By this time, their food arrived.  Juliet was surprised when she saw Seth’s meal because it was merely a plate of sliced raw fish, served with a glass of what almost looked like red wine, except the color wasn’t as rich.

“Bon appetit,” the waitress said as she set down their food and disappeared.

“Doesn’t sushi usually come with rice and seaweed?” Juliet questioned, looking at his plate contemplatively.

“Usually, except this isn’t sushi,” he said as he cracked apart his chopsticks.  “It’s sashimi, a Japanese delicacy.  Like I said, it took me a while to get the chef to prepare it the way I like it, but it was well worth the wait.  He does a pretty good job.”

Juliet wasn’t revolted by his meal, but she was surprised when he took his glass and poured half its contents onto the fish.  It streamed scarlet on the dead, white flesh.

He laughed at her.  “Trust me, it’s good.  Do you want to try it?”

She nodded, though she was positive it wouldn’t become her favorite.  He picked one up and deposited it carefully into her open mouth.  The flavor was not what she had expected.  She had expected red wine, but instead, it was some kind of cordial that completely drowned out the flavor of the fish.

“What is that?” she asked when her mouth was empty.

“Cod.”

“No.  What’s in the glass?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” he asked wickedly.  “It’s nothing to worry about.  It wouldn’t get you drunk no matter how much you drank of it.  It’s grenadine.”

“Pomegranate juice?”

“Basically.”

“I didn’t think anyone drank that straight.  Isn’t it supposed to be an ingredient for other drinks?”

“Probably.”

Juliet peered at him curiously before she dunked her sandwich in the beef broth.  

“What about you?” he asked.  “What about your family, your friends, your life?” 

She shook her head slowly.  “I…” she started, but then she stopped and looked at his face.  

He was even more attractive in the sunlight.  His eyes had a slight upward slant to them that made them look like they hid millions of secrets.  Before she knew it, she was daydreaming about him and his past and his thoughts.  There was something about him, something compelling, drawing her in and making her want to throw her own past away.  As she sat with him, she wanted to reinvent herself, just so that she could be the type of woman he wanted.  Was that what he had envisioned about her?  That she would change and become a wreck just because of his love?  Maybe she didn’t have to lose hope in herself.  Maybe she could invent a new self.  She pictured herself driving him wild with desire.  Perhaps she could become a woman with long legs, excellent taste in books, and a smile worth dying for.  He would want to be with her all the time even just to play with her hair.

Juliet licked her lips and said, “I want to apologize for asking you all those questions about your brother and your life.  It was rude of me since I don’t want to reciprocate.  There’s nothing in my past life that I want to talk about with you.  Can’t we just pretend that I didn’t exist before you started reading my blog?”

Seth’s chopsticks were halfway to his mouth when she had started speaking, but with her words, he put them down and regarded her seriously.  “That’s perfectly fine with me if that’s the way you want it.”

Juliet breathed a sigh of relief.

“But I’m surprised,” he said as he took a bite.  He finished chewing before he went on, “I thought you’d want to hash over every detail of your life... and mine.”

She smiled secretively, “I don’t want to scare you.”

Seth laughed.  “How could you scare me?   Besides, it feels unnatural somehow to have such a finicky, polite conversation with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m already tired of this whole ‘lunch’ scenario.  I know couples should go on dates to see how compatible they are, but I just want to take you out of here and find out what your lips taste like... over and over again.  Can we finish up here and go back to your dorm room?”

Juliet’s heart jumped and skipped and then took a nosedive.  What about the poster on her closet door?

“Couldn’t we go somewhere else?  Like your place?” she stuttered.

“I can’t wait that long,” he said, his eyes burning with intensity.  “In a second, it’s going to be your side of the table.”

“In public?” she gasped.

“Just once,” he said, getting up from his side of the table and coming around to hers.  He pulled her chair out and turned it slightly so that she faced him.  Then he knelt on the floor in front of her.  Juliet’s cheeks burned heady scarlet.  People were looking at them.  He looked like he was proposing marriage in a campus bar, but Seth wasn’t looking at them.  His eyes were only for her as he pulled her closer to him and claimed her lips.

She felt his lips on hers before she entered into the dream-like state she had during their first kiss.  Seth wasn’t there.  There was no man in her vision at all.  She was sitting alone in a chair in a stone room.  She could see the sun setting through the windows to the west and the yellow-gold light across the walls.  On the stand beside her sat a goblet—a goblet filled with blood.  Turning away from it, she knew it wasn’t for her even though she had tasted it many times.  It was her blood.

But then, was she the same person?  She was and she wasn’t.  She had never been a little girl or a teenager.  Her adolescent self had been shed like snake skin revealing a woman.  She couldn’t see herself, not even her hands, but she felt a difference in her the very essence of herself.    

Spring had gone from her and with it so many treasures of youth.  Summer was gone too, only her autumn remained.  And autumn was glorious, shaded with deep markings of orange and blue.  Her breath felt crisp in her throat.  All at once, she knew what she wanted to be—autumn.

Suddenly, she realized where she actually was—in the campus pub.  Seth wasn’t kissing her, but to Juliet’s horror, he was lying flat on the floor beside their table.

“What are you doing?  Get up!” she hissed at him as quietly as she could, even though everyone was glaring at them.

Seth smirked.  He put his hands behind his head and said evenly, “It would have been less embarrassing if you hadn’t thrown me off.”

“What?” she gasped.

“What?  Don’t you remember?”

She scratched her temple, to hide her feelings of unrest.  “No.  Not at all.”  

Seth picked himself off the floor.  Standing straight up, he said, “Do you want to go now?”

“Yes,” she whispered, half-covering her face.

Seth reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.  He put the necessary bills on the table, put his arm around her, and ushered her toward the door.  “We won’t come back here for a while.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled.

Once they were alone inside the elevator, Juliet felt free to talk to him.  “I’m sorry.  I blackout when you kiss me.  It’s mortifying, but I don’t think I can keep it a secret if...”

“Kiss me again,” he breathed, gently pushing her into the corner.  “If you pass out, I’ll take you back to your dorm.”

“No, Seth!” she said, putting her hand between their faces.  “I want to talk for a minute.”

“Talk?  When there’s pleasure like this to be had?”  His lips found the side of her neck.

She pushed him off and met his eyes sternly.  “Why do you have this effect on me?”

Seth backed away from her and leaned against the wall.  He folded his arms across his chest and looked vexed.  “And why, little girl, do you have this effect on me?”

“What effect?”

“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone.  I feel like if I can’t have you in my arms, they’ll break.  Don’t turn me down.”

The elevator doors opened and Juliet pushed past him.  “I need to think... and I need answers.  I’ll see you later.”

He rushed after her and grabbed her elbow.  “Don’t go.”

The sound of his voice made Juliet’s bones melt.  She was on the verge of giving in when she glanced up and saw his face.  She thought she had imagined his sharp teeth.  No, she hadn’t.  He was almost panting, and his two canines had extended so far they were resting on his bottom lip.

“We can’t talk right now,” she claimed, forcing herself to be assertive.  “Your blood lust is too strong for you to handle.”

Seth’s eyes stared back at her in horror and his mouth hung partly open.  His fingers relaxed and his arm fell to his side.  Juliet stared at him with deliberation.  Finally, he tucked his fang-like teeth behind his bottom lip.  He turned around and walked away.

As Juliet watched his retreating form, she let out a cleansing breath and told herself she was safe.

Seth turned around and said just four words to her, “I’m not a vampire.”  He even managed to say the words like he believed them, but the thing was, Juliet wasn’t sure she could believe.