The Vampire King's Fated Mate

CHAPTER 5: PIZZA FOR DINNER

Nicolette hadn't fallen asleep since Lexi interrupted her heated dream, so she laid in bed for most of the day, binge-watching Good Girls.

Her father had an appointment with his doctor and Lexi was spending the day with Donna.

It was around 6 Pm when Nicolette decided to order take-out for dinner. She dialled the local pizza joint and ordered her favourite, Chicken and Pineapple. They informed her that her delivery would be in twenty minutes which gave her enough time to shower and get dressed.

She was drying her wet hair when her doorbell chimed. "That must be the pizza," she mumbled to herself. Tightening her pyjama bottoms and then wrapping her damp hair in a towel, she dashed downstairs to open the door.

"Hello, pizza delivery for Ms Nicky," a gorgeous porcelain skin beauty stated. She had a creepy child-like smile plastered over her lips. Nicolette's eyes roamed her body, the woman was tall and willowy, clad in an ivory blouse tucked into a caramel-coloured pencil skirt. Nicolette glanced and saw a blue bike parked at the gate. She thought of the dangers such a beautiful woman could face delivering pizzas so late at night.

Nicolette gave her a warm smile. "Yes, I'm Nicky, how much will it be?" She asked while she grabbed her purse from her handbag on the small table by the entrance.

"15.99." Her voice was smooth and almost hypnotic. Nicolette didn't miss the slight accent she had, but couldn't quite pinpoint its origin.

"Ok," Nicolette added as she dug through her purse searching for some change. "Oh gosh, I'm gonna have to run upstairs for some money," Nicolette told her as she gestured with her hand for the beauty to set the pizza on the table inside. "You can leave it there, I'll be back," Nicolette asserted as she ran upstairs. She went into her closet and searched her jacket pocket until she found her coil of twenties. She had around a hundred and sixty dollars tucked away in her jacket. She grabbed one of the twenty-dollar notes and hurried downstairs. To her surprise, the beauty was still standing outside at the door, looking pissed even though her face still sported that creepy smile. "Umm, didn't you hear when I said to leave the pizza on the table there?" Nicolette declared as she took the box of pizza from her and placed it on the small table. She then handed her the twenty.

"I must have missed that," the woman's voice dropped to a low octave, the intensity almost sending Nicolette to her feet. She took the twenty-dollar note from Nicolette's hand and when their fingers touched, Nicolette jumped. The lady's fingers were so cold.

"You poor thing, you're freezing," Nicolette added.

"Well, I've been standing out here a long time," she muttered.

"You're right, that's my fault. How about you come in for a while, and get warm. We could share pizza," Nicolette smiled.

"But I couldn't," the woman's grin widened, mimicking the Cheshire Cat.

"Nonsense, come on in, I insist."

"Well my shift has ended and I can't turn down a good meal," she swallowed as she said the word meal. She slowly made a step forward, placing one foot before the other like a model on a runway.

Her heels clicked and clacked away on the marble floors as she strode past Nicolette. She had the twenty-dollar bill in her hand still, playing with it leisurely. "Oh, you can keep the change," Nicolette announced as she closed the door behind her. There was an awkward pause when Nicolette turned to meet her eyes. Her icy gaze sent chills down Nicolette's spine. Her eyes were crystal blue and had this eerie dead look to them. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Oh, where are my manners, my name's Annie."

"What a pretty name, it's nice to meet you, Annie."

"Same here Nicky," Annie cackled. "So, I'm new in town, what's fun to do around here?"

"Honestly, there's not much to do here in St. Francisville. If you wanted fun you should have moved to Florida, not Louisiana," Nicolette laughed, but Annie didn't, instead, her pale eyes roved over Nicolette, scrutinizing her every gesture. Nicolette swallowed the lump in her throat as Annie's piercing intense gaze pinned her to the spot. It was like Annie's eyes were turning her inside out.

Nicolette's heart began to race away in her chest. Annie clutched her fists tightly together to settle her urges as she followed Nicolette's pulse rising and falling along the curves of her neck. "Very well then, how about that pizza now," Annie quickly grabbed a hold of herself.

"Yes, yes, this way," Nicolette grabbed the pizza and headed to the kitchen with Annie behind her. She fetched two plates and napkins, then handed Annie a plate, "Please, help yourself."

Annie took the plate and snatched herself a nice slice of the cheesy goodness. "Hmm, this looks delicious," Annie stated, but Nicolette noticed her expression didn't match her statement.

"Yes, pineapple pizza is my favourite."

Annie nibbled a piece, "hmm, I can see why," she lied as she spat the unchewed piece in a napkin when Nicolette wasn't looking. "So, have you lived here long, Nicky?"

"All my life. My dad's family has owned the church for more than a hundred years. He is the pastor there now and so was his father before him."

"That's - nice," Annie said unamused. "So do you have a boyfriend?" Her eyes sparkled like diamonds as she waited for Nicolette's answer.

"I'm kinda seeing someone." She took a bite from her pizza. "It's fairly new, but I really like him," she blushed.

Annie straightened her frame, and Nicky couldn't help but gawk at the timeless beauty. Her white-blonde locks hung in a poker straight sheet down her back, gleaming like it had been oiled. Nicolette's eyes zoned in on the glittering diamond pendant nestled in the hollow of her throat. Can a pizza delivery person afford such an expense? She questioned herself.

"Is there something wrong? You're staring," Annie announced knowingly. She smiled, but it was cold; the smile of a predator that knew its prey had nowhere left to go. Her eyes glinted red, but just for a fraction of a second.

"I'm sorry, it's just that, you don't dress like a pizza delivery person."

"Oh, I had a date after my shift, but he called and cancelled on me last minute, I was looking forward to it, I really like him." Again Annie's face morphed into her signature grin.

"That's awful, I bet it's something important, he would be a fool to deliberately turn down a beautiful woman like you," Nicolette let out.

"Thank you for your kind words. You're too sweet," Annie gulped. A text came in from Nicolette's father. He was at the church because a few kids broke in and vandalised the building, so he told her not to wait up as he would be home late. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, it's just my dad telling me he'll be home later than he thought."

"Is that so? May I use your restroom?" Annie asked.

"Sure, down the hall to the left. It's the white door."

"Thank you," Annie let out as she made her way to the bathroom.

Nicolette texted Lexi, who told her she was having a sleepover at Donna's.

Of course, she rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll be spending the night alone," she sighed.

The doorbell rang and she scuttled to open it.

"Is this her?" A scary-looking man with dark hair and brown eyes asked.

A lanky teenage boy wearing glasses stepped from behind the burly man. Nicolette examined the burly man, he had on a name-tag that read, Pete, Pizzeria Manager. His white button-down shirt was riddled with beer stains.

"It was dark, I couldn't see, but I know it was a female," the boy's lips trembled as he spoke.

"Was it you young lady? Did you attack and bite Roger here?" Pete asked. "Our stolen delivery truck is parked a few houses away, we plan on checking every house on the block until we find the thief. We're waiting for the police to get here."

"No, of course not," Nicolette was appalled. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood-staining Roger's blue shirt. "Oh God, you're hurt. Come on in, I'll get you some bandages. Do you want me to call the ambulance?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Roger stated. "I told Pete here that it was no big deal, it isn't the first time homeless people attacked me and stole a pizza or two."

"So this person attacked you and stole pizza?" Nicolette asked in disbelief. "That's strange."

"Not really, plenty of hungry people are around these parts and hungry people will do anything just for a bite," Roger explained.

"Ok, let me just go get the bandages and some peroxide," Nicolette told them to take a seat. She went to her bathroom upstairs to grab the items.

Annie strolled into the living room and she chuckled evilly when she saw the men sitting on the ugly brown couch.

Pete's eyes bulged as they admired the blonde beauty. "Well hello gorgeous," he greeted her, standing up, he took her palm and placed a kiss on it.

"Good evening gentlemen," Annie smiled.

Roger shifted in his seat as his ears registered her voice. "It was you!" He said through gritted teeth. "You were the one who attacked me." He stood up.

"Nonsense, this woman wouldn't hurt a fly," Pete defended Annie. “Look at her, so innocent looking and sweet."

"But I recognised her voice."

Annie could hear the faint footsteps upstairs, Nicolette would be down any minute now. She couldn't have these two fools blowing her cover.

She grabbed Roger by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "My name is Annie and we work together. Because you've been robbed you guys tracked the delivery van here, only to find out that I also had a delivery on this street — oh and the bicycle outside is mine."

"Yes, Annie," Roger recited.

She did the same thing to Pete before Nicolette came downstairs.

"So you guys work together?" Nicolette made conversation as she helped Roger to dress his neck. She gasped when she saw the puncture wounds. They were just like hers, the ones that Ambrose gave her on Valentine's Day.

She knew immediately that he was attacked by a vampire. But why would a vampire steal pizza and a delivery van?

"Yes, Annie here is one of our top delivery people, even though she is new at the job," Pete beamed.

"Ok, done," Nicolette announced as she finished bandaging Roger's wound.

Police lights could be seen down the street then Roger and Pete went out to greet them.

"What a night," Nicolette sighed. "I think I'm gonna turn in early tonight," she faked a yawn hoping that Annie would get the memo.

"Right, you must be tired. Hey, since I'm new in town and I haven't made any friends as yet, how about we exchange numbers and we could hang out and get to know each other better," Annie suggested.

"Sure, why not." The girls exchanged numbers.

"Cool. But we would have to meet up mostly at night. I am swamped throughout the day. I hope that won't be a problem."

"It's ok Annie. We could meet up Friday night."

They said their farewells as Nicolette closed the door behind Annie.

"Another vampire is in town. I should tell Ambrose." Nicolette chewed her nails as she waited on Ambrose to come.

Meanwhile, Annie was standing in the darkness of the streets, scowling at Nicolette's house.

She would get revenge on Ambrose for what he did to her.

She had been searching for him for almost a century and was so surprised to see him at the Masquerade Ball last night. She didn't need to see his face to know it was him. Plus the way he was acting around Nicolette, Annie had to find out who this human was and why she was so special to Ambrose.

Attacking the pizza guy was the only way through the doors. She didn't plan to bite him, but when she tried to compel him his vision wasn't focused as he wasn't wearing his glasses, so biting him was the next best thing. Her venom kept him occupied and high, giving her enough time to steal the pizza. He should be lucky, she could have killed him but she didn't want to get her nails dirty. She didn't know how to drive modern vehicles, so she left the delivery van down the street and stole a bicycle from a lawn then rode it up to Nicolette's house.

"Hey, sexy. Need a ride?" A dark-skinned guy on a motorcycle pulled her from her daze.

She smiled, she was feeling extra thirsty. "Sure," she hopped onto the bike.

"Where to sweetie?" He asked.

"Your place would be fine."

"Alright, hang on tight," the guy said as he zoomed his motorcycle to his death.