CHAPTER NINE - Unexplainable desires.

His hair was a golden shade of blonde, his face perfectly sculpted with jaws that could have you staring for much longer than needed, accompanied with a small blonde stubble under his chin. His lips a dark shade of pink and his eyes...God, his eyes! A captivating shade of ocean blue looking at me with a bit of surprise and remorse.

"Are you okay?" He asked dropping the small take away bag on his hand and lending me another. He's voice was deep and obvious to masculinity in an attractive way "i'm sorry, didn't see you there".

You know what was so funny about this? it was that i just kept on sitting there with my ass on the ground staring at him like he was the most beautiful thing i had ever seen before. And not to sound like all those cliché characters you find in sappy romance novels, but believe me when i tell you that this guy was damn right beautiful.

The deep blue of his eyes had compelled me at that moment and i was not even aware of anything around me anymore but the expression on his face. He looked older, a couple years ahead of me, maybe around twenty five, plus the complete suit he was wearing and Rolex on his wrist gave him the business like look.

He looked at me and looked at his hand hanging open before me and retracted them probably assuming i was not going to take them. Stupid me!

"You are not going to get up?"

I blinked and quickly stud up not wanting to embarrass myself any further. My cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. "I'm sorry, i just got lost for a moment there" i brushed it off with a nervous laugh he did not return.

But instead he just stared deeply at me, his eyes taking in every inch of my face. I paused for a moment, liking the intensity of his eyes raking every pour and imperfection of my face. He smiled, a beautiful smile that exposed his complete set of white teeth.

"Are you here to see someone?"

"Yeah, i wanted to see a friend. But i'm actually on my way out now, what about you?"

"Family."

I nod my head seeming to be interested. All thoughts of running away suddenly went halt and i wanted to talk to him, i wanted to actually engage in a conversation that does not mean embarrassing myself any further.

"Is it okay if i walk with you?" He asked and i scoffed.

"It's one o' clock in the afternoon and the sun is still shinning bright, i think i can handle walking home alone without getting robbed or kidnaped".

He nodded in agreement, the smallest hint of a smile playing on his lips. "I know, you seem like a tough one, but that isn't why i was asking".

"So then mister...." i trailed off.

"Damien Chandler, preferably just Damien". I lifted a brow Damien huh? Interesting.

"Well then Damien, why are you asking?"

"Maybe i just want to spend a few more minutes with you, even if it's just walking."

"Sounds like a plan." I grinned "are you sure you are not one of those guys that pretend to be interested in someone only to fuck them over by the end of the road?"

I did not even realize when we slowly started walking forward, down the noisy side road with cars speeding past us and the wind threatening to destroy my hair.

"Now what makes you think i am interested in you?"

I stopped walking to look him in the eye, taking a few steps a bit too close. "Your eyes. The way you are looking at me".

"How exactly am i looking at you?"

"Like i am some kind of undiscovered piece of art that you want to uncover, piece by piece." My voice dropped a bit lower as i stared up at him a couple feet taller, challenging him to tell me i am wrong.

"Well then that makes two of us doesn't it?"

I move back to my former position by his side and we keep walking down the busy road side. "Don't be too confident".

"If i'm not confident then i would not be successful in any thing don't you think?" That's right, he seems to me like some legit business man or some thing, i mean who would be wearing a suit to a hospital in the middle of the day? But either ways, that would be a story to uncover for another day. That is, if there would be another day.

"True. But you don't even know my name...yet."

"Are you going to tell me?" He smirked.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"If i get to see you again."

He chuckled lightly "I think i am in love with you already". No shit!

"Pfft.." i scoffed "don't rush it".

"Okay then" he dipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone handing it to me.

"And what am i supposed to do with this?" I lifted a brow at him.

"Put your number in it".

I really tried not to smile, gave him back the phone to put on his finger print before typing my number into it and saving it as 'my green eyed stranger'.

I turned it over for him to see, he looked at the phone and up back at me "really?" I simply shrugged and kept on walking backwards before handing it back to him.

The moment our fingers brushed we both stopped moving. It was like an electric feeling inside me, just that touch, that single brush of his fingers on mine had my stomach in a twist and wanting more. If someone else where to have touched me, i would have felt repulsive, i would have had uncomfortable chills crawl up my skin and want to keep a good distance away but this was different. This was a feeling i had never experienced before, this was a mixture of unexplainable desires of wanting more than just a brush of his fingers.

"Is it just me or do you feel that too?" I could not help the words that escaped my lips, i did not like it when he retracted his hands from mine, deeping his cell phone back into his pocket.

"What does it feel like?" He takes two steps closer, his voice dropped a little almost a whisper despite the loud sounds of moving vehicles.

"Like a craving, an unexplainable craving. "

"Like my heart is running a thousand miles a second just by the feeling of your hands on mine".

"Like i want to discover every bit and piece of you." I do not know who this person was, this person that sounded like a starved animal desperate for attention.

"Like we have known each other for really long even though we only met a few minutes ago."

"Like i want more."

"Like i need more." Our faces were just mare inches apart now an i had a sudden urge to pull even closer, i think we both did. "And i am about to do something i probably should not especially since i haven't taken you out on a first date yet." He licked his lips, an action that had my eyes fixed and wanting to know what he tastes like.

"Are you asking me out Damien?" My voice a whisper as i drew closer to him inch by inch.

"Maybe, would you say yes if i did?"

"What do you think?"

"I think i really want to kiss you right now."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

The moment his lips touched mine, i lost all of my senses. The only thing i could think of was the minty taste of his lips on mine. In my life i had kissed a lot of guys back in high school, there where the drunken kisses with total strangers at Cedric Lennart's overboard parties, there were the dared kisses with Greg Mathews, the guy that had a massive crush on me for the whole of grade ten, there were the ones in the library with Hunter Langford my very first boyfriend and then the ones with Damon.

But all in all, none of them ever felt like this. It was like a flame that spiked inside of me, urging for more with every feel of his hands on my waist. But before i could deepen the kiss he pulled away.

"Is that a yes?" His voice was raspy against my ears.

"It is definitely a yes."

Before he could say anything else, i pulled him back to me, rapping my arms around his neck and savagely attack his lips with mine. The feeling of euphoria engulfed me, it was like drinking a gallon of water after years of thirst and craving. And when he used his tongue? I completely forgot where i was at the time, i pulled him by the collar, loving the feeling of his heat, his lips, his tongue, i loved it, i wanted more of it, he consumed me and made me loose my morals, not caring who was watching.

I do not know if it was just my ears, but i think i heard an old lady shout "hey, you two! stop sucking face and get a room for Christ sake!" But i did not care. I do not even know how long we spent there kissing until a deep masculine voice interrupted us with one word. One word that had my heart in a frenzy, running a lot faster than it already was before.

"Damien?"

Damien pulled away and turned to look at the destination of the voice and so did i. I completely froze on the spot, that face...i know that face. He was all over the news, it was that man, what was his name again? Ethan Lockwood, the man who's family died in the car on their way to Sharelake while they where coming home to him, the man who vowed to find the person who murdered his family.

My heart was racing, my palms were sweating, my eyes were open wide as i stared at him and took a step back.

"Oh, hey Ethan." Damien said adjusting his blazer as he looked up at the older man, addressing him like they have known each other for a long time.

"Tristian said you went to get food, i didn't realize that this is what you kids of this generation mean by food." He did not spare me a glance, he just conversed with Damien and Damien alone like i was not even there. Although i was a little grateful he did not attempt to speak to me or i do not know how i would have reacted.

He had dark hair like mine, and just like Damien he was wearing a complete black suit with a white dress shirt. He was tall and had a serious business like look to him, the obvious lines of aging evident on his face and there was not even a little bit of a curve on his lips as he spoke, it was almost like he was angry at the world and every living thing that exists.

"Um, about that..." Damien dug his hands into his hair "i might have gotten carried away".

"I can clearly see that." Ethan looked from Damien to me for just a brief second, eyeing me up and down.

Did i forget i still looked like trash? I had not even showered since last night and he is probably wondering why a man like Damien would be openly making out with me.

Damien opened his mouth to say something, maybe an introduction? but he seemed tongue tied for just a moment, probably had to do with the fact that he did not even know my name...yet.

"Hurry up and finish with whatever this is " Ethan said to Damien, gesturing between the both of us. "Tristian needs you."

"Why? What happened?"

"She is waking up." He turned and left, heading back to the direction of the hospital. Damien looked fully alert like something had been spiked inside of him, there was a calculative look on his face when he turned to look at me.

"Sorry about that, my dad can be a little too much sometimes." His dad!? I think i might have stopped breathing for a second. " I uh..." he trailed of but i know what he wanted to say.

"It's okay, go. I'm sure you have more important things to do than make out with total strangers on the walk way."

"I will call you." He said and i simply brushed him a faint smile that he must have taking for disbelief because he repeated the words again. "I will".

And then he was gone, off to a distance where i could no longer see the silhouette of his tall figure anymore.

*****

After a whole day of heart tense events, i finally got the relaxation i needed. The feeling of look warm water purring down my skin from my bathroom shower had my tense muscles relax. But that was not enough to calm the weight of the stress in my mind.

There was the part about how much i hate myself for hurting Damon, the sight of him on that hospital bed had triggered a deep wound inside of me. I do not know how long he is going to spend in there, Faye said he would be okay in a week, which means he might still be unconscious for a couple more days before he can start any serious medication on the road to recovery.

But that is the thing. A week is more than enough for him to loose all his dreams of studying in NYU, he might get replaced before he even wakes up and that would crush him completely. The worse part is that every thing is my fault.

And on top all of that, i could not help the sensational feeling inside of me. How can a guy i just met barely an hour ago have this much effect on me? I kept on thinking about the kiss, how he had held me so tightly to him but yet with a gentile grip. How he skillfully caressed my tongue with his. How good he had made me feel within seconds of being with him. It was not like me to go around kissing random strangers but i could not help myself.

It was an indescribable feeling of need. Even now that i am far away from him, i felt like the need to see him again and there was no doubt in my mind that we would meet again, whatever the circumstances might be. Preferably next time i would not be looking like a crazy lady running from a wild cat.

I was attracted to a man i just met and knew absolutely nothing about, other than the intense blue of his compelling eyes, but i wanted to know more, i wanted to uncover every bit of him. And that is a huge problem considering what happened earlier. He mentioned that, that man Ethan Lockwood was his father, but what did not add up was their last names.

I leaned my head on the tiled wall of the bathroom, tiered of stressing my brain too much about it as the water washed down the remaining soap from my body. I had more important things to think about. For starters, how to get this thing out of me.

I'd had enough of the nightmares, hallucinations, waking up in the middle of nowhere all the fucking time, the deaths, and most of all, i never wanted to hurt anyone i cared about ever again. So i made up my mind, i was going to get this thing out of me even if it was the last thing i do.

I got out of the bathroom and searched my wardrobe for something to wear then checked my phone to find three missed calls from Faye and two from Ming.

Ming. I have not really spent much time with her lately, i have been so caught up in my own mess that i forget to call her just to see how she has been doing, it makes me feel awful now thinking about it. She does not even know anything about what has been going on and i hope she does not find out. I do not want to drag her into my mess and i have to stay away from her till i figure out how to get this thing out of me.

My phone went ringing again and at first i was going to ignore, but then when i looked at the callers ID and saw a number i did not exspect to see, i let out a deep breath and answered the call.

"Hey" my voice was strained, i did not really know why she was calling, she hardly ever called these days. We used to be really close at a time, she always told me she adored me and hoped i and her brother would end up together one day, back in eleventh grade when i and Damon were still just best buds.

"Dian?" Damon's little sister Flora said over the phone. Her voice coming off shallow, too shallow.

"Yeah what's up?"

"Have you seen him?"

"Are you crying?" I asked instead she sounded like she had been crying and i did not like the sound of it. Flora is a strong girl, but when it comes to her brother she could go through any length, that was how much she loved him.

"No, me?" She scoffed "you know me, i don't cry."

A small sad smile played on my lips, i knew she was lying, she always said that if someone caught her getting too emotional. To her crying was a sign of weakness and she wanted to be anything but weak because in her words, 'the weak are what they are, weak, and in the tough world we live in, we cannot afford to be weak or we would all die'.

I do not know where she gets all that idea from. The kid reads way too many books and watches too much anime for her own good.

"Good, because if you were i would come in with my Harley bat and nock you on the head. Crying is a sign of weakness remember?"

"Yeah" she chuckled lightly. "Mum's really worried though, she's been at the hospital all day and i have to wait till thirty minutes because the stupid headmistress won't let me take a leave and go see how he's doing."

"Why did you go to school today then? If you really wanted to see him?"

"Mum, she won't have it". Sounds like Avery.

"He is okay Flo, don't worry about it."

"I hope so..." she let out a small sigh, "did you know about his post at NYU?"

"Yeah, he told me last night."

"Oh" she said "but are you okay?"

"I will be. Once i get to the bottom of this."

"What?"

"Bye Flora, take care of your self okay?"

"Yeah sure."

I was a woman on a mission. This might seem like a crazy idea but i already run out of options. I was going back to every place i had woken up after getting unconscious to gather even just the littlest information.

Freddie was a bit troublesome for me and i knew it was only a matter of time before he ran out of juice, but i was hoping he would at least last a few more days before he completely shut down.

Hours and hours of searching for clues in different crime censes and yet i had nothing. First there was the side of the woods down town where i had woken up with blood on me for the first time, then there was the mall with the blonde lady, then there was the small cabin with the fraternity girls, then there was the woods again with the traveling family, then on the streets with Damon and the teenagers house. It was a bit hard considering they were all taped and under investigation except the mall that was now back and moving on full swing and also the teenage girls home, i could not even think to visit there again even if i wanted to.

Stressed and tired from all the walking and driving, searching for clues that did not exist, i collapse on the floor of my kitchen with a can of beer in my hands. Did you think i was not one of them? although i would not really call myself one of them but i often drank a little bit of alcohol whenever i really wanted to let loose.

The front door opened and i heard someone step into the house but i made no attempt to stand up and check who it was. I just sat there with my legs wide, back resting on the fridge, a hand holding on to the can of beer and the other palming my head that felt like it was on fire.

"Dian!" I heard my mum shout.

"In the kitchen" i barely yelled back.

She walked in, dropped her bag on the counter and looked down at me with sad eyes. She did not say anything like i expected her to, or ask if i am okay like she always does, she knew i wasn't. Instead she took a sit on the ground by the fridge beside me and looked up as we both watched the celling fan rotate.

"Want to talk about it?"

There were so many things i wanted to talk about, so many things i needed her motherly insight on, but all of those things i could not speak about.

Mum and i used to be really close, she was the type of mother you could just sit with and spill all your problems to and she would patiently listen. She was the type of mother you could easily talk about anything, and i mean anything with, the type that would always check in to make sure you are okay and make you hot chocolate with too much sugar when you are in a sore mood. And i wanted to spill it all to her, i really did, but i could not, so i went for the easiest one.

"We sorta had a fight," by 'he' i know she knows i am talking about Damon. "He told me about his application in NYU and he was going to leave today and then he asked me to come with him but i couldn't." I had not really talked about it with anyone so i had to admit, talking to her about it eased me just a little bit. "I wanted a break up".

The lines between her brows creased, she turned to me with a questioning gaze "but why? Isn't that what you wanted?"

"It was, not anymore."

My mother just sat there waiting for me to elaborate but i just lifted my drink and took a huge sip out of it, resting my head against the fridge while watching the ceiling fan rotate.

"I guess i just need to figure myself out" i said taking another sip "people change you know? I feel like i've changed a lot in just a matter of days. I feel like everyone and every thing has changed."

"Not everything" she smiled letting me rest my head on her shoulder "i will always be here for you no matter what, like always".

That brought a smile to my face. I closed my eyes and cuddled closer to her relishing on the feeling of this bonding moment until it was interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

"I have to take this" i excused, she simply smiled at me and watched me as i walked into my bedroom shutting the door behind me.

It was Faye calling again and i decided to just answer it unless she would not stop trying until i do.

"Hey"

"Hey?" she asked "just hey? Dian i've been trying to reach you since morning and all you have to say is hey?"

"I'm sorry Faye, i've just been...busy".

"Busy?" She scoffed "what else are you doing that could be more important than your boyfriend right now?"

"Ex-boyfriend." I should not have said that i know, i do not know why i did, this was not the time.

"What do you mean ex-boyfriend?"

"We broke up" i let out an exaggerated sigh and waited for her response but got nothing.

"Is that your excuse?" She finally said.

"No, no, of course not" i said too fast, "i just... i don't know if i can handle it. "

She sighed, her voice coming out much softer and understanding now. "I know you are going through a lot right now Dee.."

I chuckled dryly "yeah, no shit!"

"Ming is really worried about you."

"She shouldn't be." I settled down on my bed to think for a while "where are you right now?"

"At home, Damon's mum came over and asked me to get some rest, why?"

"I need your help".

"What for?"

"I need to find out how to get rid of this thing inside me." I dropped my voice down to almost a whisper and she went silent for a few seconds before answering.

"I'll be there in ten."

******

True to her word, Faye got to my house in less than ten minutes and we were currently rummaging through all her mythical books or whatever they where called, that she had been using to do her research.

"Remember that ancient writing that we were trying to uncover a couple days ago?" She showed me a ripped page of the old and scrawny book, showing me the blank space behind the dash for the demon's name.

"Yeah?"

"I figured it out, it was written in Greece, ancient Greece." she was flipping through pages until she got to a rough sketch she made behind the book. "It means...." her voice dropped lower "Lilith, it's name is Lilith."

That was when it all clicked, the visions from my nightmares, the strange woman with red eyes and a black dress that i always saw in my dreams. I had asked her who she was at the time and her response to me exactly was, "Lilith, your living nightmare."

I had though that was all it was, a dream, but it turns out it was not. And i was not hallucinating things all those times but i was actually seeing them.

Taking my time to process the new information, i sat beside her on the ground. We had not gathered any useful information on how to get out of possession but it's name, and i do not think that might do anything to help much. But then again, there most have been some importance to the name if the person that wrote the book hid it in secret ancient Greece.

That's it, the person that wrote the book! the idea hit me like a train and i turned to my best friend.

"Do you know anything about the person that wrote the book? Does it say anything about the author? Anything at all?"

"No," she flipped through the pages repeatedly "nothing....oh, wait!" she pulled up a finger and red carefully on a page "George, George Marius." She looked up at me like she just discovered a big secret.

I quickly grabbed my computer and googled him. The page came up an showed an old picture of a young man with red hair on slacks and a papa's hat. He was said to be a librarian at the Gulvol library in Rome where he lives with his family.

I walked over to my wardrobe, picked a small travel bag and began packing up a few of my stuff and important necessities, along with my phone and charger. I still have some cash in my savings account that i had saved up for college, turns out i would be turning it all in for a different purpose now.

"Dian what are you doing?"

I turned to look at my best friend and give her the most obvious look. "I'm going to Rome."