The Crimson woman

I can feel my hands sweating, I have never been so nervous in my life. She’s late, I should’ve never agreed to this, I knew she was too hot for me. Granted I am a decently attractive man, but even with my looks, I still don’t know why she asked me to dinner. Maybe she’s a catfish? Maybe it was a joke. I can feel myself starting to panic. I wave down the waitress, “Can I please get another drink?” The young lady smiles a pitiful smile and says in an adorable southern drawl, “Sure thing sir. Another whiskey sour?” I nod overly aggressive.

I look at the menu for the umpteenth time. As I glace towards the door, I see her. She’s more beautiful in person. Standing at 5 foot nothing, with pale porcelain skin and ebony black hair that falls all the way down to her waist. Her lipstick is the same shade of crimson as her dress. A light black jacket completed the look. She looked like Snow White all grown up. I raise my hand to grab her attention. After a few seconds, her eyes locked onto me. It looked like she floated towards me with as graceful as she was. I stand to meet her, those piercing blue eyes looked me up and down as if to find a flaw.

“Jonathan?” Her voice was that of an angel, but her eyes were predatorial. She did this often. She knew how beautiful she was. She was used to most men being intimidated. She expected it. Challenge accepted.

“I prefer Jon.” I say pulling out her chair and reaching to help with her jacket. “And you’re Adelaide.” I say without question. I smile the smile that makes most woman weak in the knees. “Please, sit.” I gesture towards the chair. She smiles and sits.

Once I sit the conversation flows like a river. The waitress passes by in a rush and notices Adelaide. She’s obviously as enamored with her as I am. The waitress nods and smiles at us in acknowledgment. After a moment, she returns with my whiskey sour. “Hello! Glad to see you’ve made it.” She says to Adelaide with obvious admiration, “Can I get you a drink?” Adelaide gives her an amused smile, “I’d love a glass of red.” Adelaide’s look said, ‘And I’d like it now.’ The waitress says that they have a lovely Merlot, a 2015 Amuse Bouche Red Napa and asked Adelaide if that would be satisfactory, she nods and confirms with a smile.

Blushing, the waitress takes off. Adelaide sets her focus back on me. I stare at her for a few moments, admiring her beauty. She’s so different than anyone I've ever met before. She’s as gorgeous as a panther is deadly. Lost in my thoughts, I hear her voice call to me, “Do you have family near by Jonathan?” I usually disliked being called by my full name. It felt too formal but hearing it coming from her lips, it felt right. “Unfortunately, my parents passed away a few years back. They were amazing. A drunk driver hit them. He survived, they didn’t.” I felt like I word vomited. That’s too heavy for a first date. Damn, I screwed up. I put my head down in shame. “I’m so sorry Jonathan.” I look up and see the empathy on her face. “I understand, my family aren’t around either.” I smile a sad smile at her and recompose with “I digress let’s change the subject; How long have you been in Atlanta?”

She smiles lopsided at me, “What makes you think I’m not from here?”. “Well, being late to a dinner date” I wink at her fake outrage, “and you have no sign of an accent.” We continue to flirt and within a minute the young waitress reappears with her wine and takes our orders. I order seared salmon, and she a rare steak.

The more we talk, the more she astounds me. Beautiful, eloquent, and funny. She looks out the window and her voice sings to me as I stare, “Have you ever noticed how beautiful the night is?” She then looked me right in my pale green eyes, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if everyone lived their lives at night?”

“Well,” I say with a slight chuckle, “There are legends of monsters who forever live at night. The catch is they must drink blood. Who in the hell could live like that?” I laugh at the absurdity. I look over to find her staring daggers at me. I swear her eyes were glowing with intensity. I flush and realize I’ve offended her. Burning red, I say, “I-I’m sorry.” I cover my mouth with my cloth napkin repeating sheepishly, “I’m sorry.”

The conversation that followed and her cold tone made it seem the date was over. Then, to my surprise, she says with a morose attitude, “The night has always been my favorite. Looking up and being able to see the galaxy above us. The moon and the stars always up there, only able to shine when the sun isn’t. One could live a hundred lifetimes and it would still be a mystery.” So much wonder on her face just then. Soon after, she came crashing back into this world. In that moment, those piercing blue eyes could see into my soul, “Plus,” She says coyly, “Living forever with one person to call your own sounds like fun, doesn’t it?” She let out a small giggle and smiled infectiously. I smile in return, “That sounds like paradise.” I say without jest. “Even if it meant having to drink blood?” She quipped. “It’d be worth it for the right person.” I smile my brightest smile yet. We eat in peace while exchanging flirtatious glances. “Dessert?” I offer knowing I couldn’t eat another bite. “No, I’m good.” She says smiling. “Would you like to go for a walk?” I ask. “That sounds lovely.” She replies.

I wave down the waitress as Adelaide started to pull a card from her purse. “No, this is on me. I owe you for the pleasure of your company.” I say. Damn, that was smooth even for me. Adelaide puts the card back and retorts, “There, there Jonathan. You may live to regret those words.” A small upturn in her lips shows she is laughing. I pull my card and give it to the girl. I give her a well-earned 40%. “You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat service workers. You just showed me that you are kind and appreciative.” Adelaide stands and puts on her jacket and purse; I stand and offer her my hand. For the first time tonight, she looks hesitant but took my hand. As soon as we embrace a surge of sharp coldness goes through me. I did not drop her hand but pulled it even closer. Adelaide looked up to meet my gaze. Her eyes searching for…something.

I held her hand tight as we left the restaurant. It was chilly this November night. We walked and continued to talk about our similarities. Our love of books, specifically historical fiction. How we both love classical compositions, but also a love for raunchy TV shows. I knew in my heart that this is the woman I am supposed to be with for the rest of my life. I look at my watch and notice that it is almost midnight.

“Shit.” I whisper to myself.

“Is everything okay?” She asks concerningly.

“Yeah, everything is okay. Just realized that it’s getting late. How about I walk you home?” I say knowing I don’t want this date to be over. I think she sensed that because she replies, “What a gentleman. Will you have a glass of wine with me when we get there?” Her eyes were glistening in the moonlight. “I would love that.” I say trying to refrain from jumping up and down like a moron.

We walk for a while, still talking with Adelaide leading the way. We turn down a road I do not recognize. We walk for another block or so when we come to a beautifully restored Victorian home. She turns to me and suddenly I feel memorized. Her pale skin reflects the moon itself. She beckons me toward her with a gesture of her hands, I follow with no real thoughts of my own. We walk into the foyer and I am taken aback. Stained glass ceilings cast colorful moonlight onto the magnificent staircase, the rest of the house has a faint glow to it. A glimmering chandelier at the center of the room. At the base of the staircase stood two stone Gargoyles with red stones for eyes. Her crimson dress could have been picked to match the curtains that obscure the windows.

I feel a soft hand at my shoulder, and I turn to meet Adelaide’s wickedly playful smile. She took my hand once again; I didn’t take notice of the cold this time. Her smile was so inviting. She leads me to what can only be described as a chef’s kitchen. Six-burner stove top and a double oven, black stainless-steel appliances. A grand island with black granite counters to match the rest of the kitchen. Adelaide pulls two stools from under the island and she invites me to sit, I oblige. She pulls two glasses out of a china hutch. She then pulls out a wine chiller that was hidden within the island.

“The only thing more impressive than this house is you.” I say with a slightly dismayed laugh as she pours.

“Jonathan, flattery will get you everywhere.” She said with a flirtatious laugh and adds, “I just don’t want this night to end.”

I take a big swig from my glass. When I set it down, I see Adelaide giving me a look of victory. I then taste it, copper in my mouth. Feeling something running down the side of my mouth, I wipe it with my fingers and pull them back to see…blood. I look up at Adelaide shocked. I stood up too quickly while backing up and tripped over my stool. I was dizzy. I look up and gone was the beautiful woman who took my breath away. There stood something else entirely.

Glowing blue irises are the only color in her saturated demonic black eyes. Her face was emaciated. Her skull seemed to be protruding from her skin. I finally look at her mouth and saw her intoxicating smile accompanied with two elongated sharp canines. “Jonathan.” Her voice was so far away. I felt myself slipping. “Jonathan, you are the first. The ones before you were cattle, but you…You are so much more. You will always love me.” On the cusp of blacking out, I feel a sharp pain at my neck. Cold as when I first held Adelaide’s hand, but this cold was in my blood. I heard myself scream from the freezing dispersing throughout, I begged, I plead for death. Then in the beat of a hummingbird’s heart, it stopped. Adelaide, back to her beautiful self was the last thing I see before drifting into darkness.

I wake to find her holding me and her beautiful blue eyes looking at me. “Hello my love.” Her voice is angelic as the first time I heard it. “Come, I’ve brought breakfast.” I smile at her and glace up to catch my reflection in a mirror. Two extensions protruded from my canines. An inaudible cry comes from a door at the back of the kitchen. I quickly look up at Adelaide.

“It’d be worth it for the right person. Am I the right person Jonathan?” For the first time, she looked completely vulnerable. I stood there for a minute, wanting to protect her from everyone. “You’re the only one worth it.” I say impulsively. Her face shows relief and says, “Good, let’s eat.”