VALERIAI paced my room until my feet ached but I could not stop. My heartbeat was out of control. My mind was overloaded with two many emotions all at once, too many thoughts that felt like they would split my head open. I clapped my hands of either side of my head and groaned. I passed my bedroom mirror, caught sight of my reflection and came to an abrupt stop.I looked... deranged, or like someone who had suffered a tremendous shock, which I had. My hair was tangled, lying every which way. My eyes were wide with shock and terror."Not the eyes. Not the eyes." My voice was low, a panicked whisper.The thought of eyes made me remember in stark detail another pair of dilating eyes which changed from black human eyes to something reddish and bestial. I shuddered, vigorously shook my head from side to side. I couldn't dwell on that else I would go mad. I felt like I was going mad already. I immediately looked away from my eyes in the mirror and studied the rest of me. My shaky hand was

DIMITRI All thoughts of Summer and her family were pushed out of my mind as I eased my car into the evening traffic. I thought only of Valeria. She wouldn't be happy about us withholding the announcement about the broken engagement for a while, but I was sure she would see understand when I explained the reason behind my decision. And then there was also the fact of Valeria's ill health. I hoped she was better now, or at least had the presence of mind to take care of herself if she was not since she had been to the hospital after all. But what if she hadn't? My hand began to inch toward my phone, but I stopped myself from calling her since I was almost home. It was late and she would have returned from the hospital by now. I would see her face to face and confirm that she was okay with my own eyes. To my amazement, Valeria wasn't at home when I got there."What do you mean she's not at home?" I asked Amelia who had told me this l. "Did she return and then leave again?"Amelia sho

DIMITRIDammit! I had thought the meeting would never end. I still could not believe that I had sat through more than an hour of listening to my client's representative drone on and on about a partnership we were about to undertake. The annoying thing was no actual strategy had been discussed. If it had, that would have at least made things at least more bearable. It was the fact that the client in question was one of our most loyal, and the meeting had been planned weeks before hand, that had kept me there.And so I had sat there, thinking, half out of my mind with worry about Valeria and thoughts of what the hell had gone on in our relationship. Just when I had thought I would loose it, snap and maybe punch the man droning in the mouth, the meeting had finally, mercifully come to an end. I sank into my chair, closed my eyes to take a breather. The door creaked open."Give me five minutes," I said without opening my eyes."Hey, handsome. I don't think you'll want to wait five minutes

VALERIAThere was something waiting for me at the other end. I knew it. I wanted badly to reach it so I did my very best to focus. After an indeterminate length of time, I began to panic, thinking I was still in the void and then I heard it; the steady beep of something that sounded like a machine, the soft rustle of something, (Clothes?) and the sound of someone's deep, heavy breathing. Somehow I knew that I had heard these sounds before, but now they were clearer than they had ever been. I focused on the sound of the breathing and struggled towards wakefulness even though I found myself slipping away once or twice. It got easier the longer I kept at it and then I opened my eyes.I was in a brightly lit room, lit mostly by the sunlight streaming in through the open window. The bland decor told me I was in a hospital. So did the continuously beeping machine that seemed louder now. I turned my head and saw the heart monitor at the same time I saw Vance seated at my bedside. The magazi

VALERIA"How is this even possible?"I held up my finger, examined every inch of it. I felt a sudden surge of hope when I thought that perhaps I had bandaged the wrong finger. I couldn't get my hands open fast enough. I even extended the examination to my wrists and elbows, but after a solid five minutes of close inspection, I had to admit that I was not hurt. Not one bit.My heart began to race. I leaned over the bathroom sink, stared right into the frightened eyes I could see in the mirror. Maybe, just maybe, I had not cut myself at all. Hadn't the knife slipped from my grasp while I had been making sandwiches? I had even been half asleep while doing it. It was possible I had everything completely mixed up in my head. Although the blood... I was almost sure that I had seen blood flow out of the cut. I had even sucked the injured finger. Or hadn't I?I let out shaky laugh. It would be funny if I eventually found that I had gotten myself all worked up for nothing. Who ever heard of cu