Darlings of Darkness: A Vampire Anthology Part 41

"Yes, thank you, Jesse," my mom said. "You take care of yourself, now, and have a good evening."

After Jesse was gone, I turned to my mother. "I was so scared, Mom. My entire body was shaking."

She looked at me with concern on her face, the way she had when I was little and had a fever. "I've never seen you this terrified before, sweetheart." She turned to my dad. "Something scared her. If she says she saw an intruder, I believe she saw someone. Maybe we should call the police."

"I'm sure everything is okay now," my dad said. "Nothing seems to be missing or damaged." As if he refused to believe the obvious, he turned to me and said, "Honey, maybe you're just having a hard time adjusting to such an isolated life out here in the woods, or maybe you're missing Sean. I know how much you cared about him."

"Dad, I know I cried for over a month when we broke up, but I'm over him. Besides, this has absolutely nothing to do with him. Sean breaking up with me was the best thing that ever happened to me."

My mom wrapped her arm around me. "How was dinner? I made spicy chicken. Did you like it?"

"I didn't eat," I said. "I was warming it up in the microwave when I saw that man through the gla.s.s."

"That's too bad, darlin'. Let me warm it up for you."

"I'm really not hungry now, Mom."

"How about something to drink?"

"I'd love that. Surprise me."

My mom smiled, and I headed up to my room. I replayed the entire situation in my head. Maybe I did overreact, but I know that growl was real. It was so loud! I was glad I didn't check it out on my own, or I might not have lived to tell the tale.

With that thought on my mind, I slipped into a nightgown and crawled into bed. I usually kept the door closed when I slept, but this time, I left it open.

A few minutes later, my mom stepped in with a steaming mug of cocoa.

"Hey, Mom," I said with a smile.

"Hi, honey. Look, I know you're not a child anymore, but I also know you still love hot chocolate, especially loaded with marshmallows."

"I have to work early tomorrow, so I hope it won't keep me up."

"It shouldn't. At least have a few sips. Goodnight, honey."

"Goodnight," I said. "And, Mom..."

"Yes, honey?"

"Please leave the door open, just this once."

Chapter 12.

When morning dawned, I peeked out the window and into the woods. I didn't see any intruders lurking around. It was actually beautiful outside, complete with all the shining sun and chirping birds the outdoors had to offer.

In hindsight, I felt silly for asking Jesse to meet me at McDonald's when I was barely dressed and hysterical. I realized now that I should have called my parents and left him out of it. I was relatively certain he didn't want to date a stark-raving lunatic, but the damage had already been done.

Realizing I couldn't turn back time, I took a shower, put my uniform on, and left for work.

Again when I clocked in for work, Jesse was waiting for me.

He looked so handsome in his uniform and with his hair tied back, and I felt a flutter as he pulled me aside. "How did you sleep?" he asked.

"Look, Jesse, I'm sorry I bugged you last night. I'm so embarra.s.sed. I should have-"

"You have nothing to be embarra.s.sed about," he cut in, speaking with heartfelt sincerity.

"I beg to differ. I was at McDonald's in a robe."

"Technically, you were in the parking lot."

I smiled at his attempt to make me feel better. "I guess. But anyway, I've had enough of the wild animals around here. They've gotta do something about their wolf problem."

He smiled. "I totally agree."

Ms. Aikers approached us, bid us a quick "Good morning, folks," then handed us our a.s.signments for the day.

"Looks like my job's for the birds today," Jesse said. "I guess that's all right. I've been missing Beauty Queen."

I glanced down at my a.s.signment sheet. "Mine's worse. She put me on cage cleanup."

"I can get my stuff done pretty quick, and then I'll come over and help you," he offered, ever the good Samaritan.

"That's so nice of you. Thank you, Jesse."

"Not a problem. I'll see ya later."

"Okay," I said with a big smile.

I was mopping one of the empty cages when screams echoed in the air. I quickly threw down the mop and hurried out to find a crowd of people gathered around the cage across from me, screaming in panic about a five-year-old who had fallen into the mountain lion's cage. The child was unconsciousness in the enclosure, and the big cat was quickly approaching. Shouts and cries pierced the air, especially from the little one's mother.

"Can you help?" the kid's mother yelled at me, noticing that I was wearing a zoo uniform.

"Uh..." Not sure what to do, I began to scream and yell and try to get the animal's attention. When that didn't work, I reached down and grabbed several rocks, then started throwing them at the mountain lion. The animal didn't even flinch, as its attention was completely absorbed by the child.

Suddenly, zoo workers entered the pen and desperately tried to get to the child as the mountain lion snarled at them.

Its menacing growl made me shudder, and when I felt a tap on my shoulder, I jumped like an NBA player.

"What's happening?" Jesse asked.

"A kid fell in!" I said.

Without waiting for any further explanation, he took off in a flash to help the other workers. On the way over to help, I ran into my boss.

"Taylor, stay back," she said.

"But I want to help, and-"

"You stay right here," Ms. Aikers commanded. "We're getting tranquilizer guns." The woman looked frazzled, more shaken up than I'd ever seen her before.

My gaze shot to the pen. Just as Jesse hopped in, the mountain lion lunged at one of the zoo workers and sank its teeth into the bald man's head, causing blood to gush everywhere. Somehow, Jesse managed to pry the animals jaws open and free the man, and the victim gasped for breath and crawled away. That left Jesse face to face and alone with the big, angry cat. The bald man was three times Jesse's size, so I didn't know how Jesse could possibly escape the animal.

"Jesse!" Jeanie shouted. "Get out of there!"

I knew it was better if Jesse didn't run, if he just stayed and confronted it, tried to look big and bad. If Jesse tried to run, the cat would only be instinctively driven to give chase, and Jesse would become helpless prey.

The lion snarled and focused on Jesse, and I wondered why Jesse wasn't screaming and yelling at it or lifting up and flailing his arms, all the usual tactics for getting away. Instead, he just looked at the animal and calmly spoke to it, boldly staring into its eyes. The mountain lion turned and calmly walked to the back of the enclosure and just waited, and the other workers cautiously rushed in and grabbed the child.

When Jesse came out, I ran into his arms. "I was so worried," I said. "You're so brave."

Jesse was smoking hot, but he was also the most caring, selfless person I'd ever met. He was a hero, with a heart to help others, and I'd already been on the receiving end of that more than once. It was yet another of the amazing qualities that drew me to him like a fly to honey.

He gazed into my eyes. "I didn't mean to worry you, but I had to help that kid."

Jeanie rushed over and hugged Jesse long and tight. "Jesse, you scared me half to death," she said. "But, as always, you're a hero. As a matter of fact, a news team is waiting at the office to interview you."

"How did they get here so quick?" I asked.

"They were already here, doing a piece on the grizzlies," Jeanie said.

"Great," Jesse said. "Just great."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't like the spotlight. I didn't do anything but what had to be done."

"Are you crazy, Jesse? You saved a little kid and Bob. You deserve your fifteen minutes of fame and then some, so quit being so humble."

"Jesse," I said, "she's right. You did something wonderful here today. You saved two lives. If that's not newsworthy, I don't know what is."

He looked at Jeanie. "How is Bob anyway?"

"The EMTs said he's fine. He just needs a few st.i.tches."

"Thank G.o.d," Jesse said. "That thing had hold of his head pretty good."

"Yeah, and he would be dead if it weren't for you," Jeanie said, her red ponytail swishing from side to side as she spoke. "You aren't going to be able to pull this one off like Batman, lurking around in the shadows and saving people without anyone seeing you. Everybody's got a digital camera and camera phone these days, and the whole thing's gonna be on YouTube going viral in the next five minutes." She smiled. "You'll probably get Employee of the Month out of it."

He closed his eyes and exhaled. "I've just majorly screwed up. I gotta go."

"Screwed up?" I asked, confused. "Jesse, what's wrong?"

His eyebrows furrowed into a deep line. "I'm in a whole lot of trouble, that's what."

"With who?"

"I've gotta run," he said, refusing to talk about it.

"n.o.body should be mad you jumped in there. I think it's admirable that you'd even take that kind of a risk," I said, presuming he was talking about his mother.

"She won't see it that way," he said.

"Jesse, if you need anything, I'm here for you."

"Thanks. That means a lot. I'll call you later." He turned and left without another word.

Jesse had a certain sense of mystery and moodiness about him. He wasn't telling me everything, and I knew he was hiding something, but I didn't want to press the issue. I was sure that in time, he'd fill me in on everything. For the time being, I just wanted to be as supportive as possible.

Suddenly, Jeanie's voice jerked me out of my thoughts. "Jesse's mom hates it when he's in the limelight. She's really weird about it, like she wishes he was a hermit. I think she maybe kidnapped him or something."

I c.o.c.ked a brow. "What makes you say that?"

"She won't let him be in the spotlight for any reason. One time, we did this big campaign for the zoo online, and Jesse's picture was in it, holding one of the bear cubs. She was livid and marched right down here, demanding that Ms. Aikers remove his picture immediately. She caused so much trouble that his picture was taken down twenty-four hours later. Then one other time, after the zoo helped to cure three geese who had been shot with arrows, a local photographer took photos of him during their release. His mother actually paid the guy some outlandish sum of cash for the memory card so he couldn't publish the pictures."

"Maybe she's just a very private person."

"She goes overboard."

"What does she look like?"

"She's pretty-tall and thin, with light blue eyes and dark hair like him," Jeanie said. "Anyway, we better get back to work. I'm sure Aikers isn't gonna be in a good mood after all this."

I nodded. "Yep. Back to mopping floors in stinky cages."

"No rest for the weary," she said.

I chuckled. "You got that right!"

Chapter 13.