“Oh, does that mean you have to leave soon? I didn’t realize you are taking classes.” I was disappointed and unsure as to why I was so upset that he hadn’t shared this information with me. It wasn’t like he’d ever offered me so much information.
“I have some time.” He stared into my eyes with a fear-provoking glint in his.
“Oh, okay.” I attempted to sound like I didn’t care either way. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t make it in Hollywood. “So, who is Demien… um…?” I thought for a second. He hadn’t told me his last name. “What is your last name? Where do you come from?” I was hoping to get him talking more. I was eager to get a glimpse into his life.
“Now, that, you need to figure out,” he said, flirtatiously.
I let out a nervous, half-giggle. “I don’t get it.” I didn’t know any other way to respond.
“It’s complicated. First answer that question yourself.”
“Here. I was born and raised in this very house. My last name is Scanlon,” I replied. I didn’t see why that question was hard to answer.
“That’s what I thought. You were born and raised here. Easy. My past is not quite that simple. Let’s just say I’ve moved around a lot.” His eyes faded from black into light amber.
It really didn’t seem that hard to explain. “What are your parents like?”
“I do not have parents,” he said, matter-of-fact.
“Of course, you have parents. Everyone has parents,” I urged. “Oh…” My voice squeaked. “Your parents are,” I gulped, “like my parents.” I shouldn’t have asked that question.
He shook his head and said, “Not everything is as it seems.”
Like usual, he wasn’t answering any of my questions and instead spoke in code. Well, I shouldn’t say he wasn’t answering my questions. He was answering my questions in a way that he wasn’t really answering them but giving a mysteriously generic answer. Instead of continuing the rant in my head, I contemplated for a few seconds to come up with a question I thought he would answer. “What brought you to this town?” I already knew the answer to that question… Me.
His eyes bore into mine, reading the answer on my face. He turned his mouth upward into an amused, dark smile.
My heart skipped a beat as I fought back anxiety. “Why?” I asked, hoping he would explain this to me at least.
“No more questions,” he demanded.
“Just one more?” I begged.
He simply stared at me, without responding.
“Please? Just one, I promise.”
“Fine, but I’m not promising an answer.” My eyes were large as I stared at him in fear. Something told me that I didn’t want to know the answer, namely his frightful black eyes. His smile grew sinister. I gulped. “Go ahead. What’s your question?”
“Why me?” My voice cracked.
He glanced down at the floor and shook his head disapprovingly. He raised his eye to me and asked, “You still don’t know?” His eyes grew intense and pitch black. Fear took hold.
“No, should I?” I asked, stumbling through the words.
The air thickened as each second ticked by waiting for him to speak.
“It’s a question full of conflict. I can’t explain that one.”
“If you told me, you’d have to kill me?” I joked.
He looked at me with those black eyes and a dead serious expression on his face. “Something like that,” he spoke the words through gritted teeth.
I didn’t like the new candidness. I wished he would answer questions like a normal person. Fear quickly cinched my toes as fire ignited my head, filling every inch of my body like a dark liquid racing through me. I hoped I didn’t show it. I let out a forced laugh. “Yeah, right.”
I began to stand up. I was planning to make an excuse about being tired so I didn’t feel rude asking him to leave. He stood with me. We locked eyes and stood motionless for a while.
He inched closer to me; as if a gravitational pull took control over me, I found myself close to him, closer than I had intended. He held me tight. Our lips met with determined longing. I no longer could think of anything else, just him and me.
Demien reached around to the back of my skirt and tucked his hand under me, gently lifting me onto the island, his lips never leaving mine. We were both breathing hard as we broke from the entanglement.
His face showed the same message as I had seen many times since I laid eyes on him. I had seen this expression in my dreams. It was a look of desire and desperate hunger. It was a strong note of great sadness, yet an expression of pure zeal and fairy tale love. It was my look. I knew he reserved those eyes only for me. No one else had ever seen this part of him. It drove me excitedly crazy. That look made me want him more; I wanted every part of him. As I started to pull him close, he exhaled and pulled away.
“Please, give me a sign. Just one sign of confirmation is all I ask,” he murmured under his breath. I didn’t think I was supposed to hear his plea.
“What does that mean? What are you looking for?” I asked.
“Your sister’s home,” he said.
I turned to glance toward the front door. “Really? I didn’t hear her car.”
When I turned back around, he was gone. “Demien?” I called out, but there was no answer. I grabbed the box off the table, put the cups in the sink and then headed for the door.
Shannon and Jake came through the door just before I reached the entryway. “Hey, sis, how’s it going?”
“You’re back early,” I replied.
“Yeah, there’s a storm coming in so we decided we better go on and
