REVELATION 8.1

Saturday day, I spent studying but managed to pass out for a few hours sleep on my sofa. It wasn't the most comfortable rest I'd ever had, my neck ached when I woke up, but I was too exhausted to care. Come nightfall, I was back at the Omen, but the forty winks had barely improved how tired I felt from being so severely sleep-deprived.

Theresa had told Lindsay to get over what happened the night before, saying that she had it coming because she shouldn't have assumed that Cole couldn't have been interested in me. Lindsay had awkwardly apologised. She wasn't very good at saying sorry; being the spoiled only daughter of wealthy parents, she was used to getting what she wanted. Lindsay, a classically trained pianist, was competitive to a fault and a sore loser, but now wasn't the time for me to start severing friendships. I was in my last year of uni' and couldn't afford to lose the few people I had close when I was being hunted. So, even though I was still hurt, I just forgot about it but didn't necessarily forgive her.

The night passed, and we did the usual things; dancing, drinking and having a laugh, but when it came time for everyone to turn out at two am, I stopped dead in my tracks as I exited the club's front doors.

Parked directly across the street sat the blue hatchback. What was so striking about its appearance this time was that its mysterious driver wasn't sitting behind the steering wheel, watching me from out the window. No, he was standing outside, leaning against the car door, clothed in all black, smoking, and waiting... for me.

I never saw his face. I turned on my heels instantly, explaining to Theresa and Lindsay that I had left my phone inside the club and was going back inside to find it. Confused and shouting after me, "Do you want us to wait?" They asked, even though Lindsay was already half in the taxi. I told them they should go home and palmed them off.

As the club emptied, I was relieved that I made it across the dance floor and to the bar in time to catch Cole clocking off. Slamming my shaking hands down onto the black granite bar, I got his attention. I had no idea what the look on my face must have been like, but inside I was hysterical.

"Meet me where we were last night." With my invite made, I disappeared and marched towards the cleaning closet. I wasn't alone for long; Cole promptly arrived. This time I used my phone to light up the small space.

"Ana, what's going on?" He asked the second the door was closed behind him. Although the room was cramped, he didn't approach me, but he was inevitably only a few feet away, even with his back pressed against the door.

"You wanted to know what's been wrong with me?" I paused to gauge his face before I continued. Concern had lowered his brow in caution but warmed his hazel eyes that oozed compassion. He tentatively nodded.

"I'm being stalked," I blurted. "I've been being followed by a car for over a month. It follows me everywhere. Whenever I'm out, wherever I go, it's there. In the background, just waiting. I don't know what he wants." Explaining, flustered, my words rushed from my lips so quickly it was a wonder he caught what I'd said. "When I left to go home, he was parked out front waiting for me. He wasn't watching me through the window like before; this time, he was outside the car..."

Just like that, I spoke my situation into reality, and the nightmare somehow took life before my eyes. It became so real that I lost it right in front of him! I no longer had the strength or energy to be brave and crashed to the floor awkwardly, unable to hold back my tears. "I'm so scared... What if he hurts me? What if he kil-" I had barely hit the tiles when I found myself held tightly in Cole's arms. I buried my face into his chest and wept uncontrollably.

"Shh. It's alright. I'm here. You're safe. You don't have to be frightened, now." He shushed, soothed and smoothed the back of my hair with his hand.

"But you're not always. I'm not always safe. I- I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Have you told anyone? Your friends? The police?" Cole asked as he cupped my cheeks like he had the night before and made me look up at him despite my embarrassment about my tear-stained face.

"No, the police wouldn't care anyway. They're only interested in protecting... certain people." I whined down my snotty nose, dancing around the real reason.

"Certain people?" Cole asked, and I just nodded. I couldn't bring myself to tell him; I didn't want him to suddenly see me differently. I didn't want to be a freak in his eyes. Surely if he knew my secret, he would run away and leave me alone again, and despite how complicated our non-relationship already was, right then, I needed him. "Ana... Just say what you really mean." The look in his eyes confused me; it was as if he already knew, and he just wanted me to admit it.

"Th- they only protect... Mortals." I whispered. My eyes were wide and still trickling tears as I stared up into his handsome face. I was no longer scared of my stalker, but I was terrified to lose Cole, and he wasn't even anything to me, nothing that I could put a name to, at least.

"And you're not, are you?" He asked sensitively, and again I just shook my head in reply. "You're an Elf."

"What? Ho- How do you know that?" My fingers clung to the front of his shirt as I shifted to kneel before him. I searched his face, desperate for answers.

How do you know my deepest secret?

"Ana, I've always known... I can smell it." Cole's explanation did little to satisfy me; I was still just as confused.

Before we could continue, we were interrupted by someone calling out his name into the chasm of the empty club. The building was about to be locked up, and whoever was yelling for him knew he was still inside. "We should get out of here. Come with me, and I'll explain. We can talk this out, okay?"

I silently agreed, and with my hand nestled into Cole's, we left the cleaning closet and walked out onto the empty dancefloor.

He grabbed his jacket from behind the bar and led me to the back exit, all while never letting go of my hand. I couldn't help to stare at our clasped fingers. I wanted to shift my hand about in his. To feel over every inch of his hand and enjoy how the feeling of security burned through me when he was this close to me. I couldn't explain it except to assume that this attraction was chemical.

The other bartender was waiting to lock up and shot Cole a look I couldn't read when he saw us walking out together. Out in the small car park behind the club, I immediately recognised Cole's car. I was acquainted with the passenger seat and greeted it as a friend.

Once the engine roared to life, we peeled out onto the main road. Typical of my flawed response to life's ugly things, I'd planned on keeping my eyes focused on the dashboard but curiosity, inevitably, got the better of me. When we passed by the front of the club, I discretely lifted my head and peeped out of the window to see that the blue hatchback had given up its vigil and disappeared.

The drive to Cole's apartment wasn't far. I gave up fighting to keep my eyes off him, unlike the other times I had been in his car. I kept glancing his way to commit all of his features to memory.

The shape of his strong brow and how it sat over his kind hazel eyes that stared at the road ahead in concentration. I recalled how they'd stared into mine that night. His gaze did things to me.

The line of his nose, I noticed that while remembering how it had brushed against mine when we kissed.

Then my eyes fell onto his supple lips and the memories of their work made me swallowed the well of saliva that had gathered in my mouth.

The angle of his jaw and the texture of his dark blond stubble that he allowed to grow on his chin had me fumbling with my fingers.

Under his checked shirt, a navy-coloured vest clung to his abdomen, teasing at what was beneath. I wondered if I'd ever get to touch him there again.

His long legs stretched towards the pedals in the footwell, and his arm reached towards the gear stick while he kept hold of the steering wheel. The tattoos on his arms coloured the taut skin over his muscle beneath. He still had what I thought were safe-looking hands.

"Ana, you're staring."

"I know." I didn't stop even as I admitted it. "You know what I am, and you don't hate me?"

"Of course not." He assured, shooting me a charming smile.

"Okay... Pull over," I demanded.

"What? Right now? We're almost there," He seemed disappointed by my request and didn't understand why I had made it.

"Just... Pull over, please." I turned in my seat to show him I was deadly serious.

"Ana, come on, it's two in the morning. I can't just pull over and let you out here. At least let me take you home if you don't want to-" He couldn't look at me as he spoke, save for brief glances, because he had to keep his focus on the road.

"Cole, pull the fuck over."