The Venantium Auallonia Trilogy: Midsummer Sky

Chapter 3: The Water's Edge

"The novelty of the sound, and the great light, lit a greater longing in me than I had ever felt, desiring to know their cause. So that She, who saw me as I see myself, opened her lips, to still my troubled mind, before I could open mine to ask, and said: 'You make yourself stupid with false imaginings, and so you do not see, what you would see, if you discarded them...' "

-Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, Canto I

This nervousness felt incredibly familiar. So much like the time I tried to call Emery for the first time, but at least he didn't pick up; saving me from the embarrassment. Patrick just eyed me mockingly and cracked jokes every few minutes as he watched me pace back and forth from our living room to our kitchen and back for over two hours.

Until he finally got up from the recliner, grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved my cracked blue cell phone into my hand.

"Just make the damn call already! You have got some amazing luck today, and I wouldn't waste it being scared to go on a little date. It's not life or death here. All you have to do is ask him if he wants to go out to eat. I know, I know, it's not the same as when you were with Emery, but this guy is human. Human guys operate differently, for instance, their hair doesn't look like they just walked off the runway with perfectly straight-ironed hair. And may I point out that you told me he said he would 'LOVE' to go out with you. It's not a declaration of marriage, it is just a date."

I glared at him with annoyance. My nerves were something that I could never control, and he knew that. "I know what he said; I was there, Patrick. I just don't know if I want to bring someone new into my life. I mean what if Charlotte comes back and she tries to kill him?"

Patrick rolled his eyes dramatically, "I'm sure she is long gone by now. She took what she wanted. I don't think she believes you have anything else of hers that's worth killing you for."

"In her mind, humans are cattle. I can't bring him to a vampirepalooza, and expect him not to look like a happy meal to everyone else there. I want to go, but is it worth it to risk another life?" I looked down at the beaten up track phone gripped in my hands with a sigh.

His annoyance dulled and he looked at me with knowing sympathy, "You never know, Dawn. He might be able to handle himself fine. All in all, it's your choice to go out with him. I think it will be worth your while to go out with someone that isn't me, or that insane boss of yours who party's incessantly. You're an amazing girl, and I am ecstatic that someone else who is human can see that besides my lovely self."

I bit my lip, ignoring his self-obsessed quip, "You think so?

"I know so," he smiled, and wrapped his arms around me. I could faintly smell his musty after-shave as I put my head on his chest. "Now, dial that number before I dial it and make a date with him."

Rolling my eyes, I pressed the numbers into my phone and waited. The dial tone buzzed and buzzed until a voice answered kindly at the other end.

"Gabriel Matthews Crematorium. You kill em', we grill em'"

I couldn't help but laugh, since no one ever answers their phones that way. That sure took the weight of nerves right off my chest. "You didn't say you burned bodies for a living while I was taking your picture, but that sure is a conversation starter."

His voice softened on the other end, and I swore I could hear him smiling, "Hey, Dawn. I just say it to keep out the bill collectors, it freaks them out. You didn't take that much time to consider my date I'm gathering. I guess my sex appeal works better than I thought."