Sunrise at Sunset (11 page)

Then his left leg was caught in what felt like a steel vice, and his body’s momentum shifted back to the direction he had been running from. His body spun around in a counterclockwise direction before landing directly onto the ground. He flopped onto his stomach with a heavy thud that momentarily knocked the air from his lungs.

“Caleb!” Katrina exclaimed with relief at having caught him in time. She deftly rolled onto the ground beside him. “You’re fast, I’ll give you that,” she muttered with a relieved sigh as she lay next to him.

He turned his head to stare at her in complete disbelief. Rolling onto his back, he began using his elbows as leverage behind him to elevate himself off the ground. While kicking his legs into the ground, he managed to back rapidly away from her in a crablike fashion.

Her relieved expression disappeared, turning into a heavy frown in the dim moonlight. “Caleb,” she cautioned him gently. She didn’t like the desperate look in his eyes, like a cornered animal.
Doesn’t he realize that I just helped him?

His hand absently touched a small fallen tree branch that felt solid in his hand. Though it was nearly twice the length he was used to, he leapt up and brandished it like a baseball bat. “Get away from me,” he warned desperately.

Her features turned to stone as she took stock of the wild, panicked look in his pale blue eyes. It was the look of someone not completely in their right mind. “Caleb, please, just stop. I’m not going to hurt you,” she insisted gently.

He seemed uncertain as to what to do next and started backing away from her while brandishing the limb as if ready to strike. His mind kept seeing those blazing green eyes from somewhere deeply imbedded in his memory as the terror in him pulsed like a warning clarion.

She moved forward slightly and cooed soothingly, “No harm, Caleb. Just calm down.”

Katrina gradually advanced towards him, and he desperately swung the limb. It
whooshed
through the air towards her at a furious speed. Her left arm went up to counter his right-handed swing, and the branch broke effortlessly in half. His eyes were full with surprise at seeing that, and his hands vibrated from the shock of the branch’s impact. Before he could move, she twisted her arm to grasp the remainder of the limb and pulled him to her with a single, swift jerk.

Her eyes were ablaze with a green glow as she stripped the branch from his hand and warned in a harsh voice, “I swear, slugger, if you try to hit me with another branch...”

Caleb’s jaw dropped in amazement at her speed as he realized she was standing directly in front of him again. “Oh, God,” he began, but was interrupted by her swinging him around and pinning his right arm behind him. She easily forced him to his knees before her.

“You’re going to calm down now,” she ordered as she let go of his arm and spun him around to push him backwards onto the ground. The truth was that she was scared, scared for him and for what suddenly happened to his mind to cause him to act that way.

Caleb immediately fell on his butt before her. Katrina was working very hard not to hurt him because she easily recalled the abuse that he had suffered at the hands of his father as a child. He had come so far as an adult, and she was striving not to rekindle violence in his life. She felt an abrupt pang of guilt over the earlier threat that she issued to him. Still, he hadn’t been entirely peaceable towards the end, either.

He was shaking like a leaf in a storm and appeared to be going into shock right before her eyes. He sat silently, pulling his knees up to his chest while wrapping his arms around them. That worried her greatly.

Katrina stopped seeing the young man before her and instead recalled the frightened young boy from so many years ago in the small garage cowering at the malice of his abusive father. Suddenly, she realized with revulsion that she had unwittingly become the next abuser in his life. It touched something deep inside of her that she had last felt in the small, dreary garage so long ago. Mixed with the taint of disgust from that memory were the feelings of sympathy and caring for him which had touched her so viscerally when she had first met him as a child.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she promised as she kept her hands close to her body and slowly squatted down onto her knees in front of him. Her eyes were only dimly glowing green by that time as she strove to calm herself.

Minutes passed where neither of them said anything as Katrina quietly continued observing him. The only noise was from the cool wind rustling through the trees, and she noted that he was still shaking uncontrollably.

“I may have handled tonight rather poorly,” she whispered with resignation.
How I wish I could start the whole evening over again.
But there was something more to his earlier reaction, something deeply disturbing in his eyes that she noted.

He merely stared at her with a dumbfounded, wide-eyed expression. His mind and body felt completely numb, as though none of what was happening were real.

“I’m moving to your side, but I’m not going to harm you,” she assured him soothingly.

His eyes were wide as he watched her scoot across the short distance between them to sit beside him. He was still shaking as she placed her left arm gently around his shoulders and pulled him to her. He gratefully felt the welcome warmth from her body begin to penetrate through his jacket.

They sat together in the cool silence for what felt like an eternity. After some time, he had stopped shaking and was merely still as he sat beside her. She sensed his heart rate had slowed a considerable amount, which was a welcome improvement.

“You’re a vampire,” Caleb said matter-of-factly.

Katrina was so happy when he finally spoke again. She hugged him to her and whispered, “Yes, Caleb. I’m a vampire.”

However, she inwardly always hated the word “vampire” despite its reasonable use for her kind. It wasn’t as if her kind had any other official title or name. Years ago, the term “night denizen” had been issued to her upon her turning to describe her condition. But Hollywood took such errant liberty in describing the being she was now. Stereotypes were difficult, even among eternal creatures.

Caleb breathed in deeply and exhaled. “I’m not dead,” he said carefully, as if in sudden realization.

She frowned warily, somewhat relieved that he couldn’t see her expression. “You’re quite alive, Caleb,” she replied carefully. “And you should try to stay that way.”

“I’m sorry I hit you with a branch,” he muttered sincerely but with an almost dull voice.

She chuckled lightly as the corners of her mouth upturned slightly. “Apology accepted. But no more branches, Caleb.”

He shook his head slightly and promised, “No more branches.”

The silence drew out between them again for a time. The sound of the wind through the trees was almost soothing to him. Finally, he asked in a quiet voice, “Can I please go home now?”

She considered his request and heard his heartbeat increase slightly. “Yes, but you have to promise me something,” she stipulated quietly.

“O-okay,” he agreed.

His voice sounded so quiet and small to her.

“You have to promise to keep my secret about being a vampire,” Katrina began. “It’s very important that you don’t tell anyone. Do you understand?” Despite the evening’s drama and tension, this was something she had to insist upon before she could let him depart.

Caleb was silent for only a moment. “I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”

His voice sounded sincere to her, and she was too concerned for his emotional state to press the matter further. It would have to do. “Okay then, let’s get you home,” she said softly.

She grasped both of his shoulders in her hands and helped stabilize him as they stood. He was silently amazed, as he had barely engaged his legs before he was standing upright. He swayed for only a moment, and her hands were still firmly grasping him to keep him steady.

“Okay?” she asked gently.

“Okay,” he replied as they slowly walked back to the dimly-lit park path.

Within a short time they were standing before his car in the driveway in front of her multi-bay garage. She noted his hand was shaking as he withdrew his keys from his pocket, and they jiggled slightly as he handled them. She anticipated that he must still be in some mild degree of shock laced with fear, because his movements were jerky, and she could hear his elevated heart rate.

“You shouldn’t try to drive, Caleb,” she gently offered.

He used his other hand to steady the hand holding the car key and slipped it into the lock. He felt somewhat embarrassed by his body’s reaction but was determined to keep moving. “I’m okay, thanks,” he replied. “I’ll be okay.”

He was trying to reassure himself as much as reply to her. As he withdrew the key from the lock, he abruptly dropped the entire ring of keys. They landed in Katrina’s hand before falling more than six inches, and he gasped in response as her pale hand suddenly appeared before him.

“I’m driving you home, Caleb,” she insisted resolutely as she palmed the keys.

He merely nodded and opened the door for her. She smirked at his chivalrous gesture and slipped past him into the driver’s seat. He closed the door and walked around to the passenger side. “A vampire’s taking me home,” he muttered incredulously before opening his door.

After he dropped into the passenger seat and shut the door, she smiled at him and answered, “Yes, one is.”

He glanced over to her slowly with a surprised look in his eyes.

She turned to look at him and read his expression. “Good hearing,” she said with a grin as she pointed her index finger to her head.

He nodded mechanically and tried to file the tidbit away for future reference. He started to look away but noted she continued to stare at him, and he frowned back at her.

“Seatbelt,” she recommended.

Caleb nodded absently again and belted himself in place as she started his car.

They were both silent on the short journey across town to Caleb’s apartment building. There was very little traffic to watch at that time of night, so he just stared blankly out the passenger window trying to collect his thoughts.
I have to be crazy
, he thought to himself.
The whole thing is insane, right?
He realized that he hadn’t needed to promise to keep Katrina’s secret. Nobody would believe him anyway.

Before long, they pulled into the parking garage beneath his apartment building. The part-time gate guard noted the decal on Caleb’s windshield and waved them through the gate without a second glance. It was at that moment Caleb realized how easily a vampire could pass for a human.
Vampires
, he thought silently,
who would have guessed they’d be real after all?

Minutes later, Katrina neatly parked the car in a well-lit spot near the elevator.

“You’re home,” she stated simply and was out of the car before Caleb even finished opening his door.

She stood next to him as he exited and handed him his keys. “Good night, Caleb,” she stated with a reassuring smile.

“Good night,” he responded with a vague nod as he shut his car door. He started to walk away, but she just stood there watching him intently.

He made it barely six feet before she cleared her throat audibly to get his attention. He slowly turned to gaze back at her and frowned slightly. “Huh?”

Katrina nodded in the direction of his car. “The remote. Lock the doors.”

He nodded, and the sound of two beeps emitted from his car. She smiled at him warmly before turning to walk towards the stairwell leading to the street level.

“Wait,” he called hesitantly. She turned back towards him with a curious expression, and he offered, “I can call you a cab. It’s safer.”

But she only grinned. “Oh, I’m safe enough. And it’s a nice night for a walk.”

“Oh,” he muttered somewhat numbly as Katrina turned and disappeared through the door to the stairwell.

Caleb turned, pushed the elevator call button, and waited for the doors to open. He felt both mentally and physically exhausted, but was suddenly so happy to be home and alive. He still felt like the evening was an experience outside of reality. Perhaps he would wake up and it would all have been just a crazy, bad dream. However, if it were real, he had a lot to think about. But he was just too tired to think clearly. He hardly remembered the journey from the parking garage to his apartment as he closed his front door and engaged the deadbolt. He swayed slightly as he made his way through the dimly illuminated room over to his couch and collapsed in exhaustion.

Outside Caleb’s apartment on the recently repainted fire escape, Katrina watched silently through the sheer curtains covering the windows to his living room. She felt relief when she finally saw him enter the apartment and lock the deadbolt on his front door. She observed him sway and nearly leapt up to the window to his aid. But she quickly stopped and thought,
Oh yeah, crash through his living room window now. That should send him completely over the edge.

She sighed, not certain what the future would bring between them. She liked him -- no, she was already convinced she loved him. To her, he was the adult embodiment of the young boy, her saving angel, who had fought against a stacked deck imposed by his past and managed to maintain his innocence.
Time will tell
, she mused hopefully.