2013 -- 6.1 (Fall) Fiction

Love Bites

By Raine Inozori

 

Her eyelashes curled like African grass blowing in the wind.

He had been sitting in a restaurant while he waited for her, and the wait had been well worth it. The creature that now sat before him was the most beautiful he had ever seen. She had full, red lips, an angular face, and eyes that shone like emeralds. Her platinum blond hair fell down her back in gentle waves.

A woman such as her didn’t belong on this shabby date, with such an average man like him. She didn’t belong in this gilded restaurant that made onlookers think it was fancy until they walked inside. She deserved a handsome, successful man who could take her to the Ritz every two weeks.

He had a slim face, high cheekbones, short cut brown hair, and blue eyes. He wasn’t exactly unattractive, but seeing her walk into the room, he felt unattractive.

“Samuel?” She asked him across the table. He must have looked funny, just staring at her and not saying a word.

“Oh! Um… Sam. You can call me Sam. Everybody does.” He told her with a nervous smile.

She smiled back. he had been expecting a wide, brilliant smile. But it wasn’t. It was small, shy, even demure.

“Ok, then. I’ll call you Sam. I’m Victoria.”

A beautiful name to match a beautiful lady. He wanted to say that to her, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. It would be weird.

He never should have let Kevin talk him into this blind date thing. Sam had known it would go bad. But, it was the strangest thing: She didn’t seem put off by him at all, even though he was probably sweating buckets, and all he seemed to be doing was gawking at her. He was all too aware of the people around them, casting glances in their direction every now and again. They were probably wondering how a loser like him, managed to hook a girl like her

But he hadn’t. It was just a blind date.

A few more minutes of awkward, clipped conversation ensued before a waiter came by to take their orders.

“Ladies first.” The waiter said, with a wink to Victoria. She gave him one of those shy smiles of hers.

“I’ll have the steak. Rare, please.”

The waiter nodded. “And you, Sir?” He asked Sam.

“I’ll just get the same as her.” The waiter nodded again before heading off. He must have been good at his job, because Sam hadn’t seen an order pad or
anything.

It seemed like an eternity of even more awkward conversation before the waiter came back with both of their plates. Sam was pretty hungry by now, so he picked up his knife and fork, and started cutting. As he ate, he would occasionally glance up at Victoria.

She would cut up a piece of steak, nice and small, put it in her mouth, and suck on it before taking out the now grey piece of meat, and setting it off to the side on her plate.

Sam was significantly confused. Why order a steak if you weren’t going to eat it? The strangest part was, she was doing it like it was completely normal. She
showed no signs of being embarrassed at all. In fact, when she looked up and saw him staring, she met his eyes and smiled. Smiled! it was baffling.

Of course, from that point forward the entire date was even more awkward. What was he supposed to say about that? However from this point forward Victoria was a lot more talkative.

“I’ve always found it fascinating how people act in groups.”

“Did you know that when it rains, Turkeys will stare at the sky with their beaks open until they drown?”

“My grandmother used to make the best chocolate chip cookies.”

No matter how uninteresting her words, Sam couldn’t help but be entranced. And it seemed like she never stopped talking. Sam was vaguely aware of the waiter taking their plates.

It was around midnight when she stopped talking. And as if someone released him from some sort of spell, he became aware of his surroundings again.

The restaurant was empty.

Where had everybody gone? Surely there was another couple out this late, right? This was the city after all. There had to be more people out.

When he looked back to Victoria, he found she was gone. Where had she gone now? What was going on? Suddenly, he felt a strong hand grip him by the back of the neck, and slam his face into the table in front of him. Sam struggled against his unknown assailant, but the person didn’t relent. At one point, he thought he felt an arm buckle, but he still couldn’t get away. Then he heard a voice in his ear:

“Just relax, Sam. it will be over soon.”

It was Victoria’s voice.

This made his stop struggling, mostly out of confusion. There was no way she was this strong. Then he felt something at his neck that made him gasp. It was a sharp pain, like she had stabbed him with something, but it also came with warmth. He wasn’t sure what she was doing, but he felt himself growing weaker and weaker with each passing moment. He stared at the analogue clock on the wall until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, and he felt himself slip away into the dark.