rms again and he immediately caught up on this hint.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“Just a little.”
“Here,” he immediately took off his hoodie and offered it to her.
Now, he was in a short sleeved t-shirt and she was able to see the intricate artwork of his sleeve tattoos. They were magnificent. Most of it was vampire related stuff, like ravens, bats, paw prints and blood drops, but she noticed a few things which weren’t. She quickly realized that she’d already spent way more time looking at his arms than she was supposed to, so she quickly grabbed his sweatshirt.
“Th...thanks…”
She felt a little tongue tied around him. His smile was disarming and his gaze… she could get lost in it and never return to reality. She wouldn’t even mind if that happened. Not in a million years did she think that she’d meet so many cute guys in one place and especially in a place like this one, where she so painfully didn’t belong. Yet, she didn’t feel like it. She was fitting in just fine. She was getting the school experience she’d always secretly wanted, with all those high school crushes that went along with it.
Now, there were three of them. Hendrik. Thorne. Renwick. Obviously, Raphael liked her, but his behavior was just too off putting. She could never see herself with someone like him. But, these other guys, they were something else. All special in their own way, all with that wicked gleam in their eyes, which she knew meant both trouble and pleasure. She’d always wanted that, secretly yearning for a romantic adventure of a lifetime.
She finally managed to pull Hendrik’s sweatshirt on and she realized that she was swimming in it. The sleeves went over her hands and the bottom part rested almost at her knees. It resembled a baggy dress more than a sweatshirt. She didn’t mind, though. It was warm and cozy, and it smelled like him. It was a mixture of graphite and the woods. Maybe he’d been drawing there. She could totally imagine him doing that.
“Looks good,” he suddenly said, his words snapping her back to reality.
His gaze went all over her body, like a UV light, checking out if she was carrying something illegal.
“It’s warm, that’s all I need,” she replied.
“Geez, accept a darn compliment when you get one,” he told her, laughing.
“Oh, that’s what it was?” the corner of her lip danced, but she didn’t want to smile. Not yet.
“So that’s how you wanna play this?” he asked, his hands resting on his hips.
He looked gorgeous, like something out of those old comic books. A dark hero who rose out of the ashes, to wreak havoc on those who wronged him. She swallowed heavily, already imagining herself in his strong arms, tracing the lines of his tattoos with the tips of her fingers, after a night of rough love in the sheets of his bed. The very thought awakened a deep, slumbering heat she rarely felt.
“I’ve heard better,” she teased him.
“Maybe you’ll get something better by the end of the night, if you’re a good girl,” he winked at her and she could swear that the earth moved a little.
“I don’t have a tendency to be very good, honestly,” she replied, realizing that they’d reached a small hillock.
It wasn’t hidden at all. It was even decorated with large rocks all around it, signaling exactly where the entry was. There was a manmade door, with a small slot on the level of one’s eyes. Mina figured that the slot would open to see who was knocking and then, they would decide whether or not to let them in.
Hendrik passed by her, then knocked on the door rhythmically. The knocking was quite complicated and Mina doubted she could remember it. A second later, the little slot was opened. A pair of brown eyes peered through, gazing at Hendrik first, then at Mina.
“She’s with me,” Hendrik said importantly.
“Is she…” the voice asked, but Hendrik didn’t let him finish what he wanted to say.
“Yes,” he quickly interrupted.
The slot closed with a loud slashing noise, as if someone waved a saber against the wind, slitting the air. The noise reminded her of the last time she and Kellam had to fight vampires. The only weapons they had at their disposal were some unused old sabers from an old war and, at first, she was skeptical but her own weapon was taken away from her and she had to improvise. She was surprised how handy that saber was eventually.
The door opened with a screech and Mina felt as if the two of them were in one of those old black and white, horror movies and they were now entering a haunted house. Even the inside of the Bunker strengthened that impression. It was all makeshift. There were candles hanging from the sides of the walls, illuminating their path, which was made of dirt and gravel.
Hendrik shook hands with the doorman, who, Mina saw, was just another student. He looked so menacing behind the little slot, like a demon guard, watching the door to the Underworld, but now, he was just one of them. There was nothing mysterious or demonic about him.
Without saying a word, Hendrik continued walking. Mina rushed after him. She was curious about the doorman’s question about her but she didn’t ask. Who did he think she was? Did Hendrik mention her already? Maybe they all had to pre-approve a possible newcomer before he or she appeared. It sounded a bit too much but people sometimes liked that shit. It made them feel more important.
They were walking down a long corridor and Mina felt like they were going deeper underground. The path was narrow, almost enough for two people to walk together side by side. However, she was always one step behind Hendrik, who didn’t really turn around to see if she was following him or not. She wondered if he could hear her footsteps.
The light of the candles flickered as they passed them. She tried to imagine how dark it would get here without all those candles. She couldn’t remember if she’d ever seen such darkness. She didn’t want to. Total darkness was, to her, a world without her brother. He’d always been her light. He knew how to make the worst days sunny again. And, here she was, following this guy, like a stupid girl in love. She knew how wrong this was and, yet, she was unable to turn back. Her heart was following him, obediently, like a little puppy, and a part of her was happy that her brother wasn’t here to see this.