Chapter 470) Hero Next Door

Heroism is not only in the man, but in the occasion.

~ Calvin Coolidge

Newcrest
Near Avalon Park

Walking home late one night, Nolan overheard loud voices, seemingly an excited exchange, from the park. Hearing only bits and pieces, it was soon clear that a young woman was in some kind of trouble, he heard at least two men, maybe more.

It wasn’t hard to guess what was probably going on.

“Don’t get involved. Do NOT get involved …” Nolan muttered to himself like a mantra.

The woman now screamed, but the scream was muffled.

“Okay, that’s it!” Nolan decided, using his vampiric speed he rushed near the scene of the crime about to happen, observing from a safe distance and the shadows, unnoticed, he quickly devised a plan.

Casually strolling towards them, he called out

“There you are, babe. Didn’t we agree to meet at the entrance? Women for ya, never can they listen, let along follow directions, am I right, dudes?”

The two men let go of the young woman to stare at Nolan, measuring him up as he now smiled at them in a manner which clearly exposed his fangs to signal them he wouldn’t make an easy target.

“Oh shit, it’s a Fang.” exclaimed one of the men.

“Oh, yeah, right, sorry honey, silly me, I forgot.” the girl played along with the rouse, telling Nolan she was smart and handled pressure well.

“Fang-lover!” the other man shoved the girl away from himself, she stumbled towards Nolan.

“Yeah, come here then and give your man some sugar!” he told her, holding out one arm, waving his fingers, while never taking an eye off the men, who were probably contemplating what to do without becoming a vampire’s midnight snack.

The girl rushed to him, took his hand, he pulled her into a fake hug, still keeping an eye on the perpetrators, he felt her tremble hard, while whispering in her ear.

“It’ll all be all right. I am not gonna hurt you, promise. Let’s get out of here. We’ll go back the way I came, from behind me. Don’t look back at them, just start walking, at a decent pace, but don’t run. Try not to look panicked. I’ll put my arm around you, don’t worry, it’s just for show.” he instructed her calmly, while noticing the faint scent of her perfume as she nodded into his shoulder.

Nolan wasn’t afraid of the men, he had no reason to be, he was afraid of the repercussions of the chain reaction any foolish move on their part could cause, plus the girl might end up witnessing something he didn’t want her to see. She already had plenty of scare as is, no need to add something as gruesome as a vampire attack, plus resulting bloodbath to her rotten night, not to mention a vampire’s self-control only went so far before his instincts would override better judgement. Under the wrong circumstances, being a vampire was hard to control, and having to defend themselves or others always bore a risk of bringing out the killer instinct before you could bridle it. At the core all vampires were predatorial, hunters of any living thing with blood in its veins, their urges just usually very well controlled as they were integrated into society. Punishment for killing mortals was usually severe, depending on circumstance, and the reason why most vampires usually chose to walk away from serious conflict.

They made it out of the park unbothered.

She hugged him.

“Thank you so much! That was incredibly brave and kind of you! There were other people who walked by, but nobody helped. Thank you! You’re a hero.” she was very emotional and clearly relieved.

“Nah, no biggie. I can defend myself, I am sure you saw what I mean by that, it would have been them going down, had they tried something, not me. Glad I could help. Let me walk you home, just in case.”

She looked at him, obviously weighing off if she could and should trust this perfect stranger, a fanged one at that, he gave her the moment to evaluate, but when she smiled up at him, nodding her head in a certain direction, Nolan felt like a winner.

They walked next to each other, Nolan couldn’t help but chuckle when they turned down a familiar road.

“What’s funny?” she wondered with a puzzled look.

“The blast from the past is. You know the Victorian style house towards the end of this street? My childhood home. My parents still live there.”

“No way! Your parents are my neighbors?! Our neighbors are vampires?! Shut the front door! I even know them. They came over with a few other neighbors after we just moved in and I see them every now and then as we pass coming or going! Now that you mentioned it, the likeness is striking, and they look WAY too young to have a son who’s probably about my age. How crazy is that?”

“Yeah, I think they mentioned you. You live with a roommate, right? I am from suburbia, word travels fast here, I still live here too, or again, I should say. Moved to San Myshuno for a while with my brother, but he moved away, and I was sick and tired of the big town, so I came home. My cousin and I are roommates now, we live across from the ‘Daily Grind’ and the ‘Dark Mirrors’ not far from you.”

“Oh, that industrial looking house? My roommate and I walk by there almost every day, the ‘Daily Grind’ café has the BEST lattes! Coffee is my life elixir. Haven’t checked out the ‘Dark Mirrors’ yet.”

“You should, it’s a cool place, often with live entertainment. My cousin Connor likes to get up on stage there, he’s a doctor by day and Wanna-Be musician at night, I guess, he’s actually pretty good. I am Nolan Grainger by the way, and coffee is very important in my family too, so we have that in common.”

“Alessa Russo. And this is me then. I’d ask you in, but … ” she pointed at a small, modern looking fairly newly built home just ahead of them, looking up at him apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it. No explanation needed. You should rest, and I need to get home too. Hopefully I’ll see you around.” Nolan smiled, as did Alessa.

Biting her lower lip, she looked like she was gonna say something, when she started digging in her pocket, then grabbed Nolan’s hand, slid up his sleeve and wrote something on his arm with her lipstick. When she was done, she smiled, told him bye, unlocked the door and with a quick wave and still smiling she disappeared inside, gesturing him to call her.

As the door shut behind her, Nolan pulled up his sleeve to look at his arm to find a phone number and her name with a little heart. He smiled all the way home.

Okay, unconventional way to meet someone, but he couldn’t deny there was an instant attraction, and seemingly not just on his side.

He called her the afternoon of the next day, which was as long as he could pace himself to wait, and they went on a date that following weekend.

A week later they had their first kiss.

Nolan liked it so much, that he threw caution to the wind allowing himself to fall, fast and hard, taking the foot off the brake he soaked up every single moment with her after that evening. Living so close to each other, practically around-the-corner neighbors, made getting to know one another significantly easier. Before too long, everyone knew they were seeing each other.

A few weeks later he accepted her invite to spend the night. When he awoke the next morning and she wasn’t in bed with him, he felt odd, until the room door was pushed open and she appeared carrying two coffee mugs, filling the air with a cozy scent and his heart with warmth when she handed one to him, prepared just the way he liked it. The odd intimacy of her remembering something so plebian so early into their relationship made him feel special.

She was special to him.

When he took her to officially meet his parents a week later, he introduced her as his girlfriend. As did she, when they met her mom and older brother for dinner the week after.