1
Hannah
I stare up at the intimidating wrought iron as two cameras pan in on me, tracking my every move.
Suddenly, what I thought was a statue, springs to life, the man pulling his forearm away from his face, his cape following suit as he hisses in his best Dracula impersonation, “Can I helllllp you?”
I jump back in fear wondering what the heck I’m doing here.
“Henry Hughes. I need to see him,” I exhale, my words trailing off at the end due to my dangerously low blood sugar levels.
“Your invitation, please,” the man dressed as Dracula asks, making sure to bear his oversized, way too real looking, canines.
“I…I don’t have one,” I reply, stammering off my words.
“We haven’t accepted a non-invite in over three hundred years,” he adds, the act wearing very thin.
“Listen,” I spout. “I took a bus all freakin’ night and all day just to get here. I have no money, nothing to eat, no friends, and nowhere to sleep. I just want five minutes, literally five minutes, to talk to Henry.”
Dracula pulls back. “Maybe a little drink then?” he asks, pointing first toward his neck and then mine.
I shake my head in complete annoyance. The man moves in closer, grabs my wrist and brings it up to his mouth, kissing my pulse point.
For an adult, he’s taking this Halloween game a little too far. Scratch that…way too far.
I jerk back, but he doesn’t let go of my wrist.
“Devlin. Let. Her. Go,” a deep baritone orders and I feel my wrist slide from the man’s hand at the same time my knees start to wobble.
My eyelids flicker as a tall, ruggedly handsome man steps from the shadows and into the light illuminating the sidewalk. Where did he come from and how did he get from the other side of the gate to this side so fast?
And is my involuntary all-day food fast going to cause me to fall on my face equally as fast?
“Why do you need to see Mr. Hughes?” the man asks, his body moving even closer to the point it blocks out the overhead security light.
“It’s about my dad, he’s…”
I feel my legs give out and everything goes black.
2
Henry
Don’t believe in fate. Never have.
I believe a man gets to where he is in life through hard work and calculated decisions.
Then why do I feel like this angel entered my world on Halloween for a reason?