White Nights, Chaper Two

Sarah woke in the late afternoon of the following day. Realizing she had overslept, she crawled out of bed, showered, dressed and headed into her pharmacy to fill orders worried that her clients would be leaving anxious messages on her work phone at the office.

By eight-thirty, she had finished and was cleaning up to go home.  Softly, the back of her neck tingled. She turned to look behind her. He was standing in the doorway staring at her. “You again. How did you get in?” She could feel the hairs on the nape of her neck start to quiver. Her body tingled with a surge of adrenaline. Her hands fisted.

“You really need to lock your door.” 

Though his voice compelled her attention, she scowled at him. “I did.”

“Yet we’re here.” His voice was soft. 

Sarah inched away from him putting her desk between them. As she picked up the phone to dial 911, he grabbed her hand. 

“Really, I need your help. Please. I have no one else to go to.” He kept his hand on hers. She could fell his energy pulsing. Looking into his eyes, they seemed sad and ageless and filled with longing. His index finger caressed her hand. 

Sarah pulled away, “Get out.”

He cocked his head to the side concentrating on her face, his eyes resting on her lips, her throat. “I have an unusual problem with my blood.”

Snatching her hand away, she backed up. “What is it you want, exactly?” 

The stranger laughed without smiling. “I have trouble keeping my blood filled,” he smiled revealing white teeth and something else her eyes refused to understand. “It’s like I feel drained every day.”

“Why come to me. A three-hundred fifty-seven milligram iron table formula is available at any health food store, and your doctor can prescribe B12 shots. Helps most people who feel drained.

“It’s more than that.” As he spoke, he moved around the desk closer to Sarah. She felt drawn to him: something in his eyes made her feel soft and vulnerable. She didn’t like it. He pressed more closely. “Will you help me?” She could feel his chest a finger width away from hers when he breathed in. She looked up. His eyes were on her lips again. “Will you help me?”

She backed away from him. Maybe if she offered him some explanation, he would leave. “I don’t know how or if I can. I would have to do some testing, and I would need a blood sample.”

He laughed, a deep grumbling in his throat. “Of course. When can we begin?” His fingers curled around her hand again. Lifting it, he kissed her palm and licked the underside of her wrist where the veins stood out.

Sarah pushed back putting distance between them, again. “I’ll have to check my schedule. But right now, you need to leave. 

He swung around behind her, his body close to hers. Whispering in her ear, his lips touching the delicate skin below the lobe. “Help me now. You have remedies. You can change me.”

Sarah felt weak. Her spine tingled. He caressed her hair with soft fingers. He licked her throat, nibbled her ear. She froze. “Who are you?”

“I am Jack. I have come for your help. I need you.” He spun her around and kissed her deeply folding her body into his arms.

Sarah’s eyes closed. She kept thinking:  this just doesn’t happen to me. The longing she had depressed for so long welled up inside of her. She thought she would burst from it. Part of her kept repeating: are you crazy? Get him out of here. And part of her kept feeling his hands touching her, his teeth biting her lips as he kissed her. 

His hand was slipping down her back kneading the soft flesh as he pulled her into him. He was blue cold but warmed them both with her heat. His hand brushed her left nipple as he moved to the top two buttons of her blouse. White silk slipped away from the curve of her neck. He pulled the color wide apart and licked her throat in slow moist strokes. ‘Sarah, Sarah,” he whispered.

Sarah rolled her head back, eyes closed, breathing heavily. The moonlight split the darkness surrounding her. It felt like sleek pin pricks, needles slipping into a vein. It was then she noticed another smell. It was a dusty, ancient smell and something else, something acrid, pungent. With a dawning awareness, she pulled back. He grabbed her shoulders, dug in nails on skin. Sarah couldn’t breathe. She shot her knee into his groin pushing hard. He spun off with a wet, loud smack. Curling his lips back, he stared at her through feral eyes. A laugh deep in his throat sounded more like a growl than a human laugh. 

“Sarah,” his voice was oily.

Sarah was recovering, seeing through eyes cleared of his lust. He looked old and hungry. The shiny black curls that fell over his forehead covered brows grown together into one busy wedge over yellow-green eyes. Hypnotic, those eyes, like a wolf. Breathing deeply, she pulled herself to her full height, all five-foot-eight, dropped her hands to her sides and balled them into fists stepping back and back again until she could reach the vial on her shelf. Grabbing it, she uncorked the bottle and threw it at him. Aged garlic essence.  

He gagged and fled the room leaving only a dry, brittle smell where he had stood. 

Sarah forced her feet to the door, slammed it shut throwing the dead bolt into place. Returning to her desk, she pulled the chair out then rammed it against the door. Crumbling to the floor next to the chair, Sarah sank into darkness.

TO BE CONTINUED