Several nights later and after a tough day at school (the kids were still cracking jokes about her being dumped at the prom), and after she had done her homework and visited her mother at the hospital, Bree decided to return to the park. She nearly forgot about that man but when she approached her bench, she saw in the dim lamplight that he was indeed sitting there again. The night was damp and a bit chilly and Bree wrapped her arms around herself. She wore a light blue vest jacket and a white sweatshirt underneath.
“For a girl walking around late at night, you sure seem to like giving yourself away to anyone who may want to harm you.” Bree stopped short of the bench.
“What do you mean?”
“Your clothes, they are so light. Anyone could see you. You don’t know what kind of people you may meet out at this hour of the night.”
Bree dug her toe nervously in the grass as she looked down. “Well, until you came along, I never met anyone out here this late.” She looked up at him then. Her hair was tied back loosely but a lot of it had fallen to the sides of her head, framing her face delicately. “I’ve never seen you before. You must be passing by.”
“Yes.”
“May I sit?”
“Not a good idea right now.” Zane had not fed recently and although he wasn’t overly hungry, he did like the scent of the girl’s blood.
“You sure are strange.”
“I’m different, I guess you could say.” Zane shifted his weight and looked more directly at Bree. “You don’t seem mad at me for stealing your spot.”
“No. I’m not.” Bree sighed. “I can always find another bench.” She then turned to go and Zane watched her silently. Once again, he was surprised at her considerate attitude. However, she was human and as far as he was concerned, useless to him - at least while he wasn’t hungry.
The following night the girl returned. Zane only wanted to be alone and he was really beginning to dislike this girl, in a different and more volatile way than he disliked humans in general. He just wanted time to think about how he was going to accomplish this nearly impossible mission he was supposed to be on. And this girl, she was too easy to hunt, for goodness sake she kept coming right to him! He liked the thrill of the chase much better, he loved to incite fear in humans for the adrenaline made their blood taste so much more heavenly. If she kept coming to him, he would eventually have to kill her – and painfully so.
“Still in town, I see.” Bree stopped and stood several feet away from Zane.
“What’s it to you?” Zane snapped.
“I’m sorry. Please forgive my rudeness.”
Zane just looked up at her. His eyes were darker than she remembered them. They looked right into her.
Zane became angry with Bree. “Why do you keep coming here? Why, when I have made it clear that I don’t want you near me? And you keep apologizing. Why don’t you just go away and never come back.Then you won’t have to apologize again.”
“But, this is my spot.” Bree spoke quietly in her defense. “I have always come here, since I moved here.”
“Well, it is not your spot anymore. Please go before I do something we will both regret.”
Bree gasped then backed away silently at first before she turned to run away. She began to cry quietly. Even though she didn’t know it, Zane heard her weeping. He felt bad at first then chastised himself for feeling any compassion toward a human. She was his food, how can one feel anything emotional toward something they eat? That brings up the subject of his mission. That painful mission he was forced to go on, the mission that brought him here in the first place. The mission to end the deathly curse on his immortal life.
A few weeks later Bree’s mother took a turn for the worse. Bree stayed in the hospital with her day and night, even after she had slipped into a coma. Then, after the doctor had persuaded her to leave and get some rest did she return to the park. It was a warmer evening and she was wearing a tank top and jeans.
Bree walked into the park and hoped more than ever that the man would not be there. When she got to her bench, he wasn’t. She sat and watched the eddy for a while. The ripples of the water reflected the orange glow of a street lamp on the other side of the park. She became entranced by the patterns of light and how they shifted. It reminded her of gray skies, the lines of the clouds looking like the top of the water from underneath, like the ripples in the eddy frozen in time. Bree then broke into a fit of sobs.
The following night, and with little sleep in her, Bree returned to the park. Zane was there again. She walked up to the bench and sat.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m sitting, thank you.”
“I didn’t say you could.”
“Well I’m sorry because I am very tired and I need to sit.”
“Then go home and sit!”
Bree flinched at his outburst at first then inwardly thought of home. Her silent and empty home that she would have to leave when her mother passed. She wouldn’t be able to afford to stay there and there was no one else to take her in. Her life would start hard at eighteen, she would be forced into the real world, a real job, with probably no hope of affording college. She looked over shyly at Zane. Her eyes were sad.
“Please, I have nothing at home. Please allow me to stay here with you for a little while.” Tears welled up in her dark eyes, they glistened in the lamplight. Zane looked away and did not answer her.
Bree and Zane sat in silence for a long time. He had recently fed so being so near to her did not drive him crazy. She smelled delicious, however, and he made a mental note to come here one night when he was insanely hungry so that he could drain her.
After what seemed like hours, Bree got up to leave. Zane looked at her silently.
“Thank you.” She sniffled, her voice cracked from her crying. Then she walked away across the park and into the trees.
Zane remained there for some time. This girl had been nothing but polite to him. He decided that the next time she came, he would reveal to her what he was and see just how nice she would be to him then. And ‘nice’ meaning a genuine niceness, not a fake niceness to try and prevent herself from getting killed.
