Anjulina Cornacchia: Attack of the Banshees
Chapter 8: Getting To Know One Another

“Shh...” A voice whispered in my ear. I struggled to get away. “Stop squirming. I’m here to help you but you have got to be quiet.” It was a man’s voice. I did as he said and I waited. Out of nowhere a loud ‘THWACK!’ came from behind me. He let go of me and lit a lantern. I was staring at the back of his head now, as he went to see if the arrow hit what he was aiming for.

We followed him only to see this small creature lying on the ground dead. It had silver skin with hundreds of razor sharp teeth. It looked to be about 4 feet tall with long white hair that reached it’s belly button.

“Oh my God what is that?!” Taylor and I exclaimed.

“A banshee, a young banshee.” he replied.

“How young?” I asked.

“Oh I would say about 25-30 years old.” he shrugged.

“That doesn’t sound too young.” Taylor stated.

“Well you see, they can live to be 500 years old.” he laughed. “So I would say this one is quite young.”

When he turned to face me, he looked so familiar. His eyes were a medium brown with specks of green. His shirt was tattered showing off his muscles. His messy blonde hair nearly covered his eyes. Why did he look so familiar?

“Are you okay?” As soon as he asked me that, I knew who he was!

“You’re the one who caught me!” I exclaimed. “When I fell from the balcony, that was you wasn’t it?”

“You caught me!” he gave a sly grin.

“How did you know to be there at that moment?” I asked.

“Let’s just call it a hunch.”

“But...” I really wanted to know how he knew! Before I could continue asking questions he interrupted me.

“The name’s Desmond.” He motioned for us to follow him.

“My name is...”

“Anjulina, yes I know. Your friends are Taylor and Brooke.”

“How did you know that?” Taylor asked, astounded.

“Let me guess, it was just a hunch?” I jokingly mocked him.

He gave me a smile. “Julie said you’d be coming to replace me.”

“Yes and she called you a name. Oh what was it Taylor?”

“I think a Lion?” Taylor guessed.

“Almost. Just add a ‘C’ to that.” He said.

“...a Cion?” Brooke tried her ‘cute blonde moment’ act. This was her way of flirting. “What’s a Cion?”

He gave out a laugh. “No, a lycan. It is sort of like a werewolf.”

“What’s the difference between a Lycan and a Werewolf?” Taylor asked.

“Lycans can control the ability to change. We can change whenever we feel like it and we are in complete control of our actions when we change. Unlike werewolves who can only change when there is a full moon out. They also can not control their actions once in their wolf form.”

“Well that’s pretty cool!” I said. We continued walking a minute or so more until we came across a small stone house.

“Is this where you live?” Brooke asked.

“No I just built this house to stare at it.” He teased. She didn’t replace him funny. She just gave him a dirty look waiting for an answer. “Yes, this is my house, for the most part.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I travel a lot. Taylor, how about you and Brooke go inside. I want you guys to fill a couple of bags with supplies.”

“What kind of supplies?” Taylor asked.

“Kerosene, rope, matches, basically anything you think will be of use in destroying the Banshees.”

“What about me?” I asked.

“Let’s go for a walk.” He said.

“But we only have a couple of hours of daylight left. And only an hour after sunset until they have their full power!”

“Relax we will just take a short walk.” His smile made my heart beat faster and my sDesmondach to feel like it was going on a ten roller coasters!

We found a stone bench about 200 feet from his house. “How long have you lived here?” I asked.

“My whole life. I mean, I tried living in your world but it just wasn’t for me.”

“Did you go to school there? I don’t think I remember you.” I told him.

“I left when I was 14. Remember the class trip to the airport to watch the shipment from the plane come in?” I nodded. “Remember that kid everyone thought left on the plane and was never seen again?”

“That was you?!” I exclaimed. “Our teacher Mr. Wanke was frantic! He called every airport in this state!”

“I didn’t actually go on the plane. I waited until everyone went inside to watch the airport documentary. Once the lights went out, I left.”

“You seem to not have a care in the world.” I commented.

“I remember you were wearing that blue sun dress with the white flower on the side.” he said smoothly.

“You remember that?” I was shocked! I couldn’t even remember what I wore last week, let alone 3 or 4 years ago!

“Of course I do. You look beautiful in that color. Your hair was up in a curly pony tail with a white ribbon to match the flower in your dress.”

“Oh my God I can’t believe you remember that! No guy pays that close attention!”

“Did I mention you look beautiful?” He said ever so smooth.

“Yeah right! My hair is a mess, my face has dirt on it, my make up is running...”

He cut me off. “Your hair looks just fine, a little dirt never hurt anyone and you don’t need make up to look beautiful.”

You know that roller coaster feeling I mentioned earlier? Well intensify that by 100 and you’ll get the feeling that I feel right now! I was on the verge of exploding with excitement! I have never felt this way, before now.

He brushed back the hair from my eyes. “Ever since I met you I’ve been wanting to...to...” he leaned in to kiss me. My heart was in my throat now! I closed my eyes and slowly moved toward him. We were not even an inch away! ‘This was actually going to happen’ I thought to myself.

“I think this ought to be enough don’t you?” Brooke hollered over. She knew she was interrupting something. But she didn’t care.

Desmond let out a sigh. ” Yes that is enough!” He yelled back.

“We should probably get going.” I suggested. I didn’t want to let myself get distracted. After all, I had something very important to do.

“As we approached the house, Brooke pulled Desmond to the side. I over heard her tell him how cute he was.

“Thanks.” he simply replied back.

“Maybe sometime we could go out to dinner?” She offered.

“I don’t think so.” He said.

“Okay then maybe a movie? There’s this one coming out...”

“Brooke, I said no.” Desmond said in a firm tone. But, Brooke will be Brooke. She started touching his arm and complimenting him on his muscles. Every time I had a boyfriend or a guy I liked, she would flirt with him. If he wouldn’t flirt back then she didn’t like him.

I just rolled my eyes and went inside to see if Taylor needed any help.

“I think I have enough kerosene!” Taylor opened her bag and eight big bottles almost came rolling out. “I figured Desmond could carry it!” She laughed.

“If he can pry himself away from Miss. Flirt over there.” I rolled my eyes.

“She couldn’t stop talking about him all while we were packing! I almost punched her.” I laughed at the thought of that. Now that would be funny!

“Figures.” I sighed. While we were walking out of the caves, Brooke was giving Desmond all of her flirting techniques. She faked countless blonde moments. I was getting so irritated with her!

Once Brooke started talking with Taylor, well I shouldn’t say with Taylor. It was more talking TO Taylor because Taylor wasn’t paying her any attention, Desmond came walking up next to me.

“She doesn’t quit does she?” He chuckled.

“No, not unless she gets her way!” I replied, still irritated.

“Well she’s outa luck then.” he said. I smiled as he walked ahead of me. Finally a guy who doesn’t give in to her!