Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." �" George Orwell

Ace

That book.  It’s been bugging me that she has it.  Only because of my new assignment, however.  She shouldn’t be doing her family history research in that book; it might help her figure out I’m a demon.  If she ever does.  I don’t know exactly what it is she’s looking for, but that book will give her answers that she shouldn’t know; not while we’re hanging out.  I need to get it away from her.

“Sandrino.  What’s your full name?” Ronnie set her beer next to mine and took the cue stick out of my hands.  She eyed me as she walked around me and leaned over the edge of the table.  I couldn’t help but look at her long legs, concealed behind fitted sweatpants.  Last week she was in jeans, which made her legs look even longer, but even in sweats they seem to keep a similar looking length.  The white, spaghetti strap tank top she had on didn’t cover the most of her chest; especially when she leaned over the table like she was.  I had a right to be checking her out.  My job is to get to know her, which means getting to know her body too.  Well…it does in my mind anyways.  Besides, it’s not like she wasn’t checking me out before either.  When I was getting out drinks I knew she was watching me walk away, and while it was my turn I caught her watching me out of the corner of my eye.  She’s attracted to me.  I just have to get her to act on it.

“Ace Liber.” I took a drink of beer as I followed her eyes, seeing that the solid green ball she was going for was right next to a hole in the corner.  Before I could blink, it was out of sight and the white cue ball took its place. “How old are you?” My guess…she’s just recently stopped her aging period so she’s a young slayer.

“Turned nineteen last month; what about you?” She stared at the table, calculating which ball to go for and how she should approach it.

“Twenty-one.  Are you gonna ask me the same question I ask you?”

“Only if you ask two way common questions.” She was on the opposite side of the table as me and leaned over the edge, revealing a good amount of cleavage.  Sure, she wasn’t exactly as curvy as Zona and didn’t have the perfect figure that every girl would want, but hers was still a very impressive figure.  The amount of cleavage was enough to turn a guy on.  Any guy.  Even a demon guy.  Good thing about being over centuries old: you gain incredible control over your hormones that the human body has to have. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Black.  What’s yours?”

“Grey and white.” She missed the solid she was going after, hitting one of the stripes closer to a hole for me.  Her body straightened up, her chest taking cover back into the shirt she was wearing.  Incredible.  Barely a single piece of fat on her body; pure muscle and yet she still doesn’t look unhealthily skinny.  She still maintained an average human figure. “What about music?”

“Hm…rock….preferably heavy rock but any kind works really…just none of that Christian…religious stuff…” I shuddered, just having to say that word, and grabbed my beer bottle.  It was still cold.  Perfect. “What about you?  I suppose you like that religious and techno stuff?”

“Uh, no,” she laughed. “Go take your turn.” She waved me on as she took a drink of her beer and took mine from my hands. “I like anything really…music is music.”

“Ah, yes, but some is better than others.” I leaned over the table again and took a shot, hitting the stripe she made closer for me, making it into the hole.  The cross around my neck hit my chest as I straightened up, reminding me that it was still there, comforting me.

“If you don’t like any religious stuff then why do you wear a cross around your neck?” She looked at me expectantly, crossing her arms over her chest, pushing up her chest, making her breasts look even bigger.  That’s a good question.  I can’t answer it honestly.

It fools slayers so I’m not suspected of being a demon. “It’s just something that’s been passed down through my family and it’s just something I never leave home without.  It’s something I can’t stand not wearing.”

“Feel naked without it?”

“Um…I guess you can put it that way.” I shrugged and stepped up to her, and she picked up on the fact that she wasn’t meant to move.  She just stood there and looked up at me, holding her beer close to her. “What’s your least favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“Oh, you came up with that pretty quickly, don’t you think?”

“Well…it’s too feminine…I guess pale pink isn’t horrible, but it’s still bad.  It has to be really pale in order for me to wear it.” She shrugged and looked down from my face, looking at my necklace.  It’s not the first time I’ve caught her looking at it since we’ve been talking.  She seems pretty drawn towards it for some reason. “What about you?”

I gave her an amused look, seeing that she was trying to hold back a laugh.  I had a feeling that she asked me the same question just to bug me. “White; it’s too pure and clean.  Any tattoos?” I had to force myself to keep my eyes away from her chest and on her face.  Although I couldn’t hide the interest that probably took over my expression.  Her eyes were swirling two additional colors than just their usual blue-green color.  Yellow: cautious.  Aqua blue: flirtatious.

“Yep.” She obviously knew I would want to see it, but she didn’t make any move to reveal it.  Her arms remained across her chest as she looked back up at my face.  I just stared down at her patiently, refusing to say anything.  A playful smile was forming on her lips, making me smile a little bit more. “Oh!  You wanna see it?” She laughed at me when I jokingly shook my head exasperatedly and walked around her, leaning over the table to continue my turn.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her lifting up her shirt and tugging the side of her pants about an inch or two.

It distracted me more than it should have.

I just only nicked the cue ball, making it just spin in place.  She giggled quietly at me missing the cue ball, covering her mouth with her hands.  I stood up straight and grinned, looking up at the ceiling.  I lifted the stick away from the table and let the base it the floor, tapping it lightly.

“You did that on purpose.”

“I did not; I just have good timing.  Besides, it’s not my fault you get distracted by the slightest bit of skin you see on a girl.”

“I’m a guy; it happens.  Now go on, before I give this to you, continue showing me the tattoo.” I leaned on the cue stick and put my hand in my front pocket.  Her eyes picking up a darker blue color: calm.  She wasn’t even blushing the slightest bit.  She pulled the bottom of her shirt up a little bit and tugged on the waistline of her sweatpants so it was about an inch lower again, revealing a golden trail of stars riding her hip.  Even though I’m in a human body, I still don’t have a heart, but if I did, it probably would have been speeding up.  If I didn’t have control on human reactions, my stomach probably would have gotten that fluttering feeling.  My hands probably would’ve started shaking a little bit at the site of her lower hip, seeing the dip it made.  My hormones would’ve started raging immediately.  Due to the lack of a heart, there was no accelerated pulse.  The control of human reactions kept my body feeling normal, my hands still, and my human hormonal control strong.  However, my interest was sparked and I was more anxious than I get when I look forward to a night of hot sex.

Gold star tattoo.

I absolutely need to get that book away from her.  Considering how far she was when I got here, she’s already gotten through seeing everyone in the slayer’s history of having that tattoo, and she was about to figure out why they all became disgraces to their families, and how they managed to regain their families’ honor.

“Great place for it.” I winked at her and handed her the cue stick, snatching her beer out of her hands and setting it on the table next to mine.  She opened her mouth to say something but I held up a finger. “Before you ask the same question, I’ll answer it right now for you; yes, I have a tattoo.  I’ll show it to you some other time though because of where it is.  That is…if we see each other again.”

“Hm…okay.” She gave me a suspicious look, pursing her lips to fight a smile that her eyes were showing. “To keep you from asking the same question, I’ll answer it before I ask you.  Popsicles are my favorite thing to eat.  What’s yours?”

Humans. “Anything.” Popsicles…that reminded me of what Zona was eating at the club last week.  Thankfully she doesn’t eat them because she likes them; she just eats them to look twice as seductive for guys that may be looking.  Otherwise she and Ronnie having something in common would kill me. “Literature?”

“Anything poetic.” She said it casually as she got table level and aimed at the cue ball.  I choked on the mouthful of beer I had just taken.  Poetic?  I couldn’t help but chuckle as I wiped my mouth from choking on my beer.  I almost dropped the bottle too but thanks to my demon reflexes, I managed to keep my grip on the neck of it. “What?”

“Oh…nothin’…” I scratched the back of my head casually and looked away from her, trying not to acknowledge the fact that she didn’t hit the cue ball.  Instead she straightened up and tapped my chest with the tip of the stick, making me look at her.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking poetic things,” she argued. “What do you like then?”

“I never said there was; and I’m a fan of The Inferno.” That earned me a surprised look from her.  Her eyes were slightly widened and her mouth dropped open a little bit.  I set my beer down and looked at her. “There’s nothing wrong with liking Dante.”

“Touché.” She lifted the stick off my chest and towered back over the table, pressing her chest down on it this time.  I laughed again. “What’s your favorite hobby?”

Killing people. “Um…depends on the day I guess.  Some days I like to party in my free time and other days I like to just sit back and relax.  Have a good time.” It doesn’t depend on the day…I always like partying.  I’ve honestly never sat back and relaxed…haven’t had any time. “What ‘bout you?”

“I love just relaxing but I never have time for that…otherwise I baby-sit for a friend of the family.  I love younger kids.” She left out the fact that she likes to slay demons for a hobby…I don’t know how I’m going to get her to bring that up or even admit to it without her getting suspicious of what I know, but I’m going to have to try sometime soon. “Favorite thing to drink?”

“Anything; especially anything with alcohol in it.  Now, I know that makes me sound like a total alcoholic but I’m not.  I don’t drink to the point where I get drunk.” Because I can’t get drunk. “What do you not like to drink?”

“Soda; I haven’t had it in over five years.  Other than that I like basically anything else.” She hit the cue ball and sunk the solid green ball easily.  She huffed just loud enough for me to hear it, looking at me with her tongue touching her upper lip in a ‘Would you look at that’ kind of way. “I’d ask you if you’ve ever had a girlfriend but uh…you’ve probably have had quite a few.”

“Oh, what makes you think that?” I stepped up to her, feeling her chest touch mine, sending a shiver down my spine.  She just looked at me doubtfully without stepping back or forward. “Alright, yeah, you have a point.” Although none of them ever stayed alive for more than one night. “Is that one guy from the club your boyfriend?  You know, the one that interrupted our dance…”

“Um…well…that’s hard to answer…”

“How so?” I leaned against the pool table and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Our parents set us up a couple years ago, because they want us to be together, but I don’t really like him like that.  I can’t tell anyone because it won’t really make a difference even if I did.  And even though we’ve been ‘together’ for a couple years, he still hasn’t hugged me, held my hand, or even tried to kiss me.  He’s way too much of a gentleman.  Not that I want him to do any of that anyways but still…it’s kind of strange.”

“I’ll say…man…if I was your boyfriend I’d already have…” I trailed off, deciding not to finish that sentence, noting that she was looking up at me.  A paler dark purple mixed into her eyes: intrigued. “So…you’d better finish your turn.” I cleared my throat and grabbed my beer.  I haven’t felt the need to do that while talking to a girl before.  I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not.  My attention was caught once again when she leaned over the table, the bottom of her shirt pulling forward, revealing her lower back. “Is this your hometown?”

“Yes; yours?”

“Sure is.  What’s your biggest regret?” My question made her miss the cue ball like I had earlier, and her expression became thoughtful.  Her lips were pursed and her weight supported by the cue stick.

“I don’t have one…” She said it like it was a question.  Her expression remained thoughtful; like she couldn’t remember if she had one or not.  It was a pretty good look on her, I’ll admit that.  It made her look like a little girl.  She had her cheeks slightly puffed and her eyebrows were furrowed.  Her bottom lip was pushed out ever so slightly as she tapped her foot.  Cute.  “I don’t suppose you regret anything you do…?”

“Nope, I don’t.  Minor ones?”

“Um…letting things go too long with another sla- with that guy I told you about…I have to tell someone.” Damn.  She was so close to saying ‘slayer’ which would permit me to ask her about it. “You don’t have any, do you?”

“Nope.” I tipped my bottle in order to take a drink of beer only to find out that it was empty.  Damn.  I pursed my lips and tipped the bottle upside down, seeing only one drop fall to the ground.

“Mine’s empty too; I’ll go get us more.”

“You sure?  I can-” She took the bottle from my hand before I could finish.

“I’m sure.  You don’t look like the type that really appreciates being a gentleman.  Besides, it’s your turn.”

I watched her go, and when I was certain she wouldn’t turn around to look at me, I set the stick down on the side of the table and rushed to her book bag on the other side of the table.  The black book with gold strips coming from the corners and meeting in the center was right on top, staring at me.  Almost as if it were mocking me for being a demon.  It held information that could ruin my assignment.  Thankfully it’s a little on the smaller side, so when I took it out of the bag, I was able to hide it in the leg of my jeans, where she wouldn’t be able to see it.  Setting the bag so it was exactly how it was before I touched it, I stood up and grabbed the cue stick as I leaned over the edge of the table.  A stripe went in a hole from the cue ball hitting it, which is when I took the time to look back at Ronnie, staying leaned over the table.  She was walking back towards me, holding the two beers in one hand and a basket of fries in the other.  But she was stopped by a guy.  She looked kind of annoyed.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying to each other, but whatever it was, I felt like I needed to go over there.  I stood up straight and lowered the base of the cue stick to the floor, keeping my eyes on the guy talking to Ronnie.  She just looked at me and then raised the hand with the two beers to point at me as she continued talking to the human.  Then she continued walking towards me again even though the human was trying to get her to come back.

“Here ya go.” Her tone was slightly cheery as she set the fries down on the edge of the table and raised her hand with the two beers, letting me choose which one to take. “You make it?”

“Naturally.” I shrugged and took a drink of beer, looking down at the pool table.  She snatched a fry out of the tray, dipped in ketchup, and bit it in half.  Looking down at her, I saw her perfect lips hiding everything behind them.  Thanks to my human body, I had another urge as I was looking at her.  An irrational one.

I had the urge to kiss her.