Intrigued Ch 04

-Keegan-

I took a few ibuprofen and chased them down with a glass of water. I felt like shit, like the world's most fucked up hangover meets the world's most twisted workout. I looked at the clock: 12:23. I was definitely gonna need some more sleep... I walked, well, limped my way back to my bed and collapsed. Within minutes, I was asleep, dreaming of my demonic angel.

Later that day...

I rolled over, not quite wanting to wake up yet. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised: it was already dark outside. I sat up in my bed, head swimming but not in as much pain, a little stiff if anything. I got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, my stomach felt as if it was gonna cave it on itself. When I looked at the clock this time, it read 9:49... God, that girl worked me over one good!

I opened my refrigerator and scoured it for something quick to eat. I decided on some leftover lasagna that my mom made me a little while back. After opening the container and sniffing the contents, I popped it in the microwave.

After awhile, I heard the microwave beep. I got my food and a beer and sat down to eat. I turned on the television, lo and behold, Queen of the Damned was on. I chewed absently and studied the way Akasha carried herself... she reminded me so much of Raven, it wasn't even funny! The way she swayed her hips when she walked, the slow, unrushed way that she spoke. I had to see her.... tonight!

While I finished eating, I picked out my outfit for the night: A simple black button up, a pair of dark stonewash jeans that don't hang off my ass, and a pair of black boots. I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower. After I got dressed, I caught a cab to the bar, not wanting to waste any more time in case Raven was already there.

When I arrived, to my dismay, there was no Raven. There was, however, the blonde bartender that set up camp on my nuts the night before. I walked over to the bar and sat down. Before I could even open my mouth to order, here comes Blondie: "Hey, Sexy! Fancy meeting you here for the second night in a row. I almost thought I'd never see you again after you left last night with your little girlfriend." She said, her voice darkening when she came to the reference about Raven.

I'm not gonna lie... Blondie was definitely doable: she had long blonde hair, bright green eyes, pouty red lips, and an amazing body. She looked like she could suck a mean one and take a meaner one, but she just was no comparison to Raven. Raven was the kind of girl, well, creature you could have an intelligent conversation with... Blondie, however, seemed like the type that I'd rather shove my dick down her throat than hear her talk.

"Yeah, she was definitely something," I said, "Yet, here I am: sitting back here, alone at the bar, ordering a Corona and Lime from you..." I finished, hoping she'd get my drift.

"Well, Sexy, being alone don't mean you gotta be lonely," she said, handing me my beer, her touch lingering a little longer than what was necessary. Maybe Blondie wouldn't be so bad in the future...

The hours passed, one beer turned into two, two turned into five, and five turned into...well, you get the picture... Blondie was looking a little bit more delectable than she was a few hours ago, but even I wouldn't stoop low enough to take Blondie as the rebound girl... if I fucked her, ever, it would be because I wanted to, not to drown myself in pussy to get over Raven. She, however, had different thoughts for me, she leaned her curvaceous body on the bar when she spoke to me, resting her huge tits on the countertop so I could see a mile of cleavage. I'm a man and as a man, I can admit that my fucking dick was dying to get in between those bad boys, but I just couldn't do it...

"I think you've had enough, Keegan, it's real late and I'm cutting you off," Blondie said when I tried to order yet another drink. I looked at the clock above the bar... Was it really almost 4 am?

"Okay, thanks, Blondie...I woulda been here til dawn if you didn't stop me," I said, rubbing my eyes.

"You are so sexy, Keegan... I love it when you call me Blondie, are you sure that you don't wanna go home with me?" She asked, her last attempt of the night.

"Not tonight, Blondie, but I'll see you around..." I said, stifling a yawn and concealing the fact that I had a massive hard-on. I stood up and walked outside.

I caught a cab home and as soon as I got inside my apartment, I stripped off my smoke-perfumed clothing... I needed a shower, I couldn't lay in my bed smelling this way. I walked into my bathroom and turned on the hot water, steam fogged up the mirror. I stepped inside and wet my hair, shampooed it, and gave it a rinse. I began to wash my body with my body wash. My dick was so hard that it hurt, at this point, I silently cursed myself for not taking Blondie up on her offer.

"Raven, where the fuck are you?" I thought with frustration as I used my body wash to form a lather along the base of my cock. I began to stroke, trying my damndest to recount the events that happened with Raven that night: her soft skin, her supple lips, her flawless body from her firm tits to her round ass and to last but certainly not least: her tight, incredible pussy. I pictured her bent over, offering herself to me. I almost felt her hair wrapped around my hand. I saw myself pulling her head to the side and staring at her beautiful face, fangs extended, as I pushed myself into her repeatedly...

I groaned loudly as I shot wad after wad of my cum down the drain. I could hardly stand...I rinsed and dried myself off. I felt like utter shit, I was able to cum but I was still not satisfied, I had to have her again. I laid in my bed, alone, wishing that I could fall asleep with Raven wrapped in my arms one more time. With my wishes left unanswered, I drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

It was like this for weeks... I would go to the bar, make small talk with Blondie (whose name was Jenna...it fit, but I found Blondie more to my liking), decline her offers (like an idiot only to jack off to the distant memory of my night with Raven), stay out extremely late... a time or two til dawn (hoping that I'd run into Raven), shower, and sleep. This was getting pathetic... my online business was suffering from the lack of attention, I had no idea how long I could keep this up. Why was I putting my life on hold for her? Obviously, she wasn't thinking of me at all, she knows the bar that I frequent and, most importantly, she knows where I live.

"Enough is enough!" I thought, as I laid in my bed alone for the 27th day in a row, "I'm finished with this Raven nonsense and to make it official, tomorrow night I'm going home with Blondie!" I was doing it because I wanted to...

-Raven-

Were my methods a little extreme? Some would say 'yes' but then again, some are not me. I never expected things to go this far. I was just going to disappear the next morning, removing myself from existence. A human has no place with a vampire... if Keegan were to catch me on a particularly hungry day, I cannot guarantee I would have been able to let him live a second time. I hoped that he would be able to realize that, but, no! He went to The Riff nightly to look for me. He not only went there looking for me, he stayed until near dawn every night.

Many times, just before I laid myself down to sleep, I would feel his frustration. I felt his arousal mount and felt him wonder about me. So many times, I was right around the corner or two steps behind him. He wanted me again, that was obvious, but I wanted him as well. Sometimes, I found myself thinking of him... particularly when I had just eaten and my body was warm.

I was not a young vampire, I knew what happened to humans that get involved with vampires... they get hurt. I was doing what was best for both of us, because I would not know how to live with myself the rest of eternity knowing that I killed, or was not able to protect someone, that cared about me...

Who was I kidding? Keegan did not care about me, he wanted to fuck me. That was all his thoughts revealed... there was nothing about wanting to join me in my dark journey. Keegan was an extremely sexual being and I knew it would not be long before he was chasing the next toy.

When I drank his blood, I got his story: He was adopted when he was a baby. When he was sixteen, he found his birth mother and wanted a relationship but she wanted nothing to do with him because he looked so much like his father. When his adoptive father left his mom, he went through a rebellious stage and turned to ecstasy and alcohol to numb the fact that he was unwanted, not only by his birth mother, but by the man he was raised to call 'Dad'... many nights he hoped that he would not wake up the next morning. When his mother felt he was out of control, he was sent to live with her brother on a farm in Wisconsin.

There, he learned to be a man. He worked hard, from sunup to sundown and kicked the habit. He graduated from the high school that he attended in Wisconsin. He returned to his mother a new man, a better man. He attended a college that was close to home, where he graduated with a Business Engineering degree.

While in college, Keegan had a lot of sex. A slew of girls that were different ages, races, majors, athletes, bookworms, Goth, Emo, it did not matter. He fell for a girl that was a year younger than him and an English major. They were together for awhile, he even brought her home to meet his mom...he thought they would end up together, but she died in a car accident on her way back to school. Keegan was crushed, to say the least. When he launched his online business (similar to eBay), he named it for her, simply Aspen Emery. He has been managing his business independently for the last two years.

Then, I approached him in a bar. Everything was going just fine for him and I put myself in his path. Now, he has been out every night, drinking himself to death. It is a lose-lose situation, if I see him again, he loses in the long run and if I do not see him again, he loses now. I could just stay away for a little longer, if he shows no signs of improvement, I will see him. He seems to have something for the dumb blonde bartender. I will allow him to pursue that... if he still seeks me after he has his romp with her, I will give in.

He will be so much happier with a human... someone he can grow old with and start a family. He is young and he just does not know what is best for him. He cannot and will not have any of those things with me and the sooner he realizes that, the sooner he will want to walk away, and I can not say that I blame him.

I am doomed to this solitary, life of darkness, not him. Honestly, I am not sure if I would rather have it any other way...

-Keegan-

I woke up the next day feeling awesome. I actually cooked myself breakfast! Today, I was going to put this whole Raven thing behind me. Today, it was over. It made no sense for me to chase after someone that was dangerous, anyway. I laughed, it was actually kind of dumb...

I stuffed my face with bacon, eggs, and toast and I washed it down with orange juice. I laid on my couch watching Saturday morning cartoons. Between my full stomach and being a bit too comfortable on my couch, it wasn't long before I nodded off...

I heard a knock on my door. I looked around, night time already? I stumbled to the door and looked through my peephole. I saw a pair of honey brown, almond shaped eyes looking back at me. I pulled open the door and pulled my demonic angel into my arms. It had been too fucking long.

"I have been thinking of you, Keegan... I just could not force myself to stay away from you any longer," she breathed in my ear.

"I've been going The Riff every night for a month to find you! Where the hell have you been?" I put my hands on either side of her face and looked down into her eyes.

"I was terrified that I would kill you... it is not something that I can guarantee that I could control. Now, I realize that it is nothing to be controlled. It is in my nature to want to kill you, you are a human. You are prey," she said, smiling. Her fangs extended.

It was obvious... how could I have been so stupid? How could I have ever thought that she had any real interest in me? She looked at me, undoubtedly hearing my thoughts. She threw her head back and laughed, the sound stabbed through my emotions and scraped my pride.

"Really, Keegan? You honestly thought that I would actually be your's? You are cute, but you really have brains for shit," she said, leaning a little closer to increase the impact of her insult.

There it was: another person that showed me how insignificant and worthless I am... I just wished she would kill me already, it just sucked that I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to my mom...

"I will mail her your fucking heart when I am finished," she said as she pounced on me, knocking me to the ground as if I wasn't twice her size... She jerked my head to the side and literally ripped into my neck...

I woke up in a cold sweat, heart racing. I wildly looked around my apartment, no Raven... Thank God! It was just a fucking dream! That did very little to ease my apprehension. I sat up on my couch, deep in thought.

Now that I thought about it, it was fucking idiotic to chase after Raven. It was true what she said in my dream: I was prey and she was the predator. It fucks up nature for the prey to seek out the predator. One thing was for sure, I could guaran-fucking-tee that I wouldn't be the dumb ass sheep chasing after the wolf anymore. If I saw her ever again, it would be too damn soon.

I looked at the clock: 12:45... It was still waaay too early to head to The Riff to find Blondie, she couldn't even be at work, yet. I kicked myself for declining her phone number all those times. Oh well, this was as good a time as any to work on Aspen Emery...

Aspen... she would have never left me high and dry for a month. She was perfect: long, brown hair, stunning, green eyes. I could see her now: wearing her favorite long, yellow dress with a white flower in her hair and dorky, yellow sunglasses. I never thought I'd fall for a girl like her, when we were together, we looked like day and night. She, with her bright clothing and sun-kissed skin and me, with my black clothing and pale skin... I heard her voice whisper, "I love you, Keegan"...

I stood up quickly, looking around, honestly, a little creeped out. I am cracking up! I'm hearing shit, seeing shit, dreaming shit... I need a fucking break...

~*~*~*~

I spent hours on Aspen Emery at Starbucks because my own home still kind of freaked me out. I not only immersed myself into work as a distraction, but also because I did not know when I would have free time to get back on.

After I got with Blondie, there would be like at least 72 hours that I had to keep contact with her to not be considered an asshole. There was also something about not being able to text back one-word answers afterwards... Those were the rules, at least those were the rules back in college, because everyone knows that 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and if you piss one of them off, no doubt you won't get as much pussy. Not like that really mattered much these days... After Aspen, it was over a year before I swallowed my pride and had sex with someone else, even then, I felt like I was cheating on her.

Aspen had a heart of gold and she knew me, all of me and loved me anyway. Sure, it didn't start out that way. I had to work like hell to get her to go out with me and it took her almost five months to have sex with me. The point is: I knew that she didn't expect me to put my life on hold and live in her memory, the thing was that it was hard not to... even a memory was heaven when you were alone.

"Well, Sexy, being alone don't mean you gotta be lonely," Blondie's voice echoed in my head. She was right, I had been going about this the wrong way from the beginning: I had been lonely for a really long time now.

I put my laptop in my backpack and slung it over my shoulders. I nodded in the direction of the cute Asian barista named Anne that had been eyeballing me since I walked in. She smiled and nodded back, "Come back and see us!" She said as I headed toward the door. "Will do," I called back over my shoulder.

I began the walk back to my apartment, it was nearly dusk and if I wanted to beat nightfall, I would probably need to catch a cab. I decided against that, there was no reason to beat nightfall, I was going to a bar for crying out loud and I was sure that it wouldn't be closing til nearly dawn.

When I got to my apartment building, I breathed a sigh of relief. It would be nice to sit on my own sofa instead of the weird furniture at Starbucks and I was starving! I was never able to get full off their little pastries, no matter how many I ate. I walked up to my door and unlocked the door. When I walked in, something didn't feel right. I turned on all of my lights and sat my bag down on the kitchen counter. I looked in all of my closets and even under the bed for any sign of an intruder. Nothing. I had the extremely weird feeling that I was being watched.

Maybe I was still a little jumpy from earlier. After all, there was nothing that indicated foul play. I turned off some of my lights, otherwise, my electric bill would be obscene. I took my shoes and socks off and put them into my bedroom and removed my black tee shirt and jeans and tossed them into the dirty clothes hamper.

In my boxers, I walked to my kitchen to get something to eat. I put some leftover Chinese takeout into the microwave after completing my leftover-sniffing ritual. I grabbed a beer out the refrigerator and popped off the top. My answering machine was blinking that I had one new message. I walked over and pressed play...

-Raven-

"This isn't right," I thought as I looked into his window from his fire escape. I was just supposed to go close to his apartment, just to check in on his thoughts. I felt like some sort of stalker. He was perfect. I watched as he stripped off his clothes and wore nothing more than grey and black plaid boxers. His chest, the left side of his neck, and his left arm adorned by thick strokes of black ink. Involuntarily, my fangs extended.

-Keegan-

The robotic male voice filled the kitchen:

"Today at 2:27 pm:"

"Hey, Kid, it's Mom. I haven't heard from you in awhile. I made you a pot roast with all the potatoes and carrots you can eat. I know that yesterday was the anniversary of Aspen's death, so I'm a little worried about you. Give me a call. I love you, Sweetheart. Stay strong."

When the answering machine beeped, I blinked back my tears. That was why Aspen had been on my mind so much lately. Even if you try to shove shit in your sub-consciousness, you still know something is there.

I picked up the phone and called the only other woman who'd love me no matter what...

"Keegan!" Mom said in the phone. She said my name like a sigh of relief, like she was scared that I off'd myself or something.

"Yeah, Mom, it's me." I said taking a seat on the sofa with my beer and leftovers.

"I've missed you so much!" she said happily, I could hear her smile through the phone.

"I miss you, too, Ma," I said through a mouthful of lo mein.

"How have you been holding up?" She asked, her voice suddenly serious.

"I've been, you know, fine, I guess," I said, taking a swig of my beer.

"What are you eating?" She asked, ready to chew me out.

"Leftover Chinese," I said.

Silence

"Mom?" I said.

"Still drinking beer with every meal, Keegan?" she asked.

"Of course not, Mother... I had orange juice this morning, but yes, beer now, like 5 cups of coffee at lunch, and beer last night, and when I get off the phone with you, I'll be taking a shower and heading to a bar where, yes, I will be having a few more beers," I said, mainly just to fuck with her... it was irrelevant that it was true.