Chapter 19: Midnight Ride
Nina “What happened?” Enzo asked as he ran up to me. He looked down at Justin, then back at me with a concerned expression on his face. Justin groaned and stood.
“Justin can’t get it through his head that I’m done,” I said, still holding my wrist where he grabbed it. “At this point, it’s just assault.”
“I didn’t assault you!” Justin replied, his face turning red and starting to walk toward me again. Enzo put himself between us, shielding me from Justin with his body. “Justin, I think you need to leave,” Enzo growled.
Justin looked back and forth between Enzo and I. I could see him starting to put two and two together; he looked like he was about to say something, but then he turned and got into his car, speeding off with screeching tires. Enzo turned back toward me and held out his hand. “Let me see.’
I gingerly held out my wrist for him to take. It was already red where Justin had grabbed it. Enzo gently took my wrist in his hand — his palm was warm and brushed his fingertips over my wound. Within a few moments, the pain started to subside.
“How did you do that?” I asked, pulling my wrist away and inspecting it. Enzo cocked his head. “Do what?” he asked. I shook my head and looked at my feet. “Nothing,” I replied. “Thank you… I don’t know what Justin was planning on doing with me.”
“Rest assured that I’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Enzo said, then reached forward and gently brushed the tears off of my cheeks. I flinched at first, but then relaxed into his palm.
When I looked up, Enzo was gazing down at me with his soft brown eyes. In the amber glow of the streetlights, there was nothing intimidating about him at all… No red eyes, no wolflike stare, no strangely inhuman strength and speed. Right now, right here, he just looked like a regular college boy. “Let me take you home,” he said softly. “I was gonna walk,” I replied, but Enzo shook his head and cut me off.
“It’s not safe for a girl to be walking in the dark like this. Don’t worry. I’m not trying to do anything. I just want to make sure you get home safely.” I paused for a moment, then nodded. Enzo guided me over toward his motorcycle.
“I’ve never ridden on a motorcycle,” I said, suddenly feeling nervous. Enzo popped open the seat and pulled an extra helmet out of the storage compartment, handing it to me.
“You’ll be fine,” he said, putting on his own helmet. “Just hold onto me.” He swung his leg over the seat and waited for me.
Hesitantly, I climbed onto the seat behind him and nervously wrapped my arms around his waist. His body was warm and I could feel his muscles beneath his shirt. While he started the motorcycle, I took in his scent; he smelled like a campfire.
As we started to accelerate, I shook my head to shake out the indecent thoughts about Enzo. I wasn’t going to fall for him… I couldn’t. I swore to myself that I wouldn’t get involved with hockey boys anymore!
Quickly, I realized that we were headed in the opposite direction of the dorms. I tapped on Enzo’s shoulder and leaned forward so he could hear me.
“Where are you taking me?” I asked. I felt more confused than afraid; I knew that Enzo wouldn’t hurt me. I don’t know how I knew, but I knew. “I just want to show you something,” he shouted over the hum of the motorcycle. “We’re almost there. Close your eyes.
I hesitated for a moment, but then I did as he requested and closed my eyes. I held on tight while I felt the motorcycle turn, then come to a stop. “You can open your eyes,” Enzo said.
When I did, I screamed and grabbed onto Enzo for dear life; we were right at the edge of a cliff! “You asshole!” I shouted, hitting Enzo in the arm several times. “Why would you bring me here!”
Enzo chuckled and pointed down. We could see the ocean lapping against a small, private beach below us. There was a pathway with a rope to hold onto that led down to the water. In the water, the full moon reflected clearly. It was actually… beautiful.
Enzo climbed off of the bike and held out his hand for me to take. I climbed off and let him lead me down the path toward the beach.
“I like to come here when I’m upset, or when I just need to think,” he said. ” Not many people know about this spot. I even put this rope here myself.”
Enzo hopped down onto the sand off a large boulder and turned toward me, holding his arms out for me. “Don’t worry. I’ll catch you.
I crouched and jumped down into his arms. As he held me for a brief moment, I could feel his heart beating excitedly. How many girls had he taken here before, I wondered? I hoped that he wasn’t expecting us to hook up here … Not that I would have necessarily declined the offer, even though I knew it was a bad idea. Some intimacy would have been welcome.
Enzo led me down to the water and stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked out at the ocean. I shivered a bit in my waitress uniform, and without hesitating he pulled off his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
“Why did you and Justin break up?” Enzo suddenly asked after a bit of a silence. I bit my lip, looking down at the water. “He cheated on me,” I replied. “With… Lisa.”
Enzo didn’t say anything for several minutes. We just stood there together, silently looking out at the ocean. I glanced over at one point to see his sharp jaw set hard while the wind blew through his curly hair. He was such a jock normally that it was strange to see him looking so calm and peaceful now. I wondered which side of him was an act: the jock persona or the gentle, thoughtful persona that I saw tonight?
“Can I tell you a secret?” I asked, pulling his jacket tighter around me. It smelled like cologne and smoke. Enzo nodded and looked at me. His brown eyes flashed red for a moment, but I wasn’t afraid. In the moonlight like this, it wasn’t scary at all.
“I saw something yesterday,” I said, averting my gaze and looking back out at the ocean. “In my anatomy lab. I was dissecting a cadaver, and… it wasn’t human. Its heart was huge, and it had fangs. I left, and when I came back, it was all healed up as though I had never cut into it to begin with. The dean made me go to counseling, and the therapist even tried to hypnotize me to make me forget, but I know what I saw. It wasn’t human.”
Enzo didn’t say anything for several moments. I was just beginning to wonder if he thought I was crazy when he finally spoke again. Give me your phone,” he said. “Uh… What?”
“Just give it to me. Open up your contacts.”
I tentatively handed Enzo my phone and watched as he tapped on the screen, then handed it back to me. He had entered his number into my contacts.
“That’s my number. If you ever need anything… And I mean anything, you call me right away.”
