Birds chirped happily, their morning songs echoing through the miles of forestry that surrounded the famous actor, Lucian Anderson's townhouse. The sparkling rays of the morning sunlight peeked through the thin white curtains that poorly covered the floor-to-ceiling windows of the actor's bedroom.
Lucian shifted on the floor, reaching for sheets that weren't there. Groaning, he opened his eyes to see if the sheets had fallen off the bed. His shock and confusion heightened when he came to the realization that he was on the floor, his shirt in a shredded pile beside him, and several items were in pieces like his watch and a vase that was luckily empty before its fall. The remnants of last night scraped at his mind in a foggy carousel of jumbling events that made no sense, reminding him of a pain he had never before felt in his life. His fingers were smeared with his own blood, dried by now, but he couldn't seem to remember how he had come to hurt himself. His surprise was at its peak once he caught sight of his reflection in a full-length mirror opposite him. Streaks of dried tears decorated his face, his usually well-kempt hair was all over the place as if he was electrocuted and he seemed to be slightly shaking, though he didn't feel as if he was. Like a hammer to the head, the memories of last night filled his mind confusing him even more. He vividly remembered whispering the cursed name of the actress he was supposed to meet that day. As soon as the silent words left his lips, the extreme feeling of sexual desire intensified as he has never felt before, then slowly became an unbearable bout of pain and agony. The pain from clawing at himself was silent compared to the loudness of the pain caused by simply uttering that name. That is exactly what he did and the result was a full-blown case of wretchedness, accompanied by a headache and sharp flashbacks. William is going to want to hear about this. Lucian checked the time on his broken watch and immediately made a wobbly bee line for the connecting bathroom because surprisingly, the thing still worked. What the hell? His limbs were still weak and he found it hard to keep himself steady as he walked.
On his way to Barnes Studio, Lucian called William and told him the events of the night in detail. William listened intently, making small grunting noises of curiosity and interest. Lucian finished the story with a flourish and waited for his reply, the phone connected to his radio so he didn't have to hold the giant technological piece to his ear while he drove.
"Holy shit, man. Could it be that she's your mate?" William questioned in all seriousness.
"Don't be ridiculous, Will," Lucian mumbled, though it was a possible theory. "Does she even smell like a wolf to you?"
William went silent in thought as if trying to remember the scent of the woman who shall not be addressed. "Yes. She did smell faintly of our descent, however, it doesn't make any sense because she also smelled odd of another race. I just can't quite put my finger on it."
Lucian checked his rear view mirror idly, trying to make sense of the situation. She was more mysterious than him. "I don't think I will be able to call her name, just to avoid what happened last night. It's still hard to believe so I need to figure this out."
"Why don't I come by your place after your meeting and we test that theory. Call her name and we will see what happens. Since I'll be watching, I can tell you exactly what happened once you fall into...whatever state that was."
"William, you are a pervert. Why the hell would I agree to that?"
A small chuckle echoed through the phone, turning into a full-blown side-crushing fit of laughter. Lucian frowned, tapping a slender finger on his steering wheel impatiently until his agent calmed himself.
"I'm sorry, Luce. Your situation should be made into a movie. I can't promise that I won't capture images of you during that state but we really need to see if this was just some strange coincidence or other."
Lucian groaned, hissing a blunt 'fuck you, Will' before ending the call. He finished the drive in silence, parking his silver British McLaren where his name tag was carved into the tar and painted a bright shade of sunny yellow, his most hated color. As soon as he exited the car, a sudden violent feeling of hunger washed over him. His vision blurred accompanied by a slight throbbing in his head, but only for a short time. He was back to normal within seconds, trying to figure out why the hell he felt like that for no reason. Or rather, a reason he had no idea about. Before he could enter the studio, William shoved open the door, a smug grin on his face as he made eye contact with his boss.
"You are half an hour early."
"Aren't I always?" Lucian frowned, shoving pass him into the studio.
William fell into step beside him, dropping a decent-sized script into his hands and going over the storyline as they went along. Soon, a crowd of people surrounded him, ambushing the two with make-up brushes and hair spray like a swarm of bees. They dispersed as soon as they were satisfied with his drop-dead gorgeous features and his silky blond hair was shinier than the sterling silver watch on his wrist. William continued talking about the script until the director and producer of the movie, Edward Barnes interrupted their conversation to greet the actor.
"Mr. Anderson, a pleasure to have you here, sir. Welcome back to Barnes Studio. Please, come this way. I'd like for you to meet the next lead, a new and up-coming actress, Csilla Merikh."
"Good to be here, Barnes," Lucian answered, politely. The closer he got to the set, the stronger the scent became. He could smell her. It was just as William had said. The scent made him very alert and ready to fight, but at the same time, the sexual thirst he never knew he had, built itself into an unstoppable monster.
"You smell that, don't you? Your body became rigid as soon as you took a step in her direction." William was speaking to him telepathically. His voice was always quiet and teasing inside Lucian's mind.
"Yeah. It's just like you said..."
"Be careful not to say her name. We don't know if this thing will trigger again."
Lucian nodded, looking back at William who seemed to be physically psyching himself up for the encounter. The scent became stronger to the point where he didn't know whether he should fight or release his sexual hunger. It became so strong that he had to fight to keep his mind clear and alert. Who the hell was this woman? And why was just the scent of her driving him mad? He couldn't even whisper her name without consequences.
"There is our new star," Barnes announced, as they entered a very large space with several chairs placed under a spotlight and a table with chilled champagne in a bucket.
In one of the chairs, sat a young woman with jet black hair that partially shielded her face from their view for she was looking down at the script on her lap. Slowly, she looked up, her hair parting like curtains and settling to the sides of her face with her graceful movements. Her face like white porcelain was extremely magnificent, unmarred and so soft it seemed breakable. Lucian's heart seemed to have stopped as he froze in place, mesmerized not just by her strange, yet addictive scent, but also by her innocent, fragile femme fatale.