Romeo and Juliet: A Vampire and Werewolf Love Story (9 page)

“Give me that,” I said
.

Then I put down
the tequila
, too
. This went on for about an hour. During the whole time, all I could think about was
how
I kn
e
w there was change around the corner, and that was getting me
more and more
excited.

Chapter Eight

Eventually, the tequila bottles were empty and it was time for Mercutio to perform some magic and make me a costume.
Luckily, Mercutio ha
d
just about anything at his disposal with his witchery.
Before we kn
e
w i
t, he had conjured up for me
an old
-
school Dracula
costume
from movies of years gone by. I had a ca
pe and everything. My brown
hair was slick
ed< Nont0"n>
font><
span>
back
,
and for my money
,
I thought I looked damn good.

It was time for us to head over to the Bronx. The Bronx was pretty much only good for one thing
:
Yankee Stadium. It was the off season, so it was an accessible revenue for a kick
-
ass party, and no one knew
how to throw a party like the Ruling H
ouse of Verona.

Yankee Stadium was on 161
^st
S
treet and for most of the out
-
of
-
town folks
’ sake, it was not
so great of an area. But to a family of werewolves and vampires
,
it was as good
a
place as any
to throw a bash
.

We took the subway and made a transfer to get to the
“
4
”
train.
It was a straight shot to the Bronx and the 161
^st
S
treet.
We were a sight to behold for others on the subway.
It wasn’t Halloween and here we were, about twenty
men dressed in costumes that ranged from gorilla suits to Tarzan.

Dressed as Count
Dracula
himself, I was enjoying
the irony of going to a party where actual vampires were going to
attend
as
I was dressed like the most infamous one of all time.

Once we exited the subway, the stadium was straight ahead and to the left.
We made our way through gate 6 and
entered the stadium. The inside of the stadium was rather dark, which made me a little uneasy and there was loud music playing which was really too loud for werewolf ears.
The party was in full
swing down on the baseball field.

My group stepped out of the bleachers and we climbed over the wall at about where third base would have normally had been, and headed out into the field. This party was one for the ages. You couldn’t even recognize that this was a baseball field. They had built a dance floor all the way across the outfield. There were tons of lights and a lot of people dancing. It was a hoppin’ party.

I could see that there was plenty of alcohol pouring and whatever other recreational fun people had brought with them. It definitely looked like a good time.

There was D
J
at about where 2
^nd
base would be and behind him was the bar area where people could chill out and talk and have a few drinks.

Both families were well represented at the party. Even the older Montagues and Capulets had come out for the celebration.

To my surprise
,
there seemed to be a pleasant ambiance and everyone was having a good time. We made our way
behind the DJ
to where the alcohol was being served and helped ourselves to an open bar. My group consisted of my cousins and closest frie
nds: Benvolio, Balthasar
, Abram
,
and of course
,
Mercutio.

We stood at the bar and all ordered
more tequila
. We were definitely a tequila crew.
We tried other drinks but there was something very festive about tequila.

The music was pretty thumping and suddenly
,
something
caught my attention and caused my heart to do somersaults. It was the girl from the subway. I looke
d out onto the dance floor and
, for the second time,
I sa
w the most beautiful woman
I had ever seen. Her features were intoxicatin
g. She had shoulder-length dark
brown hair and she was no taller than five feet two inches tall.
She
was wearing a little
white gown that made her look like an angel. It was laced and she danced in a way that drew me in.

Me
rcutio and Ben both saw me staring
at her.
“There Romeo goes again
,
getting tripped up by a woman
,
” Benvolio said as he followed my eyes to
the dance floor where she was dancing alone
.

“Who is that?” I asked.

“You know her, Romeo
.
We all had middle school together
when we lived closer to the Upper East Side
.”

“I have no idea who she is,
” I sai S+0">

Mercutio looked her over and agreed with Benvolio. “She has
slimmed down a bit and got rid of the braces. It also looks like she
’s
growing her hair longer than I
remember.
That is Juliet Capulet.
”

“She
’
s a Capulet?”
I asked, as disappointed as I ever asked
a statement in my entire life.

“Not only is she a Capulet
,
s
he is the daughter of
the head Capulet himself,
”
Benvolio said.

“The
head
honcho?” I asked.

“Yup
,
” Mercutio laughed.

“Man, yo
ur luck is off. Wasn’t it Rosaline
a few
months back? She was a Capulet,” Mercutio laughed.
“
I think you just have a thing for blood suckers.
”

“Well, in
the get-up he’s in,” Benvolio
added. “She is right up his alley.”

I looked at Benvolio who was still in his h
igh heels and miniskirt and shook my head in pure disappointment.

“If I were you, I
’d
back off on this o
ne, Romeo,” Mercutio said.
“
You have no chance. Her dad will kill you himself.
”

I could not break my gaze from her. Then
Mercutio grabbed my face
because he knew
better than anyone when I was smitten. He kn
ew I was in some major trouble. “Look at me, Romeo. It isn’t going to be worth the trouble.”

“I don’t care,”
I said
.

“He doesn
’
t care!
”
Ben laughed. “Then by all means
,
go make your move
,
big boy.
”

“With a woman like that,” I said to my friends,
“it is worth a shot. I may never get another chance.
”

“Damn! Lover
Boy has officially lost it,” Mercutio laughed
.

The mu
sic continued to play and then the music went from a faster upbeat song to a beautiful slower-paced one. It was a slow, methodical beautiful rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” played by a man singing very soulfully and only playing an acoustic guitar for accompaniment.

I stared at Juliet and held my breath. This was my moment. My nerves were rattling. I needed to approach her. I needed to speak with her. S
he moved her way off the dance floor alone and
in my direction. I was pretty sure that she hadn’t seen me yet because our eyes hadn’t met.
Like a zombie, I walked in her direction.
She was more toward the first-baseman side of the infield.

As the music played,
I walked toward her. Before I knew it, I found myself face-to-face with
this
young
woman. She looked up at me and our eyes locked
in once again
.

She stared at m
e as if she knew me. I confidently
look
ed
into h
er eyes, and I knew for a fact that
I had never met her.
So, I said, “Apparently, we had junior high together.”

“Things were different back then,” she said.

“I know. I wasn’t that aware of girls.”

She looked at me and smiled. “Has that changed?” she asked.

I laughed. “Yes, it has.” I looked at Juliet Capulet and was just taken in by her beauty. She looked like a porcelain doll, with fragile beauty, but the confidence in her eyes told me that she could take care of herself. She stared at me endlessly, and I wondered what she saw.

“What do you see?” I asked, not even realizing I had asked the question.

Juliet looked at me and her eyes sparkled. “I see a beautiful man.” That answer surprised me. I had never been called beautiful before, but the way she said it, I understood what she meant by it.

“What do you see?” she asked.

“I see the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. But that is not all that I see,” I said.

She looked at me and curiously asked, “What else do you see?”