Fatal Attractions : The Masquerade

Chapter Five

     Neither of us said a word as Alex and I walked back towards the living area. I didn't know what to say. I was still trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

     "So I am going to the ball then?" I asked, sounding unsure.

     "Whatever Grace says, goes," he responded, his tone unpleasant. I was starting to see the old Alex leaking back, his eyes becoming harder, his body language getting more guarded. The Alex that didn't seem to want me around at all when I first got here. The Alex that repeatedly put his hands on me.

     The only difference was this time, I understood why he was that way. He felt pressured to protect me, and was scared of failing his job. Scared to be looked down on by everyone else again, and scared to lose me because he wasn't good enough at protecting me.

     As long as he kept his guard up, he could keep all the bad out.

     "I'm sure it's nothing, Alex. Just some vampire wanting to meet me. We all know word has spread about the Council getting friendly with a human. It's no secret," I said, trying my best to assure him, but I wasn't even sure myself.

     "Nobody outside of the Council knows your name, let alone your address. Why are you not as concerned about this as I am?" he asked, giving me a hard look as he began descending the grand staircase. 

     "Because I'm not about to worry about something that's probably nothing," I said, following behind him. He stopped at the bottom of the staircase and turned to look at me.

     "And what if it is something? What if it's something bad? I won't risk putting you in danger again." I sighed and looked up at him.

     "It's a ball. A masquerade ball. If they've never met me before, they won't even know what I look like. And if they do, they'll have trouble setting me apart from every other person who'll be wearing a mask," I said. I gently took his hand and rubbed my thumb against his palm.

     "I hope you're right."

                                                                 * * *

     Alex had continued getting more and more distant and irritable as the day went on. I was just hoping it was temporary, because he was making training very difficult.

     "You flick your wrist, Lena, you can't just throw it."

     "What the hell is the difference!" He let out a groan and marched up to me, grabbing the knife from my fingers.

     "Like this, see?" The knife flew from his hand and smacked hard into the wooden mannequin. The blade was buried over an inch deep into the figures chest, right over where its heart would be. I cleared my throat and took a step away from Alex.

     "I'll get it," I said.

     "Good." He walked over to the mannequin and pulled the knife out of its chest, using his other hand to push against its shoulder. With a loud groan, the blade broke free and left a decent sized split in the wood. He walked over to me and held out the knife. When I took it, he resumed his place behind me, his arms crossed.

     "You know, it'd be a lot easier for me to do this if you weren't in such a mood," I said, tossing the knife. Like all previous attempts, it smacked into the mannequin and fell to the floor. Before he could leave his spot, I went and gathered the knife myself.

     "I didn't realize I was in a mood. If I'm right, I'm just trying to teach you something," he said. I walked back over to him, our chests almost touching.