The first day in Rome was more than great. Sarah got up early and after a quick breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant, she headed out to explore. She planned to squeeze a little sightseeing on her own before the time for her booked tour comes, so she grabbed a city map from the reception and headed out.
The same way she explored both London and Paris, but Rome was different. It was special. Every building, every street, every stone exuded with unspoken history …
After she had lunch in a restaurant near the Tiber River, Sarah joined the group she was supposed to see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum with, and she enjoyed every second. She was so engrossed with the story that, at first, she did not pay too much attention to the feeling in her gut that was trying to tell her something. She completely ignored it. But when the hair on the back of her neck refused to calm, Sarah started paying more attention to her surroundings than the beautiful remnants of the ancient Forum.
The most important thing Sarah has learned from her parents was to always listen to her instinct. And she did. Always. In the end, it was her instinct that brought her here today, and now, that same instinct was warning her about the danger.
No matter how hard she focused and tried to look around in all directions while keeping the inspection of her surroundings as discreet as possible, Sarah noticed nothing unusual. No person stood out, no one acted suspiciously, and she soon forgot everything about it and directed all of her attention to the story a guide was narrating.
It had already got darker when the group completed the circle and went each on their way, and since there was no trace of that disturbing feeling of being watched, Sarah continued what she was doing before the tour. She explored the city on her own with a city map in her hand.
When her legs started hurting from walking, Sarah made a break and had dinner in one beautiful, cozy restaurant. The seafood pasta she ate was one of the best things she ever tasted. Food tasted much richer here. Glass of wine she treated herself with tasted extraordinarily. The tastes complemented each other and with the entire atmosphere in the restaurant, cheerful servers, nice, traditional music in the background, and Sarah felt like she didn’t want to leave until all the other guests left, and she was the only one around.
When the staff started cleaning up the joint, Sarah collected her things and left too. It was close to 11, and she still didn’t feel like going to the hotel, so she decided to just walk instead of taking a taxi.
She walked down the narrow streets of The Old Town of Rome, those that could not even accommodate a car. Streetlights were dimmed and only a few people were walking by which gave a special, romantic note to the entire atmosphere.
Seduced by her own senses that were focused on the adventure she was in, and maybe a bit by the wine she had with her dinner, completely forgetting about the feeling of uneasiness and being watched from earlier, Sarah found herself wandering dark and deserted streets. Only then she realized she was in a foreign city, in a foreign country of people whose language she did not speak, and thanks to her recklessness she was now lost. Yes, lost. She didn’t realize when she started walking the dark streets and when she took the wrong turn.
To add to her bad luck, fine hairs at the back of her neck suddenly stood up and goosebumps covered her body. She was being watched again.
Ok, ok. Don’t panic! Sarah told herself while turning on her heel and walking in the direction she came from. She tried to wiggle the city map from her cross-body bag but gave up when she realized it had no point. There was no way she could orient now with the map. She didn’t even know where she was. She pulled her phone from the pocket, but as if things couldn't get any worse; it was dead. Buttery must’ve run out. Shit!
Sarah soon reached an intersection, but looking left and right she saw nothing familiar. Shit again!
How did she let herself get lost in her thoughts that much to not notice where she was going and when she strayed from the lightened streets? And when was the last time when she saw a person walk by?
Panic rose in her, and she tried to control it while picking up her pace. Left, right, left, right… with every turn Sarah was going deeper into the maze, or that’s what it looked like to her.
If only she could get to the river bank or at least to a lightened street or another person… but nooo, instead of that, she heard loud footsteps behind her back and those loud footsteps were approaching her fast!
Sarah ran. She ran as fast as she could and soon she was breathless, but she continued running. All along, she kept cursing herself for being that stupid to not notice she was being followed, all along probably. Not really seeing where she was going, she tripped and fell. Hard. Her palms and knees were scraped and when she stood back up, she noticed her ankle hurting too.
Luckily, those footsteps she heard were now gone. Everything around her was silent, and there could only be heard a muffled sound of a car engine in the distance. Sarah sighed in relief.
Was it possible that she imagined everything? Because who the hell would follow her? She was no one, absolutely insignificant.
She felt even more relieved when she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Literally. At that moment, she saw what seemed like a wider, lightened street, and she rushed towards it with all the strength she had left in her. Hopefully, there she will find a taxi or at least be able to determine where exactly she was.
Just a couple more steps and she will be safe from her stupidity. She will find a ride or at least get enough light, so she can orient and find a way to the hotel. It shouldn’t be too far away for sure. And tomorrow she won’t make mistakes like today. Maybe she’ll even stay in bed all day.
Sarah was still running, not as fast as before when she heard footsteps behind her again. Shit! She thought and picked up her pace. A few more steps, just a few more steps, she thought, and she will be safe from whoever was after her. She just has to reach the light, and she will be safe…
But before she even had the chance to make those couple of steps, Sarah was suddenly pulled by the hand and slammed onto the wall. A hand that tightly clasped over her mouth prevented her from screaming.
Her eyes watered from the pain that the slamming to the wall caused, and judging by the four glowing eyes she saw in front of her, she might have a concussion too.
“Do you know who I am?” she heard a deep, raspy voice say.
Sarah managed to shake her head in negation.
“Do you know what I am?” she heard again, and she wanted to negate again, but she had no strength. The darkness that she was roaming through for the last few hours took her under its wing and gave her the peace she was desperately looking for.
Luke spent the night standing on the corner of the street, not far from where he knew his mate was. He even caught the glimpse of her when she walked by the window before the lights went off, but even for his eyes, it wasn’t enough to notice any significant detail about her.He stood there long after she, for sure, was fast asleep. He knew it was pointless, but either way, he couldn’t make his legs move and take him from the spot where dawn found him. Only the first rays of the sun reminded him of where he was and what he was doing, so he quickly straightened and followed the way back to his home.By some chance, the hotel his mate was staying at was not far from his villa. Yesterday, it took him just a couple of minutes to locate her following his senses. Now, he needed even less to get back to his sanctuary.All along, Luke was thinking about what he had done. And what he is about to do…A whole night of thinking and contemplating with himsel
Sarah woke up feeling energized and rested like never before. She stretched her hands above her head and rolled to her side. Deciding she was feeling way too comfortable to get up immediately no matter what waited for her outside and what she had previously planned, Sarah opted to stay in bed for a little longer.What was it she planned to do today? she wondered. Hm… what was it she did yesterday? For a moment she couldn’t remember but then it all came back rushing to her. Tour of the Roman Forum, the feeling of being watched, getting lost in the dark streets of The Old town, falling and hurting her ankle, and then the eyes… those shining eyes she saw before everything went dark.Sarah’s eyes snapped open, and she sat up straight in bed looking around to find that she was in her own hotel room. What? Is it possible that she only dreamt it? But before she had a chance to really decide what’s real and what’s not, she saw an unknown m
When Sarah lazily opened her eyes and recognition blazed through them, Luke found himself petrified in front of her.How was it possible that she knew what she was to him? he wondered.To his utter surprise, Sarah’s hand found its way to his cheek and for a moment, a second, Luke let himself enjoy the feeling her hand brought. That moment was all he could afford before the memories of all the sufferings without her in the past rushed back and anger took place of all of his other feelings.Sarah didn’t miss the sudden change in him, and it confused her.“You hate me,” she whispered her conclusion, retracting her hand and stepping backward. “You don’t even know me… why would you hate me?”He stood there, watching her with hate and amazement, his breath rigid and labored. He looked like he couldn’t get enough oxygen in his lungs like he was drowning…“Why do you hate me?”
“Here. This will be your room while you stay in the villa.” Luke opened the door on the first floor and Sarah followed him.It was a spacious but simply furnished room although she didn’t mind it a bit. She was never the one to pay too much attention to furniture in the first place… a place to sleep peacefully was always more than enough and the bed that was dominating the room seemed comfortable. There was also a paravane in the corner she could use to change her clothes and a dresser right next to it, although she had no plans of unpacking.“There is one bathroom at the end of this hall, and the other is downstairs. This is an old type of building and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to adapt it to modern standards.” To Sarah, Luke sounded like he was apologizing. “Anyway, get your
"All right... How do you want to do this?" After some nagging from Sarah, Luke gave in. He could tell she was serious and that she would indeed leave, and he didn’t want that. No matter what, he didn’t want her to be in danger…Sarah pulled him by the hand, and he followed her out of the house. She didn’t stop until they reached a particular tree in the garden, the one she saw when they passed by earlier. She sat down on the grass right where the shade of the tree was the most comfortable, and she motioned to Luke to do the same.Luke rolled his eyes, but either way sat down, not too close to her. Holding her hand for less than a minute was temptation enough. For now, he shouldn’t push himself too far.“Well, I was thinking something like asking questions… you know… I ask something and you answer and then you ask something and I answer…&rd
What the hell was he doing? Kissing her like crazy? After everything!And what was she doing? Kissing him back?He should stop, Luke knew he should stop, but he couldn’t detach himself from Sarah. Her lips were so soft and inviting and the way she responded to the kiss, the way she responded to him… it was crazy! It was unbelievable!He has entranced, he was not himself, he was not controlling his own body, he was completely under her spell. Bewitched!Never in his life has he felt like this before… so… so… he couldn’t even find the words to explain what he was feeling right now. Passion, desire, pain, hurt, love, acceptance… everything! He was feeling everything at the same time.It was exactly what he was missing his entire life. The other part of his soul, a place where he belonged… and he finally found it. He found all of it in this silly girl!And judging by her reaction, Sarah felt
“I don’t understand what’s wrong?” Sarah was confused by Luke’s reaction.“What’s wrong?! You ask what’s wrong?!” he started pacing around the living room.“Yeah! Because I don’t understand your reaction. Do you know my father?” Sarah tried to keep her cool, but something was telling her this will not end nicely. If she were forced to choose between those she considered a family and the one that’s supposed to be her world, she wouldn’t have to think twice.“Start talking!” Luke was in front of her, inches separating them. “And start from the beginning!” he roared.“What the hell is wrong with you, ha?” Sarah snapped. “I don’t know if that’s how you usually interact with people, but I have to stop you right there! I don’t care who you are or who you are supposed to be to me, but I won’t allow you to act like
Sarah didn’t like remembering that part of her life at all, in fact, every time a thought of it would creep onto her, she would give her best to push it down in some deep corner of her mind where it will be locked for some time.There were times when she couldn’t control her thoughts, like when she was sleeping and when her memories would sneak upon her in a form of a nightmare that would wake her up drenched in a cold sweat, trembling and crying, and every time something like that happened, Sarah would be scared to go to sleep for days… terrified of another involuntary trip down the memory lane.It happened a lot when she was younger. Now those episodes were rare. She learned to control her feelings about this subject...But she did it intentionally this time. She poked the wound that never stopped bleeding… she did it because of him. She did it for him… she bared her soul before Luke and told him about the most painful part of