Chapter 14

I woke up extra early Saturday, showered and de-frizzed my hair and tried not to fidget as I waited for Connor to show up. I felt nervous and excited, even though I told myself not to get my hopes up. Just because it looked like a date didn't mean it was.

Connor showed up at eleven o'clock exactly and I met him at the door and watched as he stepped over the threshold before I could utter an invitation, squashing yet another myth about vampires. Hollywood sucks.

"Aunt Claire already left," I told him as he surveyed the house. "So where are we going?"

"I'll let you know when we get there. For now though," he started up the stairs, "let's get you dressed." What I was wearing, pants and a t-shirt, was obviously not enough. He never hesitated on which room was mine, walking right on it; I was suddenly glad I'd straightened up earlier.

He breathed deep, his eyes closed and head tipped back, a smile on his face. My room smelled like lilac and incense, a little like wood smoke from the fireplace underlying the others.

"Dress comfortably but warm," he said finally. "We'll be outside, so I'd say jeans and a t-shirt, maybe an over-shirt." I looked him over as he talked and noticed that he was wearing jeans and an over-shirt.

I pushed him out of my room and rummaged through my clothes, deciding to be ornery; maybe this wasn't a date-date, but a play-date. Even as I tried to squash the hope, I knew it was useless, knew that I really liked him. So for now, I could live with the small things.

Connor laughed when I walked out - we matched, sort of. He wore black jeans and a long-sleeved black button up; I wore black jeans and a black sweatshirt. We looked like we were going to a casual funeral.

He brought his car today; he'd told me that the Hum-Vee was really Davis' car but he was more inclined to run people over in the mornings, which is why Connor drove. I turned and locked the door, making sure I had my phone and he was already in the car.

It looked even more beautiful in the sunlight, the flames almost dancing as I opened the door and sunk in. The windows were tinted almost black so it was rather dim inside, though I could make out something in the back seat.

He drove casually until we hit the highway, then he floored it. We listened to his music as we flew passed the sleeping countryside, discussing our favorite bands as well as ones we hated. Roughly an hour later, he pulled into a little picnic area.

"Are we there yet?" I asked as he parked under the shade of a massive Ponderosa pine.

"About half-way," he replied as he got out and grabbed whatever it was he had in the back. "We walk from here."

"You're taking me hiking?" Now I was really confused and, I admitted to myself, disappointed.

"Sort of. Come on." He grabbed my hand and tugged me into the trees, a bag on his back. I tried not to feel self-conscious at his touch but I couldn't help it. We followed the trail for about twenty minutes, the temperature cool and calm under the trees, when he tugged me off to the right. He'd grown quiet as we walked, withdrawing into himself, but now he spoke.

"Do you still want to know what I am?"

"Yes, I think I need to."

"Even if I'm a monster?" His eyes were blazing brighter than I'd seen yet and he let go of my hand. "Even if I'm not human? You should fear me, Tricia." And he was gone.

I turned in a circle, hearing and seeing nothing.

"I'm faster than you," he sped towards me so fast that, though I felt his passage, I never saw him. A nearby boulder shattered with the sound of gunfire. "I'm stronger than you." I still couldn't see him as his voice began to echo around me. "I can take you, any time, any place and you would be helpless against me. I'm untouchable and impossible to catch." He was suddenly in front of me and I jumped, breathing and heartbeat erratic.

"I'm the perfect predator: everything about me draws you in. My looks, my voice, my smell, even my eyes. What could you do against a vampire, Tricia? You are as helpless as a babe, my natural prey." I was backing up as he stalked towards me, all vicious predator.

"I have been on this earth for over a century, undetected and unsuspected and now a child holds my existence in the balance." He stopped advancing. "No, not a child, a woman. A woman that I fear more than anything out there." He pulled his shirts over his head, not bothering with the buttons, his eyes not leaving me. "So I will show you what I am and, if you are smart and have any self-preservation instinct, you will leave me."

He stepped out into the sun just as the clouds moved aside and I gasped.

He glowed like a miniature sun, light pouring out of his pores to form a nimbus around him, reminding me of either black light paint or random anime characters. He was gorgeous, exotic, deadly and I wasn't going to leave him, didn't know if I could. I'd thought about a lot of things since that night in the city and I realized that Connor had come to be an important figure in my life. To put it simply, I was in love with him, despite all rational thinking.

He walked over to where he'd tossed his shirt in the shade, his movements slow and hesitant, like he was afraid I'd bolt.

"The trail is to your left about twenty yards." He tossed his keys at my feet and sunk down to recline against a tree, his eyes shut and face haggard.

I picked up the keys and he flinched. He didn't expect me to sit beside him and grab his hand, didn't expect me to lay my head on his shoulder.

"Well," I said softly, a little while later, "nobody ever accused me of being smart or sane." He breathed deeply now but still didn't move. "Why do you fear me?" I shifted to kneel in front of him, still holding his hand, waiting.

"You break my control," he said at last. "From the moment I saw you, smelled you, I've wanted you. I'm obsessed with you, dangerously so." He sighed and I breathed in his scent. "You're like a drug to me, the sweetest thing out there and I can't get enough, I don't think I could ever get enough." He finally opened his eyes and I saw the pain. "I'm not safe for you to be around." I looked at him quizzically. "I'm in love with you, Tricia, and I shouldn't be. Everything about you intrigues me, aggravates me, entices me." He reached forward and caressed my cheek.

"Like what?" I leaned into his hand and he inhaled sharply.

"You're special, something different." I remained silent as his thumb gently rubbed my face, a very soothing sensation. "I'm a Tracker; my senses are heightened beyond even other vampires. I can come into contact with someone once and find them anywhere. No perfume could hide their scent, no amount of training could change their form or stride and nothing can change a person's brain."