Dark Eyes

Chapter Sixteen: A Worthy Opponent, A Beautiful Mate

I walked past Rems outstretched hand and out onto the sidewalk. He followed behind me. He was close enough to watch me, but I could tell he was giving me my space. I appreciated that. The sun was setting very quickly. It was almost dark now. There were no street lamps in this part of town, but I could see the street lamps coming on down the road. I took off walking in that direction with Remington trailing behind me.
"Are you going to be scared of me from now on?" He asked. He sounded hurt, or worried.

"I don't know Rem, I've got a lot to process right now." answered him without looking at him.

"I understand." Was his only response.
The street lights were getting closer, but they still seemed so far away. It's not that I am scared of the dark, it's that I'm scared of people. And people tend to hide in the dark. We walked in silence for a few moments until his voice startled me.

"Stop." He said.

This time, I turned and looked at him. "What?"

"Stop walking, I hear something." He said. He reached for my wrist, to pull me behind him, but I flinched away. I could see the hurt in his face.
"Please get behind me Harper." I obeyed and walked so that I was standing behind him, looking in the same direction he was. I couldn't see anything that was further away than a couple feet in the darkness. But Rem seemed to be following something.
I went to ask him what he saw, but he shushed me before I even began to speak. His freaky vampire senses must have heard my mouth open.

"We need to go now. This is not good." He said. He grabbed my hand before I could pull it away from him. I tried pulling it away once he had it, but he was too strong. He pulled me towards him so that we were face to face. My heart is beating at an unhealthy rate of speed.
"Harper, damnit listen to me!" He whispered very sternly. "I am NOT going to hurt you. You can be scared, or whatever, but right now you HAVE to listen to me." I nodded. He still hadn't let me go, and we were still so close. "Your heart is beating so fast." He said, with a hurt look on his face. "I'm sorry I scare you so much." He slowly leaned in and kissed my cheek. I didn't flinch away. In that moment, I wasn't scared of him. He was my old Remmy. "There. That sounds better." He said. He smiled a little bit at that, and so did I. He pulled me, by my hand, across the street. We started walking briskly toward the street lights. I felt like something was following us. I turned and looked over my shoulder for a second and saw what looked to be a tall slender like man peeking out from an alley.

"Rem..." I started.

"I know, my love. Just keep calm and keep walking please."

I listened but it seemed every time I looked over my shoulder, the man was either gone from sight, or he was closer. We had made it to the street lights now and everything was a little brighter. I felt a little better, but I could tell Rem did not. He was still pulling me behind him very quickly. So quickly, I was tripping over my feet.

"Baby, you've got to move faster." He said.

"I'm going as fast as I can." I told him, a little agitated.

"Fuck. Guess we will go with the back up plan then." Rem said under his breath. He led me into an alley to our right. It was very dark. He turned to face me, with his hands on my shoulders.

"Stay here and stay very quiet." He told me. I nodded. He leaned down and placed a very soft kiss on my lips.

"I love you Harp. I'm sorry I brought you into this." he said. He turned around and headed out of the alley and made a left turn, towards the man in pursuit. He must not have went far because I could faintly hear their voices.

"Why are you following me?" Rem asked.

"You? I think you mean Us. Where did your friend go?" The man asked. He had a very deep voice.

"You let me worry about her." Rem replied.

"Why haven't you taken her yet? She smells so delightful. I thought you might be willing to share." The man said. I heard him take a step closer in my direction. He is talking like he has the same senses as Remington. Is this guy a vampire too? How many are there?

"I would advise you not to come any closer. I will protect her at all costs."

"Why? She's just a human girl. That's a shame. I would hate to kill one of my own. But I will. Her blood is like nothing I have smelled before. I must have it." He replied, rudely.

At this point, it all went silent for a moment. A very quick moment. Then I heard running. The footsteps were getting louder and louder, then the tall man turned the corner into the alley. His bright blue eyes caught me and focused in, he took a deep breath and his eyes went black.

"Ah, there you are my dear." He took a step closer to me. He was a little taller than Rem with black hair that was slicked back. He wore a black leather jacket, with a black shirt and black pants. He was very handsome. I took a step closer to him.

"Harp, don't move! His voice is his trick. Dont listen to what he says. Listen to my voice baby. Don't move!" Rem shouted. I snapped out of it in time to see Rem jump on the tall mans back and grab his throat. The man grabbed Remington, pulled him over his head, and threw him on the ground in my direction. Remington slid to a stop at my feet. He stood up quickly in front of me with his arms outstretched.

"She is your mate. That's why you're so protective of her, isn't it?" The man asked.

Remington just growled at the man. Suddenly, the man went still, and his face looked very blank.

"What's happening?" He asked.

"Having trouble seeing?" Remington asked, smugly. I could hear the smile on his face.

"Oh my. This is your gift? I have experienced nothing like it before." The man said.

"And you never will again." Remington answered. He turned to me and told me to stay in his line of sight, but to walk out of the alley and wait for him there. I did as I was told. Behind me I could hear the man say, "a worthy opponent, and a beautiful mate." After that I heard a thud. Then Remington was grabbing my hand and leading me away from the alley. I glanced over my shoulder to see the man, lying on the ground with his head turned completely backwards. My mouth fell open.

"Baby please don't look. I'm not proud, but I had to protect you." Remington looked at me. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles as we walked back to the bus.