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A Myth-Understanding

Caleb was elated upon waking theafter his chat with Katrina at Starbucks While shaving, he fondly reflected on their visit After brushing his teeth, he conteht weeks of the fall se scheduled to teach only day classes this ti the day pursuing his own interests, which included working out at the indoor gy It was another perk that, in addition to the parking garage, helped rationalize the increased rent that he paid for his otherwise small apartment

As he worked out on the elliptical and upper body equiphts sha about her instead of Melanie, his thoughts took on a journey of their own He realized that his subconscious was trying to tell hi, but he stubbornly insisted that Melanie was the individual as supposed to be the center of his attention Following his workout and a shower, Caleb dressed and called Melanie, just to see how the Florida trip was going

"Hey, Mel," he pleasantly offered

"Oh, hi, Caleb," she tentatively replied

"Did I call at a bad ti and I were just talking about stuff as we followed behind Candace&039;s car"

"What happened to the original plan of carpooling in thefunny, so Candace loaded four people into her car, and Greg offered to drive the two of us behind them," Melanie explained "Wasn&039;t that nice of him?"

Oh yeah, Greg&039;s a real hero, Caleb thought with annoyance "Yeah, real nice," he th seemed to falter, and Melanie said, "Listen, I think we&039;re losing the cell tower signal out here, so I&039;ll call you tonight from the hotel"

"Sure," he replied "Be careful, okay?"

"You got it," she absently replied before the line went dead

Call it paranoia, but I&039;ve got a bad feeling about this trip, Caleb irritably considered

Katrina lounged before an elaborate oak co as bedroom, entertain period for her as she awaited dusk She had already checked her various foreign and domestic investment accounts and shifted so the ti up on some emails with fellow va for sunset

Herthe infor the lost contact with two vampire associates in Europe It appeared that Garett from Paris had disappeared entirely, and Alton had found no trace of where he ht have disappeared to Equally curious was the question of why Garett had gone underground so hastily There was also the odd matter of Octavia from Trondheim, as normally rather social for a va with her peers as abruptly as Garett

Vampires didn&039;t require a lot of sleep, so Katrina had a lot of ti to appear connected Unfortunately, there were still too many unanswered questions, and she hoped Alton&039;s continued investigations would prove more fruitful

Despite her attempts, her norhts of Caleb Katrina had enjoyed their brief visit the prior evening, and longed to spend more time with him Needless to say, he definitely held her interest The only problem was that his social life was complicated by Melanie, which meant that Katrina&039;s own interests in him were also handicapped by the woman

Oh, how I dislike Melanie, Katrina mulled with a clenched jaw She realized that she needed a viable, innocent reason to try to interact with Caleb again So that won&039;t put me on Melanie&039;s radar too much

Maybe I should just kill Melanie, she brooded

Katrina felt that she was supposed to feel a pang of guilt for thinking so shallowly about huuilt failed her at that moment Instead, there was a prospective sense of feral satisfaction

She banished the idea froht cause Caleb soree of sadness, but because she needed to keep the body count to athe authorities and starting unnecessary manhunts As a matter of practice, thanks to the blood bank, she usually lived in an area for rather long periods with virtually no need to kill anybody Already, she&039;d dispatched one hu in Atlanta But that was to protect Caleb Katrina resolved with complete clarity that no body count concerns would deter her fro hi as when he was a child

"Angel Caleb," she sighed out loud with a contented smirk as she considered the forrown into such an attractive, intriguing young man He&039;s unlike the other ood way So kind, endearing, and sincere Yet, there&039;s a definite vulnerability in hied froth lurks dormant inside him, but he doesn&039;t seem to realize it yet I can help him harness that over ti why heher time as a vampire Because he&039;s special tofroular event nearly twenty years ago ht seem unlikely to most Yet it had been pivotal to her continued existence If not for hirateful to hiuileless effort; an act of selfless assistance

But could someone rationally expect to base a relationship on such a fli the silence around her Many in her past had presumed to claim more from her and under much less pretense And they all died for their selfish efforts But not Caleb He&039;s altogether different, she confirmed with a smile

Whimsy struck her, and she picked up her cell phone fro laundry that afternoon, Caleb was once again at the office that evening, preparing so He&039;d expected it to be Melanie, but noted that it was Katrina

"Hello?" he asked with a distinctly pleased tone

"Hi, Caleb, It&039;s Katrina," she greeted hinize her beautiful voice in thea chuckle as he realized his unintended pun "Hi, Katrina," he replied with a smile "What&039;s up?"

"Just a quick history-related question," she began mysteriously "If I wanted to read up on Andrew Jackson, what authors would you reco to ask hian as he playfully swiveled around in his desk chair, "the bio by HW Brands is a gold standard, but I actually enjoyed the Jon Meachaestion," she replied

His eyes glanced at the small bookshelf in his office, and he spied the very book he had just an hopefully, "I happen to have the Meachaht here in my office I&039;d happily loan it to you"

"I have some errands to run, so I maybe I&039;ll drop by and pick it up," she ventured "That is, unless you were leaving soon"

"Oh, it&039;s no probleetically than he&039;d intended

He had no way of knowing that she was pausing to grin on the other end "Great, I&039;ll be there inshall we say, half-hour?" she asked

"Perfect," he confir his cell phone shut

Approximately fifteen minutes after Katrina&039;s call, Caleb&039;s cell phone rang as he thuraphy of Jackson As he reached for his phone, he hoped it wasn&039;t Katrina calling to say so came up Instead, it was Melanie She must&039;ve reached the hotel okay "Hey, Mel," he answered contentedly "How&039;s Florida?"

There was a pause at the other end before Melanie spoke "Hi, Caleb Wow, you sound pretty happy-go-lucky Where&039;s the party?"

Even Melanie&039;s sardonic wit didn&039;t iain "No party, just here at the office finishing things for Monday," he said, but with a more subdued tone than before

"Now that&039;s the Caleb I know," she said "We ot back froonna head out for soood," he politely offered "Having fun?"

"Actually, yeah," she replied with a surprised tone "It&039;s been better than I expected And Greg&039;s really been good company, too"

"So, do you miss me?" Caleb smoothly asked

There was another pause "Well, do you miss me?" she countered somewhat evenly

"I think I asked you first," he fenced Boy, as if that wasn&039;t a junior high response, he chided himself

"Well, sure," she offered a little weakly in his opinion "But so, don&039;t you think?"

"Yeah, I agree," he diploround and frowned "Who&039;s that?" he pointedly asked

"Oh, it&039;s just Greg," she explained with hesitation

"I thought you said you were changing clothes," he recalled with some annoyance

"Well, I just finished," she defensively countered

He heard another faint noise in the background Was that the sound of a zipper being zipped, or unzipped?

"Listen, I better get going," she insisted with sudden urgency "The others are waiting for us"

Waiting for us, he levelly repeated in his ood time, Mel"

"Bye then, Caleb," she offered a little too politely

He was still conte the conversation with Melanie when Katrina arrived She was dressed in a pair of dark denim jeans and an emerald blouse underneath a stylish black leather jacket Her red hair cascaded casually around her head and down below her shoulders She looks alanced down at hireen eyes took in the faded blue jeans he wore, as well as the way in which his trendy, dark blue T-shirt fit snugly over his muscular chest As her eyes htly strained, or perhaps agitated Her smiled faded somewhat, and she adopted a concerned expression

"Caleb, is everything okay?" she asked

He considered her for ahappier once she arrived There was no need to reat," he replied "Thanks for asking You?"

"Great," she answered with a friendly s evasive, she e in his pupils, the sound of his voice, and the ale to the muscle tension in his face As vampires went, she was a very observant predator

"I&039;enuinely offered

That&039;s honest, she noted by reading his body language and voice inflections She returned his smile in earnest

He handed the paperback book to her and offered, "Please, keep it as long as you like"

She took it, h to the table of contents before casually scanning the description on the back cover "Thanks," she offered before carefully probing, "You&039;re up here late again, and on a Friday night no less Shouldn&039;t you be out entertainingwhat&039;s her name?"

"Melanie," he offered with a wry expression

Ah, so that&039;s what&039;s bothering hi far happier about that than she thought she should have "Sorry, bad topic?" she casually ventured

He frowned "I&039; to think so"

She arched an eyebrow at him, but her shtly as he noted her expression and ative He&039;s nervous about that, she noted

"You know, Caleb," she began innocently, "Nobody&039;s perfect Relationships aren&039;t easy for any of us" A major understateht The latter postulation was based upon her own intuitionsubstantive

He wanly sed"

She supportively srowl An arinning "Well, I&039;ment," she smoothly announced with a sober expression

His eyes playfully glinted up at her froht," she declared with a note of finality

He grinned and held his wrists out to her in mock subrin "I&039;m yours"

Oh Caleb, you really shouldn&039;t have said that, Katrina thought slyly as a sudden surge of desire ran through her body

As they walked out to the parking lot, he felt e Katrina around in his older Honda Fortunately for him, she offered to take theainexperience the sleek autoer seat But while he was grateful for Katrina shuttling the for dinner

They selected one of his favorite restaurants, the popular and swanky Cafe Circa don off of Edgewood Avenue and Boulevard Caleb assured her that the food and service were fantastic every ti, adding a lively energy to its at one of the interior walls was lined by a lengthy, finished oak bar ooden barstools Behind the bar was a series of backlit shelves lined with every variety of alcohol known toarea held an array of varnished oak bistro tables surrounded by oak barstools, and the lighting was ed for seating They sat across fro in the atmosphere, she moved to one of the stools next to him

"Do you mind?" she asked with a playful sparkle to her eyes

"I&039;rin

They both ordered a beer on tap, and he requested chips and salsa Caleb ordered Chicken Panini, while Katrina settled for a plain house salad nature pumpkin seeds and empanada strips They chatted as the crowds bustled around them amidst the sound of trendy music

"So, what do you think of this place?" Caleb asked with a grin

Katrina looked around, absorbing the atistered the overload of human scents, voices, and eer for fresh blood rise in her, requiring additional effort to keep her senses in check

"I love it," she replied with a warm smile "It suits you"

He nodded appreciatively

"Is this your hangout of sorts? A favorite spot to take all the prospective women in your life?" she playfully asked

He chuckled "Actually, it&039;s one of my favorite spots, but Melanie hates it for so"

"Well, it&039;s a place I can really sinkfor a e rereen eyes

"Tell ed "I want to know everything"

He was flattered by her interest and described his experiences growing up with his mother and how he seemed to do much better in school after they e home for the Columbus city limits He and his mother created fresh memories in the new house and tried to leave rades ih school to the point where he received a scholarship to Georgia State He was grateful for the wonderful college fund made available to him after Wanda won a raffle from her workplace It helped pay for his tuition all the way through graduate school

Katrina warmly smiled at him, fully pleased to hear her efforts to help hih it wasn&039;t as if she was trying to make a a va since reconciled in her mind She was proud to be who she was and harbored no illusions of what living meant for her Itthe huevity She broke out of her reverie to realize that he had fallen silent and was intently watching her

"I guessfor the most part," he conceded

Her face fell as if she&039;d been scolded, though she had heard every word he had said to her "Oh no, Caleb," she insisted "I was just envisioning what you were telling iven so es" She reached out to touch his ar his hand over hers

"Thanks," he offered "You&039;re one of the few people who seehed as the realization hit him that, aside from Melanie and a few of her friends, he still hadn&039;t yet formed any close friendships in the Atlanta area Many of his college friends had moved away to new locations or returned to their horew up And he was still so new in his position at the college that he was still getting to know everybody there The majority of people in his life at the moment were friendly acquaintances

"I&039;m not like other people that you know," Katrina earnestly clarified

"No," he agreed after a moment&039;s pause "You&039;re not And I&039;ve never been happier"

She bent her free arm up on the table and propped her chin on her hand as she smiled at him He sed once and inary string was pulling hi stare She slyly smiled like a predator that had snared its prey and was relishing the catch As their lips almost touched, their meal abruptly arrived with the appearance of their server

To Katrina&039;s amusement, Caleb turned his head to look up at their waiter with a forced, false grin, offering, "Wow, that was aan to eat, Katrinafrom favorite historical periods, to favorite aspects of the Atlanta area, to how the Braves were already looking to next season for their race to the pennant They enjoyed each other&039;s company immensely and shared a rich chocolate dessert between theretted that the time had passed so quickly He was rather quiet on their return drive to ca chemistry with Katrina and realized for perhaps the first time just how poorly matched he and Melanie were

Katrina was flush with ee She remembered how close they&039;d been to a first kiss at the restaurant and was startled by how much she had craved it She felt a palpable attraction to him, both physical and eenuine and endearing She also relished the diversity in conversational topics and hoell-inforly, and how quickly, her feelings for hi in more directions than she could have anticipated

As she pulled up next to his car in the caine running She looked over to hiain, Katrina," he offered as he released his seatbelt "I really had a great tiht"

"Me too," she softly replied

He seeer door He wanted to reach across the seat and kiss her, and yet hisMelanie And while he felt a sense of betrayal over seeing Katrina behind Melanie&039;s back, he was still happy he&039;d done so Not that he approved of that sort of thing, it was a first for hiht He despised the situation he was facing, but knew the only clear way to any for honest with both Melanie and Katrina

She watched hi the conflict wash across his features, and waited patiently She realized somehow she had helped propel them both down this path, but she left free will in Caleb&039;s corner That is, if trying to deny the temptations directed by one of nature&039;s most powerful, deadly predators was free will at all No, she realized, hu just as powerful as I a affairs of the heart The word "affairs" stuck in her mind

"Have I created complications for you, Caleb?" she asked with a hint of sympathy

He looked across the seat at her hesitantly and conceded with a sigh, "I think I&039;ve done that all by myself"

She s anywhere"

Caleb frowned slightly, realizing his next question , and asked, "What is it about me that compels you to say that? Because I don&039;t know that I would if it were I in your place"

Katrina regarded him for a moment, and she heard his heartbeat increase rapidly He&039;s terrified that honesty is going to doo hat I&039;ll say But she had a small surprise of sorts in store for hi to have to un-cos a little and find out," she offered with a save way to hopefulness He dared to sh," she responded resolutely "Good night, Caleb"

"Good night, Katrina," he replied with a hint of appreciation

He watched her drive halfway across the parking lot before stopping the little black sports car, the taillights shining brightly as the brake was applied He frowned at her delay and unlocked his car door

Get into your car, Caleb, Katrina thought as she watched hi lots aren&039;t very safe for you, it would seem, she added with a twinkle in her eyes

As Caleb closed his car door he saw her pull away into the night Was she waiting on e her mind about me? he wondered Then another, somewhat odd notionoversense of satisfaction Once his father had left, Caleb&039;s ure in his life, and somehow Katrina&039;s behavior res of safety Certainly, it wasn&039;t as if Caleb viewed Katrina as soure Far from it, in fact Merely that the perceived sense of protectiveness Katrina showed to him felt sian his journey ho, he resolved

As he drove horow, and his mind went immediately to what he would say to Melanie about his conflicted feelings He was never one for confrontation, but firsthand experience already taught him Melanie was

The weekend turned into a last-es that had occurred to hi the previous semester Melanie didn&039;t call at all on Saturday, and he dreaded the upco conversation that he needed to have with her It was obviously better that he waited until she returned from Jacksonville so they could speak in person

Great, then Melanie can have the added benefit of yelling and cursing at me in person, he considered darkly It should be very cathartic for her

Caleb had learned that Melanie never lacked animation when it came to her teued back verbally On one occasion, Melanie actually threw soed to dodge a paperweight effectively The experiences of dodging errant pitches in baseball came in handy at such times Caleb&039;s mother had preached to him since he was a child that violence was no solution to interpersonal conflict Additionally, he still had bad childhood memories of when his father was physically abusive with him and his mother, and those experiences added to his personal abhorrence of physical violence

Saturday evening, he tried calling to check on Melanie, but his calls went to voicemail on all three occasions Finally, he fell asleep on his aparth the pages of the latest biography on Harry Truman He fell asleep so in at hi room from the fire escape

Katrina couldn&039;t help herself on Saturday night She was restless, and her hts, all of which ended up on Caleb She soon found herself observing hi she was obsessing over him, the truth was undeniable: She enjoyed his coain

Actually, the truth is I&039; apart fro, she silently conceded

There was so much more Katrina wanted to ask his, and a host of other topics ranging fron

Vampires were like that They obsessed when they were focused on so intently Perhaps it was due to the predator or hunter instinct geared towards tenacity when seeking prey Either way, it merely added to the focus she had for Caleb

But there was an added element to her interest in hie parking lot, she was concerned for his safety Caleb was not in a particularly hazardous job or environment, and obviously he was less vulnerable in adulthood than as a child, but she still felt very protective of him It was an aspect of herself she could freely offer to hi hih the curtains, Katrina determined it was probably time for her to depart, as she wanted to ensure her presence went unnoticed She&039;d have to resign herself to other diversions until she could see Caleb again She realized he needed tis for both her and Melanie, who frankly didn&039;t deserve his attentions in Katrina&039;s opinion Katrina conceded that her own efforts at attracting hi both confident and patient regarding what she considered an inevitability

We vampires are focused and tend to shape our own realities

When Caleb awoke on the couch SundayHe sleepily reached over to retrieve it froh his sheer curtains It was Melanie, and she apologized for not having returned his calls on Saturday night, but they&039;d been out on the town until after ht, and she hadn&039;t wanted to wake him She said she would drop by to see hiot back to Atlanta He noted that her voice had been pleasant, but distant

He spent the re his hoanize the notes and PowerPoint presentations he had brought home from his office on a portable drive He tuned the TV in the living room to one of the all-hours alternative rock music channels The day passed quickly, as weekends and holidays always see arrived before he knew it

Soht, Caleb&039;s doorbell buzzed He went to the door, peeked through the peephole, and welconed expression on her face to accompany her otherwise pleasant suars sweatshirt, which must have been one of her weekend acquisitions She absently clutched a sreeted her with a hug and a platonic kiss "Welcoeet back?"

"Oh, we all had a great tie of one of his kitchen stools "We just got back a couple of hours ago"

He glanced at the clock on his kitchen stove while erator for a cola He was surprised she hadn&039;t called sooner He noted the CDs in her hand and asked, "Buy solance down to the them"

"Want a Coke?" he asked absently as he reached inside the refrigerator

"No thanks," she replied "So Caleb, there&039;s a little topic that wethat is, that I wanted to bring up"

His eyes darted up from his can of cola to Melanie&039;s face with momentary suspicion as he heard the word "we" slip out

Katrina anxiously waited for the Georgian sunset to give way to nighttioing a little stir crazy She absently wondered if he had , she wanted to just sit and visit with him more She realized she should probably just wait for hi thin

She yearned for an excuse to drop by to see him However, first she would carefully observe hi to the visit, just in case he seeht be there, she considered darkly Then inspiration struck in the forray Capris, a turquoise long-sleeved cotton shirt, and a pair of flats and stopped by Starbucks She made her way to Caleb&039;s apartment as darkness was in full bloom and climbed carefully up the fire escape with the tea secured safely in a Starbucks sack But she soon frowned as she viewed Melanie sitting at the kitchen counter talking to hi took over as she slid into the shadows near the

"Is everything okay?" Caleb asked Melanie with a hint of suspicion

"Oh sure," she hedged

He took the high road and waited patiently for her to continue

"So, there&039;s so we probably need to talk about," she continued "I had a really nice trip spending the weekend with Greg, and it gotother people for a while?"

He let her question sink in and realized that she and Greg must have made a connection over the weekend "So," he ventured carefully "You and Greg had a good time this weekend?"

"Well, we kinda hit it off and had a fun weekend," she replied somewhat sheepishly

Instead of disappointment, he felt a welcome release of tension It was as if the sense of dread he had been feeling had lifted from him and departed He suddenly didn&039;t feel so bad about conveying sis to her and adopted a hopeful expression

Melanie frowned

"Actually, Mel, I&039;ve been thinking recently about us as well," he began agreeably "I just feel like things haven&039;t gelled with us the past couple of ood for both of us"

"Just what do you mean by that, Caleb Taylor?" she demanded irritably as she flipped her hair away from her face with a flick of her left hand "Have you already been seeing souard to say the least Hadn&039;t she just tried to convey her own feelings for Greg a o? "Well, the past couple of days I&039;ve kind of been getting to know someone," he conceded

"You ht you said she was just a student of yours?"

"You mean Katrina?"

"Whatever!" she chortled

"She&039;s not my student anymore, actually," he hastily explained "In fact, she stopped taking classes altogether"

"So, you&039;re leaving ht?" he replied dubastard!" Melanie yelled as she reached down to the CDs in her hand and began throwing theht ear to break against the wall behind hiht him squarely in the middle of the forehead "Ow!" he shouted in pain as he bent forward and away fro his face with his hands

Katrina heard the argument between Caleb and Melanie and tensed as she viewed their exchange That woman is crazy, she silently fumed

She watched with fury as the CD case hit Caleb in the forehead and nearly charged in through the living roo and off the fire escape balcony to the street level beloith a cat-like pounce and landing Her feet no sooner hit the pave around the deserted corner of the building to the side entrance, bag of tea still in hand

Katrina wasn&039;tCD cases landed against or around Caleb until the barrage stopped froed to avoid further da profusely He recalled fro that even minor scalp cuts would bleedlike hell, too

"Melanie!" he shouted as heroom to stand with the couch between the two of them "Damn it, just chill out!"

The abrupt sound of the doorbell startled them both

Katrina exited the stairwell door on the third floor of Caleb&039;s apart She immediately sensed the presence of a person at the end of the hallway standing next to the elevator and briefly glanced at a uars T-shirt He was young and muscular and watched her with interest but otherwise see A few seconds later Katrina stood outside Caleb&039;s apartreen eyes and pressed on the doorbell fires, she vowed in a rage Then she heard the sound of a deadbolt unlocking

Caleb opened the front door to his apart forehead with his left hand His eyes widened as Katrina stood in the doorway looking less than happy Was that a glint in her eyes he saw?

"Katrina?" he asked vaguely while squinting against the pain in his forehead

"Are you okay? What happened?" she demanded with concern as she bodily pressed her way into the apart herself between Melanie and Caleb

Katrina&039;s eyes i manner Melanie&039;s eyes widened momentarily with surprise at their intensity, but returned to an outraged expression Katrina&039;s expression remained steely, at best

"Who are you?" Katrina demanded with authority as she drew out each word She loved the appalled expression on Melanie&039;s face in response

"Well, just who the hell are you?" Melanie deh of his wits about him at that moment to rery her friend&039;s forehead is bleeding," Katrina replied with a lethal edge to her voice as she carefully selected her words

"Melanie, this is Katrina," Caleb offered weakly as he reauge the severity of bleeding "Katrina, this is Melanie, irlfriend"

Melanie&039;s eyes darted to him at that last qualification, and Katrina&039;s expression changed to one of grihtly at Melanie

"You can have him," Melanie fumed as she moved to slip past Katrina "Jerk!"

Katrina nearly reached out to choke Melanie as she passed by, but restrained herself for Caleb&039;s benefit, not to mention the desire to stay off the Atlanta police department&039;s most wanted list

A man&039;s voice was quickly heard in the hallway outside, followed by Melanie deet the hell out of here, Greg"

Caleb&039;s eyes shot up and to the hallway outside his apartment with a mix of surprise and incredulity Katrina&039;s eyes darted to Caleb&039;s for a split second before her hand swiftly darted out to slam the front door shut behind Melanie His heart ju so abruptly Katrina&039;s eyes looked to Caleb with concern, having sensed the growing darkness in his ," he fuet you cleaned up," she interrupted gently as she steered him to the bathroom