Chapter 6

didn't want to leave Nicole alone, so he took her to his house. The two rode in silence in Nicole's car, Clarity playing in the background. After a moment of silence Nicole spoke,

"What about your car?" Dante frowned at the strange sudden question then answered,

"I, uh, I didn't drive."

"You walked?" Nicole exclaimed. She had no idea where Dante lived, but they were driving for almost fifteen minutes.

"Nah, I have a faster mode of transportation." Dante replied with a sideways glance towards Nicole. Nicole turned in her seat to look at Dante and tilted her head in curiosity, "I can fly."

"Wow, really?" Nicole asked. Dante chuckled, "But earlier this morning, there was another man with you, and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Is he like you?"

"No, he is something completely different and yet the same."

"You and your conundrums." Nicole muttered as she turned to sit upright in her seat. Dante smiled and looked out the window before looking forward again,

"We're here." Dante says. Nicole looks over Dante and sees nothing but trees and frowned. Dante slowed down and turned down a road on the left, following the dirt road. Nicole could see lights in the distance until they were finally close enough for her to see a large house. Her mouth hanging open and the mansion before her. Dante parked the car and they climbed out.

"You live here?" Nicole asked, the house has a lot of large glass windows opening towards the view before it, the front door was made of dark oak and several stairs led up to it, " By yourself?" Nicole added.

"No, Alex lives with me along with the man you saw with me earlier." Dante replied and began walking up the stairs and opened the door for Nicole to enter. Nicole walked through the door and stared at the interior. Elegant stairs in front of her to the left led to an upper level where Nicole could see a large office to one side. A kitchen stood to Nicole's left and a large living room with glass walls stood in front of her led exposed the backyard where a seating area was placed, someone sitting in one of the chairs with a laptop in front of him. Nicole liked how the house looked so open. In the living room, a fire place stood on the left side with a television above it against the wall. Two steps led down to the light blue couches with a round coffee table in the center. On the right side of the house, glass sliding doors led to another large room that looked like a gym. Other than that, Nicole enjoyed the elegant interior design.

"You brought her home?" a voice above Nicole said. She looked up and saw man leaning over the railing of the upper level. He had dark curly hair and looked to be in his thirties. Another man emerged from the the back door with amusement. He was also young and had a playful smile on his face. He walked up to Nicole and reached out his arm in greeting,

"Hi, I'm Alex." Nicole shook his hand with a smile,

"Nicole." she replied. She turned and watched the other man descend the stairs with his hand in the pockets of his sweat pants. He stopped a few steps away from Nicole and studied her from head to toe making her feel a little uncomfortable.

"Can I help you with something?" Nicole asked making the man smile.

"I like her. Very brave for a female human." the man replied.

"Ugh." Dante complained, also feeling a little uncomfortable, "Nicole this is Victor Hansel."

"So what are you?" Nicole asked crossing her arms.

"I'm a lawyer, but I'm also a creature of darkness known as the Boogey Man." Victor answered.

"Mmm and how about you?" Nicole asked as she turned towards Alex.

"I am the most dangerous form of creature to ever wander the earth. A creature capable of both destroying and creating." Alex paused to create tension then continued, "I'm a human."

Dante and Victor rolled their eyes at Alex's theatrics and Nicole released her breath, "That makes two of us then." Nicole says before turning back to Victor, "So what's your special abilities?"

"I can make people believe what ever I want them to." Victor replies proudly.

"As a lawyer? Isn't that kinda unfair?" Nicole questions.

"That's what I said!" exclaimed Alex whilst throwing his hands in the air, but he quickly added, upon seeing Victor's serious face, that he remembered he had some research to do. Dante smiled at Alex, who made sure to keep a two meter distance from Victor, sprinted up the stairs to safety.

"Come on," Dante says to Nicole, "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping." Dante walked towards the stairs and Nicole followed after receiving a short nod from Victor.

It was unlike Nicole to sleep over at someone's house, nevermind a man's house, but seeing as she was terrified, which she would not admit, she felt safe here, with Dante. After a short walk down the hallway, where Nicole could see outside because of the glass wall, they stopped in front of a door which Dante opened for Nicole and then leaned against the wall.

"You can sleep here tonight." Dante says. Nicole takes a step into the large room. A bed was in the middle, a small dresser to her right and a door on her left led to a small bathroom.

"There's some clothes in the cupboard and towels in the bathroom. Wash up so long, I'll prepare dinner." Dante said before walking away, down the stairs.

Nicole walked over to the bed and brushed her hand over the sheet. Taking a shower would help her clear her head, so she headed towards the cupboard and opened it. Inside she found pair of grey sweatpants, a hoodie and stangely enough, there was a grey material basket with ladies underwear inside. Nicole grabbed what she needed and headed inside the bathroom. The bathroom was decorated with neutral colours. Everything from the towels to the mat and even the soap bottles were all either black or white.

Nicole decided that a steaming hot bath would probably be a better idea and locked the door behind her. Once she had finished her bath and dried her hair, with a hairdryer she found in a drawer by the dresser, Nicole headed out her room, her stomach aching with hunger and the savoury aroma downstairs was not helping.

"You're just in time for dinner." Dante said as he saw Nicole enter the kitchen in the grey sweatsuit that was in the room. Nicole smiled before taking a seat by one of the chairs by the kitchen island.

"Smells good." Nicole said as she sniffed the air. Dante smiled and dished up for them. Dante twirled the spagetti on the plate and topped it off with some savoury mince. After a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, Dante handed the plate to Nicole to enjoy. He then dished up for himself.

Nicole groaned from pleasure when she took her first bite and nodded her head, "This tastes amazing." she said, twirling some spagetti on her fork.

"Glad you like it." Dante replies. The two stare at each other for a moment, Dante opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted when a voice appears,

"Oohh! Smells amazing!" Dante turns to look over at the person to whom the voice belongs and as predicted, Alex stands over the pot, lid in hand, and takes a whiff of the mince within. Alex turns with a pleased smile towards Dante, but stops when he sees the irritated look on Dante's face, "What?" Dante shakes his head and turns back to Nicole when another voice sounds,

"What's for dinner? Smells good!" Nicole giggles with a mouth full of the delicious food as Dante drops his head. Alex and Victor dish up for themselves and take seats beside Dante and Nicole.

"Don't worry D, just pretent we're not here." Victor says from his spot beside Dante. Dante's eyes flash red for a moment as they turn towards Victor who just smiles victoriously. Dante shakes his head and begins to eat as well, Nicole's giggles echoing in his ears.