The situation gets real

When I woke up, I was famished, but I thought that was a normal reaction given that I had emptied my stomach on the eve by vomiting. Dave was still asleep next to me, but I knew that a single move from me would make his eyes open. I rarely got the time to really look at him. We were always on the move, getting information from here and there.

I looked at how his face seemed to be peaceful, the muscles relaxed and no groove between his eyebrows. I liked his nose, sharp and well defined. It was not completely straight as I thought, there was a slight bend to the right, which could only be noticed upon careful observation. His upper lip was less full than the lower one, but both were plump and pink. There was a slight pout to it. At this time of the morning, he had a fine layer of stubble covering his face making him look roguish. His chest was rising up and down in pace to his breaths.

'Done?' A gravelly voice interrupted my trip and startled me. I raised my eyes to notice that Dave had also been observing me with a lazy smile.

'Thanks for being there yesterday,' I then said, before throwing my legs over the side of the bed and getting up. My mouth had a bitter and acrid taste to it and I longed for my mint toothpaste.

When I was brushing my teeth, I felt that my teeth were very sensitive and my gums were tender. I opened my mouth wide and stared in the mirror in front of me, trying to peer in and see if there was plaque or caries which could be the source of the pain, but it looked fine. Strange.

I heard Dave get up and move to the kitchen, so I seized the opportunity to take my shower. The warm water sluicing down my skin was divine. The sound of the flowing water was therapeutic in a way, but suddenly this moment was broken by clamor coming from my neighbor's place. There was the sound of objects being thrown before a piercing scream froze my blood. I hurriedly turned off the valve, got dry and dressed in record time, and set off to the kitchen to ask Dave f he had heard anything. The main door was ajar and I guessed that he must have heard the same noise and gone to investigate. I went out too, pulling the door shut after me and quickened my steps in the direction of the Ramseys' driveway. They were a young family of 4, Nadia and her husband Christian and their two kids Nathan and Luz. I remembered babysitting Nathan when he was a baby and I often waved at him when I saw him in the Academy. I hadn't had any classes with him yet.

The door was wide open and I could now hear the sound of sobbing. Luz. I ran inside and it was absolute mayhem, the living room that I remembered as orderly, was upside down. The armchairs were piled on the sofa, all the picture frames were off the wall and thrown here and there. The table was covered with muddy footprints as if someone had used it as leverage to reach the lantern above, which was badly damaged. The carpet was soiled as well.

Dave came to meet me at the door, followed by Christian.

'They went through all the rooms except the kids' and the main bedroom,' Dave said. 'It's obvious they were looking for something. But what?' The last question, he directed at Christian, who scratched the side of his head and muttered, 'If only I knew.'

'Well, at least you are safe now,' I told him.

'All thanks to the young man here,' he said shaking Dave's hand vigorously. I found it funny the way he referred to Dave as a young man. If only he knew he was 150 years old.

'The 2 rascals escaped when Dave came in. I shudder to think of what would have happened if you had not woken us up. How did you hear them from next door? We were in the house and we didn't hear anything,' Christian said perplexed.

Ya, tell them about your finely honed senses, how you can hear a fart from a kilometer away, I thought with humor. Now that we had been assured of their safety, I was starting to feel better.

'You better call the cops, I'll be next door if they need a witness,' Dave answered instead, slowly inching towards the door.

'Take care, Christian. Tell Nadia I'll be in to help her clean up in the afternoon,' I also said, moving towards the exit.

'Thanks Ash.'

As soon as Christian closed the door behind us, Dave swatted at my bum with his palm, making me yelp in surprise.

'I can smell a fart from far, huh?'

Oops, he had heard me. I had thought that he was talking to Christian so he wouldn't have been paying attention.

'Well, that's the truth, right?' I threw at him, before taking to my heels and making a run to the door. I felt a whiff of cold air, mixed with a citrusy scent, just touch my face before I reached the door and I was lifted off my legs unceremoniously.

'That's not fair,' I said to Dave who had run by me and picked me up. He used his hip to press on the door handle to open the door. He dropped me inside on the sofa of the living room like a sack of potato. 'Using your vampire strength against a mere mortal like me.' His eyebrows raised at that comment.

'That would teach you to tease me.' I had not seen such a playful side to his character before and I liked it. I would like to see it more often. But not now.

'Did you see the intruders?'

'Saw them, but smelled them first.'

The way he said that put me on alert. 'Who were they?'

''Half were-wolf, half human.' Werewolves in our neighborhood. This had never happened earlier. What was I thinking? I didn't even know that they were real.

'Do you know what they were looking for?'

'As much as I would love to pursue this conversation, we'll have to stop. You're gonna be late again,' he said with a smile, as if trying to make me forget the morning's event. But he was right, I would be late if I didn't hurry.

'Get dressed, I'll make breakfast.'

'Madam, your food is served,' he announced, putting the plate in front of me. 'Overnight chia pudding with a raspberry coulis.'

It was nothing complicated, just soaking the chia seeds in coconut milk and leaving in the refrigerator. He had topped it with a jam of some sort, that I didn't remember buying. But it tasted good, though the jam had a taste I wasn't used to. I finished up the plate and lifted my head to see Dave observing me intently.

'You're okay now?'

I nodded. I was. After eating, I was feeling very energetic and felt as if I was ready to conquer the world. It was the feeling I got after consuming an energy drink.

'What else did you put in the pudding?'

'Oh, just the usual,' he replied vaguely, and I didn't get time to question him more as Claudia honked.

'By the way, Mr Pierce called. I'm one of the jury members of the Art contest,' he announced just as I was getting in the car. I waved at him, knowing that he would have found a way to be around me at the Academy. My eyelid started twitching as I turned to greet Claudia. Not a good omen.