Who Runs in Moonlight

Chapter 2

"You wanna grab some breakfast?" Edwin asked from where he lay.

"Sure!" Lou yowled as she stretched in upward dog from a blanket on the couch.

Edwin texted Wendy: She slept on the couch!

He looked through where Lou's tank hung loose. He was half-chubbed to see some black ink he couldn't understand wrapped beneath her shoulder. He knew what delts, triceps, biceps, traps and rhomboids were from exercise physiology. All were well-defined. Her arms stretched out across the floor and even the brachios in her forearms were tone.

He'd first thought her to be on the 'virgin' end of the Madonna–whore continuum. But that shy, cautiousness had fallen away a little, was revealing an underlying ferocity.

They closed down Squirrel's last night. When carded, her glare was so intense at the bartender. He shifted, uncomfortable—"Yeah, um, nevermind."—and served her anyway.

Wendy caught Edwin by the restrooms. "What's up with those teeth?"

"I know!" He agreed.

Her broad smile was dangerous looking but squished these deep dimples. She looked straight at each of us with such captivating eyes when we talked. She pawed us with interest, howled in laughter, and tugged us onto the floor when the band was thumping hard. We wanted her with us, and she never made to leave.

Of course Edwin, being Edwin, wasn't going to miss an opportunity to bag a hot Canadian.

"What red-blooded American boy wouldn't?" he whispered to Wendy in his defense. As she rolled her eyes toward Tomomi, he leaned toward Lou. "You got a place to stay? I've got a couch."

"Beauty!" Lou smiled.

Everyone was all bumping into each other as they left the bar. But they held each other up past the city hall and bus station. But Tomomi fell over laughing as Lou squatted to pee behind a tree in the park. Reaching the edge of campus, they aimed each other toward our respective rooms. Edwin and Lou split off, up the stairs to his efficiency.

Just inside the door Edwin made his move.

She returned his kiss. Then she laughed and walked away to the windows overlooking the street and park below and across the way.

"Come back," he coaxed.

It was like she didn't hear him. She circled his tiny kitchen and brushed past him. As he reached for her arm, she trotted away to shut the bathroom door behind her.

Frustrating.

She returned 10 minutes later. This time when he attempted a kiss, she met his tongue with her own.

The rest was impetuous. He reached fumbled to unbutton her jeans as he shoved her toward his bed.

"Hey!" she barked. And before he had a moment to pull back, Edwin was lying on his back, her palm pressed hard atop his chest.

Her strength surprised him for her size. Again, it wasn't abnormal. Just not what he expected from a lean teen girl.

"W-whoa!" He stammered.

Her mouth was open, teeth bared in a broad smile. Her canines and premolars were longer and more pointed than any he'd seen before. Unusual, but not uncanny. The three of them had noticed before. They just hadn't been this clear and present.

"You came to my apartment," he argued.

"Yeah. You offered me a couch. What were you assuming?"

"Well," he laughed, nervous. "You were kissing me."

"I was playing. Not fucking."

She closed her smile and lay down. He felt her warmth curled into his body. Well, this was weird!

He hazarded: "So... you don't... want to...?"

"No," she growled.

He fell asleep, listening to her breathe, and feeling the rise and fall of her body against his. He woke up to her curled beneath the blanket on his couch. And now she was on her feet, pulling a new shirt from her backpack.

No sign of weirdness.

Wendy texted back: You offered the couch!

Lou slid into a clean pair of skinny jeans.

Edwin: "Couch" is code for "sex".

Wendy: You're an asshole.

Lou pulled on the same vest and boots.

Edwin: Whatever. Sunnyside?

Wendy: See you there.

They met Wendy outside the cafe. Small and awkward, cute. She immediately took Lou by the arm with the fingerless gloves she wore, even in summer. "You sticking around a while?"

She grinned broadly. "I got no freakin' idea."

Edwin offered, "You should. You're part of our group now."

"The Edwin's-unlucky group?" Lou, with a twinkle in her eye.

Wendy laughed out loud. "The give-Edwin-shit group. Stay with us tonight."

Then Tomomi walked up, looking unnerved. "Did you guys hear?"

"Hear what?"

"A student went missing last night."

We texted others who might know more.

Morana Smith. No one knew the girl by name. Apparently she was a pretty, blonde senior in her final semester. She'd been outside the dorms, and then she was gone. That was it. No witnesses, no explanation. Police were investigating. The university president was saying there was no cause for alarm. But he cautioned students to take appropriate precautions. Both on and off campus. Especially women. Especially at night.

"You know there was some serial killer who went to school here?" Wendy asked. Like that helped. "I'll take eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns. And coffee! Please."

"Breakfast burrito," Edwin ordered. "Isn't his old dorm room, like haunted?"

"I know somebody who works on security." Tomomi was excited. "He says they see lights through the window. Oh! I'll take the breakfast tofu wrap. I don't know. It's really upsetting, you know?"

We all agreed. Except Lou, who said, "I'd like all the meat."

Everyone looked at her.

"Like just bacon, sausage, ham. You have ham?"

The waitress looked at her twice as she wrote that down. "You... want... eggs... or anything?"

"Nah. That's good, thankee." Lou handed off the menu and looked around to see them all watching her.

"Sorry," she said with a long 'o'. "Yous vegan?"

She never did comment on the student.