Don't be Scared Little Alchemist

Chapter 4

I stood in front of the mirror, desperately trying to style my hair into the deliberate messy look that I managed to pull off flawlessly. She wasn't going to turn up. I knew it. Nobody actually shows up for a date they planned in a dream! I should have told her that I was a dreamwalker, then she would have come... well probably anyway. I wasn't exactly her favourite person in the world, but that was besides the point. She wasn't going to come, I'd look like some sad, lonely guy who got stood up and... why am I worrying about this so much? It's Sydney- a human, an Alchemist and to be quite frank an outright bitch when she wanted to be.

"Ready?" came a voice from the doorway. I was Gareth. He smirked at me as he took in what I was wearing- a dress shirt casually thrown on with black jeans and a loose tie. Not too dressy, but not casual either. "Dressing to impress?" he continued, running a hand through his annoyingly perfect blonde hair. He was such a ladies man, not too unlike I used to be actually.

"No!" I responded a little too quickly, "in fact I don't even think she's coming." I really hoped my guardian didn't see my face fall at the thought.

"She is, don't worry" he assured me, "Eddie just got a call from her, she's on her way to the park as we speak." I felt relief wash over me and calm me down instantly.

"Wait" I said, "How did she have our number?" Actually, how did she know a lot of stuff she knew. How did she always know where there'd been a Strigoi fight? How did she know where the park was? How did she know to actually show up for our date when she thought she'd just dreamed it... or maybe she knew more than I gave her credit for. Maybe she already knew I could enter peoples dreams... but then why would she agree to a bet she could never win?

"Alchemists" sighed Gareth, "they have their ways."

"They do indeed" I replied with a chuckle as we left the room. All three of us stepped out into the chilly night air and headed for the park where I would meet with Sydney. To give us a little more privacy and put Sydney more at ease, Eddie and Gareth had agreed to stay hidden and watch me from afar, just this once. They weren't really keen on the idea for obvious safety reasons but I knew their level of skill and trusted them to spring into action immediately if anything went wrong.

We arrived at the park at ten minutes past eight... fashionably late I suppose. I scanned the area for any signs of a bratty little Alchemist and eventually my eyes landed on something, or more appropriately someone. She was- to put it bluntly- gorgeous. Her blonde hair was set in pretty loose curls which framed her face nicely and she'd even put on make-up for the occasion. She wore a long, grey coat but it was undone revealing a short, deep purple dress... very sexy I had to admit. In case you thought I was just talking about some random girl- it was Sydney.

"Sydney" I greeted as I approached her, my guardians keeping behind. She turned to me, her deep brown eyes gazing up into my green ones. I couldn't help but feel some kind of connection... well that couldn't be good.

"Adrian" she nodded in reply, managing- with obvious difficulty- to offer me a smile. I could sense her uneasiness and took her hand in a comforting fashion. She instantly snatched her hand back and I raised my arms up in surrender.

"Hey" I chuckled, "remember- I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise you, it'll be just like hanging out with a human."

"Unlikely" she replied icily. She took a while to get herself together after the shock of physical contact with a 'moster' before finally managing to put her usual 'I don't care' bravado back up.

"You okay?" I asked her, genuinely concerned. In all honesty, I didn't want to force her to go on a date with me if she was really that uncomfortable. It'd just be cruel.

"Yes and no" she replied, shrugging her shoulders in confusion. I attempted to take her hand once again, but this time she didn't let go and I gave it a comforting squeeze before bringing her face up to look at me.

"How so?" I asked her, still pretty unsure how it was even possible to have two opposite answers to the same question. She shrugged once again.

"Well" she began, her unease still showing, "I mean, I don't like any kind of vampire- dhampirs included- don't get me wrong but... I dunno it's weird. At first with Rose- we were just so close I practically forgot what she was and then she left me and I guess I just lost the trust I was starting to gain for your kind. But, I know your not lying when you say you won't hurt me... at least I hope your not... I'm just confused." I was silent for a while, trying to make sense of what she'd just said. Honestly, I still couldn't figure it out, but I could tell she was having some serious conflicting emotions and for that I felt sorry for her.

"I'm not lying Sydney" I chuckled, "if I wanted your blood don't you think I would've just taken it by now?" I saw her tense a little at the thought.

"Right" she agreed, "I suppose you would have... should we actually go somewhere now."

"Indeed" I replied, letting go of her hand and offering her my arm to take. Unsurprisingly she refused.

"No way Ivashkov" she retorted, shifting away from me a little to keep her distance.

"Can't blame a guy for trying" I said casually before leading her away to the restaurants I'd booked up. It was the best restaurant in town, but nothing that I couldn't afford of course. Being rich had it's advantages.

"Well, this looks... expensive" stated Sydney looking around as we walked in the door. It was true, it looked like the sort of place celebrities would go to with it's deep red walls, golden pillars, chandeliers and silk clothed tables with little candles in the middle.

"It's... a little pricey" I agreed which to my shock actually made her laugh a little. "Here, let me take your coat." If there's one thing I was on dates (first ones at least)- it was a gentleman. The thing was, I very rarely had actual dates. Usually I'd just pick up some randomer at a bar, sleep with her and then never see her again... well that's what the pre-Rose Hathaway Adrian would do anyway. The new and hopefully improved version hadn't done that in ages and didn't plan on doing it again, not now I knew what a real relationship could be like.

Sydney allowed me to take her coat off of her shoulders, fully revealing the purple dress I'd noticed earlier... much sexier in the light. She turned to face me and to my horror, noticed me staring. She rolled her eyes and flashed a little smile in my direction... she was so pretty when she smiled, prettier than usual I mean. I knew that if my guardians had any idea what I was thinking, they'd probably abandon their duties and beat the crap out of me, they'd made it quite clear that they didn't want me falling for a human. Not that I was of course, it's only natural to appreciate the general hotness of a girl like that. Either way, I couldn't see Eddie or Gareth at the moment, in fact I wouldn't be too shocked if they were just looking through the windows and hadn't even come inside. At least that would keep our conversations private.

Once we'd been seated, it was awkward and silent for a long time, unspoken words hanging in the air all around us. In the silence, I could hear spirit calling to me, begging me to use it and let it out of it's cage. I wanted a drink- no I needed one, but I'd promised myself I wouldn't tonight. Sydney didn't need more reasons to be scared of me and I just got weird when I was drunk. Then again, I got even weirder when I let spirit get a hold of me.

Our main course had not long arrived when Sydney spoke up, starting the first real conversation of the evening.

"I'm really sorry" she mumbled, staring down at her plate the entire time. I was confused, what had she actually done? Well- aside from having a bit of an attitude of course.

"What for?" I asked her, egar to hear her answer. She continued to stare downwards for a while before finally replying.

"For everything" she began, "the way I treat you in general. It's really prejudice I know..."

"It's not your fault" I assured her, "I guess some people just find vampires scary."

"But it isn't fair" she insisted, "I mean, look at everything you've done to try and get me to accept you and I still throw it back in your face."

"Don't worry about it" I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood a little. "It's pretty entertaining actually." She attempted a smile, but her guilt made it vanish almost instantly.

"But it isn't right. You were right- about what you said before. Just because I'm scared of vampire kind it doesn't mean I have to be scared of you." Only seconds after the words had left her mouth, it became evident that she'd said something she shouldn't have. She looked at me in fear and shock- she'd just quoted me from a dream, a dream she wasn't supposed to know was a result of spirit. But she did know.

"You knew this entire time..." I mumbled, trailing off. "You know I'm a dreamwalker and you knew there was no way for you to win the bet... so why did you agree to it?" We sat in silence for a while as I watched her try and think of a way to respond. She'd been caught out- she wanted to go on a date with me. She may have been good at hiding it before, but her secret was out. Sydney Sage actually didn't hate me. Who'da thought?

I wasn't sure if I should've been thrilled or horrified by this new revelation, but I was heading more in the direction of thrilled. If my guardians where anywhere nearby right now, the likelyhood was they would ban me from ever seeing her again. But I didn't want that... because in all honesty I kinda wanted a second date... and maybe a third.

"Well..." she began uneasily, "I just... wanted to get to know you. To prove to myself that not all vampires are evil." The way she said it made it sound more like a question than an actual statement. She was lying. I could tell, I was very good at reading people or more precisely their auras. Hers was giving everything away.

"I think" I said with all my usual bad-boy-who-every-girl-is-in-love-with bravado, "that you like me."

"Elaborate"

"I mean as in you wanted to go on a date because you want to date me. Simple."

"And why on earth would I want to do that?" As we continued to argue back and forth, we subconsciously began to lean in closer and closer over the small table.

"I dunno" I replied, "maybe because I'm a super-hot, funny, unbelievable, awesome guy and you can't stay away from me... just a guess"

"As if"

"Oh really, then why did you make the bet?"

"I already told you"

"And if you really know so much about my powers you'll know I also read auras and I know for a fact that you were lying."

"Why does it matter to you?"

"Because"

"That's not an answer"

"You didn't answer my question either"

"Because it's stupid" she retorted, raising her voice a little more. By this point we were right up in each others faces in a heated debate. "Why would I want to spend time with some creature that I'm terrified of?"

Her words stung a little, I hated to admit it. I had nothing left to say, no witty remark and for a while, everything was silent as we cooled ourselves down from the fight, still face to face leaning into the middle of the table. I could feel her breath on my cheek, warm and comforting but ragged- she was clearly stressed. I suppose that all came from being too close to an 'evil demon'. I could hear her heartbeat too, as well as my own. They were freakishly in tune with each other, as if they were meant to be heard like this, with barely any distance between them. It happened like the movies, like it did when Romeo met Juliet, when Edward met Bella... like I imagined it felt when Rose met Dimitri. In that moment, I forgot we were in the middle of some posh, upper-class restaurant with a bunch of people probably still staring at us after our little argument. I forgot that my guardians were watching somewhere... and oh man would they be pissed. But I didn't think about that. All I could see was the girl infront of me, more than pretty- outright beautiful. Green eyes met brown and before I knew it, I was speaking in gentle, hushed tone, contrasting greatly with how we'd been talking when we were fighting.

"Are you scared now?" I whispered, seeing her visibly shiver as my breath hit her face. Getting herself together, at least as much as she could in such a close proximity to me, she shook her head and I moved in closer. Then I kissed her.

It was unbelievable. Literally. To my utmost shock, she made no attempt to shove me off or run out of the restaurant screaming (that would've made me a bit of a social outcast wouldn't you agree?), but she didn't exactly respond with passion. Not that it mattered, because all I could think about were how soft and sweet her lips felt underneath mine and how pretty she was and how good she smelled (she had just the right amount of perfume on, just how I liked it... she'd probably somehow known that too knowing her). I reached a hand up and gently ran a finger along her jawline, pulling her in closer. She responded by- hesitantly as always- placing a hand on the side of my neck, holding me in place. Not that I was going anywhere if I could help it. The phrase 'sparks flew' didn't quite seem to cover it. I opened my eyes for a second and caught a glimpse of her aura, shining so brightly it almost blinded me. I quickly closed my eyes again and got back into the kiss, feeling the chemistry I never thought myself capable of feeling, especially with a human... especially with Sydney.

All good things had to come to an end. We broke apart. We stayed leaning over the table, keeping the closeness, savouring it. For the first time since I'd met her, she was genuinely smiling.

"What the hell just happened?" I whispered with a chuckle. She laughed too and shook her head.

"Not a clue" she replied, "but... I liked it." My heart involuntarily skipped a beat at her words, betraying me and everything I'd tried to do. Despite everything I told myself, I liked her. Simple as that.

"Me too" I said, gently guiding her into another kiss, more brief this time but just as sweet.

I hated the thought, but I was doing exactly what my guardians didn't want- I was falling for her.

xx