Falling From Eternity (A Paranormal Love Story) (11 page)

Light versus dark; good versus
evil.

We were anything but.

As the days had gone by, I spent my
lunch breaks with Autumn in the atrium. We talked about art, music,
life and even love. But today I had a different conversation
planned. Today was Valentine’s Day, and I wanted to take her out to
dinner. I just hoped she would say yes.

Red and pink streamers, hearts and
cupid cut-outs decorated the walls of Shady Willows. As I walked
past the reception desk on my way into work, the smell of chocolate
filled the air around me and I smiled. In the past, everyone
brought in countless baked goods, but until today I had never
enjoyed their heavenly scent. I was a new man; a new vampire with a
spring in my step that I’d never had before.

“
Happy Valentine’s,” I
said, merrily, as I stepped into the break room. There were a
couple of friendly replies and a few eye rolls. Even Amy, who had
once been my annoying shadow, now seemed disgusted with everything
I said. It didn’t bother me any; it was actually a tiny bit
amusing. Everyone had a million questions when I first revealed
that I would be staying, but I deflected them as best I could. Of
course, it didn’t take long for people to put the pieces together.
We had evolved into the building’s very own soap opera; everyone
enjoyed good gossip and apparently Autumn and I were their targets.
Someone had even filed a complaint against me for my…relationship
with Autumn. We didn’t have quite
that
status yet, but I could see how
they would think so. Kenneth, the manager, called me into his
office, giving me a stern warning that I had better keep things
professional in the work place, but he also admitted that there
wasn’t much he could do because Autumn wasn’t technically a patient
of Shady Willows, which still perplexed me. How was it that they
were allowing her to stay in Hazel’s room? Every time I broached
the subject, Autumn evaded. Not wanting to force her into telling
me, I backed off. She would open up to me when she was ready, and
when that day came I would be there. I had forever to wait for her,
and I’d give her all the time she needed.

“
But if you cause any
trouble; or you hurt that girl, you’ll be tasting my boot leather
for a month,” he had scolded me, his face growing red.

“
I wouldn’t think of
it.”

I would never hurt her, and I’d never
take anything too far; especially at work. Since that first night
I’d held her in my arms I hadn’t touched her, not even a fleeting
caress or embrace. I wanted to, oh god, did I want to, but I would
never do so without her permission. There had been times when, for
a moment, I had thought she wanted me to. I had thought she was
sending me a signal with her eyes. She looked at me as though she
were studying my face, afraid that she might forget it someday. I’d
even caught her staring at me; her eyes traveling from my lips to
my eyes and back again, then she’d blush and turn away without a
word. I would have thought that in all my years I’d have learned
the many secrets of women, but with Autumn, I was quickly learning
I knew nothing at all. All my tricks of wooing the opposite sex,
every maneuver I had successfully executed meant nothing where she
was concerned. Autumn was nothing like the conquests of my past.
Perhaps that’s what was drawing me toward her.

The morning crept by at a snail’s pace
as I waited for the clock to hit one thirty. Autumn and I were
spending lunch in the atrium, as usual. I stopped by the store on
my way to work and picked up her favorite salad with a bottle of
pink lemonade. I grabbed one for myself for appearances sake. I
always ate very little knowing my stomach would be churning later.
I could eat normal food without a problem, but my gut had to work
double time to digest it. Imagine having heart burn, bubble guts
and indigestion all at once. Then times it by ten. Besides, I’d
have to take it easy at lunch today if I wanted to make it through
dinner. That was if she said yes, of course.

She was sitting at the same table we
always sat at. Her canvas was towering before her; a paintbrush
stuck in the bun in her hair. A smile perked up my lips just from
the sight of her. She finished her piece of the courtyard more than
a week ago, and it was now hanging in my living room. Today she was
working on a still-life, a close up of a lavender rose. A lavender
rose I had given her. It was just beginning to wither, and when I
told her I’d replace it she refused; telling me she liked it just
the way it was. I had thought that an odd response until I saw her
painting. Veering away from her watercolors, she drifted toward
traditional style with muted tones and delicate strokes.

I walked silently behind her hoping I
could watch her work for a moment without her noticing, but the bag
of food crinkled in my grasp. It wasn’t a loud noise, but in the
absolute silence of the atrium it was deafening.

“
What’s for lunch?” she
asked. I could hear the amusement in her tone without even looking
at her.

“
Salad,” I answered,
grinning from ear to ear as I took my usual seat across from
her.

“
Ooh!” She perked up her
eyebrows as she peeked over her canvas, watching me unpack the
food. “Yummy.”

“
It’s coming along
nicely,” I commented on her canvas as she set it on the floor
beside her so she’d have room to eat.

“
Yeah, it’s not
that
bad. There are some
areas I want to touch up though,” she replied, pulling off the
apron she wore over her clothes. It caught on the brush poking out
of her bun, pulling it out and sending it falling into her salad.
She giggled at her clumsiness as her hair tumbled out around
her.

I reached out to snag the paintbrush
from her lunch just as she did, and our fingertips touched. I froze
for only a moment, watching her fingers against mine before tugging
my eyes upward. She was staring at me, her small heart-shaped lips
drawing into a smile.

Fearful of how much that slight
physical contact was making my heart race, I quickly plucked the
brush from her food. “Sorry about that,” I said awkwardly, handing
her the brush. My eyes dodged back and forth between her and my own
untouched bowl of salad. Her smile promptly vanished, as she went
about stabbing her fork into the crisp lettuce leaves.

Just as I popped open the lid to my
lunch, a thought struck me like a bolt of lightning. She didn’t
think I said sorry because we touched, did she? I hadn’t meant it
like that. I meant…well, I hadn’t meant anything by it. I suddenly
felt overcome with the urge to correct myself.

“
I didn’t mean I was sorry
for…I just…I stuck my fingers in your food without even thinking…”
I reached out to touch her without even realizing it, and quickly
pulled back, again. What was I doing? I must have looked like a
total idiot! I wanted to be near her, but I wanted to keep my
distance too.

“
It’s okay,” she shrugged
me off, taking a sip of her lemonade. “What’s with you today?” she
asked, eyeing me suspiciously with her knowing, emerald
eyes.

“
What do you mean?” I did
the best to collect myself, leaning back in my seat and getting my
nerves in check. Keep it cool. I needed to keep it cool.

“
You seem
different.”

I looked down at myself them back at
her. “How so?” I didn’t see what she was seeing. I looked exactly
as I always did, and always would. Then again, I’d definitely
changed on the inside since meeting her. But she couldn’t see that,
could she?

“
You tell me,” she said,
curiosity in her tone, as she picked at a small cube of chicken
with her fork.

And then my body betrayed
me. I snorted. A deep, chuckle bounced out of me like a stampeding
animal. I just couldn’t stop my mind from playing out the scene if
I had answered her question.
How was I
different
? I could almost see the salad
flying in the air, the screams streaming out like raging waves, and
the fear bleeding like an open vein. The answer to that question
was as dangerous as it was deadly.

“
Did you just snort?” she
asked, sniggering slightly.

“
No.” I cleared my throat,
shoving a mouthful of salad into my maw to stop myself from saying
anything stupid. Seriously, what was happening to me? This nervous,
love-struck man wasn’t who I was. Yet, here I was, sitting across
from an angelic beauty, praying I didn’t say the wrong thing. Dear
god…was this what it felt like to be human?

“
Yes, you did!” Autumn
smiled wildly at me, pushing her salad aside so she could lean
forward and get a better look at me. She analyzed my every feature,
searching my eyes so deeply I thought for sure she would find every
secret I ever had. Was she starting to suspect how different I was
from everyone else? How I hardly ate, how I never got sick, or how
quickly I could move? What would happen if she discovered the
truth? I would have to leave, there was no other choice.

“
You’re nervous,” she said
with solidity, sitting back into her chair; a triumphant smirk on
her face.

“
What?”

“
I can see it in your
eyes,” she said, before sipping at her lemonade, her pinky wiggling
in the air as she did so. “Does it bother you that much to be
around me?”

“
It doesn’t bother me to
be around you,” I replied quickly.

“
William, you won’t even
touch my hand without recoiling like I’m some kind of snake.” Her
words stung like a venomous bite, yet her tone was as sweet as it
ever was.

“
I don’t recoil. I just…”
Did I recoil? I suppose I did, or it looked like I did. I was just
so afraid of crossing a line, not knowing where I stood with her. I
wanted us to be more than whatever we were, but I knew we never
could. It was a torturous battle that my heart and mind played
endlessly. She was a human; I was a vampire. She was like an angel;
I was a monster. She wouldn’t harm a fly; and I’ve killed hundreds.
My mind knew it would never work between us, but my heart would
never accept it.

“
You just did,” she
pointed out with sorrowful honesty.

“
It’s not that,” I finally
answered. “I don’t want to hurt you.” The truth forced itself out
of me.

“
Well, that’s about the
stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she quipped. My head popped up
with surprise, a questioning gaze creasing my features. “I know
you’d never hurt me.” Her voice grew soft, breezing out of her pink
lips like a heavenly harp.

She was so very wrong; and so very
right at the same time. I didn’t want to hurt her, and in my heart
I knew I wouldn’t but I also knew how exceedingly capable I was of
doing it. I could easily tear her limb from limb, and drain every
last drop of blood from her pretty little body. In the past, I
probably would have. I would have relished in devouring her purity,
but not anymore. Now, I wanted only to preserve it. That very
thought went against everything I was. I was a beast, a vampire and
I had been fighting those urges for some time now. What would
happen if I couldn’t fight anymore? What would happen if the beast
finally won? It had been easier to fight it before I met her, but
now that I finally found something I wanted so desperately, it was
hard to fight back those urges. Those violently powerful urges to
take what I wanted, when I wanted it.

“
How do you know that?” a
hint of challenge pierced through my tone. Something inside me
wanted to push her away, if only to keep her safe. Safe from me. As
much as I wanted her to be mine, she’d be better off without me in
her life.

“
I just do,” she answered,
giving me little attention as she went back to her salad. “Don’t
try to change the subject either,” she added, pointing at me with
her fork.

“
And how would I do that?”
my temper began to flare, the shadow of my former self threatening
to reveal who I truly was. Damn my temper! Would I never get a
handle on it?

“
By avoiding the truth!”
Autumn retorted, a power in her voice I hadn’t heard since we
argued on the patio the first night I ever spoke to her.

“
What truth?” I growled,
running my fingers through my hair to keep from pounding my fist on
the table. Must she challenge me so? Doesn’t she know how dangerous
I am? No! She thinks I’m as saintly as she is…well, she’s
wrong.

“
Stop fighting it,
William,” Autumn begged me, pushing herself out of her chair before
taking two quick steps to my side. I shook my head at her, fighting
to control my anger. I couldn’t let it win; I had to be strong.
Just because she was naive enough to think I was better than what I
was, didn’t mean she deserved to take the brunt of my
fury.

“
Stop.” Her voice was
soft, carried on a warm breath across the flesh of my ear as she
leaned into me. She tugged on my hands, pulling them from my face
and squeezing them in hers. My body instantly cooled to her touch,
my every nerve focusing on the electricity that fired between us.
Was she sent here to torture me; a gift from the heavens that I
could never have? There was no way something as lovely as she would
ever deserve to be cursed by the likes of me.

“
What are you thinking?”
she asked, examining my vacant expression