I was on my way home from helping Doreen contact spirits at the caravan when I saw Robert on his motorcycle.
Had I left the caravan a few minutes later, I would have completely missed him.
I made a sharp turn and followed; barely able to see him speeding ahead of me.
This time he led me to another, far more upscale bar: the Red Velvet Lounge.
As soon as we walked in, we saw that the clientele in this bar was a lot more sophisticated.
But Robert’s eyes went right to her and my gaze followed immediately.
There she stood; a modern Jezebel.
She was Moonlight Fall’s own Delilah, looking for her Sampson.
She was looking for someone to consume, to control…to destroy.
And tonight, she had her eyes on Robert.
Her face softened as soon as he approached her; successfully masking the evil, instead giving it an innocent doll-like appearance.
Robert approached her cautiously…
…but for the wrong reasons. He was afraid of rejection, I was afraid for his soul.
“Hi, I’m Robert,” he managed to say.
I could see what she was right away, but all Robert saw was her beauty.
I don’t know how Robert ignored the signs. It was all there right in the open, from her long red nails that reminded me of daggers…
To the fangs that practically advertised what they were used for; shredding and ripping.
Her too white, porcelain skin gave her the look of an old fashioned china doll. But there was nothing else doll-like about her.
She didn’t even try to hide the mark of the undead on her neck.
But there was more than that. There was a deeper darkness inside her. And when she spoke, I recalled the feeling of my insides churning when I met Donte before I died. “Hello Robert, my name is Elaina Coffman,” she was saying in a sickening, charming old fashioned accent.
I felt the need to guard Robert. To make sure that he didn’t let Elaina in. I sat down in the closest chair that I could find.
“I’m sorry if this comes out sounding too forward…but you are flawlessly beautiful.”
Her cheeks turned red, as she faked modesty, “Oh my goodness. I’ve never been told anything like that before.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Robert said. “I’d love to get to know you. Can I buy you a drink?”
“Sure, that would be incredible,” she answered.
I stood up. I wanted to stop him, yell at him…anything to keep him away from Elaina. I had to save him…
Save him? I repeated in my head. The words, the feelings, the emotions…the fear, all felt incredibly familiar.
I had seen this before…many times before, in vision after vision that started way before I even knew of Moonlight Falls.
I was hit by the answer to a question that had burned around in my soul for the longest time. I finally had the who: it was Robert that I was destined to save. It was him all along.
I had the what, I had to save him from an evil force that was out to destroy him.
I was just missing the how. How could I save him, when he did not know that I existed?
