Cold-Blooded

Dinner Date

The water cascaded down her spine, a quiet sigh blowing past her lips as her back visibly relaxed. She had just been planning to rest for a moment, yet ended up falling asleep in her flat uncomfortable bed for a few hours. She was running late, but wanted to use a nice hot shower to warm her stiff muscles before her date. The steam filled the air slowly until it hung in a dense fog. It was impossible to breathe without inhaling water vapor. She took one last deep breath of the warm humid air, filling her lungs to capacity. Exhaling deeply she turned the shower off with a sharp click. She dried off quickly and eased into her plush robe, loving the feeling as it slid up her arms. Glancing at the mirror she wiped off the condensation with one hand. Satisfied with what she saw, she swung the door open with a flourish and left in a hurry. The dress she had already picked out was still hanging from her closet. Running her fingers along the silky black fabric she smiled remembering the last time she had worn it.

"Good times, good times." She slipped the dress off the hanger and the material rustled gently. No more than a few minutes passed before she was slipping in her favorite gold earrings and running her fingers through her thick midnight black hair. She checked the clock, and realized she had no time to apply makeup to brighten her pale complexion. She grabbed her keys ready to leave, but paused when she eyed her late mother's blood red locket. She thought for only a second before grabbing it with her free hand and running out the door.

After a fairly uneventful drive she pulled into her date's moonlit driveway. Afraid she was late, she walked quickly to the front porch to knock, but he had already seen her car pull up. The door opened slowly before Calder stepped into view. He had a crisp black shirt with matching pants that almost blended in with the darkness of the room behind him. His crimson tie however put a subtle smile on her face. His eyes looked her up and down before he spoke.

"My Laura, you are stunning." She ducked her head, moving her eyes out of view. Once she looked up again the two of them stayed still for a few minutes longer, deeply engrossed in each other's eyes. Laura broke the silence first, gently raising her arm from her side.

"Shall we then?" Calder nodded at her words, pulling his eyes from her gaze while slowly shutting the door behind him. Wrapping his arm around hers they both headed back to her car, their footsteps hardly making a sound. Once making it to the vehicle Laura opened Calder's door before heading to the driver's side door.

"You know technically I am supposed to grab the door for you." He spoke up just before she opened her door.

"I thought you would have learned by now that that's not my style."

"True, true." His head bobbed slightly up and down as he slid into the passenger seat. Laura gracefully sat in the driver's seat and started the ignition with a slight purr. The drive itself passed in silence with bits of conversation here and there. The tension between the two hung heavy in the air. Once arriving at the restaurant they both gratefully walked inside the brightly lit dining area with the quiet murmur of intimate conversations and clink of utensils as they brushed up along the plates. They were quickly escorted to their reserved seats, in a secluded section of the restaurant and handed menus which Laura waved away.

"We will have the soup special and your best red wine please." The waiter's eyes widened for a few brief seconds before nodding and ducking back into the kitchen. Calder looked at Laura confused, but no more than two minutes later the waiter was back with two bowls of soup and wine glasses.

"That was very fast, thank you." Calder looked up at the waiter as he set the food on the table and poured their drinks. The waiter refused to make eye contact and ducked his head away from the table as soon as he was done.

"Okay." Calder looked a bit hurt that his compliment was not accepted but continued anyways. "Well I am famished. Let's eat shall we?" The corner of Laura's mouth pulled back into a smirk. She simply reached for her wine and sipped slowly watching Calder shrug and begin devouring spoonful after heaping spoonful of the warm broth. After a few moments, Laura placed her cool glass back on the table and sat perfectly still, eyes glued to his face. Calder seemed completely unaware of Laura's fixation but slowed in his eating as he began to grow much more tired. His eyelids drooped precariously and he found his head swaying. As Calder's view of the world got considerably more blurry, Laura dropped her gaze to his pulsating blood vessels in his neck as Calder looked one last time at his date. Noticing his eyes on her she smiled back at him, and he noticed that her red eyes had black slits. He was sure they weren't like that before. She ran her tongue along her small white fangs as his head slumped forward onto the table.

"Yes. Let's eat."

Did the ending surprise you or did you spot the clues hidden in the story? I loved writing this one and it is one of my favorites. Did you enjoy it? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading! :)