6

The sun shone brightly through the window when I woke up the following morning. At the same time, I heard footsteps approaching my door. I rolled over and saw Aron standing outside wearing a pair of black jeans and a dark gray T-shirt. His hair was combed neatly and styled in a casual style which suited his rugged appearance perfectly. Furthermore, he looked incredibly sexy with his tanned skin glistening in the sunlight. Since he had already changed into clean clothes, I assumed that he must have been planning to leave soon. Yet instead of rushing to grab his coat, he paused momentarily to give me a quick peck on the cheek.

Then he turned around and walked toward the exit without looking back at me again. Before he exited, though, he glanced at me briefly with his bright blue eyes. He flashed me a dazzling grin as he waved goodbye to me. Then he disappeared down the hall and vanished into thin air. For a moment, I stared blankly at the empty space where he had just been standing. Then I remembered that he had teleported himself somewhere else. Without thinking twice, I followed suit. I closed my eyes tightly and focused intently on moving myself to another location. With my mind, I willed my spirit to travel far away from my physical body. Shortly thereafter, I opened my eyes and realized that I was standing right beside Aron in the hallway.

"Where did you disappear to?" I asked breathlessly.

"Teleportation," he replied casually as he continued walking towards the elevator bank. "Now let's hurry up and get going! You're gonna miss breakfast otherwise."

Without saying anything further, he pressed the button for the third floor. Moments later, the doors slid open and we stepped inside. Once we were safely ensconced within the lift, he pushed another button and directed it to take us directly to the topmost level. From there, we climbed out onto a private landing and hurried down the corridor leading to the main entrance. Fortunately, none of the guards spotted us despite our rush. They probably wouldn't have given us any trouble if they had seen me. But I was dressed in a simple white blouse with matching slacks. Meanwhile, Aron wore a similar outfit consisting of a dark gray shirt, dark pants, and boots. Both outfits were suitable attire for both men and women. Therefore, it was unlikely that anyone would recognize either one of us unless they knew exactly who we were.

Once we reached the front desk, Aron handed the clerk a credit card along with his driver's license. She scanned them quickly and then typed something into a computer terminal located beneath the countertop. Afterward, she swiped the card through a metal device connected to the cash register. Finally, she printed out a receipt showing that we had paid for an overnight stay in advance. It contained all the relevant details including room number, check-in date, and payment amount. Then the woman gave us two keycards and instructed us to proceed to the elevators. We thanked her politely before heading down the hall toward the nearest set of double glass doors. As we approached, I noticed that they automatically unlocked after detecting our presence. Then Aron placed his thumb against the scanner embedded in the middle panel and inserted the keys into the lock mechanism. After pressing the green button, he gestured for me to enter first. So I passed through the opening and waited patiently behind him while he followed closely behind me. Once we had taken possession of our suite, I shut the door behind us and leaned against it with relief.

"Wow," I murmured in amazement as I admired the view stretching out below our feet. "What a beautiful city!"

"Indeed," Aron agreed as he joined me at the window and gazed at the panoramic vista. "New York is quite lovely this time of year."

"Is it always like this?"

"Every season has its own charm," he explained as he pointed to the skyscrapers dotting the skyline. "But autumn is my personal favorite since it offers such stunning views of nature."

"How come?"

"Because it reminds me so much of home," he revealed with a smile. "In fact, it's hard not to feel nostalgic whenever I visit New York during fall. Especially now that I live in a completely different part of California."

My heart skipped a beat upon hearing his confession. In truth, I hadn't expected him to reveal his past. But once he started talking about it, he didn't stop. And it made sense why he wanted to share his history with me. Perhaps he thought that I might be able to relate to it somehow. Or perhaps he simply needed some sort of outlet to express his emotions. Whatever the reason, I appreciated his candor and willingness to talk about his troubled childhood. Moreover, I felt honored that he trusted me enough to confide in me. Consequently, I decided to listen attentively even though it meant reliving painful memories from his youth.

"Growing up in Manhattan was great fun," he reminisced fondly. "Especially because I lived near Central Park. That way, I could explore the wilderness every single day."

"Sounds awesome!"

His smile widened. "It really was. Although I spent most of my free time hanging out with friends rather than exploring nature. Still, having access to all those amazing hiking trails and scenic parks helped me learn how to appreciate the outdoors more fully."

"Didn't you ever want to run wild and play in the forest like normal kids do?"

Aron laughed loudly at my question. "Of course I did! But I never got the chance. Not until I came to America anyway."

"Why not?"

"Well..." he began hesitantly. "Back home, we're prohibited from doing certain things. Like climbing trees or running through fields."

"Like what?"

"Mostly stuff that involves animals. If we did that kind of thing, we risk getting attacked by predators. The worst case scenario would involve being killed outright. But it also happens frequently enough that we need to avoid putting ourselves in harm's way in general. Even if we survive the attack, we might still end up suffering serious injuries that prevent us from living a long healthy life."

"Oh wow!" I gasped in surprise. "So you guys actually die sometimes?"

"Not usually," he assured me. "However, there have been cases where someone died after sustaining severe wounds in combat. And others who suffered fatal accidents while trying to escape a predator."

"That sounds horrible!"

"Yeah... Well, fortunately, the government tries to protect people from becoming victims of predation. Unfortunately, though, they rarely succeed due to limited resources and manpower. Plus, there are many dangerous creatures roaming the countryside. So it isn't easy for humans to defend themselves effectively."

I shuddered at Aron's chilling words. "No kidding," I muttered grimly. "Who knows what kinds of beasts lurk in the woods? Maybe there's even a pack of vampires hiding out somewhere nearby!"

Aran chuckled at my morbid joke. "Maybe. But I doubt that you'd find any evidence of their existence here."

"Probably not," I admitted. "But I bet they exist everywhere else!"

He shook his head sadly. "Yes, but not in places where modern civilization exists. Besides, I've only ever encountered three vampires in my entire lifetime: One when I was young; one recently, shortly after we met; and finally, another one several years ago. None of them posed much of a threat. All they wanted was blood."

"Really?" I questioned skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," he affirmed confidently. "They weren't aggressive in any way whatsoever. In fact, they seemed fairly docile. More importantly, they kept their distance from me no matter how often I ran into them. They clearly understood that I wasn't interested in feeding on human beings. Otherwise, they would have tried to kill me immediately."

"Huh..." I pondered his explanation. "Okay, maybe you're right. Still, it seems weird that there haven't been any other vampire sightings in your area. How can you know for certain that they aren't real?"

"There are multiple reasons," he responded curtly. "For example, vampires don't appear to be very smart. They tend to remain hidden deep in forests and caves where they won't attract attention."

"True, that makes sense."

"Furthermore, the creatures seem to prefer hunting prey at night. Thus, it's difficult to spot them during daylight hours. On the rare occasions when I managed to see one during broad daylight, the creature appeared pale and sickly. It lacked the vitality and strength of a full-grown adult. Furthermore, it couldn't keep up with my speed even if it had tried. Lastly, I'm positive that vampires possess supernatural abilities beyond those possessed by ordinary humans. Hence, they should be capable of easily spotting me in the darkness if they really wanted to hunt me down."

After pausing to think for a few seconds, I nodded slowly. "You make good points. Okay, so what about the wolves? Don't they have super senses too?"

Aron frowned slightly. "To some degree yes. But it doesn't mean that we can detect vampires in the same manner that humans can. Wolves' vision and hearing capabilities are superior to ours. However, it takes a lot of practice to become proficient at using these powers in the field."

"I guess that makes sense," I conceded.

"And that brings me back to my original point," Aron said firmly as he fixed his gaze on me. "Vampires aren't very intelligent. At least not compared to us. So it shouldn't be surprising that they lack the ability to use their natural talents properly. Which means that we'll eventually outsmart them if we work together."

"Uh huh," I mumbled noncommittally. "That's nice to hear. Now tell me, what does it take to train yourself to develop such special skills?"

"Practice," he replied promptly. "Lots and lots of practice."