A Summer Of Biting Passion

It was a moment of weakness. During that summer, he could sweat just from IMAGINING her lips pressed against his bare skin. They were parked in front of his grandmother’s house. Not the most romantic of places to be when wanting to give someone a hickey, but Zachari was determined to bedazzle her. His night with Racel Monet was the night of the blood moon. While the air thinned as it grew frigid through the lonely streets of Harloom,his pants burn from her gentle touch.  

He felt a bit slight in comparison to the bulky red Hummer she carried him in (at elast he thought it was a Hummer). Zachari’s evening with the muse of his veiled dreams was about to change. The pair attended the Pumpkin Prance, a festival held in Harloom once every year. It was their final monument within the Axis Academy, and the one road that Zachari wanted to take with Racel was through a dance. See, he had never stilled his heart with resolve – the same amount he needed to say the words “I adore you”.  

Racel, despite her taut body, was quite the romantic in private. He hadn’t paid much heed to this side to her, because she often wore loose clothing or showed up to class with a few bruises. She also wasn’t the sort to wear perfume, but tonight was different. She wanted to be seen by Zachari. It was his first chance of sitting this close beside her other than within their classroom. It was his first time he really stared deep into the garnet cover of her eyes (well, he could see better once he pushed the button to the interior lights. Even then, the streaks of shadows only conveyed to him that Racel is different. She winced from the glow and tapped the button with haste. “Oh!” Zachari grabbed her by the arm, he massaged it with his thumb as he asked “are you okay?”  

She gathered herself after exhaling a quick breath. “I’m fine, Zach.” She stopped to gaze at him. Silence was pricking his nerves. He didn’t truly know what to say. That was until she wonders, “did you like my dress?” His brow moistened from the sweat (that and it is normally humid in the summer of Harloom). Speaking of her dress, it was the only garment attached to Zachari’s brain. It was a stream of silk with a slit to show leg. There was enough room for Zachari to climb over, and so he did.  

 “To be honest, it was the only thing racing in my head.”. He removes her jacket and starts to peck her neck with kisses. Her smooth skin lulled his fingers as the smell of lavender danced within his mouth.  

All he had wanted was her - all Zachari needed was a fraction of time to share it with Racel Monet. Ever since their night together at the pool a year ago, he couldn’t cease the repetitive waves of doubt that flooded his skull. ‘Did I miss my chance? Why didn’t I say anything to her?’ He pressed his lips upon hers. A maiden like Racel was thought to be...too ruggish to the other boys of Harloom, but always found her muscular stature to be...alluring. He even embarassed Racel reciting poetry in front of the entire class. She was blushing for weeks.  

There was something about Racel, that Zachari didn’t expect. His lip was nicked. He retreated for a brief second. “Oh! Zach I’m so sorry!” Within the awkward air that lays between the two, silence once again hummed inside of the Hummer. “Hey...” she plants her hand against his chest. His eyes gape the distance that much further. After shutting his eyelids, he sighs. “I thought this was what you wanted.” Her voice deepened with a snarl. Yielding his head away from her, he turned around with a cheeky grin on his face. She punched him in the arm as he chortles his way out of a make-out session. Lifting his arms, he yanks his own off his own shirt while removing his vest (because he’s a genius) and flags it. She chuckled in response.  

“Hey, do you want to go somewhere a little more...private.” Her hand was snaked on his thigh. He stopped waving the shirt like an idiot and went along with it. She triggered the ignition. They departed from the lone road in front of his grandma’s. Over by the bayou, aside from the bog and its putrescent smell, all Zachari could envision was Racel’s smooth skin. His fingers streamed up and down as the music was placed on low volume to further set the mood. While they were on the dirt road, her eyes were distracted. He glanced in return as she muttered a growl.  

“Something wron-” 

“PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON.” His head was throbbing as a melodic voice was vibrating through his brain. He clapped his own head, wrinkling his nose as he loses his balance. His head bumps the glove department. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Racel had hit the brakes. Her fingers uplifted his chin a bit so that she could search him with her eyes. “You’re not bleeding, are you?” A small layer of panic leaked from within her voice. “I need this night to be perfect- perfect with YOU, Zach!” 

He coated her hand and squeezed it. “No worries,” he knocked on his noggin “I’m hard-headed, remember?”  He didn’t notice the manner of restraint Racel fought against as she dug her nails into the side of her seat.   

Zachari has noticed that things have changed between them the past few days. Ever since Racel asked Zachari out to the Pumpkin Prance, she hid herself away. For the duration of the classes that they both shared, he thought he may have overdone it – after all, most chicks wouldn’t be into clingy guys.  

“I’m sorry.” He apologized while over explaining. He could feel himself getting tongue tied. His heart, at that point was gaining weight with each huff. Racel opened her door. She signaled Zachari to follow with a subtle head notion. His thumb mashed on the button to the seatbelt. The flap smacked his nose. Tears in his eyes as he announced near the woods, “Hold up! I’m comin!”  

It was a beautiful night – hell, it was a strange night. For whatever reason, the moon glowed into a pinkish wound on the darkened blue sky. The croaking and chirping silenced itself with every step Racel took. The fire flies dropped in mere moments, but the only thought that laid an egg in Zachari’s skull was ‘PRETTY...’  

At first, all Zachari could think about was Racel’s skin being painted by the moonlight. How her words would ring as a chant. The melodizing aroma that he was unable to ignore, even though his body was freezing. In fact, he didn’t even feel as though he’s walking even though he treads nearer to Racel – the girl of his dreams. Someone who he was dying to get to know more of...something bounces around his head. His head warms up, and a fever runs his blood into a chill. He sat down for a moment. He planted his hand upon his chest, except it wasn’t his hand, but HERS.  

“I’ve wanted to tell you for some time, Zachari.” Racel’s voice is so loud! His head pulses from each word she spouts. Something caused his vision to blur, he could no longer see the cute dimple in her round cheeks when she smiles, nor could he feel her touch. She felt empty. She felt so distant, even though she was sitting right beside him. Her arms – very STRONG arms embraced him; drawing him into her breast. His face is sprawled in something tepid. It glued to his skin. He opened his mouth to scream, but he couldn’t! Wiping the mess from his eyelids, he gazed into the red abyss that was Racel. Her torso had been slit open. Entire rows of teeth flanked Zachari as he was pulled even closer. He jolted her away from him, and sprinted in rebellion to the pain he felt in his joints. 

Through the forest of Harloom, his lungs burst into flames. Every bit of debris cuts and scraped against his legs as he struggled to regain himself. He stumbled and flipped down a minor hill. His face slammed into the base of a tree. He winced while coughing. He grabbed its bulky root, but he felt something watching him. “Race??!” Lifting himself up, that ambrosial aroma ensnared Zachari yet again. His body, paralyzed from the rich scent exuding from Racel’s body. “Racel! Racel! Stop!” He strains as he grits his teeth. All sorts of feelings compound and burst from his chest. Feelings of grief, of sorrow, of anger all come flooding in, yet it’s Racel’s response to such traumas that alarms her.  

Her hands were like petals. They flapped as teeth slid through a veil of its skin. Racel grew in height, steepling over Zachari as she closed the distance between herself and her mate. He woke up inside of her red Hummer. His body dampened from a mixture of mud, sweat, and blood. He searched Racel. She caressed his torso. “Lean back. I want this moment to be special.” She shrank as she rubbed her nose onto Zachari’s. “I LOVED what you wrote about me, Zach. I never knew how to repay you for such kind words.” His eyelids grew encumbered as her chilling breath relaxed his muscles. Her wet hands cupped his chin. “It is your smile that blinds me. It is your bite that binds me. The words you utter commands me. My dreams are yours to spill. My heart is yours to latch. I lay in your arms as your wings soar high.”