River of Red

XIX

The couch was very comfortable.
Domitius sat next to me on the plush couch, and faced me. I was at the edge of it, stiff as a board due to his close proximity.
"Where do we begin?"
I shrugged, not knowing what to ask him and knowing everything he wanted to ask me.
His face betrayed no emotion, "I guess I'll ask first." He paused, leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees.
This confrontation was reminding me way too much of my time with Nolan.
"Who are you, or more preferably, what are you?"
I almost crumbled under his emotionless facade.
"I'm the savior." My voice was barely a squeak as it came out, but he heard me loud and clear.
His face turned to one of amusement.
"The savior. As in the savior?" He let out a laugh, a dry haughty laugh.
"You expect me to believe your the one from the prophecy? The one to save the humans?"
I nodded.
He was amused at that. So amused that he let out another loud laugh and slapped his hand onto his leg.
"That's hilarious! You wanna know why? Because the prophecy isn't real." His voice turned dark, haunted.
My fist balled. I was up to my neck in frustration from this man.
I exploded on him.
Anger seethe throughout my teeth, radiated around me, "You believe me when I say it! I am the savior! I don't care what you think, you just kidnapped me! If your going to be rude and snotty, then leave me alone!"
When I was done I stood, feeling like I should be breathing heavy, but I don't need to breath anymore. So I stood still, with clenched fists, and gritted teeth.
His eyebrows were up to his hairline.
3 ways he looked like he wanted to kill me.
3 ways he looked at me with curiosity.
3 ways he looked at me that made me want to kiss him.
I lowered myself back into the couch.
Moments passed, he studied me, searching to see a trace of a lie.
When he spoke it startled me, not from his anger, but from the uncharacteristic gentleness.
"I believe you."
His words were soft, so soft compared to anything he'd ever said to me before.
I was at a loss for words, he believed me.
I lowered my gaze to my hands, "Are you being honest."
My heated head cooled down to a normal level, his smooth words eased my mind.
"Yes, and if this is true..." He paused gauging my reaction, "we have to leave."
I frowned, "What do you mean, leave?"
"We have to make sure your the real deal, plus I have to protect you. This location may be compromised. Do you know how many people would try and kill you if they knew?"
I didn't respond, I could only guess how many vampires would want to kill me.
I don't think I could count that high.
He stood, "I'll pack, we can stop by a store to get you some clothes."
I nodded, and stood too.
He shook his head, indicated I sit down.
"Wait for me."
So I did.
_______________

It turns out Domitius had a Lamborghini.
Yeah. Seriously.
It was black, low, sleek. The car matched him perfectly.
They were both lithe, sleek, handsome, and extremely powerful. The seats were leather, black, and the stereo was upgraded.
It was a beast.
Domitius had the station on the old rock, my favorite. I tapped my fingers on my leg to the beat of Schools Out by Alice Copper.
Yeah, I'm an oldies fan.
I don't know where we were headed, I don't even know where we were, but Domitius drove without faulter.
I let my mind wander, to where Nolan was. Was he sad I left? Or was he glad? What was he doing now? Was he ok? Did he think about me like I thought about him?
I tucked those questions in the back of my mind, and decided to think about them later. I knew they would never be answered.
Domitius's hand clamped over my own, and he pulled it to the side of my leg.
Without taking his eyes off the road he spoke, "Please stop tapping your fingers, dove, it's agitating me."
His voice was cool, smooth like always. His hand moved back to the stick shift, lowering the speed as we took an exit ramp off of the highway.
I managed a small murmur to show I would stop.
Curiosity took over as he stopped at a red light, "Where are we going?"
He glanced sideways at me, giving me a strange look.
"Gas." He said simply.
I realized then that I was wearing bloodied jeans, a ripped t-shirt, and no makeup.
I felt kinda embarrassed I hadn't noticed it before.
Domitius stopped the car at the Quik Trip pump, getting out. I followed him, since it was late at night and not a lot of people could judge me on my clothing issue.
Before he started pumping, we went inside to pay, since apparently he wasn't enough in the future to have a debit or credit card. The door dinged when it was opened, and the women at the counter barely looked up before resuming her magazine.
She was a plump women, dark chocolaty skin, dark curly hair, dark brown eyes, and plump pink lips.
Domitius led me to the counter, and I eyes the candy bars with lust.
I gripped his arm.
"Please?"
I held up a stickers bar, after all, your not you when your hungry. He looked at me strange again, like he did earlier, and sighed, nodding his head also.
I smiled, happy to have some food in my belly.
"Thank you." I whispered quietly to him. He rapped to counter, catching the women's attention.
She finally looked up, her eyes landing on Domitius, she gasped.
"Sugar honey ice tea! Dam, honey, you be one fine man!" She eyes him down with hunger, and not the kind of hunger I had with my poor stickers bar either.
"Thank you, ma'am, fourty dollars for pump four." He said, ever emotionless. I looked at his jawline, the kind a sculptor could only imagine to achieve.
"Course, honey, let me ring that up." She looked to me with disdain, so I handed her the Snickers bar very roughly. Her eyes raked over my features, and a flash of recognition was on her feature too fast for me to be sure. Her gaze fell to the cash register. She quickly rang up my candy, then handed it back on me without looking up.
She handed him back his change, peeking at me from a side glance. As I turned to walk back to the car with Domitius, I felt a hand on my arm.
It was the women.
"Can I talk to you for a minute, child?"
Domitius stopped, and looked back at me. I waved a hand at him.
"I'll be fine," I said, "just wait for my in the cat okay?"
He looked to the women's hand on my arm, then to me.
"Fine, be out in no less than five minutes."
Then he left.
I turned back to the women, and pried her fingers on my arm.
I couldn't help the agitation that seeped into my voice, "What?"
She leaned toward me, "Child, are you okay?"
I drew my eyebrows together, confused, "What?" I repeated.
She shuffled to the left, and gestured to a sign behind her.
I drew in a shocked breath.
The picture was familiar.
I recognised the high eyebrows, the long lashes, tan skin, blonde hair, bright pink lips, blue eyes, and the most noticeable feature: a pale brown dot on the edge of the girls iris.
It was me.
Below it were words.

Missing
Name: Katrina Weiss
Age: 16
Height: 5'6"
Hair: blonde
Eyes: blue
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Missing since: May 27, 2015
Please notify your local police if seen

I stood, shocked at the sign. Had my mom really cared I was gone?
My voice was unbelieving, "I'm not kidnapped, I ran away."
The women put her hand over her heart, "Baby, have you no mind? Your momma's goin crazy with worry!"
I frowned, and shook my head at her, "No, she doesn't care. She's worried about money not wen she'll get to beat her daughter again."
With that, I turned on my heel and ran out the door.