Later on that night I found myself in a short black dress that hugged my body nicely. The fabric of the dress felt light and elegant on my body. It had been one of those dresses that I had bought but never really gotten around to wearing. I smiled lightly as I brushed my fingertips along the ends the dress had just been waiting for this moment. My hair was pulled into a loose hairstyle that kept the majority of my mop out of my face but allowed a few strands to touch my back and shoulders. The outfit itself really didn’t call for much make-up or jewelry so I put on a light brown eye shadow that made my green eyes pop and wore a small cut ruby; that sparkled with each move I made.

A warm feeling bubbled to life in my chest as I thought about my date. He was already ten minutes late and my stomach was doing flips with every second that passed.

Aren’t the girls supposed to be fashionably late??

Vic didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would ditch out on a date so I wasn’t really worried about him not coming. I was actually more worried about him coming in fact. Would he think that I looked strange in a dress like this? Was the small ruby necklace too much? Honestly I was starting to panic about my appearance; it even made me wiggle in my seat.

I tried taking my mind off of it by focusing on something else. My eye landed instantly on the large centerpiece in the middle of out two person table. I rubbed my fingers along the flower petal and thought of some random flower facts. If I wasn’t thinking about Vic it would be easier to calm down the butterflies in my stomach. For instance the flower that the restaurant had chosen as its centerpiece was toxic if consumed. This flower also came in three colors which were white, yellow, and pink. The flower meaning was magnificent beauty which indeed they were beautiful but also very deadly.

I figured the petals carefully, while thinking of how strange it was that a restaurant would actually allow this type of flower in here. Since I had been completely absorbed by the flowers itself, I didn’t even notice that the chair across from me had been pulled out and occupied. I began to pull the flower out of its vase when a scarlet tulip dropped down in front of me. Fascinated by its sudden appearance I glanced up from the flowers to find a pair of icy blue eyes staring back at me. I could feel a smile spread across my face as I chirped,

“You came.”

Vic grabbed hold of the obnoxiously large bouquet of Calla lilies and placed them and the vase onto the floor. When his small task was accomplished he reached across the table and covered my hand with his.

“You really think I would miss our first date?” He smiled over at me.

“Well you were a little late.”

His joyful laugh warmed my heart, “Sorry about that.” He laced his fingers through mine. “I passed by a flower cart on the way here and picked out the red tulip for you.”

A small but powerful blush crept over my face. To have him thinking about me was got me flustered enough but now he was being romantic and getting me gifts. He was turning out to be the perfect man for me. A smile curved my lips as I picked up the flower and spun it around next to my nose. Flirtatiously I glanced at this heart stealing man over the petals.

“Thank you.”

Vic ran his thumb across the side of my hand that he was still holding. “Do you know what the woman at the cart told me it meant?”

I put the tulip down on the white clothed table and tried to decode its meaning. Like many flowers, different colors of tulips also often carry their own significance. Purple tulips are most strongly associated with royalty but I didn’t know what a red one meant.

“No,”

His smile turned into something wicked. Instantly I felt a warm breath surge through my body as his eyes sparkled mischievously. His lightening blue eyes drew me in closer as he leaned over the table secretively. “It means-

Our waiters came at that precise moment breaking whatever spell he had casted on me. I pulled my hand away from his with a jump. A little warmth still held in my cheeks as I composed myself and looked up at the waiters. They were both pretty slim looking for men and their mustaches were a pit outrageous looking. Something about them seemed a little off.

A chill ran down my spine making me shiver. I glanced across the table to Vic who was now frowning at me. His sudden mood change was a bit startling. Did I do something wrong? He quickly dismissed our servers without so much as looking at them. When they had left he got up from his chair followed the curve of the table over to me.

“Victor what’s wrong?”

He buried his hand into my hair forcing me to look up. Before I could say anything he smashed his lips against mine. I tried to push him away but he just deepened the kiss more. In the distance I could hear the whispers of the tables around us. I bit his lip hard to try to get him to stop. He didn’t even flinch at the attack and ran is tongue into my mouth. I cried against his lips at the feeling and my body melted in his arms. My heart was racing against my chest when I finally caved in. Even though I was embarrassed to be doing this in public I still couldn’t control my own hunger for the man.

I reached up for his neck and pulled him in closer. The smell and taste of him filled my head until I was drunk. The whispers from the other tables disappeared in my head until Victor was the only thing left.

He pulled away from me all too soon and glared down into my eyes. “I don’t care where we are never pull away from me.”

My breathing was labored and my face felt feverous but still I smiled up at him. “I can’t promise you that.”

He growled down at me until I started laughing. I reached up and touch my hand to his face. “How else am I going to get you to kiss me like that again?”

For moment he froze at what I had just said but then he smiled into my touch and placed his lips against the palm of my hand. “I’m really happy I got you that red tulip now.”

“That’s right you were going to tell me the meaning of it.”

He kissed the tips of my fingers and shook his head, “I’ll tell you after our date.” I went to argue but his eyes stopped me. “When we’re alone.”

“Oh um, okay.” I felt another blush rise onto my cheeks as he left my hand and took a seat again.

Our food arrived shortly after. We thanked the two waiters as we dug into our food. Somehow Danyelle’s cooking got mentioned and we both started exchanging horror stories. We finished our food quickly enough and both bursting out laughing at our latest conversation.

“Did she really?” I asked out of breath from laughing.

“Let’s just say that I could never stomach another pancake again.” His laugh was rich and deep. The two waiters came shortly after we finished eating. Vic took the bill and for some odd reason the waiters stayed by the table as Vic reached for his wallet. I took a quick sniff of air. Something about it seemed strange, familiar even. I stared at the two waiters as they gawked at Vic’s cash. He was ruffling through a wad of hundred dollar bills. When it hit me,

“Umm Vic,”

Both of the waiters suddenly pounced on the cash. One reached into his wallet to grab the remainder of his cash while the other stole the large wad on the table. They both than took a few large steps back and laughed simultaneously.

“You see Danyelle I told you it would work!” One of them ripped off its mustache and hat, releasing long dirty blonde hair. The other laughed than followed suit, tossing her own hat away and ripping off her mustache as well. She screamed at the sudden pain of the ‘stache and rubbed her now reddened upper lip. Her black hair was pulled up into a fat bun on the top of her hair.

Vic, waking up from his utter shock, stood up from his chair with such force that he knocked the chair down. “Reece! Danyelle! Give me back my money!”

Reece had that twinkle in her eye as she smirked smartly, “You want it?” She unbuttoned the first three buttons of her white shirt and stuffed the wad of cash into it. “Come ‘n get it!” Danyelle who was less creative stuffed the wad into her mouth and nodded vigorously at Reece.

Vic let out a small growl. They both shrieked and booked it out of the restaurant without a second’s hesitation.

“ARG!” Vic roared as he stomped slowly after them. I watched through the window as Reece and Danyelle scrabbled into Reece’s Jeep and sped away. Vic heard the Jeep start and chased after them.

***Red light***

Danyelle was waving a wet bill out the window as Reece stared at the glaring red light. Danyelle drew her attention by giggling. Reece looked over at her than giggled at the wad of wet bill in Danyelle’s lap.

“I can’t believe you stuck that whole thing in your mouth.” Reece said.

Danyelle turned to look at her with a smile. “Well I’m sorry I didn’t think about putting it down my shirt like you.” The waved the bill in the light breeze a little bit. “So do how do you think their date went?”

Reece rolled her shoulders back into a lazy shrug. “I don’t really know I was paying more attention to the heat back in the kitchen, I had no clue it would be like a ferniest. I think my mustache almost fell off back there.”

“I told you we should have drawn them!”

“I wanted them to look natural and they would have melted off it they were drawn on.” Reece spoke. “Well I guess our disguise fooled them. I don’t think even Vanessa realized it was us until the end.”

Danyelle laughed. “Yeah, Vic’s too stupid to realize that it was us the entire time.”

A gust of wind flew past Danyelle’s hand as she felt the bill being ripped out of her grip. A loud laugh filled the air and a flash image of Vic. He flew around the street and disappeared around the corner laughing.

“Hey!” Danyelle scream out of the car, “I worked hard to get that money!” She kept her head out of the window a moment longer before the Jeep started moving.

“How much was it?” Reece asked looking at the road.

Danyelle smirked. “A dollar.”

***Restaurant***

I stared out the window from my seat, a light smile touching my lips as I rested my head on one of my hands.

Those two were good. I broke my gaze away from the window and looked down at the red tulip Vic had given me. I reached out and touched the delicate petals with my fingers. My body filled with warmth as I stroked it softly. It was the first gift Vic had given me and it was beautiful. Distantly I heard the push of chairs around the restaurant but I was too distracted by the tulip to see what was going on. I stared dreamily at the flower and brought it up to touch my lips. Such a precious gift it was.

I heard the pitter patter of feet walking to the door. I opened my eyes now to see what all the fuss was about when I saw him. I dropped the tulip suddenly as the blood in my body froze over. What was he doing here! My mouth went slightly slack at the person occupying Vic’s seat.

“My, you look utterly shocked to see me my darling.” Winden spoke in his chilling voice.

A shiver went up my spin at the sound of his voice. Why was he here? Oh what was he doing here! My mind screamed again. Act cool, act natural. I have nothing to worry about right?

“I’m sorry, did I interrupt your date with your human lover perhaps.” He smirked wickedly at me from across the table and then lowered them down onto my tulip. His ugly green eyes twisted into something grotesque as he reached out a long deadly pale hand to grasp it. He then brought it closer to his face and let the stem fall through his fingers until he had the petals touching his palm. He crushed the flower in the palm of his hand, letting the dark red juices of the flower drip down his wrist like blood.

My brain went into automatic panic mode. My instinct was telling me to get out of here and fast. “Winden, I told you before that Ace was just-

He slammed his fist into the table. “Do you really think I couldn’t see through your lies?”

My hand trembled in my lap. I gave thanks for the fact that he couldn’t see them. “Winden I promise it’s the truth.” I was shocked that I had been able to get that out without my voice breaking or him interrupting.

His eyes were filled with rage as he slammed both hands onto the table cracking it into pieces. “I’ve enough of this humiliation! Do you honestly think some human is better than me?” He pushed himself up from the chair and grabbed my upper arm, yanking me up from my chair. “Those sacks of meat are weak and pathetic compared to me! I can no longer sit by and watch you take on such a disgraceful lover.”

“My lord please just let me explain.”

“I am your King do you understand me? You are mine,” He smashed his lips against mine. My body screamed in protest this wasn’t the man I loved. I cried against his forced kiss and tried to shove him away. It didn’t stop him however; he rammed in hand into my hair and yanked my head back until my neck was full exposed. Slowly he kissed his way down to the base of my neck. Each one of his kisses was so repulsive that it made my skin crawl. “My queen.”

I could feel his fang extend against my skin slowly pressing down.

“Vanessa!” A blood curling scream rang through the room.

Winden’s grip loosened enough to where I could turn to see who was standing at the door. My eyes instantly tear up at seeing Vic. My body cried out for his name. I wanted him to hold me, him to kiss me, and him to whisper sweet comforting words in my ear.

“Victor,” I whispered softly.

Winden growled at the name. He stood up straight- sternly- and hissed over at Victor showing off his fangs.

“So this is your damned human lover.”

The look that Vic was giving Winden was one of pure hatred and anger. He took a menacing step into the room. “Winden I presume.”

Painfully he forced my head towards him so that I was facing him. “I’m flattered that you told your little mortal about me.” He whistled high and loud. “It’s a shame that he has to die now.”

Two vampires appeared in the room flanking Winden’s side. He smiled over at Victor only to him smiling as well. Winden’s amusement quickly turned into fury. He had wanted the last laugh.

“You really are a stupid Prince.” Victor crouched down into the stance I had taught him so well and bared his fangs. “You can’t even sense another vampire when they’re standing right in front of you.”

Winden stared wide eyed at the vampire before him. “A vampire…no that can’t be right you smell nothing like a vampire but like a human. No I was mistaken something greater than human or pureblood.” He turned on me, wrapped his hand around my neck, and tightened it until I was gasping for air. “You were with a rouge vampire!”

I grasped my hands around his trying to pull them away from my neck but I was quickly losing energy. My nails dug into his skin hard enough to make him bleed. A growl erupted from Victor as he made a dash for Winden and I. The two vampires looked over at their leader, waiting for the signal.

Disgust filled his eyes when he turned to Vic. “Kill him.”

The two growled and went after him.

“N-No, Vic-ctor.”

“Stop calling his name!”

With that he slammed me into the ground. The back of my skull knocked against the hard floor and instantly my vision was blurred until I saw nothing but darkness.

Vic's POV

“VANESSA!” I roared, jumping into quick step. Her head slumped to the side, motionless, lifeless. Winden laughed at her and tossed her over his shoulder. I went to run after him but the other two vampires were getting in my way. I didn’t have time to deal with his goons’ right now Vanessa needed me. A growl erupted from deep inside of me. I needed to save her.

One came at me from the side automatically I reached for his neck and snapped it as I flipped him onto the ground. Vanessa had taught me that that wasn’t enough so I stomped on his skull until blood gushed out. The other one must have thought I was distracted so he came at me from behind. I turned around quickly and smashed my face into his face. He stumbled backwards a few steps before he fell onto the floor holding his bleeding nose. Another growl escaped from my lips as I brought my fists back down onto his face. His screams echoed into the room until it was finally silenced by my red fist. The body landed on the floor in a dead heap. Play time was over. Winden was already gone and I had no way of tracking him. My body was trembling with rage. That bastard was going to pay for hurting her.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I knew that this was turning into something wasn’t prepared to handle by myself. Remembering a conversation Vanessa and I had shared, I automatically dialed her number. I called the only person I thought could possibly help me now. I called Reece.