Chapter 26: A Date
'Guy?'
'He'll be in town soon. We have to find the gate before he does.'
He looked so serious at that moment, far from the happyman who had been moaning so musically a few minutes ago. I could see that he was tensed. There was a little vein beating near his temple and the burrow between his eyebrows had appeared again.
'But what if this is exactly what they want, that we go in search of the passageway and they follow us?' I asked pondering deeply about what our next step could be. 'We could be leading them to the passage.'
'Dave smiled grimly. 'This is a risk we will actually have to take.'
Suddenly a thought came to my mind and I voiced it out, 'But you said that only the guardian can activate the gate, and according to your calculations, I'm the actual guardian...So without me, they can't open it, right?'
'Which is why they are comming after you Ash,' Dave murmured coming to cup my cheeks in his warm hands. 'The surveillance is the first step.' I stared in his eyes that were not more brown than green and sighed deeply. It would have been so much better if we had met under different conditions. Then we could have done what ordinary couples usually did.
'And what do normal couples on Earth do?'
'Well, for one, they go out and have fun. They don't constantly think about werewolves, except when they are watching films.'
'Your wish is my command, Guardian. Then go out we shall,' Dave said kneeling on one knee and holding my hands in his. I giggled like a schoolgirl at his sudden chivalrous attitude. 'You have been watching too many princesses movies.'
'You do get ored watching only one genre after so many years, so you have to experiment.'
HIs voice went down at the last word and he rubbed little circles on my inner wrist, making me wonder at the delicious things I would love to experiment with him.
With a determined stance, he then stood up. 'We still have a few hours before the sun sets. You get ready while I'll make arrangements for the food.'
So he hadn't been joking the when he made the offer. We were going out for real, like on a date. Before he could change his mind and find more werewolves for us to follow, I rushed in my bedroom and rummaged through my wardrobe.
'What do you wear on a date with a vampire?'
Unbidden, my little voice replied, 'Your blood on your sleeve.'
Ugh, that was such a bad joke. I picked out a romantic white blouse made with a thin gauzy fabric with its matching camisole. I then took out my favorite pair of stretch jeans. I looked longingly towards my heels, but the thought of the run of the previous day, I settled for flat ballerina shoes.
But where were we going? We hadn't talked about that and Dave wasn't from around.
Dave had also changed in what I believed to be his favorite black jeans and a purple polo shirt. Dark colours made him look like a bad boy, like the creature of the night that he was.
'Where are we going?' I asked him in anticipation. My hand was caressing the smooth metal of my locket which was only partly camouflaged as the blouse had a deeper than usual cut.
'I know a restaurant at Black Heart. I met the owner during one of my visit to Nani. I called them to organise a picnic hamper for us. Just grab a blanket for us to sit on and we'll be on our way.'
'That's just after the forest,' I commented. I still felt nervous going there.'
'Don't worry, it's not that near. You are safe with me,' he reminded me, squeezing my arm in comfort.
I found an old blanket, that I could get rid of if ever it got damaged, from the linen cupboard and packed it, along with Nani's book in case I felt like reading it, and with butterflies flying in my stomach, set out on my first date with Dave.
'So did you come to meet Nani often?' I asked, looking at Dave's profile as he focused on manoeuvering the car. He cast a quick glance at me before replying.
'Only a few times when she needed information about something. I was her sole contact from Bhuvar.'
'Why didn't she meet Nana?' I asked with surprise, looking at the aerosol can of freshener in front of me. I still wasn't sure whether it saved me last time.
'It would draw too much attention. Questions would be raised about what Nani was doing on Earth, about you. And consequently about your parentage.'
I felt tears threaten to cross the barrier of my lids and I closed them tightly, thinking about the sacrifice Nani had made to bring me up. 'She left Nana to take care of me,' I whispered, my voice heavy with emotion.
Dave shifted his hand from the gearshift onto my hands whch had been hanging loosely in my lap. 'Don't see it as a sacrifice. Nana willingly gave up everything to take care of you because she loved you.'
'Why does love have to be painful? Nani suffered, my parents suffered due to love.' And I might be next.
He didn't answer me, I didn't expect him to as it had been more of a rhetorical question.
'Wait for me here. I'll collect the hamper and we'll be on our way.'
I nodded and watched as Dave's lean legs took him to the restaurant which was a quaint rustic little building built like the old cottages of the middle ages. It was like taking a step back in the past. I got off the car and took a few steps around admiring the cobblestone driveway. Ahead, the path forked and one part led to the door of the restaurant, which Dave had taken and the other continued beyond the restaurant. It seemed to lead to the back. Casting a look at the surroundings, I confirmed that there was no one else around and with light steps proceeded to follow the path.
I had already gone past the building of the restaurant and here the path curved to the left, probably going around the back of the restaurant, as I had imagined. There were rows of pumpkins which had almost reached maturity on one side, and other plants I could not put a name on, as they were still too small, probably the kitchen garden. There were some orange trees as well, and the smell was mesmerising. It reminded me of the shower gel Dave used.
As I took a step back to go to the car, I heard 2 voices talking animatedly. Under normal conditions, I would have minded my affair and left, but I had been able to recognise Dave's voice. He was probably talking to the restaurant owner. Feeling giddy with excitement at the way I was spying to get a look of him without his knowledge, I tiptoed until I reached the end of the garden. There were a few round tables with chairs around them spread in front, probably an area for those who liked to eat out, in communion with Mother Nature, I thought.
I took a few more steps, taking care to remain hidden behind the orange trees. Dave was now visible and he was gesturing in the direction of the restaurant parking with his hands. I managed to hear the words, 'waiting...no idea...who...meeting...trust.' He was definitely not talking about our meal. The seeds of suspicion started blooming in my heart and to confirm my doubts, I took one last step and in-between the leaves of the orange trees I saw the face of Mr Loup emerge. The very same man I had met inthe Academy, the werewolf. I remember Dave telling me clearly that I was not safe in the Academy after I saw him gazing at Mr Loup. So why was he meeting him in this remote area? Why was a vampire meeting a werewolf? Why did he not inform me about this meeting?
I grabbed the locket in y right hand, trying to draw comfort from it and gently so as not to make any noise I retraced my steps backto the car, thankful that the smell of oranges had covered my scent.
I got in the car and thought back to one of the extracts from Nani's book where it was mentioned that there were some vampires who had allied with werewolves in order to gain more power. Looking at the door, from where Dave had emerged with a basket, I though, what if he was one of them.
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