Most of my kills usually don't even sense they're in danger until my teeth are already embedded into their flesh.
I can watch them for hours, and I'm so stealthy that they're completely unaware of my attention.
Elena is different, though. She feels me watching her. I can see it in the nervous shake of her fingers and the way she keeps glancing surreptitiously over her shoulder.
She felt me from the moment she stepped out onto the street this morning.
She senses me now in this restaurant, though she can't pinpoint the source of her unease.
I'm sitting in a dark alcove, secluded in the shadows. I secured a seat in a section she's not working in. I don't want her to see me—especially in case she recognizes me from last night and realizes that I wasn't a dream. Because if she does remember anything, she undoubtedly thinks she was dreaming. And that's for the best, really.
My chest tightens. If only I'd been able to control myself from snatching her and pulling her into that alley with me last night, I might be able to introduce myself to her as a man and get to know her.
But the risk that she'll recognize me is too great.
So now I'm stuck watching her from afar. She becomes more curious to me by the second. I've never had prey before that could sense me.
Of course, Elena isn't prey in the traditional sense. I don't want to bite her. Well, that's a lie. I would love nothing more than to taste her blood.
But I don't want to kill her. I don't want to see that light draining from her eyes. Just the thought of it causes an ache to well up deep inside me.
My eyes never leave her figure as I watch her move quickly yet gracefully back and forth from tables to the kitchen. Her beautiful golden hair is in a ponytail, and that somehow makes her look even younger than her nineteen years.
If I truly looked my age, my attraction to her would be sickening. I'm old enough to be her great-great-great-great-great grandfather—maybe even older than that. I don't know my exact age. I stopped keeping track of my birthday long ago.
Physically, I place myself somewhere in my early thirties. That's around when my body stopped aging.
But, oh, my soul has certainly aged. I feel weary just thinking of all the things I've seen in my lifetimes.
War. Famine. Disease. Betrayal.
Elena laughs at something one of her customers says, and I freeze, enchanted by the sound. I'm instantly jealous of whoever was able to elicit the beautiful noise from her.
My eyes narrow as I take in the man she's talking to.
He looks to be in his twenties, and he's grinning up at her with a look that I've come to know all too well.
My hands ball into fists, and my nostrils flare at the thought of him touching her—anyonetouching her.
I haven't found any evidence of a boyfriend, and it's a good thing, too, because if she had one, the fucker would be gone in a heartbeat.
It's irrational and selfish, but I've never claimed to be a rational or selfless creature.
No, I'm a monster, and unfortunately for Elena, she's claimed a monster's attention. Even I realize my attention is already morphing into infatuation.
I'm like a moth drawn to her light. She shines so brightly, I can't tear myself away from looking at her.
I run my thumb over my bottom lip absently. I might not be entirely sure what my plans for Elena are yet, but I know damn well I'm not going to let another man get near her. She won't be having any boyfriends or hookups or anything on my watch. I'll make sure of that.
I drum my fingers on the table as I contemplate her. I don't know how long I sit there and stare at her. It must be several hours because I don't leave until she finishes her shift and clocks out.
The waitress working my table was no doubt perplexed by my long stay. I ordered nothing but steady refills of coffee all morning.
I don't really care for the stuff, but it makes one look normal to drink it in a human setting, and I had to justify my presence somehow.
I throw several hundred dollar bills down on the table as compensation for the tips she no doubt lost by me taking up one of her tables all morning before I follow Elena all the way back to her shitty little apartment.
She keeps glancing over her shoulder and biting her lip nervously, though she'll never be able to see me from the distance I keep between us.