Crossing Paths
Poisonous Shadows

“All dressed up with nowhere to go?” Pete asked, coming up behind me.

I had heard him coming, of course, but he seemed to enjoy the thought of sneaking up on me, so I played along.

“Oh! Pete, you scared me,” I said, faking it as best as I could, “You’re just too quiet.”

Pete grinned, “I’m not always quiet.”

Recognizing the awkward and very creepy feeling of being hit on in an inappropriate manner, I turned the conversation to business.

“Did the flooring arrive today?” I asked, not looking at his face but instead eyeing his filthy clothes.

He caught my look and glanced down, blushing, “Yes, ma’am. It’s all ready to go. I put the different kinds in the rooms you told me to.”

I smiled, “Thank you, Pete. I appreciate your hard work.”

I made the comment in hopes that he would understand I did appreciate his work, but not the constant flirtation.

Pete nodded, “It’s no problem. I like the work and you’re pretty easy to work for,” he chuckled after this and winked at me.

Why could I never just come out and say…

“Pete, don’t you have duties to attend to?” Gideon’s voice boomed from the stairs.

Pete jumped and swung around to face Gideon, “I’m sorry, Sir. Yes, Sir. I, uh, right away.”

Pete hurried away.

“Thank you,” I said, smiling at Gideon, “I don’t know why I don’t just compel him to stop.”

Gideon smiled back at me, “Because you enjoy the attention, to a point. Isn’t it a nice feeling to have someone blindly adore you, knowing nothing of your truth or history?”

I thought about that for a second and then said, “No. That’s not flattering at all.”

Gideon winked at me.

I nodded, understanding, “I’ll compel him to stop.”

“The car is ready, guys,” Dom said, from the doorway.

We headed out into the night, and I sucked in a huge breath of air, just wanting to smell all the scents on the wind.

Immediately, I caught the scent of the wolves, guarding the house just inside the tree line. It made me feel safe.

“Will they be following us?” I asked Gideon, nodding in the direction of the scent.

He shook his head, “No need. The Outpost is a non-aggression zone.”

We climbed into the back seat of the big, black SUV.

“But just because there’s a rule doesn’t mean nothing will ever happen,” I said.

Dom started the car and pulled away from the house, heading down the long driveway to the gated entry.

“It’s not a rule, dear. There are wards and spells on the property. Any act of aggression is blocked and the source... eliminated,” Gideon said, casually.

My jaw dropped, “They kill them?”

“No need to. The spell does it all. A flash of light and the source of the problem is just...gone. It’s only happened once. No one has tested the rule since,” he answered.

I definitely needed to remember that.

Gideon and Dom started talking about something, but my mind wandered to the first time I had visited The Outpost.

I had been a new vampire. It was still fascinating and terrifying to be out in the open at that time. The sights and sounds and smells were so different and so much stronger than when I was a human. Sometimes, it had been wonderful. The scent of moist earth after rain was rich and warm. The smell of cologne and perfume seemed to have multiple layers that I could pick out individually. Then again, it was also bad at times. Taking out the garbage was a horror, passing a cemetery made me want to retch and gods help the human who farts in my vicinity.

“Are you alright, dear?” Gideon asked me, patting my leg, “You’re growling.”

I nodded and responded, “It’s my fart rage. I’m fine.”

Gideon and Dom both burst into hysterical laughter.

Gideon had been present for the initial fart rage incident, so I understood his amusement, but Dom?

“What are you laughing at?” I asked Dom, grumpily.

“Melissa gets quite upset if someone passes gas in her direction,” Gideon said through boyish giggles.

Dom was laughing even harder now, and I wondered if I should have him pull over to avoid driving into a tree.

Dom said, “Fart...rage….” then howled with laughter.

I had to admit, it sounded hilarious, but it was far from it.

That night, Gideon and I had been hunting in what he called a “hillbilly hotspot”. He said he “had a hankering for a good ole country meal” with what I think was supposed to be a cowboy voice, but it was hard to tell.

We had walked in and spotted a group of healthy-looking options, when a large, hairy man in filthy blue jeans and well-worn boots walked by and let one rip.

How do I know? Point one: vampire hearing. Point two: super strong sense of smell. Point three: dude looked at me and chuckled when he did it.

One whiff of what he was cooking, and I saw nothing but red. I attacked him, tearing at his throat with my nails. The others in the bar had scattered and Gideon had given me hell since then for the trouble he had locating all of them and compelling them to forget.

“It wasn’t funny to Big Al,” I mumbled.

Hearing the name I’d given the flatulent farmer made Gideon laugh harder, but Dom looked at me questioningly.

I smiled and said, “I slapped him right across the face.”

I couldn’t tell him the real story. Yes, we were outside the house, so he didn’t remember that Gideon and I were vampires, but he had to go back to the house and feel safe enough to work there around us.

Dom shook his head and said, “Remind me not to eat beans before work.”

We all giggled at this as the car pulled up to The Outpost.

It was just as sad as I remembered it. The building was dirty and run down. There was trash and debris all around the property. The row of lights on the front of the buildings had only four colors lit: red, green, blue and white.

“We’ll call when we’re ready, Dom,” Gideon said to the young, curious driver who was currently craning his neck to see in the door of the club.

“Yes, Sir,” he said, without looking at Gideon.

As Dom pulled away from the club and drove away, the white light blinked out.

“White is for humans,” I said, softly, “Blue is werewolves, red is vampires….”

Green? Green. What race was the green light?

“Green is Martians?” I said, knowing I was wrong and laughing.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss that notion, dear,” Gideon said, opening the door for me, “but no, green is for the Fae.”

I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the open doorway.

“Fae? Like fairies? Fairies are real? And Martians, too?” I asked, eyes wide.

Gideon put a finger to his lips as if to tell me I was too loud.

I said, “I apologize for my ignorance,” which was what Gideon had told me to say out loud when he made this gesture.

He winked and I walked into the completely dark room.

I really didn’t care for this place. There was never any light, because all of the customers had night vision or other senses that made seeing their surroundings unnecessary. The smell was something I wasn’t used to, either. The combination of the different races' scents, the scent of the different foods they served, and the natural smells of the area combined to make a thick, sweetly rancid smell that tickled my nose. Worst of all was the bartender, Delwyn, a huge, black-haired, Viking looking demon who also owned the place, which is why the black light for demons had not been lit. Delwyn was always here, without question.

Looking around, I saw two people in the back booth, whispering so quietly that I couldn’t hear them, and a group of young werewolves playing pool.

“Gideon! You son of a whore! How are you?” Delwyn shouted from the bar.

We headed that way, stepping around the dirty, old couches and messed up furniture.

“Hello, my friend, how is business?” Gideon asked, then pulled a chair out for me.

I sat down and folded my arms on the bar, then felt something wet there and quickly sat back.

Delwyn laughed, “It’s just a little whiskey, darlin’,” then he wiped the area with a rag that smelled like it came from the garbage.

“It’s fine,” I said, smiling politely, “It just startled me.”

Gideon sat down next to me, and he and Delwyn started talking about different people I didn’t know and had no idea of who they were.

I became irritated and got up and wandered around the room, looking at the different corners and imagining how I could make it look beautiful.

“Greetings, Lady…?” a deep voice said from behind me.

I spun around and looked into the face of the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

He had to be over six feet tall, broad shouldered, but slender, pale skin that seemed to glow softly, and long silvery hair that hung like soft silk down to his waist.

I took all of him in and then looked back to his face to respond or apologize or whatever he was expecting.

Then I saw his eyes.

Silver eyes. Molten silver, like a lake of undulating moonlight.

I suddenly had the strangest feeling that I had seen those eyes before, but the thought came and went so fast.

“Are you alright?” the man said, looking mildly concerned.

“I’m sorry. I’m fine, yes. I was just looking around. Did I disturb you? I’m so sorry if I did. I just get bored listening to them talk about all these people I don’t know, and I thought I could just-”

My mouth had started going and I couldn’t seem to rein in the flow of useless information it was spouting, but the man was smiling now, and I was pretty sure that I was drooling.

“No, no, no! You have not disturbed me in the least. On the contrary, I believe I have invaded your thoughts. How very rude of me,” he said, but continued,” I am Almin, and you are?

He held out a hand to me but not as if to shake it. He took my hand in his and kissed the back of it, which sent chills through my body.

“I….um…. I’m...” I stuttered over my words as I tried to collect myself, “I’m Melissa,” I finally managed.

I wondered what he was and if he could see the look of awe on my face as I stared at those eyes.

“Lady Melissa, it is a pleasure,” Almin said, then he bowed.

I giggled softly, because no one had ever bowed to me. Yet here was this beautiful, hunk of a man and he bowed to me as if I were something special.

“I’m just Melissa. No titles. Plain, old, silly Melissa,” I said, trying to sound casual.

Almin leaned closer and his scent tickled my nose. A mix of earth and plant and flowers and animal scents that made my head feel light and my heart pound faster.

Suddenly, I felt Gideon’s mind touch mine. He was looking for me.

I looked around at where I was, but all I saw was blackness.

“What happened to the light?” I said, looking all around me before turning back to Almin.

But where was Almin?

I turned and turned, but all I saw were thick black shadows.

Gideon’s mind was stronger in my own now, trying to reach me, frantically. He was very concerned.

I started to panic. Where was I? Where was The Outpost? Where was Almin and Gideon and Delwyn and the obnoxious young werewolves?

A sense of deja vu came over me. As if I had been in this predicament before.

“Sleep well, Lady Melissa,” a voice whispered.

I didn’t have time to be afraid or wonder who the voice was. I felt myself losing consciousness quickly.

As my body dropped to the ground in what felt like slow motion, I heard one last voice.

Gideon’s voice screamed in my mind, “WHERE ARE YOU?”