Page 73Miss place

I tried to call the number I got yesterday. It was out of order, of course. There was one other number I could try, but it would not give me her directly. I assumed she would be listening in on this line regardless. Would she though? Wouldn't it be too much trouble? Not that I used it for anything else anyway.

And I guessed she had a lot of ways to keep a phone from being traced.

The other number I dialed, I let ring once. It would be a while before she'd call back, so I went out and started looking for somewhere to eat. I felt like a bit of a challenge and was wondering what I could do to make things interesting. One of the more interesting options was to go into a bar full of office lackeys. It was Friday evening, full of life. Glad the weekend had finally arrived.

Alcohol had already flown freely.

But just before I was going to step in, the phone buzzed.

"Yes?"

The Voice spoke. "Can I help you?"

"Could I see you?"

A moment of pausing, she was probably reading off the screen. "Yes, in two hours. Address will follow."

"Understood."

No more was needed, no more required.

While I put the phone down, I already felt the familiar buzz of a message arriving. There was an address in it and some very basic directions. That was surprisingly thoughtful. With a smile, I put the phone away and headed inside, looking around for any potential.

Which was a little harder than I thought.

I really stood out here, rather than a place where the rich came to flaunt, this was more a place where colleagues went out for a drink. Most people were dressed in their work clothes. Suits, dressed that were all quite proper and neat. Here, I looked like a bored teen that just went into a bar where she had no reason to be.

Not that far from the truth. But I wanted a challenge, so I headed in. There were a fair few semi-negative looks from a lot of people that probably thought I didn't belong there. Some appraising and smiling looks as well, either out of amusement or appreciation of my looks. It was kind of odd to feel such a direct mixed response to my person.

Some guy, wineglass in hand, tried to chat me up. "Are you lost, little girl?"

He was early thirties, perhaps late twenties. Not that far away from me. Lame pick-up line. One word would deal with him. "No."

He got the message and walked further as if that was his plan all along. A somewhat nicer guy grinned at his luck and smiled as he saw me looking at him. Now he looked interesting. Not bad looking, clean and healthy and with a naughty smile on his lips. Someone who might consider himself a hunter of class.

With a smile I asked him to come closer and waited for him to speak. "So, are you hard to get, or just hard on men?"

I smiled back, at least that was original. "A little of both." But what would he say next?

"Want to head out and talk about intriguing theories?"

I blinked. That was one way to throw me off guard. Despite the mildly geekish tint of his words, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and followed him back, to an inner courtyard behind the bar. There were some people smoking there, conversations in much gentler tones with the lack of music. He started the conversation with a surprisingly fun question, one he had no idea how deep it went.

"So, do you bite or are you all sweet and fluffy really?"

I smiled. "I bite."

I leaned over to bite his neck, piercing it and feeling the confidence in his intake of breath. He thought he had me. The blood confirmed this, he was sure he would get me to come with him to his apartment, doing with me what he'd done with so many of his female adventures before. Some of them were in his head, next to the annoyance of being discovered by his boss. The complaints about his work. He was a sad guy in a way.

But his blood tasted good.

It made me feel stronger again, realizing what was about to be done tonight. I may not know how exactly but I felt how I was going to try it. Drain her blood, give her mine. My blood should heal her inside so much that she'd become like me. But, if it didn't work, I would kill her. I was willing to try it, as I was confident in my feelings, but I had to tell her all of it before I did. She had to choose as well.

I released him, healing the wounds and smiled naughtily.

"Did you like that?"

He hazily replied. "Yes, quite the nice bite you have."

I grinned. "And that's all you'll get."

As I turned around, I noticed the very perplexed look on his face. Heading inside, then towards the street, I almost felt his stunned gaze burning my back the whole time. His expression had been priceless. Fun and worth it. It'd be a while before he got control of the situation again.

For the next hour and a half, I wanted to visit the waterside to clear my head. Plenty of things to think about or straighten out. Not that I was feeling very stressed, but it would just be nice to take it easy. Pity I didn't bring a book with me though.

Ah well...

She only brought a book to write, not to read.