong vampire body away, even if he was not on his guard when he was kissing her. And he wasn't…
Devin couldn't help but remember how her lips tasted sweeter than anything else he had tasted before, and they were so soft that they captured all his senses. He scrubbed a hand over his mouth as he felt his erection throb just thinking of their kiss.
But as much as he lust after her sweet blood and soft body, he couldn't understand how he could have let his guard down while being with her. Another vampire could have sneaked up on him and finished him off right there, and he wouldn't know until he was dead. And it didn't make any sense to say that he had let his guard down so much as to let a frail human girl push him away.
No. Something was not right. Turning around to look at the dented shelves that he crashed into minutes ago, his eyes narrowed at the damage.
The indent on the metal shelves varied from at least an inch to almost three inches deep. Although it was not too great a damage, even with his stone hard skin, it certainly wasn't something a simple fall would have caused. He must have gained some momentum prior to the crash.
Could she, a human, have shoved him, a vampire, away with so much force? And with such speed that he didn't see it coming?
He recalled the first time they met, how easily she was able to identify him as a vampire. It was no coincidence that she knew of his kind, she knew exactly what to look for. And now, with this kind of strength and speed…?
Her scent smelled human enough, but her actions were definitely indicated otherwise.
A particularly rare group of human beings flashed through his thoughts. He wondered if she could possibly be a member of the group, though he highly doubted it. Her frame was too small, and she looked too fragile to be part of that.
But he wanted to find out. The more he knew about his opponent, the better he could play this game with her, no?
Although he wasn't very familiar with the said group himself, he knew just the right people who could fill him in.
Devin flipped open his cell phone and punched in a number he didn't thought he would ever dial. Guess it was time to pay the city of Toronto a visit.
As soon as Kaitlyn got back to her apartment, she rushed towards her bathroom sink to splash cold water on her face.
Immediately after breaking herself free from him, she ran non-stop towards her car, not caring if others saw her or not. And once she reached her car, she drove so fast that she made a twenty minute drive from school back to her apartment into a five minute trip. She has never driven so fast in her entire life. But she was terrified that the vampire would be trailing her, and terrified of herself.
She took a couple of deep breathes to calm herself before opening her eyes to look at herself in the mirror. And there she saw it, the reflection of a monster staring straight back at her.
The monster glared at her with its eerie silver eyes with pupils like a cat's in bright sunlight, and nails extended into sharp claws.
"No." Tears began swelling in her eyes as she watched the monster in the mirror shook its head in unison with her own movement.
It has been years since she had seen herself like that, and she had thought she had the monster under control. Obviously, it had proved her wrong by staring back at her this very moment.
Slowly, Kaitlyn sank to her knees on the bathroom floor. How could she have done that? All she wanted was to be a normal person. Was that so much to ask? How could she loose her control, after training herself for so many years, over an incubus?
You are so weak Kaitlyn.
Why couldn't she just endure whatever that vampire had in store for her? It was merely a kiss. She didn't have to react so violently that she could have endangered others. Why couldn't she just act like a dead fish and let him have his way, have his fun before he ends her life? It wasn't as if she didn't know how dangerous this monster of hers could be.
Her throat scorched as if to agree with her.
She laid down on the cool tiles on her bathroom floor sobbing. She knew very well what she was, but she had been lying to herself for the past few years, convincing herself that she could be different, and she bought into that lie.
But who was herself to fool? She was born to be a killing machine, just like the rest of her family.
Her sobs broke out to a cry.
No. She was not a monster, and she will not give in no matter what happened. Even if it meant her own death, even if it meant her own humiliation, she will not slip again.
The next couple of days were uneventful. Devin had, thankfully, decided to leave her alone for whatever reasons, and Kaitlyn's features had returned back to normal.
She only faintly remember that she fell asleep on the cold bathroom tile crying that day, and half way through, she was awaken by a call from Rachel. She couldn't remember what the conversation was about until she was reminded by her friends the next day, but she did recall looking into the mirror after the phone call to find, to her relieve, her eyes had returned to its normal deep brown and her claws had retracted.
From now on, she would just have to ensure that that would not happen ever again, no matter what.
Her cell phone rang as she parked her car in front of her friends' house. "Hello?"
"You here yet?" Rachel was on the other side of the line, and she could already hear the music blasting in the background.
"I just parked my car. I'll be there in a minute."
Rachel and Diana had rented a house approximately half an hour's drive from their college. Luckily, both their landlord and their neighbors were nice enough to tolerate loud music blasting from their house once a while when they throw their house parties. Of course, though, they would always abide by the laws and make sure they noise level were acceptable after hours.
After the conversation they had a couple of days ago, Rachel and Diana have decided to throw a house party instead of setting her up on a blind date, believing she would meet more guys that way. In addition, since all four of the close friends were currently single, everyone could get something out of this.
"Hey, Lynnie. I thought you forgot about the party." Rachel handed her a drink as soon as she took her shoes off.
"I'm sorry I was late." It was only when Kaitlyn finally got in the house that she realized she was one of the last ones to arrive. Lately, her mind had been so preoccupied by everything that happened, she forgot that she should have came earlier to help her friends set up.
What kind of a friend was she?
"Oh god, Kate." Laurie grabbed her hand and yanked her over to one corner to whisper to her ears. "They've invited fifteen guys, and there are only four of us."
Kaitlyn couldn't help but let out a sigh. That was so typically Rachel and Diana. "Don't worry, as long as Diana's here, the spotlight wouldn't be on us." She said hopefully, dreading the night as much as Laurie did.
Before Laurie could complain more, Diana spotted them and pulled Kaitlyn away to introduce her to each and every one of their guests. She felt so uncomfortable being put on the spot, and she couldn't even begin to remember who was who. All she knew was that they were all from different faculties, and were all of different styles.
The night went on with and Rachel constantly surrounded by guys, Kaitlyn and Laurie had a few lingering around them too.
Normally, Kaitlyn wouldn't be very comfortable with situations like these, but tonight, she had almost welcomed it. At least, some of the conversations – if you could call them conversations and not one way babblings from guys – had kept her mind off of the things she'd rather not think about.
"Would you like to dance?" One of the guys came up to her when she was in the kitchen pouring herself another drink.
"Maybe a little later, Henry." She gave him her classic response.
"Ah, I'm glad you remembered my name." Well, he was one of the only guys she was able to remember his name, out of all the fifteen of them. It was probably because he was the only one who didn't seem to fit-in in this party. "There were so many of us here."
"Yah, Rachel and Diana had a tendency to introduce many new people all at once." She nodded shyly. "And I'm so bad with names that I usually only remember one or two of them."
"Well then, I'm glad I'm amongst those one or two then." He flashed her a smile. "Guess it helps having a common name."
She laughed at his comment. Henry was average height with dark blond hair and a gentle smile. He seemed like a genuine person, mature, and well-dressed, different from the rest of the crowd.
"So what should I call you? Diana introduced you as Kaitlyn, but I've heard them all calling you a different name. Lynnie, Katie, Kate…?"
She was surprised that he noticed. "Anything's fine for me. As long as I know you're referring to me."
"Lynnie it is then." He concluded. "Could this be 'a little later'?"
What was it about this Henry that made her couldn't stop from smiling? He was so different from the other male population that she had met, and he did not intimidate her even one tiny bit.
"Just plain dancing?" Something told her that it would be safe to dance with him, that he wouldn't do anything she was not comfortable with.
He nodded and like a gentleman, he held out a hand for her, which she took slightly blushing.
The rest of the party was, to her surprise, quite enjoyable. They danced and talked the whole night. Henry did not make any moves on her that would make her uncomfortable, and their conversations where very engaging. So by the end of the night, she had concluded that it would not be bad at all to have him as a friend.
Although that was nowhere near where Diana and Rachel wanted it to go, they still declared the party as a success, because that was quite a step for their timid little Kaitlyn.
A/N: Please, please, please review. I'm so unsure about this chapter that I would really really want your opinion on it. Did the whole Kaitlyn monster thing surprise you? Did you see it coming at all? I mean, ok, maybe you did not see the monster part, but did you see that she was different from the chapters prior to this one? I didn't really want it to be out of the blue, because I've planned this all along, but I really wanted to know if I gave a sufficient hint beforehand.
Again, I'm sorry for the slow chapter, but I do promise that there will be more interactions between Devin and Kaitlyn in the next chapter.