Chapter 8: The First Encounter

Eleazar quite eagerly flirted with Selene, and she too fell under his spell. He was handsome and there was something about him that clearly attracted girls.

"So you're saying that Jennifer is crazy about me?" he raised an eyebrow slightly upward.

"Yeah. But honestly, who wouldn't be crazy?" Selene teased him.

"And are you crazy about me?" Eleazar asked bravely, looking into her eyes.

"Well, sure, a little bit." Selene said honestly, because it was indeed true. She felt that had a thread of sympathy with this boy. From his expression, however, Selene read that it meant a little more to him than to her. "I mean, you are a great person to talk to... I feel that we will become very good friends." she corrected hurriedly so that he would not give himself too much hope.

"Friends... That's great." Eleazar replied, clearly a bit disappointed by this word.

"You're sad..." Selene remarked. She felt sorry for the boy because probably hurt his feelings now.

"Don't worry, it's nothing... I just remembered something unpleasant." Eleazar said the first thing that came to his mind.

"What did you remembered?" Selene asked, trying to meet his eyes, but he avoided her gaze like fire.

Eleazar thought for a moment, probably on a good excuse. He frowned and finally looked at Selene.

"I remembered something that happened to my sister once." if he wanted to distract her, succeeded. Rita was an interesting person, so every mention of her interested Selene very much.

"You know she used to be in love with a demon?" he continued. Selene opened her mouth in surprise. "Yes, that's true." Eleazar confirmed, seeing her reaction. "It happened many years ago... I was only four hundred and eighty-three then, she was seven hundred and eighty-four. I only know what Rita told me. She did not live at home at the time so our parents never found out about it. Apparently Rita and that demon were together for a while until he finally left her. In my opinion, it was because he somehow took off my sister's charm. If this demon really loved her, he wouldn't have left. This demon was just influenced by her magic." Eleazar sighed. "Rita had it too, because we both come from a well-known family. Mom laughs that I also took over some of this charm, but it's rather impossible. Among us, it's rather a domain of women." Eleazar smiled slightly. "Unfortunately, since this event, Rita's charm has disappeared." he added at the end.

"How's that? Why?" Selene asked, completely forgetting what she had thought about before.

"They say that if a sorceress falls in love, she focuses all the charm on her beloved. Then the excess of the magic in her pure blood diminishes, and thus the charm disappears and no longer returns." Eleazar explained.

"So it will happen to me too..." Selene guessed.

Rita's arrival interrupted their conversation.

"Forgive me for disturbing you, but we have to go." she turned to her brother.

"Ah, yeah. It's already time for us." Eleazar saddened, but went with his sister without a word.

Selene followed them both into the hall. Elisabeth, Deborah, Tess, Isabelle, and Johnathan were also standing there.

"And where's the rest?" Selene looked questioningly at Aunt Meredith, who had just joined them.

"Alice, Teresa and Maria will stay with us, Rita is also coming tomorrow. Others will stay at home, but they will definitely visit us more than once. Also, just in case, they will be ready to come right away." she replied.

Everyone said goodbye, hugging Selene lightly. She thanked again for the gifts, smiling kindly at them.

~~~~~~

After walking for half an hour, Damon finally found the Monroe family home. Little has changed here since his last stay on Earth, so he was glad because knew this place very well. With his demonic senses, Damon found out that the magic intensity in this house was now less than he had expected it to be.

"Only four sorceresses, one of them over a thousand years old, the rest probably even younger than me." he deduced, measuring his chances. "There is no need to wait, a better chance will not happen again." Damon decided and started walking towards the garden, since was planning to attack from this side.

Tired of the long party, Selene walked across the kitchen to the back door that led to the back garden. The peace and harmony emanating from this little oasis was very much needed by her now. As soon as she opened the door, a surge of fresh air hit her nostrils. Selene moved slowly outside, filling lungs with it. At the same time, she felt a great relief, so breathed deeply several times. The scent of roses passed, entangling the walls of the garden with creepers, enveloped her with a wonderful, sweet aroma. Selene walked on the soft grass for a long time until she reached the very end of the garden. A lot of trees and shrubs grew there. The grass, which had not been mowed for a long time, reached her knees, overgrown with weeds, but it was the most intense green color Selene had ever seen, making it evident that no one came here for quite a long time.

"A real paradise." she sighed, seeing this wild part of the garden.

Damon hadn't expected to be so lucky. As crept through the trees, he saw Selene approaching the wildest part of the garden, far from the house. Here Damon could kill her quickly, before someone would come to help the girl, so he decided that would take the opportunity. He came out from behind the trees and moved a little closer to his victim.

Selene sensed she wasn't alone, so slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Suddenly, a man who looked like twenty years old emerged from the bushes. He had close-cropped black hair and dark blue eyes. Many of Selene's high school classmates could envy him his tall and broad-shouldered figure. But first of all, this man was really deadly handsome. She had never seen anyone more beautiful than this stranger in her life, and the aura that surrounded him attracted her like a magnet. He was wearing a black leather jacket, as well as dark jeans, and looked down at the lawn. Selene stared at him mesmerized.

Damon finally lifted his head and looked at the girl. Her long black hair was blowing in the wind, and the dark blue tint of her eyes was like the sea in a storm. Her features were extremely delicate and subtle, which made this girl look like an angel, and Damon had seen quite a few of them in his life. Yes, she was beautiful, more than any woman he knew, including demons, sorceresses and even succubus and other creatures. Damon was looking at her and she was looking at him, and suddenly some current passed through their bodies. Something twitched in Damon's heart and a strange, unfamiliar feeling overwhelmed him. In an instant, he wanted to take this girl in his arms and kiss her.

"What's wrong with me?" Damon thought, "I have to remember what I'm here for. My task is to kill her." He shook himself out from the lethargy and a fireball appeared in his hands. Damon threw it at the tree under which the girl stood, because for reasons unknown for himself, was unable to aim straight at her. The hit tree creaked and began to tilt downwards.

Selene was staring at the stranger in horror when she saw a fireball in his hands. Images from the nightmare came back to her, but this man was nothing like one from the dream. The only thing they had in common was that flaming ball suddenly appearing in their hands. Selene groaned softly as she saw the fireball rushing toward her. She closed her eyes, ready to feel the strike, for she knew that wouldn't have had time to escape anyway. Suddenly Selene heard the crack of wood nearby, so her eyes opened and saw the huge oak tree under which she was standing being on fire, bending downwards, and in a moment, it would probably pinch her to the ground.

Damon looked at the girl's terrified face, and that unfamiliar feeling overwhelmed him again. When he saw the tree fall with a crack towards the girl standing under it, he moved right away, not knowing or understanding why he was running towards her.

"She cannot die... because then I will die with her..." flashed through his mind. Damon didn't think long about why he wanted to save her now, just ran and knew only that had to make it on time.

Selene looked straight ahead and saw the man who had just wanted her dead a moment ago was now running towards her at an inhumanly fast pace. In just a few seconds, he was right next to her, then grabbed immediately. A shiver ran down her body as she felt his warm skin touch her bare arms. Even faster, the man took Selene away from the falling tree. In an instant they were at the bushes from which the stranger had emerged not so long ago. At the same time, the oak crashed into the ground with a huge bang. Selene didn't even want to imagine what would happen if she were still standing under it.

Damon felt relieved as he held the girl in his arms and ran as far as possible, pausing by the bushes. Seeing the girl's gaze, confused, he set her down on the ground.

"Thank you." she said shyly, a sweet blush on her cheeks.

"You're welcome." he replied in his velvety voice, smiling slightly. Then there was an awkward silence, interrupted soon by a call from a distance. Damon immediately sensed the sorceresses approaching.

"Sorry, but I have to go." he said as a goodbye, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek.

The gesture made Selene tremble again, but then she caught voices calling. It was Aunt Meredith and Alice who were looking for her. Before she could do anything, the mysterious boy evaporated like camphor. It made her sigh softly.

Suddenly she remembered about her aunt looking for her.

"I'm here!" Selene screamed and few minutes later, Meredith emerged from behind the trees, followed by Alice. The aunt looked as frightened as if she had seen a ghost.

"I'm fine..." Selene assured, seeing her expression.

"I told you that nothing would happen to her, I read her thoughts... Someone saved her." Alice was saying.

"Good." Meredith breathed heavily. "I clearly sensed the presence of the demon here... Ah, if Teresa were with us, she would help us and we would find you sooner." she hugged her niece.

"Why isn't she here?" Selene asked, surprised. "I've heard Teresa was supposed to stay with us..." she added after a moment.

"She wanted to say goodbye to her sister and hasn't come back yet." Alice spoke up. Aunt Meredith's gaze fixed on her showed clearly, that Alice had used her gift again.

"Exactly." Meredith confirmed, clearly unhappy that Alice was reading her mind. "Let's go home." she put arm around her niece.

They walked together, holding each other close. Meredith was still afraid that the demon that had attacked might come back. Selene didn't find him dangerous, though. She knew that demons were the natural enemies of the sorceresses, but felt that this one was different, eventually saving her life. Selene did not understand this gesture. Why did he wanted to kill her first and then did the other way around? Something must have happened... But what she knew for sure was that this man would fill her whole thoughts from now on. It was the first time Selene felt something like this, but was sure of her feelings. She fell in love at first sight.