Come Back To Me, My Luna

The Return

500 years later…

DEA

Someone was watching me.

No, he was deliberately staring at me, gawking at my every move, following every table that I set the platter into to serve the orders of the customers in the Crimson Brew, a famous diner by day and bar at night in the county of Montague, where I was working part-time as waitress.

And it’s coming from a tall muscular man with the sharpest jawline I have ever seen in my entire life seated several tables from where I stood up, ten tall glasses of beer lined up empty on his table.

I tried to stare back, to take a closer look at his face but that stupid pair of sunglasses he was wearing took up most of the features of his face. Who wears sunglasses in a bar club in the dead of the night?

“Geez, he could have just walked up to me and asked my name. Why does he have to make me feel uncomfortable with his stares?” I muttered under my breath as I made my way back into the counter to take another order to serve.

I can still feel his eyes on me, my back burning from his deliberate ogling.

I suddenly felt uneasy.

Is he my stalker? Is he the owner of the countless creepy letters written with blood that I’ve been getting since last month?

Is my nightmare finally manifesting in his presence?

I’ve already noticed him the second he entered the club. Nah, it’s hard not to when a man that tall, maybe 6 '5 or taller, almost filled the entire space of the place with his imposing aura. He's muscles with huge shoulders, legs, everything. Everything is huge with him.

He sat on the farthest end, ordered almost a dozen beers, finished them in one sitting, all while looking at me the entire time.

“Table six. Another two beers,” Betty drawled and pushed the bottles to my side.

“Table six?” It took all of my willpower not to turn at Mr. Glare’s direction. That’s the tall man's table! “Can you sub for me Betty? I still have to bring these to table two,” I quickly concocted an alibi, referring to a plate of ceviche.

There's no way I would go near that creepy man!

“I’ll take that.” To my surprise, she grabbed the plate and gestured at the bottles on my end. “Go serve that before Greg sees you and accuses you of turning down his customers. You know him. He slashes off wages like a loan shark.”

I sighed and picked up the bottles against my will. That fuckass Greg. If only I wasn’t that desperate for money then I wouldn't have to enter into a dubious contract with him.

“The man personally requested for you,” Betty leaned in and gave me a wink before completely whisking away the order from my hand that could have saved me from directly going into a s*******r.

With my stomach on my throat, I walked with heavy steps crossing through laughs and greetings from the regulars.

Everyone is having a good time except this man whose jaws ticked when I served the bottles into his table.

Up close, he’s even bigger in size that he has to splay his legs open so the table and the chair can accommodate him.

“Enjoy your night, sir.” I faked a smile on my face and kept myself from wincing in fear when he growled.

“My Luna…” he spoke in the deepest huskiest tone I’ve ever heard. “I'm sorry that it took me half a century to come find you.”

The hair on my back stood up when I heard him.

Goodness gracious! How could the voice of a man be this fine to hear?

And the way he spoke… It's full of yearning and regret contrary to his appearance that seemed to scream invincibility.

Was he a disk jockey on the radio or an announcer perhaps because I swear, his luscious deep voice is enough for the waitresses here to plop down their panties for him.

Except me. I’m always an exception.

I chuckled and looked around the sea of colorful lights and drunk men looking for Betty or even that jerk Greg to order me around. And century? This one’s a smooth talker.

“I’m sorry but I am not Luna. Maybe you’ve only mistaken me for her. Enjoy your drinks, sir.”

I turned around hastily wanting to get away from this man as fast as possible but before I could disappear back into the crowd, he caught my hand and caressed my ring finger sending shivers down my spine in an instant.

“No, I’m sure of it. You are Maria Victoria. You are my luna. You are my only love. You smelled of vanilla and peaches. It’s been several lifetimes of humanity but I can never forget your sweetest scent. I lived… no I survived each day remembering you and your scent.”

I let out a forced laugh and playfully slapped his arm to deter him from pulling me any closer into his body. I’m used to alcoholics like him who think they can get into my pants just because they call me love and shower me with flowery words.

And I'm allergic to peaches and I hate the scent of vanilla.

How freaking ridiculous was that!

“I know how painful it must have been for you to wait for me,” he continued, looking at my eyes through his dark glasses. “I’m here now, mo bheatha.”

The heck?! The only thing I am willing to wait for is the paycheck I am going to get at the end of this month so I could kiss this f*****g club goodbye.

That would be enough to cover the remaining cost of my mother’s surgery.

“I’m sorry but I have to attend to the other customers.”

I hastily pulled my arm from him and literally ran into the counter, trying to shake my mind off the tingling sensation his hand left on mine.

“I’ll take a break for a few minutes,” I informed Betty on the cashier before heading to the backdoor, filling my lungs with the harsh winds of the December night.

I need to take some air. Gosh, the aura of that man is beyond this world. I’ve met all kinds of customers; simple casual men, VIPS, billionaires, politicians, but I have never met someone like him that exudes such power that feels like breathing is a sin.

And his eyes… damn his eyes are something else. I cannot see him but I swear that his gazes felt all too familiar.

I took out a cigarette from my pocket ready to light it when my phone buzzed.

“Jane,” I answered my phone and leaned on the wall bracing myself for the news.

“I need the money now, Dea! What are you doing getting cozied over there?!” she screamed at the line. “Did you forget that our mother is dying? Do you want her to die? Are you really that excited for her to die just so you could steal her money again?! What kind of a daughter are you?!”

I clenched my hands cursing in my head. I wanted to scream at her face, to tell her that if she did not gamble our money in the casino, then we would still have something left for our mother’s colon surgery.

I want to shout that I’ve been getting two hours of sleep every night for the past months juggling my full-time and part-time jobs to save for the surgery while she’s still burning her money on sketchy investments.

But if I do that then she will tell mom and will play the usual victim card.

She’s mom's favorite, the apple of her eyes while I…. I am the other twin who has been her greatest disappointment.

“I'm working on it. Stay with mom,” I said instead and turned off my phone, brushing my hair away from my face in annoyance.

“You said you will wait for me.”

I jumped on my feet and turned back quickly when I heard his voice behind me. How did he get here so fast? I didn’t even feel his presence or hear the door opening.

“What are you doing here?” I sounded alarmed and there is no reason not to when he put his hand over the wall on my head while pinning me back to the wall caging me with his humongous body.

The alley is a dark place and no one frequents here other than the staff at the bar who were all busy working inside.

“Now, I am here for you and I will never ever let you go..”

I squeaked in horror when he dipped his head onto my neck and swipe his hot tongue directly on my skin.

“Maria Victoria…” He inhaled my scent and sucked at my skin. “It’s been so long my love.”

I was just standing frozen, heart was throbbing against its cage, mouth parted open, and eyes widened. I can’t feel my legs anymore due to immense fear. Is it really happening to me? Do I really have a towering man over me with his tongue crazily sucking at my neck?

And then he paused and lifted his face on me. “You’ve got a smell of a man lingering in your skin.”

That’s when I got a hold of myself. I raised my hand and slapped his face so hard it left a red mark on his left cheek “Get away from me!”

But he didn’t seem to mind it. In fact, he even looked pleased that I touched his face. Is he a masochist?

He sniffed my neck again, his face darkening in that dangerous manner. “He’s all over you! This one is bothering you!”

His grip tightened around my arm that I know for sure will leave a bruise tomorrow if I am still alive by then because looking at the dark lines across his face, he sure is someone I cannot escape from tonight.

“Tell me, who is this man?!” He let out an animalistic guttural sound that made my skin crawl.

My knees trembled and a pool of tears started forming in my eyes. Please, someone help me!

“I just know how to get rid of this unwanted smell on you,” he murmured as he took off the sunglasses eliciting a gasp from me.

How could someone have such a bright color blue for a pair of eyes? And why is it turning red right now?

“You don't remember me. You don't recognize me but I know you will recall the taste of my blood, Maria.”

He bit his wrist, licked his own blood before cupping my face.

“What-”

The scream died in my throat when his mouth crashed down into me.