Chapter 5

Only this time was he, Stephen Laurent, felt so nervous.

Carrying a bouquet of red roses that were usually loved by all his girlfriends, Stephen continued to wait anxiously while pressing the bell button for Nikki's apartment.

Yesterday, Nikki was angry with him, and he did not understand the reason why she was angry. He did not feel like he was saying anything that offended her. Instead, he carefully chooses every word he said so it would not hurt Nikki's feelings, given her special condition. Even though he still did not understand the reason behind Nikki's anger, he better initiate to apologize. Usually, this fresh, organic rose bouquet would always do the trick.

He hoped so.

Still no answer from Nikki. Again, he pressed the bell for his apartment.

"Just a second!"

Nikki's voice was heard from inside, looking in a hurry. He had heard a loud crash from inside. Was that woman all right? He cursed himself. He should have waited more patiently. What if the woman fell while opening the door for him?

The door to the woman's apartment opened. The figure he was waiting for finally appeared. The woman's eyes were half-closed. Her hair looked messy, wearing a bunny ears headband. Both of her hands held crutches that supported her bodyweight because she did not attach the prosthetic legs. The dark green oversized sweatshirt that looked like a dress on the woman's tiny body with the graffiti “I'm Not Yours” written in the middle of the shirt did not really match the cute image that Nikki showed at the beginning of their meeting, but it did not detract from her beauty. He found himself in awe of Nikki's beauty until he did not realize that the person he was currently observing was calling out his name.

"Stephen? What are you doing here?"

He jumped in surprise, almost dropping the bouquet of roses that he had hidden behind his back when Nikki brought her face closer until there were only a few centimetres left. Reflexively he took a few steps back from the woman while calming his heart which began to be noisy. What was wrong with him? This was not his usual. Just because a woman approached him managed to make him nervous the way he was now. The woman cocked her head. From the look on his face, he felt that the woman was still angry with him.

"Morning, Nikki."

The woman gave a wide yawn. Her eye bags were clearly visible. It looked like the woman did not get enough sleep last night.

"You haven't answered my question earlier."

"Yes?"

"What are you doing here?" asked the woman, coldly. Leaning half of her body against the door, waiting for his answer.

Still nervous, he took out the bouquet of flowers he had hidden earlier, gave it to Nikki.

"To you. Apologies for making you angry yesterday."

The woman glanced at the bouquet, then looked away. "So? Do I have to accept it?"

"It depends on you."

"Throw it away. I don't need it. Besides, surely I'm not the only one who ever got a bouquet of flowers like that, right?"

He was silent, knowing that the way he did it was not working on her. The woman was even more annoyed. What should he do now?

"Is there anything more?"

"That ..." Stephen got even more nervous. This was completely unexpected. He could feel his hands that were holding the flower bouquet began to sweat. "I'm here to pick you up."

"Oh. Karl's request?"

He shook his head. It was purely his own wish. Karl did offer to pick up Nikki, which he flatly refused because he wanted to apologize to her. At first glance, he saw a change in Nikki's expression who seemed pleased to hear it, before she hid it. Inside, he was relieved. Whatever the reason, at least Nikki was no longer angry with him.

"Wait. I'm getting ready first."

"Okay. Take your time."

Nikki walks inside. After just a few steps, the woman turned back to face him.

"Just go in. Do I need to give you permission to enter, as is so often in vampire fiction?"

"No need. Then, excuse me."

Nikki smiled at him before walking back towards the woman's bedroom which was located right in front of the kitchen room. He took off his shoes on the shoe rack provided near the entrance. The apartment was not big. There was a living room that doubles as a dining room. The kitchen was also not spacious, only one person can enter. There were several books scattered on the table, some of which he had read. He placed the bouquet of roses he still held beside him, examining the titles of the books one by one.

Legal Systems, Introduction to Criminology, Victimology, Psychosocial Criminology, Civil Code...

He skimmed through all the scattered books. All of the books contained heavy topics. Was all these books the woman's lecture material? When he was in college, he majored in Criminology, so he understood a little about these books. He made sure that he has returned the book to the position before—right on the page Nikki left— and not tidying it up for fear that she still needed it, he took a look around. Did that woman live alone? He even just realized that in the woman's apartment, he did not find a single photo of Nikki with her parents. There was only a photo of the woman and her older sister, with the background of the lake. Were the woman's parents dead? He really did not know, because Karl had only mentioned Nikki's older sister a few times.

"I'm ready. Sorry to keep you waiting."

He rotated his body in thirty degrees. As if time stopped, he stared at the figure of Nikki who was wearing a semi-casual blend of blue and white. A shirt decorated with shoelaces hanging from the loose sleeves, with a blue and white horizontal pattern, combined with a white knee-length skirt. The woman had her prosthetic leg in place, so she no longer relied on crutches to help her walk. He got up from his chair as soon as he managed to wake up from his reverie.

"No problem ... I mean, it's still morning. There's no need to hurry," Stephen could hear his trembling voice as he said it. In his heart, he cursed his stupidity. No. He could not like Nikki. Karl has loved her for a long time. How could he seize the person his friend loved for a long time?

But why was his heart getting noisier just by looking at Nikki's smile?

Nikki hurried over to the table, took all the books she had briefly read.

"Sorry, my place is a bit messy."

"No problem. Let me help," he said, picking up all the scattered books and grabbing the books that were in Nikki's hand. "Where do you put all of these?"

Nikki pointed to a bookcase near the living room.

"Okay."

He put the book on the bookshelf, then went back to Nikki, who was now at the front entrance, wearing her shoes. His hand took the flower bouquet earlier, following the woman. At first glance, he saw the shoes given by Karl, still lying neatly on the top shelf, which he realized now.

"You don't wear your high heels today?"

Nikki, who had finished putting on her shoes, turned her head in the direction Stephen was pointing, shaking her head quickly.

"Bianca said I better not wear that too often."

"Oh, that Pedrosa? Why?"

"Afraid that all her girlfriends would throw a tantrum if they saw me wearing it."

"Why? Aren't they nice? They suit you well."

The woman narrowed her brown eyes at Stephen. "I forgot. You are the same as Bianca. How can you understand the feelings of this person whose existence is like dust?"

There was a hint of sarcasm when Nikki said it, leaving him a little confused. Did he say something wrong again?

"Okay."

Only that came out of his lips. He opened the door to Nikki's apartment, inviting her to come out first. After closing the door and giving Nikki the keys to the apartment, he walked behind her, looking for a trash can to throw away the flower bouquet. Nikki did not want to accept it, and there was no one he could give the flower to, so that was the only option available to him. With a heavy heart, he threw away the flower bouquet he bought with difficulty after searching the various flower shops early in the morning, then caught up with Nikki who was already walking ahead of him.

His nose suddenly smelled a strange scent as they walked down the hall to the elevator, sensing the presence of several vampires who were not from any familiar group. He stopped Nikki who was already standing in front of the elevator about to enter the lift which had stopped, pulling the woman back from the lift.

"What's wrong?" asked the woman, exasperated.

Not answering Nikki's question, he carried Nikki's tiny body, leading her to run away from the slowly opening elevator. His eyes caught a glimpse of several pairs of feet wearing black loafers. His feeling was not good.

"Stephen! Answer my question!"

He ignored Nikki's screams asking him to put her down. His feet immediately jumped, stepping on the edge of the balcony to his left.

"Close your eyes."

The woman obeyed. Behind him, several people were already running after him. He jumped over the seven-floor building, landing smoothly in the parking area of ​​Nikki's apartment.

"We're leaving now. I'll explain later," he said, seeing that the woman would ask him another question.

As soon as he arrived in front of his car, he lowered Nikki from his arms, opened the car door. His eyes glanced behind him, found the people had run after him. He clicked his tongue, closed the door and entered the car. Then start the car engine, hurried out of the area.

***

Veronica did not understand.

She was just glad that Stephen took the initiative to pick her up. In fact, she was also pleased to find that the man had come to her apartment so early in the morning just to apologize. However, when the man handed her a bouquet of fresh red roses, she was disappointed. She knew that she was not the only one who had ever been given a bouquet of roses like that. That was why she told Stephen to throw away the flower.

Now, the man asked her to run when the elevator doors opened. She did not understand when the man picked her up before she could refuse. She shouted, trying to ask Stephen what was going on, but the man ignored her question. The man's face looked tense, making her feel bad.

"Close your eyes," Stephen orders. She did not know what happened, but she complied. She could feel a strong gust of wind against her as if she were floating before finally, Stephen's feet landed smoothly on the ground.

Wait! Could it be that Stephen led her to jump off the balcony ?! It was a seven-floor building, and her apartment was on the fifth floor! Was that guy crazy?! She immediately opened her eyes to find that Stephen took her to the parking area in front of the apartment building. She looked back, to saw what happened.

Behind them and also from the balcony, she saw a group of people running after them. Her body trembled with fear, gripping Stephen's clothes with all her might. Her eyes met the eyes of one of the people who were chasing them. Their red irises, plus their pale skin glow slightly when exposed to the sun.

Could it be, they were vampires?

"We're leaving now. I'll explain to you later."

That's all Stephen said. As soon as they got to the front of the car, the man brought her into the car. Stephen glanced behind him. Behind the man, the people who were chasing him were getting closer. The man clicked his tongue, annoyed, immediately got into the car.

"Don't worry. You're with me."

Stephen's words did not succeed in calming her down. She could still clearly remember how those people looked at him earlier. Would Bianca be like that when her vampire side appeared?

The man drove the car they were in at full speed, leaving behind the crowd of vampires who were snarling in annoyance at failing to catch up with them.

"Sorry, Nikki. Your morning are greeted in this unpleasant way. I don't know why those vampires were targeting you," Stephen finally spoke up after they had been silent for a while. The incident made her remember her nightmare last night, terrified her. Coupled with Stephen's scent, which she accidentally smelled when the man was carrying her, made her think of the wolf who had attacked her. After all, this man was a werewolf. She knew that man was different. But her fear felt so real. It seemed that Stephen realized her fear because the man's free hand took the initiative to find her hand and was about to grab it. Reflexively, she took her hand away from Stephen.

"Don't touch me!"

She did not know why she yelled at him. She should not have rejected Stephen's gesture earlier. The man's intention was to calm her down. But why was she now afraid to be beside Stephen Laurent?

"I understand. I'm sorry," Stephen took his hand, returned to the steering wheel. The man's face turned grim. The atmosphere was quiet again because of her reaction earlier. The man did not even try to break the ice, continued to remain silent as she seemed until she arrived in front of her campus building.

***