Part 1.5

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I readjusted my bangs so they weren't falling directly in my eyes. I needed to be on guard in case, well, I guess it wouldn't matter anyway. I'd probably be dead before I could do anything. My hands shook on the arms of my Recliner of Refuge as if I were in an earthquake. It provided no refuge right now. Will would only help me through so much. I just needed to keep tabs on my sanity. That, I was pretty sure, was going quickly as well.

Ian had stopped glaring at me and removed his hand from my face so that was a relief. His glare was pretty intense, especially with those bright blues burrowing into you.

"Are you feeling better?"

I blinked at him. Was he going to ignore what had just happened? What I'd seen? "Um, a bit, I think."

"Well, you definitely hit your head hard back there. You might have knocked a few screws loose. You need to be careful." He chuckled and flashed me a brilliant smile.

I balked at him. Was he just trying to scare me now? I'd already seen them once. I didn't need to be reminded that he had them. But curiosity beat out fear and I glanced down at his teeth. I needed to focus more on the biggest problem in the room, the pink elephant or rather, the white and blue collared, mythical monster.

I blinked again. His teeth were perfect, well, not exactly perfect. They crowded a bit in the front on the bottom, but his canines were normal. Everything looked normal. Had I imagined it? I stared at my hands as I tried to replay everything in my mind. I was almost positive that they had been oversized.

"Did you just get back from a night out?"

My eyes darted to his face. Had he smelled the wine? Oh shit, he smelled the wine. I forced my lips into a smile. "Yeah, I'd just gotten dinner with my family. It was a nice evening."

"You should drink some water. I'll get you a glass." His beam faded, then he stood up and walked into the kitchen behind me. There was rattling in my cabinets and the faucet started running. It stopped, and moments later a glass was offered to me. It hovered there while I contemplated taking anything from him. Would he expect anything in return? That I should offer him a drink? But he seemed so ordinary now. Had I completely sobered up yet or had it been a trick of the light?

"Oh, um, thank you." Maybe I was going crazy. I unwrapped an arm so I could take the glass from him. Glancing down at myself, I was mostly covered. Thank goodness. This was awkward enough.

He returned to the couch and observed me. The way he sat there though, being hunched over on his knees with his hands clasped together, could he really not be human? He looked tense, but that could just be what its like wandering into a stranger's place and finding them naked. "I'm surprised you have a blanket out here in this weather. Isn't it warm?"

"It's normally much cooler. I sleep better with the weight of a few blankets on me, but since my A/C went out last Thursday and the landlord hasn't sent anybody over to fix it yet, I'm stuck in this sauna."

"So that's why it's hot in here. At least you're not wearing anything." He tugged at the neck of his collared shirt.

"Don't remind me." I said, looking down at my blanket and gathering up more of it to grip in my hand. Modesty might cover up the remnants of my dinner, which were still attached to my chest.

"Right. My bad," he said and stood up suddenly. "You should drink some more water. Do you have a first aid kit anywhere?"

I took another drink of the water. Right, I should be hydrating after the wine and vomiting and bleeding. "I think there's something under the sink in the kitchen. Why?"

He locked eyes with me and tilted his head to the side before walking past me in search of the kit. "Because the pressure will keep it from reopening in your sleep, especially if you've been restless lately."

Oh, that made sense. "I'm sorry about your shirt. I'll buy you a new one."

"Don't worry about it. I've seen worse. If I can't get it out, it's no big deal. I've lost plenty."

My forehead furrowed as I replayed that in my mind. "What do you do again?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Different things. Normally I work in sales though," he stated, then the rustling of bottles and cabinet doors swinging about filled the air. "We're in luck. There's a bandage in here."

He walked incredibly softly even on the linoleum so I didn't notice he was back until he was standing next to me. The way he stood there, it was like he was holding his breath, stiff and too upright.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, tucking my chin down into the blanket and looking away from him.

He immediately poked my cheek. "We all have off nights. Sit still while I dress it."

I couldn't help being a little impressed that he knew how to do all of this. Half of the stuff in that kit I probably didn't know what to do with or how to use properly. His hands worked quickly as they applied things I couldn't see and gently adjusted my hair out of the way.

A couple minutes later, my head was wrapped securely and he was returning the rest of the materials back to the kitchen cabinet.

"Well, that's all I can do. The rest is up to you."

I snickered, "literally. Anyway, thank you for helping me. I'd walk you to the door, but it might be a bit indecent."

"Forget about it." His eyes glinted, then he walked to the door. "Night."

I blinked a couple times, then watched him walk over to my front door, pull it open, and shut it after he stepped out without another word. It took several minutes of me sitting there, staring into the empty space where he'd been seated before I could drag myself out of the protection of my Recliner of Refuge. What the hell happened to me tonight?

The soft, blue, fluffy cushions would normally encase me in a warm shield against scary movies and bitter sickness. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay there all night even though I wanted to. I was still naked after all and the blanket was getting really warm. My shortest pair of nylon shorts and a tank-top were the only things that would prevent me from sweating all night. Still holding my blanket around my chest, I raised the glass and drained the rest of it.

"That was weird. No more white wine."

After I cautiously locked my front door for what I thought was the second time tonight, I walked into my bathroom and locked that door as well. Something felt off and I assumed it was me since my heart was racing. I was still hesitant to drop my blanket and towel.

Once I did, I quickly wiped myself down with a washcloth as I was a bit skittish of the shower. Mostly cleaned, I brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face. I'd rinse off more in the morning.

"Everything's okay." I chanted to myself in a whisper as I patted myself dry and hung up my towel. The mantra didn't work. I didn't feel any better as my feet carried an exhausted, naked me into the bedroom. I threw on my pajamas as fast as I could manage while glancing at every corner where an unexpected noise originated from.

Tonight had been a rough night. Everything was just weird. Well, not the call from my mother that threw me into a rage that resulted in me drunkenly making a mess of myself, that was pretty standard now. But the tumbling in the shower and imagining my handsome, quiet neighbor was a vampire or some type of alien, yeah, that was unusual. I definitely must have hit my head pretty hard for me to be that delusional.

After crawling into bed, I pulled the sheet and light quilt up to my chin and settled in. With a couple deep breaths, my body eased into position for sleep. But sleep never came. Every creak, every hum from the fridge, every clink from my wind chime jerked my eyelids back and I looked around the room for any extra deep shadows or unusual lights. My heart raced.

"Ugh, please just shut off brain." I exhaled and turned onto my side, but I winced as my wound came under more pressure thanks to tonight's shenanigans. "That was a great impression, Nicole, covered in blood, chunks of who-knows-what, and probably reeking of wine. He's going to think I'm an alcoholic like Emily does. Great."

I shuffled myself onto my back again. "Why would someone who works in sales deal with blood stains?"

Closing my eyes, I tried to settle my thoughts. Sleep took me in its grasp some time later though.

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Well, I managed to rewrite that quickly enough. Well, I hope you enjoyed it.

Any thoughts? Like her? Hate her? What about Ian? How do you feel about him?

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