I was in the bathroom, regretting my existence. I got my period.

Oh-My-Goodnesssss. For god's sake! Why? What a nightmare! I had completely forgotten!

I left the bathroom after getting ready and closed the door slowly. Damn, will he know? Anthony looked at me and went over my body with his beautiful flashing green eyes and long pupils.

He does, damn it!

"Are you okay?"

He doesn't know...

"Y-yes... I know we should get to the capital, but..."

"If you don't feel well, we can wait, don't worry."

Damn, he knows.

"I just... need comfort, at least for this day."

He smiled slightly.

"It's okay."

I sighed and went to my backpack for pain pills. Well, it was not that bad. He probably knew way before, as there were evolved women also.

"We can go get dinner later. I'll take you to a barbecue restaurant. Is that okay with you?"

And he smiled even more.

***

We passed through the residential areas, and the sky turned violet when we reached the city center. Anthony sat on a bench and asked me to sit next to him, but I didn't. I walked over and stood in front of him.

"I was wondering something," I commented.

"Yes?"

I got closer and took his face. Since it was getting dark, I removed his sunglasses. He was staring at me with his intense big feline eyes. I tensed my lips and turned his face to the right and left. Then I made him look me in the eye again, and he smiled.

"Is something on my face?"

"I was just wondering; your hair stays the same. Doesn't it grow?" I asked.

"Yes, it does, but too slow," he emphasized.

"Oh." I slipped my fingers and stroked his cheeks with my thumbs. "And the beard?"

"It also grows slowly, but I take care of it," he replied with a slight smile. "In a few years, maybe I'll leave it alone." I took his hand to see his pointy nails. "It is a rare detail," he murmured. "It only grows like this in the hands, and this is fast."

I looked at him in surprise.

"You guys are incredible; it's as if you had been genetically programmed, or something like that, to overcome the human race. Completing everything that we lack, covering our weaknesses."

Despite everything, I felt a particular fascination for their species. I felt like a crazy scientist who was a predator fan, knowing that they were born killers. I wanted to know everything about them... About him. Our knowledge has never been so extensive.

"I don't know what was involved in the appearance of beings like you, but... You are great," I added. "Just be careful, okay?" He was staring at me. "You have to avoid fighting."

He frowned slightly and looked away.

"You ask for an impossible. If anyone wants to hurt you and manages to reach you, you'll be dead in a second. Believe me. I was trained to defend myself from a very young age." I closed my eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. So those marks... Were they savages? What kind of society raised children to be fighters? "You don't have to fear. I'm strong," he added.

"You know what? I'm hungry already. We'll talk about that later."

He stood up with a smile, picked up the backpack, and followed me. I forced him to put on his sunglasses back because his eyes would show his nature when he passed by an illuminated place.

We entered a restaurant; it was not a very brightly lit environment, and it was cozy, with tables covered with cream-colored tablecloths and others with maroon-colored tablecloths. They all had a small candle in the center, silverware, and plates in their places with a nice napkin elegantly folded over them.

At the back, a terrace faced the back street, towards a river. I chose a table that was not very visible. On the deck, because there was not much lighting, only the streetlamps.

We analyzed the menu for several minutes. Anthony's lips were pressed together in a line as he read it very carefully. I smiled.

"You can try this special grilled beef," I said, pointing to it on the menu. "It comes with different kinds of meats. I'll ask for it because we are done if they see your fangs."

"I have spoken before, and they have not seemed to notice them. They are just longer than normal canine teeth."

"Yeah, well, it's not something we often see anyways."

The waiter approached, and Anthony hid his hands under the table.

"I can offer you our specialty of the night. We have veal in white sauce with mushrooms. We also have our wine selection."

"Well, bring me the specialty and this grill," I pointed out. "With water and a pina colada."

The waiter nodded, somewhat confused, and left.

"Pina Colada?" Anthony asked.

"Yes, it has some alcohol but is usually mild."

"... Alcohol?"

I looked at him strangely and offered him a sweet smile when I realized.

"Don't worry, you're with me, kid. I won't let you try it if you don't want to."

He gave a slight laugh. 

After a few minutes, they brought us our plates and our drinks. Anthony smiled as he tasted his food.

"Good choice," he murmured.

We ate quietly. Since it was night and we were on the terrace, his pupils were rounded, and although they were bigger than average, no one would notice it. When I finished, I tried my drink, which was pretty mild. Anthony looked at me, worried.

"All good?" I wanted to know.

"Won't it hurt you? It can be bad."

I laughed, but seeing that he was still looking at me, worried, I stopped, clearing my throat.

"It's safe. I'll just take this little; it won't do anything to me. It's well diluted. Try it if you like..." I held out the glass.

He hesitated for a few seconds looking at the cup as if it was some unknown little monster. Seriously, their society was pretty strict, but there was nothing wrong with a little sip. At last, he decided to take the glass, brought it to his lips, stopped to smell it, and I let out another short laugh. He tipped the glass and took a small sip.

"What do you think?" I asked anxiously.

He looked at the glass the same way as before, put it on the table, and reached it to me.

"Well, it's not that bad... As you would suspect, we are forbidden to drink it."

"Sure, the young people here too, though they don't seem to care as much as you do. This is mild. Other drinks are very strong. I don't take those, and I don't get drunk. I never have."

After paying the bill, we go out. He didn't need to keep wearing the glasses, people were mired in their stuff, and the street lights were dim. That city was quite different from mine. Although more chaotic, the disorder of people walking on the car lane and the sidewalks were evident.

We walked slowly. My hand brushed against his, and I felt that electricity again. He was distracted, observing the surroundings, so I clasped my hands forward and sighed. Anthony kept his fists closed, worried someone would notice his claws, but that seemed unlikely. His eyes worried me more.

I heard the squeal of tires and turned around, terrified. A little kid was on the road, and the car was already a few feet from him. I covered my mouth, seeing that Anthony had run toward the boy, pulled him off the track, and fell onto the opposite sidewalk outside a brightly lit clothing store. Oh. Geez. 

People were in an uproar.

I ran to him, and in the same instant, the screams of concern turned into screams of horror. Anthony jumped to his feet, leaving the boy stunned, ran to me, and took my hand,  pulling us out of there at full speed.

I heard the security guards' warnings, while others were also present: 'He has a hostage! Don't shoot! A monster!' were some of the screams I could identify. Wasn't it enough for them to see that he had saved the child?

Anthony was fast. My feet hardly touched the ground. We burst into a dark and bustling place. The guard at the door shouted and entered, chasing us. People wouldn't let us move; they were crowded together.

Anthony immediately covered his ears, and I saw him suffer from the noise. I got worried; his ears were more sensitive than ours. I pulled him and took him further to the center to mix us with the crowd of people dancing, jumping, and absorbed in the music.

"It's okay, it's okay," I said, putting my hands on his ears.

I looked at my surroundings; only people were moving and huddling against us, crushing each other. We had lost the guards for the moment. I looked at Anthony; we were pretty close. I still covered his ears so that he wouldn't suffer, and he had put his hands on my waist.

We only looked into each other's eyes. I spent a few seconds feeling that my pulse was suddenly racing, not because I ran. We weren't dancing but lost there among so many people. It really didn't matter.

He showed me a very slight smile. His face close to mine had deprived me of the place's dim light. I gently wiggled my hips with his hands on them, following the rhythm of a sensual song, like I could seduce him as a human boy... 

Someone pushed us, and my nose touched his, feeling his breathing. We moved a little further, me trying to apologize to him. If my heart was crazy, I wondered how he would be...

He removed one of his hands from my waist, directed it to my face, and fixed some hair off my cheek as he wrapped his other arm around me, pressing me against his body. My heart sped up more than it already was, and I knew my face was indeed very red.  I noticed how strong he was just with that hug that claimed me as his in one second.

He took my chin, stopping my breathing. His gaze was so attractive. Those manly lips tempted me. If he leaned down, I was going to kiss him... But of course, he didn't. 

I noticed he moved my face gently from side to side, and I chuckled while he caressed my cheek.

"Are you studying me too?" I complained, smiling at him.

"Hey!" a man yelled, and we both started running instantly, without stopping to see who it was. 

We ran out of the disco, laughing out loud. I had never felt all that adrenaline until, of course, I met him, and I had to see him fight in front of me, although this time it had not been anguish but fun.

"If you hadn't gotten the kid out of the way, he might have been hurt but not dead." He looked at me, confused when I told him that. "The cars have proximity sensors, and it was trying to stop. But thanks anyway... from the boy." I smiled at him, and he reciprocated.

We returned to the hotel room. Security Guard trucks ran through the streets, sounding their sirens and alarms, looking for the EH infiltrated. 

We get ready to sleep. Again, the small pleasure of wearing my pajamas, sleeping in a soft bed and seeing Anthony lying down in the next bed with his naked torso. It was still glorious.

"Good night, miss," he murmured in his seductive voice.

"Get some rest," I replied. But I had to get the doubt out of my mind, so I spent several minutes looking at the ceiling until I dared to speak. "Uh... those marks... Do you have them since childhood?"

"Not all of them, just a couple... Rest."

That undid my good mood a bit because they had been tough on him when he was a child and because he obviously didn't want to talk about it.

I couldn't sleep well; I was dying to go with him to feel his strength, his warm body close to mine again, and feel those lips... but I didn't want to scare him away. Clearly, he didn't know what he was causing me, and apparently, I only misinterpreted his actions.