Chapter 1

Alaina was filling away records at her job, Terry’s, when she heard she jingle of the bell on top of the door ringing and oddly she felt eyes on her back that made the hairs on her neck stand straight.

She turned slightly to the side and saw a faery entering. He was…beautiful and creepy like most fey but he—something was different. The way the faery next to him stood back and to the side like he was unworthy to be in the same line of sight as the dark haired one.

His glamour was gorgeous—long silky black hair and bright blue eyes—but underneath he was still hauntingly beautiful but much scarier. Alaina became used to the usual extra joints and oddly shaped bodies but that was not the only difference. He had a patch work of scars down his neck and his irises had crimson around them that blended with the blue making them a shocking shade of violet.

She turned away quickly blushing after he caught her staring and wishing she could leave but her shift didn’t end for a half hour. She walked down three aisles to a different section of the store where some Blondie freak disheveled everything looking for a Parallel Lines vinyl.

She heard the other blonde faery murmur to the dark on as they got closer, “Now, she is a fine specimen.”

“You are loud,” he said in a condescending voice to the other, “though right Netreal. Now go pretend to look for something.”

“Excuse me,” he asked and she noticed his voice had a sort of aristocratic feel.

“Yes,” Alaina said turning to him and restraining from looking into those eyes.

“Do you work here,” he asked pushing his arms into the pockets of a tattered black leather jacket—somewhat like the one Laina had in the staff room.

“Yes,” she said eyes still on the Blondie records beside her.

“Could you tell me where I can find…,” he paused biting his lip, “I’m Lestat by the way.”

Beautiful name, she thought before answering, “Alaina and I heard your friend—so unless you really want to find something you can ask Earl over there,” she said pointing toward the large muscled Dominican with a shaved head who was the closest thing to a brother she had, “Nice to meet you.”

“Wait,” he said grabbing her elbow, “I’m just…I’m new in town and I was looking for someone to show me around. I start school tomorrow at Saint Xavier’s…sorry if my idiotic friend offended you.”

“Why are you going to my school,” she let slip then amended, “Is that all you want me to show you, town? Funny.”

“What else does one go to school for,” he asked a suspicious look in his eyes as he pushed back his silken hair. Alaina watched in fascination as the many facets of his locks shimmered while falling into place. They seemed to move on their own.

“You just don’t look like a high school student that’s all,” Alaina said turning back to him and stifled a gasp. The full fledged view of him without the glamour to dull his beauty was shocking.

“What do I look like,” he asked stepping closer. She felt a cool chill across her body as he got closer and she—involuntarily—stepped closer. In her peripheral she caught the other faery staring at them and shook away the thoughts of touching him.

“Some random guy that’s about to piss me off,” Alaina said angrily storming away to the back.

She waited for a half hour before peeking out—he was gone thank God. She called to Terry, “I’m leaving now.”

“Okay, sugar,” she called from over by the glam-rock albums—Terry’s from Dallas and is the only person Alaina’s knows that can use the word sugar and have more than five barbells in her face alone.

Alaina left the shop and started down the street and almost screamed when she noticed him come up beside her—in all his un-glamoured glory—and follow her all the way to her house.

She noticed all the other faeries around gave him a wide birth and the faery from last night. The one who kept pulling her hair—and still smelling some the strands—start to approach when Lestat snapped his jaw toward him and snarl.

The other backed off so quickly and he called to the rest of them who were giving small bows, “Stay away from her! She’s mine!”

Alaina kept her face forward but her heart was beating faster and faster each moment that passed—who was this guy! And he hardly had a reaction when he touched her door—what type of faery wasn’t bothered by a solid steel door. And if that didn’t stop him what would she do?

--

The next day she caught him lurking outside with a group of guard looking fey but he never approached her until she started walking to school the next morning.

He was looking gorgeous in tight black jeans that matched hers and a bright blue cardigan over a tight black shirt and he approached her just as she turned off her street.

“Hello,” he said in a musical bright voice that she didn’t expect out of him.

“Hey,” Alaina said putting as much distance as she could to him on the sidewalk.

“So are you headed to school,” he said smiling down at her, a smile than compelled her to smile back.

“Yeah,” she said keeping herself from reaching out to touch the scar on his upper lip.

“Can I walk you?”

“I don’t suppose you’ll leave me alone if I say no, so I guess so,” Alaina said plugging her iPod in.

He pulled it away from her small hands, “Don’t you think its rude to drown someone out when they’re trying to talk to you?”

“You’d prefer it if I just ignored you? If I listen to my music you’ll just be under the impression that I’m not answering because I can’t hear you,” she said eyes ahead—those violet eyes were hypnotic.

“I’d rather you heard me so I can gage your reaction if only by watching facial expression,” he said smirking.

“I’ll make sure to keep my face neutral then,” she said and he waited a couple long moments before asking.

“Do you have a boyfriend,” he said and her eyes widened.

“I’m not sure how that’s any of your business,” she said and internally cursed herself for answering.

“It’s a yes or no question,” he said.

“Why do you care?”

“I wouldn’t want to over step my bounds and I don’t want to have eliminate the competition—it’s an unnecessary complication,” he said glancing down at Alaina.

“In what—what does it complicate?”

“Winning your heart of course,” he said laughing—it was a pleasant musical but had a dark edge to it making her want her head phones back.

“I think you’ll soon find that my attitude toward you will be your biggest obstacle in that…endeavor,” Alaina said shuddering—having a faery after her in that way was going to be complicated but at least she could see what he did in the faery world. That could stop her from falling, hopefully.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said as they reached the front of the entrance to the private school, earning many stares from the school populace. Alaina caught many of the girls drooling at Lestat—wait till they saw him up close.

They entered the hallway and he turned toward the way she was going, “The office is that way.”

“Yes, so what,” he said and she knew he’d never attended school before.

“You’ve got to go that way since you’re a new student,” she said smirking at him, “Goodbye Lestat, have a nice first day.”

--

Alaina didn’t see Lestat again until her third period class, English, where he was occupying the desk directly in front of her seat while all of her friends were obviously admiring his beauty.

“Alaina, there you are,” Marigold, Alaina’s friend with hair almost as light as her own but with added lavender streaks, said waving Alaina over.

“Lana, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Lestat said cheerfully—what was up with the act—and smiled warmly at her, a smile that somehow chilled and warmed her bones at the same time, “Your friends kept me company, though.”

“Don’t call me Lana,” she said dismissively and slid into her seat. She watched Lestat smile wickedly as their knees brushed sending an electric shock through her body. Alaina was sure he did that on purpose, “So how was the weekend?”

“Everyone went out Saturday; I called your cell but it was off and Terry told me you hadn’t been feeling well at your shift earlier. Actually I went by this morning and she said you were weird yesterday…what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Alaina answered too quickly steeling a glance at Lestat’s beautiful smirk, “Some creeps came into the store. So annoying; it was nothing though. Did you go out to that party?”

“No we went by Allie’s brother’s place, you know Benny’s. It was nice—free drinks all night and the band wasn’t terrible. Actually Lissa got the bassist’s number,” she said glancing at our friend.

“Liss, what did you wear,” Lana said watching her twirl a bright red curled lock of hers around a finger. She looked away from studying Lestat to smile wickedly.

“That new top, from Tar,” she said naming the thrift store that most their group shops at, “You know the one.”

“The leather…bustier? The one with the red and black strips across…God, Lissa I thought that was just a joke,” Alaina said laughing.

“Well…the bassist was pretty hot,” she said and let her gaze rest on Lestat again; “Maybe I’ll let him get a crack figuring out how to get me out of that thing.”

Alaina couldn’t escape the trail of fury down her spine as she thought about Lestat and that bustier and Lissa.

Lestat watched Alaina with keen eyes noting how her jaw clenched as her eyes darted between Lissa and him. He smiled inwardly, that surely had to be progress, he thought to himself, soon I’ll have her begging—screaming…

His thoughts were interrupted as a boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes hugged his girl from behind.

“Lain, hey,” he said smiling down at her.

“Jake,” she said smiling at the boy. Lestat couldn’t contain the flash of his eyes and gnashing of teeth that he was sure Alaina saw.

“Oh, Lestat, this is Jake. Jake meet Lestat,” she said her smile vicious as she watched the expression plaguing Lestat’s face.

“A pleasure; you two aren’t dating, are you?”

“I…I mean—” Jake started blushing deeply.

“No,” she said firmly.

“Good to know,” he said just as their teacher Ms. Warner walked into the room.

“In your seats please,” she said and stopped walking when she noticed Lestat, “Who are you?”

“I’m a new student,” he said with a velvety smooth voice. He got up to hand her a sheet of paper and she still stood in place after he sat back down.

“Um…Ms. W,” Mari said fighting back giggles.

“Oh yes—we’ll be starting a project today,” she said back into teacher mode. She gathered papers to hand out to them, “You will be analyzing and reciting a sonnet for the class—with a partner…of my choosing.”

“Okay, either move to sit next to your partner or have them come by you after I call all of the names, do not start moving until I say to do so. Alright…group one is Lissa Duff and Chase McCarran, two is Ellie Harrison and Nolan Taylor, three is Marigold Foxx with Ellington Terrace, next is Julia Price and Logan Cusp, then we’ve got Allie Smith with Chuck Temple, and then we’ve got Victoria Prince paired with Link Lofton…Jake Moore with Ala— ”

“Excuse me, Ms. Warner is it?”

“Yes, Lestat?”

“I was just wondering if it would be possible to pair me with Alaina because I knew her before I came here and I’m new and all.”

“Well, I’ve already got…,” she started and a blank look crossed her face as she met his gaze, “Okay, the next group is Alaina Nathan along with our new student Lestat Trove…”

Alaina sealed her lips shut with a tight-lipped smiled as he reached over and patted her hand, “That worked out well, don’t you think?”

“Which do we have to do,” she said snatching the sheet away from him. Her jaw dropped—Sonnet 18.

“I’ll recite it—I’ve known this sonnet for…a long time,” he said smiling and snatching it back.

She almost blurted it out, “did you make her give us this one along with making us partners?” But she bit her lip and turned away from him mimicking slitting her neck to Jake who roared with laughter.

“Why?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why did you pick me—why not Lissa? She’d sleep with you tonight; that’s what you want right. Me—it won’t ever happen.”

“It’s necessary; as much as I might…,”he said eyes boring into her—she scooted back from him watching the full force of his fury in shock, “Nevermind.”

--

That night when Alaina went to sleep she dreamt of odd things. First off all, in her dream it was frigid and dark. She was knee deep in fluffy white snow enjoying the cold as it burned her skin. She walked around the desolate, flate, white but dark place searching for something placing her hands into the icy drift enjoying the pain and watching her fingers turn a darker shade of purple each time.

She tossed back her head--about to scream in pleasure when she heard another blood curdling scream in the distance. It made her hair stand on end and yet...she relished in it, looking to the sky and yelling along with it. She looked into the somehow crimson, blue, and while sky and stopped mesmerized by it. Only after waking up did she recognize it as the color of Lestat's eyes.

And only then did she scream, her own piercing shreik cutting into the night. Terrified of dreaming again, dreaming again of him.