Love, Blood, and Death

 "Oh come on! I promise the party will be a lot of fun!" My best friend, Lexi, pleaded. She gave me her best attempt of puppy dog eyes, and it sadly worked. "Fine, but only because I love you." I rolled my eyes and chuckled. If there's anything Lexi is good at, it's convincing people. "Here! Join the fun tonight!" She chirped at the students walking past us as she handed them an invitation. I shook my head at my social butterfly of a best friend as I began to tune everything out and look around at the sea of students in the hall. One student in particular caught my eye. A tall, tan, intimidating boy walking out of the front office. I've never seen him around, so I assumed he was new. His black, coarse, curly hair fell in front of his grey, almost threatening eyes. His jaw was so sharp, it looked like it could cut diamonds. His muscular frame was outlined by his tight black shirt and he walked down the hallway as if he had no worries in his mind. His eyes flickered to me and my face immediately flushed. I don't know why, but for some reason, every nerve in my body screamed that he was bad news. That only intrigued me more. "Here, come enjoy loud music, alcohol, and sweaty bodies of lost teenagers." I held an invitation out for the mystery boy to grab while giving him a curious smile. He looked at me, grabbed the paper, and walked away. "Whoa. Who was that?" Lexi asked while staring and twirling her hair. "I don't know. I think he's new. But there's something about him that just gives me a bad feeling." "Well there's something about him that gives me a good feeling." She smirked. "Gross." I groaned and rolled my eyes before giving her the remaining invitations in my hands and heading to my first class of the day. Today is the first day of senior year, hence the big party Lexi is throwing. I know I'm just ready to graduate and get out of here. I sighed as I slid down into my seat and laid my head on my desk. "Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?" I jumped up at the sound of an unknown dark and husky voice. My eyes met those piercing grey ones from before. "W-what? Oh, um, no it's not taken." "Do you mind if I sit?" I shook my head 'no' in response. He had a lot more manners than I thought he would. "My name is Oliver. I just recently moved back." He said as he held out his hand. I reluctantly placed my hand in his and shook it. "Juliette." Was all I could muster up. His presence made me anxious. Something inside of me was screaming to just run away. "Well Juliette," he paused to kiss my hand that was still holding his, "it's very nice to meet you." He smirked. Mr. Wright snapped me from the trance that was holding me as he greeted the class and introduced himself. The class, along with all of my other classes that Oliver just so happened to be in, passed by with curious glares being exchanged between us. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as the final bell rung and I scurried off to find Lexi. "Lexi! Dude!" I panted as I ran up to her. "That new guy is giving me the heebie jeebies. We talked in my first period and for some reason I was just so anxious being near him. There's something not right about that guy. I wanna find out what it is." "Well you gave him an invitation, didn't you?" I nodded. "Well maybe he'll show up tonight." "Maybe."--- "Which one looks better?" Lexi looked between the black dress and red dress before replying. "Black. Do you think mystery boy will show up?" She flipped the page of the magazine she was reading. "I don't know, but I really hope so. There's just... there's something about him and for some reason I just need to know." "Well if he ends up being some weirdo serial killer, let me know so I can steer clear." We giggled. "You ready to go?" I asked her after slipping on my black heels. She nodded with a smile as she jumped out of my bed and grabbed her keys. "Time to party!" Excitement rang in her voice. We finished the short drive to her house and there were already at least 50 people here. I held my breath as I got out of the car and mentally prepared myself. We walked in, and I immediately ran over to the alcohol cabinet. After taking a couple of shots of tequila, my eyes scanned the room. Oliver was nowhere in sight, that was until I turned around. "Your friend knows how to throw a party." That feeling of anxiety filled my body yet again. "What is it about you?" My head tilted with curiosity. "What do you mean?" A puzzled look crossed his face. "You... anytime I'm around you, I'm consumed with intimidation and anxiety. Why?" "Because I'm tall and hot." A chuckle escaped his lips. "No, I'm serious. I don't know what it is, but there's something about you that just screams trouble." His eyes darkened as he stared into my soul. Fear consumed me, my body froze. "If I were you, I'd stop asking questions." He growled as he walked away. What is going on with him? I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm nowhere near drunk enough to deal with it. After downing three more shots of tequila, some random guy walked up to me. "Wanna get out of here?" He smirked, holding a cup of beer out. "I don't think so, I will take the drink though!" I took his cup with a smile and he scurried off looking absolutely pissed. Sipping the drink, Oliver's words played in my head. 'If I were you, I'd stop asking questions.' What the hell did that even mean? Was he threatening me? My mind raced as my vision became blurry. I looked around searching for any form of help, but I just continued to slip until I was completely gone.--- "Juliette? Juliette!" I could faintly hear Lexi's voice. My hearing and vision cleared up slowly as I took in all the people surrounding me. Lexi was by my side, and I saw Oliver standing right in front of everyone else. It almost looked like he was in pain. "Oh my god! Are you okay? What happened?" Panic dripped from Lexi's tongue. "I think I was drugged, all I remember is taking a drink from some guy, and now I'm here." I said confused as I rubbed my aching head. "Oh my god! Let's get you to the hospital!" Worry was written all over her face. "No... no. I'm fine. I just need to go home." I tried to get up, but I just stumbled right back down. "Woah, easy..." she said as she helped me up. "I can't take you home right now." A frown crossed her lips. "I'll take her home." Oliver stepped towards me. Lexi took a step back and allowed him to come to my side and lift me into his arms. All I could do was throw my arms around his neck and nuzzle my face into his chest. His skin was almost ice cold, but it felt nice. I was burning up. "Are you okay?" He asked as we walked to my house. I shook my head 'no'. My head was spinning, I felt nauseous. I was far from okay. I looked up at the man holding me. It looked like he was angry. "What's wrong?" My voice was quiet. "Nothing." His face turned stone cold. "Why do you do that?" My voice got a bit louder. "Do what?" "Shut me down anytime I try to check on you. Not to mention how secretive you are, and how your presence alone sometimes terrifies me." He sat me down on my front porch, but I lost my balance the second my feet touched the floor. My elbow scraped against the wood of the porch and I hissed in pain. I held my elbow trying to get the pain to subside, but when I pulled my hand back, I saw that I was bleeding. Looking up at Oliver, I noticed the white part of his eyes turn red like he hadn't slept in days, and his once grey irises turned jet black. "Woah, what the fuck?" I shrieked. He quickly looked away, and I was met with his silver eyes yet again. "What was that?" Fear was imminent in my voice. "What was what?" He acted like he had no clue what happened. "Your eyes! They turned black!" My voice was shaking. "No they didn't, it must've been the lighting or something. Or you may still be coming down from whatever was given to you. But everything's okay now, nothing happened." His voice was soft and comforting. "No, I know what I saw! What's wrong with you?" "Please Juliette, I don't want to have to do this to you." "Do what?" My anxiety shot through the roof. He brought his face close to mine. My eyes locked into his, then slowly made their way down to his lips. They looked soft. My chin was lifted by his index fingers as he made me lock eyes with him again. "You are okay. You had an extremely bad time at the party, but you're feeling better now. I helped you home and you fell down and scraped your elbow. Nothing happened. Everything was perfectly normal." His voice was convincing. His eyes had me trapped as his pupils seemed to dilate. Every word rolled off of his tongue so softly. I couldn't even remember what led us up to this point. "What are you still doing here?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes. My mind felt empty. "I'm gonna stay here for a little bit to keep an eye on you, if that's okay." Concern was in his eyes as he soothingly rubbed my arm. "Yeah that's fine. Just lock the door when you leave." I yawned as I began heading up to my room. After reaching my bed, I allowed my body to just sink into the soft cushion. Before long, my eyes were fluttering closed as I drifted off.Oliver's POV I slowly and quietly stepped into Juliette's room, looking at the small sleeping girl. She looked so peaceful. I've only known this girl for two days, but there's just something about her that draws me to her. I have to be careful around her though, she's starting to ask too many questions and getting too curious. But she can't find out what I am. No one can. I came back to Red Ridge to start over. I have to put my past behind me. Shifting my focus back to Juliette, I began to notice how beautiful she is. She had long, silky, black hair. Freckles were splattered across her nose and cheeks. Her lips were plump and pink. She truly had beauty written all over. My eyes traveled up and down her body before focusing on her neck. My body began moving closer and closer to her, the urge getting stronger and stronger. My hand softly and slowly pushed the hair away from her neck and my fingers lightly traced the skin. It almost felt like velvet. Her body twitched as her eyes slowly began to open and I quickly ran to one of the dark corners of her room. Confusion was written on her face as she looked around while holding her neck. Before long she was laying back down and drifting back to sleep. A part of me wanted to protect her, but another part of me wanted to hurt her. I couldn't let that part of myself win. I came back for a new start. That meant I couldn't hurt anyone, especially not her. Maybe I should start avoiding her, that would probably be the best way to protect her. But I didn't want to leave her side. What was it about this girl that made me want to be a good person? My plan was to come back, keep to myself, and live a normal life. There's no way Juliette could be a part of that normal life. From this moment forward, I have to avoid her. It's ultimately the best way to keep her out of harm's way. With that thought in mind, I silently made my way downstairs and out the front door, locking it behind me. The walk home consisted of cicadas singing and bats flying above me. The air was cool and crisp and the small breeze followed behind me. I fumbled with my keys as I reached my front door, but I noticed that my doorknob was broken. Confused, I pushed my door open, but what I saw did not make me happy. "Hello Oliver, it's been a long time."