“This is called a car, but this is an S class, it’s model name is ‘Maybach,’ there are a lot of cars but different models and the better the model you choose, the higher the price,” Rasmus explained proudly to the nonchalant Edward that was standing in front of a sleek black Maybach. “I got this one for you because I know you would love it.”
Edward ran his slender fingers on the car, a little bit of interest revealed in his midnight blue eyes when he opened the door and saw the car interior and he could say he liked it more because of its dark color. “How is the speed?”
“Perfect,” Rasmus bragged.
“Can it go faster than me?” Edward asked as he sat behind the wheel.
“Well, we can only find out, my Prince.”
“How do you move it?” Edward asked, running his fingers on the wheel before turning it left and right. When nothing happened, he glanced at Rasmus with a raised eyebrow.
“First of all, you will start it,” Rasmus demonstrated by starting the car, “and you control the tires with this wheel. But before that, you will change your gear, R means reverse, D means drive, P means park and N means Neutral. The L1 and L2 means low gear, you can choose to set the gear on low and you will be able to use engine brake. But that’s not necessary because you won’t need it,” he shrugged. “Um…my Prince, if you can let me drive today and then tomorrow we can take lessons if you like it.”
“Why can’t I drive it now, you have shown me how it works.”
“It doesn’t work that way, at most, you will damage the car.”
“Then I will get another one.”
“Um,” Rasmus sighed, he was at lost for words but he definitely knew that the man cannot operate the machine without seeing him do it first. “I promise you, your highness, tomorrow or maybe later tonight, we can practice and then when you have learnt it, we will get a new one. Trust me, this machine is complicated and you will definitely not want to drive into the human town with a damaged car.”
Edward sighed, “fine, if it’s not faster than I am I won’t be needing it anyway,” he said getting out of the car for Rasmus to enter and he was in the passenger’s seat in a blink of an eye.
“Thank you, my Prince,” Rasmus said and put the car in motion. Throughout their ride into town, Edward paid more attention to the car than the tour he was giving him. At the end, they stopped in front of a mall to get him some clothes. As they climbed out of the car, all eyes were on them. They looked so striking and beautiful walking into the mall together: one black haired and one ginger haired, stealing the hearts of women without even trying.
“Do you want to go home now or do you want to go to a nice place the humans often hang out?” Rasmus asked when they got into the car again after their shopping. He didn’t want to talk about the man’s choice of clothing, everything he picked was black and he picked a lot of long coats with no single bright color other than gray, black, nude, beige and different shades of brown. He sighed, glancing at the man, noticing that he still looked dashing even with the dull colors. The man had refused to change from what he was wearing earlier, and he wondered if it would be nice to take him to a club with him wearing a long coat.
“What are we Rasmus?” Edward asked.
Rasmus smiled, “Nightwalkers.”
“And when do we move around?”
Rasmus chuckled, “at night,” he started the car and pulled out of the mall, “oh yes, the humans have a cooler name for us now. They call us vampires.”
“I see, and the Night Howlers?”
“They call them werewolves.”
Edward smiled, “interesting.”
***
“Please don’t tell me you are sneaking out again tonight,” Sean sighed, watching Aliyah who was making sure there was no one watching.
“Don’t be a grandma with dementia, you know I would,” Aliyah replied without looking at him.
“Have you ever wondered what would happen when your dad finds out?”
“At most, I would be caned, what else? Trust me, I can handle a few beating.”
“Aliyah, this is wrong, breaking the rules every night is wrong, and the worst is that you are dragging me into it. I don’t like this.”
Aliyah turned to him then, “what has come over you? You have been acting strange since morning.”
Sean scoffed, “listen, I can’t do this anymore, okay? As the future Beta of this pack, I should be protecting it, not indulging you in your recklessness.”
Aliyah stared at him dumbfounded, “what has come over you?” she repeated in the end.
“Nothing has come over me, I have just decided to uphold my duties and I am telling you that you are not going anywhere tonight.”
Aliyah scoffed, “try and stop me,” she hissed.
Sean sighed, “Ali, please, don’t make this difficult for the both of us.”
“Try and stop me Sean,” she repeated, her anger reeking from her body.
“Ali, don’t force me. I’m stronger than you.”
“I will like to see you try Sean,” she said, backing away towards the gate, “try and stop me.”
“Ali,” he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner, “listen, I won’t fight you okay, come on.”
Aliyah sighed, “I’m going to the human town.”
“What?” Sean was shocked, “no Ali, no, for goodness sake, how can you protect yourself should one of them figure out what you are? Come on, think, everyone knows the Nightwalkers mixes with them, what would you do when you bump into one or two, or even three?”
“Listen I can protect myself okay, I am not a weak wolf. I am the Alpha’s daughter, I know I will not be the alpha but some of the powers are passed down in me through birth. I’m not the average wolf females, you know that.”
Sean scratched his head in a frustrated manner, “for goodness sake Aliyah, go to any wolf clan but please, not the human realm. Nightwalkers feed on them and so they are mostly there, please, Aliyah, this is for your own good. Also, we both know that the punishment of going to human realm is quite dire. Why do you want to punish yourself like this?”
“You are not stopping me Sean, so you either take it or leave it.”
“You are not going to listen to me right?”
“I have gone to every neighboring clan Sean, maybe he is like me, maybe he is searching for me too or who knows, maybe he went to the human realm as well. Maybe we will meet each other there, you never can tell.”
“The only thing you are meeting there is nightwalkers, lots and lots of them. How good is your fighting skill?”
“Very good, you know that,” she smiled proudly. “Hey, I know you are worried about me, but don’t be, I will be in and out of their world before you know it. Trust me on this and if there is any Nightwalker, I will slit his throat before he could say a word.”
“Why don’t I trust you then?” Sean asked.
Aliyah chuckled, went up to him and kissed his cheek, “hey, I will be back before you know it and I promise you that I will come back unscathed.”
Sean sighed, “Ali…”
“Please Sean, please.”
Sean stared deep into her eyes and sighed in resignation, “please be careful.”
“I will, thank you,” she kissed his cheek once more and jumped over the fence before he could say another word. He scratched his hair, hoping his father won’t know of what just happened and left the place.
Aliyah hid behind a tree and undressed, tying up her clothes with a thread she often wears on her wrist. She dropped the tied up clothes in front of her and then shifted, the crackling of bones resounded around her as her body reset, taking the form of a snow white wolf with piercing blue eyes. She grabbed her cloth with her mouth and ran into the woods, keeping her mind blank so that her father won’t find her through the mind link.
When she approached the human town, she stopped and shifted back into her human form, putting on her clothes and walking out of the forest. She has been to the human realm only twice but she had gone those times with Sean and that was when he hasn’t found his mate and often joins her in her adventures with the hope of finding his mate as well. Now standing in the town, a wave of fear washed through her. She knew Sean was right, the Nightwalkers often dominates the human world at night, searching for a prey to feed on, she took a deep breath but there was no dead scent in the area and she knew she was safe for now.
The humans smell blank and the nightwalkers come with additional scent, like a dead plant or dead cell, it was how they always know when one was close by. Seeing that she was surrounded by only humans, she regained her cool and started walking through the streets. Sean had taken her to a club the first time they came there and if she wants to find an eligible wolf to make a mate, it would be best to start with the fun places since that is the only thing that would bring their kind to the human realm.