Sunrise at Sunset (Sunset Vampire #1) - Page 2

Reacquainted

Katrina took a number of months to establish herself in the area around Atlanta, Georgia. She settled into an upscale, secluded neighborhood in nearby Mableton. As customizations were made to her large estate, she began to familiarize herself with the area. Georgia was a state in which she had never spent much time, though she loved the variety of forest environments that blended into the suburbs and city areas. It was a perfect environment for a vampire, and she wondered why she hadn't visited there before.

She selected an appropriate mode of transportation. Though Atlanta was a large metropolis, it held the opportunity for enjoyable driving experiences. She typically preferred a traditional luxury sedan, but she bought a new jet black Audi sports coupe. It implied fun and speed, without seeming pretentious. The car was sleekly contoured for speed, a style of vehicle that was something entirely new and different for her. Maybe it was that, for the first time in recent memory, she actually felt as young at heart as her nearly thirty-year-old appearance suggested. After only one test drive across the I-20 highway at high speed, she knew that she made the perfect choice. It made her feel playful.

Unlike previous identities, Katrina decided to forgo the diversions of a career. This time she intended to utilize her accumulated wealth to its fullest, allowing her more time to focus on independent projects. She had a couple of diversions in mind, but only one of them had sandy hair and pale blue eyes.

Her careful searching revealed that Caleb was living locally, and she easily located him on the Website for Robert Fulton Community College in downtown Atlanta. Professor Caleb Taylor was teaching sections in history for the college as one of their recently-hired faculty members.

Katrina hadn't seen Caleb since he was a pre-teen, when she had secretly attended an evening baseball game at his junior high school. He'd been a sandy-haired, lanky youth with an awkward manner about him, which she found both endearing and amusing at the time. Years later, she had seen a photo of him standing in the back row of a group of high school baseball team members as part of a newspaper article about their winning the state championship.

She decided to enroll with the college and take the only evening section of U.S. History that Caleb taught in the upcoming fall semester. It'll be fun, she mused. Her last college course was in the 1960s at Pennsylvania State University. Suffice to say, I won't be transferring my transcript, she added with a smirk as she completed the online enrollment application.

It was Monday night and the end of the first day of fall classes at Robert Fulton Community College. Caleb shuffled his lecture notes for about the fifth time as he sat in his closet-sized office that was barely wider than the doorway that led into it. His desk faced a wall-sized window, which at least gave him a view of the campus grounds, though he hated having his back turned to the door. There was barely room for a bookshelf on the right and a narrow computer hutch on the left next to his guest chair. Nevertheless, he was grateful for the opportunity to teach full-time, being twenty-six and fresh out of graduate school. The marketplace had been competitive due to the state's recent poor economic conditions. It was a small community college, serving only about four thousand students each spring and fall semester. But Caleb loved academia, unlike many of his friends who had primarily valued the socialization of their collegiate experiences. Knowledge was a passion, and now a labor of love for him.

He glanced at his watch, realizing his evening class was about to start at eight-thirty: the last section of the day, as luck would have it. He picked up his notes and textbook and made his way upstairs down the simple-tiled hallway lined with classrooms. His was Room 203 on the left about midway down the hall.

When he walked into the classroom on that first evening, he glanced around at the faces before him. There were four rows of tables and chairs split on two sides by an aisle up the middle, to accommodate up to thirty-two students. Only twenty-one were enrolled, and he had been warned by the associate dean to expect two or three students to drop.

There were a variety of stories represented in the faces he saw. Some were younger high school graduates trying to start their college career with poor ACT/SAT scores who couldn't yet qualify for university admission. Others were working adults striving to get an educational edge or promotion in their careers. A few others were interested in avoiding the large general education class sizes of Georgia State for a more intimate setting. There appeared to be a half-male, half-female distribution, and he noted that it was his first class that semester that didn't have anybody sitting in the back row.

After welcoming everyone to his Early American History class, he began calling roll, glancing up at each face in turn to try and associate names with faces: Bibbons, Cosby, Darby, Franks…

Katrina was running late. She had nearly forgotten to get a textbook and was making her way from the college bookstore with her notepad and text in hand. She wasn't sure whether she would actually attend the entire course, her main interest being the opportunity to see Caleb after so many years and listen to him lecture. Her curiosity intensified as she mulled her prolonged absence in his life.

Absence, Katrina chastised herself. As if I've had any real part in his growth or development. Any tie that she felt to him was solely based upon the memory of his youthful aid on that fateful summer day. Aside from killing his abusive father, she had merely played the role of an anonymous financial benefactor for him and his mother. After that, she'd restricted herself to only watch from a distance. Nothing more. But then, wasn't that the plan, to stay out of his life and allow him the opportunity to grow up in a "normal world?" Her previous attempts to develop close relationships with humans always ended badly and, more often than not, fatally for the humans in question.

Katrina broke from her reverie, darted into the classroom as roll was being called, and slipped into a chair at the back of the room. Then her green eyes darted towards the front, following the sound of what had to be Caleb's very mature-sounding voice.

When her eyes settled on the fit young man standing at the podium, she arched one eyebrow in surprise. The Website photo didn't do him justice. His features were accented by a masculine, yet gentle face framed by neatly-maintained sandy brown hair. She was happy to see that his eyes were still the beautiful, pale blue that she remembered from when he was a child, though she readily admitted the term "child" hardly applied to the strapping man that stood at the front of the classroom.

His conservative navy blue slacks and tie looked professorial, while his white Oxford shirt fit snugly to his muscled chest, further accentuating his athletic build. Caleb's pleasing appearance was completely unexpected, and she felt an immediate dual desire rise within her. Part of her appreciated him sexually, while another part was sizing up her prey. She still considered humans as prey, even though her hunting activities were curbed many years ago by the easy access to blood bank supplies. Somehow blending into society was easier if she weren't being hunted by humans for draining people of their blood.

Oh Caleb, how you've changed since I last saw you, she contemplated as another wave of desire washed through her.

Caleb continued to call roll. "Jill Parker, Melvin Peterson…

"Katrina Rawlings?" he queried in a friendly tone.

"Here," a firm, but silky voice answered as he looked up to meet the face hosting such an enchanting tone.

When his eyes fell upon Katrina, he nearly lost his breath. He guessed that she was in her mid-to-late twenties. Her pale features were punctuated by deep green eyes and shoulder-length red hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. She wore a pair of stylish black denim jeans and an emerald cami. A gold Greek key necklace adorned the pale skin of her neck. She could easily have been a fashion model. But, much to his surprise, the most notable aspect about her was her eyes. He could see her beautiful emerald eyes from the front of the classroom staring back at him in a penetrating manner.

His pause was somewhat noticeable, and he swallowed once to moisten his throat before forcing himself to glance down with a raised eyebrow and continue calling roll. A few students turned around to glance back at Katrina, the men's eyes lingering before turning back to the front.

Following roll call, Caleb passed out a copy of the course syllabus to each student. When he arrived at the back of the room to hand a copy to Katrina, his hand was starting to shake slightly, so he simply placed the paper onto the table before her.

Her hand reached out deliberately to retrieve the syllabus without taking her eyes from his. The left corner of her mouth started to curl into an amused smile. He forced himself to look away and return to the front of the room, noticing that his pulse was elevated slightly. After pausing to regain his focus, he discussed the syllabus information, textbook, and the course objectives. Caleb dismissed the class early and watched as Katrina rose quickly, departing before anyone else.

He exchanged pleasantries with some students following class, but would later be unable to recall anything he said. He was still somewhat mesmerized by the beautiful woman who had sat in the back of the class. Wow, he thought wildly while walking down the hall. That was unexpected.

Yet, even considering her beautiful appearance and penetrating eyes, there was something nagging at the back of his mind. She somehow seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place why. It was as if some tidbit of recognition was on the tip of his memory, yet masked behind a dark curtain.

A couple of younger male students walked behind him, and one asked the other, "Hey man, did you get a look at the redhead in back? I'd tap that in a second!"

With my luck she'll probably drop the class,Caleb thought silently as he made his way down the stairs. Still, he already couldn't wait until Wednesday evening.

He arrived at his office and found his girlfriend, Melanie Baxter, waiting for him. They had been dating regularly for about six months. She was a records specialist at the state's Department of Public Safety office downtown, where he'd met her while paying a traffic ticket. Melanie was a year younger and few inches shorter than Caleb. Her straight, dishwater-blond hair draped to her shoulders, and her face was accented by bright hazel eyes. Her fashionably faded blue jeans and white lace trim tank both presented a form-fitted appearance that Caleb found very appealing. She was holding a red apple in one hand and looked bored.

"Hey, Mel," Caleb greeted her.

She grinned, gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and handed him the apple. "There you go, teacher," she said.

"Thanks," he replied smoothly. "You been here long?"

Melanie's grin faded to a more sedate expression, and she replied, "Not too long. I remember you said the first day of class is always short because you just give them an assignment list."

"Yep, pretty much," he absently supplied as he took a bite of the apple.

"Ew, aren't you even going to wash that?" she asked with a pained expression.

"I'm a firm believer in the power of stomach acids," he quipped between bites while dropping his handful of notes and textbook onto his desk.

She just shook her head at him with disdain before adopting a speculative expression.

"So, Candace dropped me off here on her way home," Melanie began tentatively. "I thought you might want to get something to eat with me after class."

Caleb perked up, as he was feeling somewhat hungry. His last meal was around midday at the student center cafeteria. "Yeah, that sounds good," he agreed with a smile.

"Then maybe on the way back to my place you could drop me by this new department store at the mall. They're staying open extra late hours as part of the grand opening," she ventured with anticipation.

"Yeah, sure," he replied with a tired sigh as he flipped off his office light and closed the door behind them. Shopping…

Melanie chatted about her day and the upcoming sale at the mall department store, but Caleb only processed a few bits and pieces at dinner. His mind kept wandering back to the strange effect Katrina Rawlings had on him.

Wednesday rolled around again in no time, and he was looking forward to his evening history class. Or perhaps I'm looking forward to one student in particular. He almost made it to the classroom before realizing he had forgotten to grab the handouts for the essay that he planned to assign.

Caleb whirled around abruptly, nearly losing his balance, and almost ran directly into Katrina Rawlings. She immediately grabbed his arm and held him in place with a surprisingly strong grip as he righted himself.

"My bad!" he exclaimed with embarrassment.

"Is everything okay, Ca -" she began with concern before abruptly correcting herself. "Professor Taylor?"

"Yeah, sorry," he apologized sheepishly while feeling the heat rise in his face. "I forgot the essay handouts." He took a quick moment to discreetly appreciate the tall woman before him. That night she wore white knit slacks, a royal blue ruffle trim blouse, and a pair of strappy white stilettos. She definitely looked amazing, again.

He glanced down at her hand, which was still firmly gripping his arm. Her eyes darted to his arm briefly before quickly releasing her hold.

"Um, you go on in, and I'll be right back," he stammered before heading back down the hallway. He took only seconds to retrieve the handouts from his office and made his way back to the classroom. Fast reflexes, he mused as he contemplated the brief hallway incident. Strong grip, too. He rounded the doorway and entered the classroom in a hurry, noting everyone already patiently waiting for him.

"I apologize, everybody," he began. "I forgot the essay handouts on my way up here. And I know how much you'd hate to miss out on them."

An assortment of groans emitted from the students, except from Ms. Rawlings and a couple of others. Caleb took roll, only this time he recognized a few of the faces, most notably Katrina's. She smiled at him in an amused fashion from the back row of the room, but still projected a penetrating, appraising expression in her green eyes that distracted him.

"So, in the next few days, feel free to move around the room until you find a seat you feel most comfortable with, okay?" Caleb neutrally offered, although he quickly glanced at Katrina and fleetingly at two empty seats on the front row off to his left.

Having been studying him so intently, she noted the implied meaning in both his actions and words. Her slightly amused smile added to the twinkle in her eyes. Baiting me?

He handed out an essay assignment sheet to everyone and set into his lecture on a brief review of European explorers who had visited the New World as a precursor to the westward expansion of larger scale European settlements.

"Well, can anyone tell me what primarily influenced Portugal to decline Christopher Columbus when he begged funding for an exploratory expedition to seek a western route to Asia?" Caleb asked curiously.

The room was silent as he scanned the faces. His eyes fell on Katrina's gaze, which seemed to bore directly into his.

"Since Vasco de Gama helped initiate the profitable Portuguese control of trade routes to Asia around the Cape of Africa, Portugal believed there was little need to seek additional passageways," Katrina's voice broke the silence.

Caleb's right eyebrow shot up with some surprise. "Correct, Ms. Rawlings. Very good."

Most heads in the class turned to silently stare at Katrina. She maintained her gaze directly at Caleb with a slight smirk, and everyone's attention returned to him. The lecture proceeded from there, and Katrina offered little more in the way of responses throughout the remainder of the class. As soon as Caleb dismissed the class, she was once again the first student to depart.

Weeks passed with Katrina sitting in the back row of the classroom, much to Caleb's disappointment. She displayed varying degrees of interest and often smiled to herself, which Caleb found slightly unnerving. He also noted that a couple of women in the class chose to move to the forward seats in the classroom, paying more than a normal degree of attention to him, which he found flattering. Meanwhile, most of the males in the classroom seemed to gravitate further to the back rows of the room where Katrina sat. Still, she focused exclusively on Caleb, as if studying him even more than the material being discussed.

After two exams, which Katrina passed without error, Caleb wanted to interact with her outside of class. He still struggled to determine what seemed so familiar about her. But after each class, she always departed before he could approach her.

It wasn't as if he were going to ask her out or anything. He was well aware that would be inappropriate and a violation of college policy. It could get him fired, and he'd worked hard to get on the final interview list for the job. Caleb had to be resigned to the fact that Katrina was simply the elusive type. At the very least, he looked forward to their brief interactions within the classroom.

On a particularly drizzly evening two weeks before the end of the eight-week semester, the parking lot lights fluctuated as Caleb walked from his car to the building. In passing, a maintenance worker said they were troubleshooting a systemic electrical short. With the budget cutbacks due to the poor economy, it seemed that even parking lot lighting was being piecemealed together just to remain operational. It never ceased to amaze him that during poor economic times, when the influx of students was greatest, community college funding was at its lowest levels.

Caleb went to class as usual, and once again, Katrina departed just as class was dismissed. Not being in a hurry to get home since Melanie was shopping with her friends, he chose to stay a little later to catch up on grading some essays. After an hour, he decided to leave and noticed that the parking lot lights were completely out in a large section where his car was located, giving the area an ominous feel.

As he reached the door to his blue older model Honda coupe, he thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He was immediately confronted by a large-framed individual wearing jeans and a dark hooded sweatshirt. He couldn't make out the man's face in the darkness, but he did see the glint of a long steel blade being wielded in the person's right hand.

"Give me your wallet, asshole!" the man demanded.

"Whoa, just take it easy," Caleb urged, wide-eyed with his hands held up slightly. "Listen, I'm just a teacher. You've probably got more money in your pocket than anybody around here."

"Shut up!" the man ordered. "Just make this easy and give me the wallet!"

Caleb couldn't believe what was happening. He glanced around nervously, but saw no other people around, and the security car that normally patrolled the parking lots was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay, okay," he said anxiously with his eyes focused on the guy's knife. While reaching into his back pocket and slowly withdrawing his wallet, he considered trying to wrestle with the guy, but he had never confronted an armed person before. Despite his athletic build, Caleb abhorred violence and strove to avoid physical conflicts. He struggled with too many bad memories of abuse at his father's hands as a child. It's just a wallet.

The man reached out to grab the wallet from him, when suddenly Katrina appeared at Caleb's side. Her right leg shot out, and the heel of her knee-high boot caught the guy in the ribs with a small crunching sound. The fellow heaved a groan while bending over, and then abruptly turned to run away across the empty parking lot. He disappeared between some nearby old buildings overlooking that side of campus, still holding the knife in his hand and clutching at his midsection with his left arm.

Katrina watched the man flee and felt the strong, immediate desire to pursue the assailant. No, not pursue, but rather hunt him down and drain his blood. Instead, she turned to look at Caleb with concern.

He was speechless as he still clutched his wallet in a shaking hand. "Th-thank you" he stammered. "That's never happened before," he anxiously added as he glanced around the area.

Katrina reached out to gently grasp his arm with a look of concern. "Caleb, are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded and nervously ran his right hand through his hair as he gazed up into her eyes. "Yeah…fine…thanks," he muttered.

He didn't seem to notice that she had called him by his first name as his heart pounded away in his chest. She studied his body language and proceeded to lean him back against his car as she protectively wrapped her left arm around his shoulders.

"Listen, I don't know how to thank you," he said in his most grateful-sounding voice possible.

She smiled at him in a supportive, reassuring manner. "Maybe some bonus points in lieu of an out-of-class project?"

He nervously chuckled and scanned the area around them. "Yeah, as if you needed bonus points. I'd wager you'd teach the section better than I do," he ventured as he began to feel a little better.

She smirked. "Knowledge isn't everything. I find that a good presenter always enhances the material."

Caleb wanly smiled while considering the dubious merits of standing in a dark parking lot immediately following an attempted robbery. What if that guy decides to return for a second attempt?

Katrina regarded him with an intense expression as she listened to his pounding heartbeat, and an urge rose within her. At that moment, she felt the strong call of his blood. Her predatory instincts were screaming for action, and she wrestled to curtail them.

Caleb could have sworn at that moment that her green eyes seemed to emanate a slight glow, and he stared back incredulously. Then the parking lot lights abruptly snapped on, slightly startling him.

"Well, you better go now while it's safe. I'll see you in class," Katrina calmly urged as she turned to head across the nearly empty parking lot.

As if snapping out of a trance, he shook his head and called after her. "Hey, wait! At least let me drive you to your car."

But she just shook her head slightly and kept walking. "No need. Drive carefully on your way home."

He glanced down to unlock his car door. "Maybe we should go by the security office to report this!" He looked back in Katrina's direction to see if she had heard him, but she'd already disappeared from view. He scanned the well-lit parking lot, but could find no trace of her. There weren't even any cars within view that she could have gotten into, and he didn't recall hearing an engine start. Strange, he wondered.

He drove to the other side of campus where the security office was located so he could file a report. It occurred to him that the campus could use some of those emergency call boxes in the parking lots, and some battery-backed up security cameras. Somehow he doubted with their state's poor economic conditions and declining budgets that either of those ideas would be coming to fruition anytime soon.

The would-be robber pulled his black hoody closer around his face against the evening's renewed drizzle as he hurried down the neighborhood street, still clutching his left arm to his ribs. They ached furiously, and he anticipated that at least one was probably cracked.

He paid no attention to a lone sports car driven by a red-haired woman glaring out the window at him as it passed. Instead, he stared at the sidewalk and angrily kicked an empty beer can out of his way. He was furious about the failed encounter back at the parking lot. That should've been fast and easy. That college guy was an easy mark for quick cash. But who the hell was that crazy woman with the boots? he fumed. It was as if she came from nowhere. He felt embarrassed and pissed off, and his ribs badly ached where her boot heel had caught him. He cursed to himself as he abruptly turned down a trash-strewn alley between two older brick buildings.

It was a shortcut he had taken many times before. Experience had taught him that survival depended on knowing where to go and how to get there with a minimum of visibility. He tramped across papers and debris and was halfway down the alley when he heard boot heels clicking not far behind him. He stopped and palmed his knife from the sheath concealed underneath his hoody as he turned to see who it was. The lady from the college parking lot had stopped approximately thirty feet inside the alley and just stared at him with a flat expression.

He sneered back at her. "Well, if it ain't boot lady!" he growled. Maybe the night just got a little better. She has to be one crazy bitch to be following me.

"Miss me?" Katrina asked with a sadistic grin while patiently standing her ground. Her hunting instincts sang with life as she felt her fangs extend inside her mouth.

"Come here and let me show you how much," he snarled as he stalked towards her.

She stood patiently with her hands out to her sides. He was almost to her when he lunged over the last couple of feet while bringing his knife to bear with a swipe. She deftly caught his wrist and twisted. Pain shot through his wrist as the knife harmlessly clattered to the grimy concrete.

"Bitch!" he yelled, and punched her in the face with a solid blow from his left fist.

Katrina took the blow fully on the jaw, causing her face to momentarily twist in the other direction. Her head swiveled back to stare at him, and he could have sworn that her eyes were glowing!

"What the fu -" he started before he cried out in agony as she snapped his right wrist bones with a quick twist of her hand.

She slammed him against one of the old brick buildings bracketing the alley while using her left hand to pin his face against the wall. Before he could react, she sank her fangs into his jugular vein and sealed her lips against his sweaty skin. He tried to yell, but all he heard was strangled gurgling.

He attempted to struggle, but she pinned his body to the wall like a fixture, and within moments he felt the strength leaving his body. His legs soon buckled, but she held him upright. A strange sense of calm washed over him, even as he felt sluggish and a growing sense of weakness. A euphoric feeling overcame him just before he blacked out to the sounds of slurping and swallowing. Then nothing.

Katrina withdrew her fangs and wiped her mouth against the material of his cotton hoody. In one swift jerk, she snapped his neck between her hands and let the body drop to the concrete. She felt a wave of satisfaction wash over her as she relished the warmth of his blood beginning to metabolize in her system.

"Creep," she muttered under her breath while picking him up by the worn belt around his waist and hauling him down the length of the alley.

There was an old paint-peeled trash dumpster at the rear of the buildings beyond the alleyway. She casually threw the body through the dumpster's open metal window, landing atop the refuse and empty cardboard boxes inside. Sensing no onlookers, but still visually scanning the area, she removed a small can of Zippo cigarette lighter fluid from her jacket pocket and sprayed the contents onto the boxes and body. Immolation was her time-tested, favorite method for eliminating evidence.

She lit a single match and tossed it and the empty canister onto the body. It quickly ignited, the contents protected from the drizzle by the closed dumpster lid. Katrina walked to the front of the alley, the only sound the clicking of her boots on the damp pavement. As she traversed the wet sidewalk along the street to where she had parked her car, she scanned the area around her again to ensure that she hadn't missed any public cameras.

Her thoughts soon gravitated to Caleb and the grim satisfaction she felt for tying up the loose ends with the cretin who had tried to rob him. She couldn't risk the creep making an attempt on someone else. Honesty set in as she confessed it wasn't through any innate concern for the general public. It's really all about protecting Caleb, isn't it?

Katrina slyly smirked as she got back into her car and drove away. Caleb was definitely getting under her skin, and her Audi seemed to automatically navigate its way in the general direction of his apartment building.

Caleb was still in a degree of shock as he drove to his apartment across town. Fortunately, his building paid for all-hours gate security services for the small guard shack at the entrance to the underground parking garage. It meant he paid quite a bit more for rent on an already Spartan income, but that night it seemed perfectly worth it. He pulled into a spot not far from the elevator and made his way up to his apartment on the third floor. He entered and immediately set the deadbolt after shutting the door behind him.

He glanced around his small, somewhat cluttered apartment. Aside from the medium-sized bedroom and attached bathroom, there was a living room that opened into the combined small dining room and kitchen.

After dropping his keys onto the small counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, he draped his leather jacket over one of the two barstools. Frowning, his mind kept repeating the flurry of events that comprised the attempted robbery. He marveled at how Katrina seemed to appear out of nowhere to help him. Actually, it was more like she came to his rescue. He smirked at that.

He plopped onto the worn leather sofa and reached over to the television remote sitting on one of the glass end tables. A small entertainment center sat in the corner next to the twin, medium-sized windows that looked out onto the fire escape. He pointed the remote at the TV and then changed his mind. Gazing towards the sheer curtains, he couldn't help feeling watched. He got up and looked out one of the windows, but only saw the aged red brick wall of a nondescript warehouse across the alleyway. Immediately outside was the rather unattractive, black metal fire escape platform that ran across each floor of the building. He sighed, chuckled, and silently berated himself for his paranoia.

Then his phone rang, which startled him. Damn it. He stormed to the kitchen counter.

"Hello," he answered in a terse voice.

"Caleb?" Melanie ask