Chapter 3 A Smile Like No Other

"I like your smile." That one caught me off guard.

I raised my eyes towards his face and arched an eyebrow at him. "Come again?" Is my hearing alright? Because I think I just heard him say something weird.

The guy smirked and offered me his hand. "My name is Aelfric Beaumont. And I like your smile." He said again.

What did he say? His name is Prick? Well, that's not cool.

I took his hand in a shake. "Um...I'm...." I was about to say my name when I realized that I didn’t even know this guy. For all I know, he might not even go to our school. Heck, I don't even think I've seen him. Maybe he just moved here? In any case, I have to play it safe first. "My name is not important, but nice to meet you, Prick."

"It's Aelfric."

"Elfprick."

"AelFRIC."

"Alstrick."

"Eil." He pronounced and motioned for me to follow.

"Eil." I repeated.

"Frik."

"Freak."

Prick sighed and shook his head. "Never mind. Just call me Al."

"Okay, Freak." I said.

Al facepalmed at me and glided his hand across his face in frustration. "Well, it doesn't matter." He muttered and before I could react, he snatched my hands and drew me close. "You, whatever your name is, I really really like that smile of yours. It's pretty."

I was getting nervous and uncomfortable with this person that I only gulped and nodded. "Thanks?"

He continued. "It has that murderous intent. It looks bloodthirsty and misery and everything dark that I like all combined into one. Dark, destruction, world domination, I love it. The sweet cry of a baby, the horrible squeak of a butchered wolf. It's everything!" I made a face at him upon hearing his words. 

This guy is a lunatic! Even more of a lunatic that he doesn't even fear my smile! I have to get out of here. "I-I really should get going now." I tried to get away from him, but his grip was too firm.

"I want you." He said.

I paused from my struggle as my middle finger immediately showed itself to him. "What?" My face was dead serious with disgust.

He smiled this time. It was not an ordinary smile, I tell you. There were fangs!! "Be my girlfriend." I did not focus on his words. Instead, I focused on his fangs. They were sharp as a canine. No, not a canine because they were too pointed and thinner than a dog's teeth. 

Could it be? He's...

"A VAMPIRE!!" I screamed, and on instinct, I inserted two fingers in his nostrils and head-butted him. The guy's hold on me finally loosened.

I should have run then and there, but my head throbbed when I made contact with his head. I suddenly felt a little dizzy and sat on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Al crouched in front of me, looking like nothing happened. It would seem that it hurt me more than it hurt him. I suddenly got my bearings back, and I backpedaled to put distance between us. "Stay back! Get away from me!!"

Al gave me a look of utter confusion. "What? You see me as a vampire, and you scream? I saw you with a murderous smile, and I did not react the way that you did."

"Bu-But you're a vampire!! Far more dangerous than my smile!!" I argued.

Al threw his head back and laughed. "Sweetheart, I am not just a vampire. I am a vampire-werewolf hybrid." He said proudly with a wink. 

A vampire-werewolf, he says. 

"Step away from me!" I got up and hit his face with my bag when I noticed him walking in my direction again.

After I hit him, I turned around and ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I don't know how far I've gone and how much distance have I drawn between us. I dare to turn my head around only to find out that he was gone.

Good. Maybe he left, or I outrun him.

My heartbeat started to slow down in relief, but my nerves were still on alert as I started walking again. I suddenly hit something in front of me, making me lose my balance and fall. I mean, I would have fallen if solid pairs of arms had not stopped me.

"What the heck is wrong with you? Watch where you are going. You could have hit a post." A voice scolded me, making me look up. "And what are you running away from?" Blood drained from my face when I realized who it was.

Al. Al was in front of me. How the heck did that happen! I screamed again. Louder this time. He flinched. "You humans should stop it with the screams." He complained about a hiss. I pushed him away and stomped his foot for good measure before I made my escape.

I ran again. Turning around the corner and almost breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw a typical two-storey house with a blue roof about 10 meters or so from where I am. I quickly doubled my pace and finally reached the doorstep. I shuffled my bag as I tried to find my keys.

"Where is it?!" I rummaged through my bag and felt the familiar metal. "Ah-ha!" Once I found it, I was about to insert it into the keyhole when someone spoke behind me.

"So this is where you live, huh?"

I turned around only to find that Al guy standing behind me. My jaw dropped at the sight of him. He cast a glance at me, smiled, and gave me a wink. His hands were on his hips as he examined my house.

I stood there. I was still gawking with my beating heart. I was terrified of this creature in front of me, especially since he freaking followed me. Worse? He now knows where I live!!

He regarded me for a while and must have seen the look of utter disbelief on my face because he started to talk. "You can never harm or outrun a werewolf or a vampire, doll. Our body is stronger than you think – Gah!!"

I cut him off, and I pulled my knee up and hit him between the legs. A look of pain registered on his face, and I could help but feel a little satisfied. I always wondered in fictional books if vampires or werewolves would feel pain if they were hit in their birdies. It turns out they do hurt. I always thought that it would be like steel or something and that it would hurt me more than it would hurt them. Ha! They have a sensitive part, after all.

Taking that chance, I unlocked the door and stepped inside to the safety of the house before I slammed the door to his face.

I turned around once again to look through the door hole. I expected to see him still there holding his golden jewel, but he was already gone.

Good riddance.

"Gabriella?" I jumped and turned around to the person who spoke. It was my mother coming out of our kitchen. She's already in her nightgown, and her black was wet. I could only assume that she just came out of the shower.

"Hey, mom. Sorry, I'm late. Is dad here?" I asked.

"Yes, he just went to bed." My mom answered.

Hearing that good news, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. With so much happening to me today, I don't want to think of mom and dad coming home before me, especially since there is a lunatic who just followed me home.

"Honey? Honey!" My mother started calling me again. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at her. She narrowed her gaze at me as if she could tell that something wasn't right. 

"Are you okay? You seem pale."

"I-I'm fine!" I said and pretended to yawn. "Just a little tired from running – I mean – school." I corrected myself quickly. I need to start acting like an ordinary teenage girl and learn how to lie.

"Did something happen at school?" She asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "Nope." Now that's one I can answer honestly because nothing happened at school. It happened after school. In any case, my mom's scrutinizing gaze was too much for me to handle that I let out a yawn again and rubbed my eyes for good measure. "I'm kind of tired right now, mom. Can we have this conversation some other time?" Like never?

I was already heading upstairs when she said, "What about dinner?"

"I already ate!" More like I don't have the appetite to eat.

I stormed to my room and met my beige painted walls, gray carpeted floor, and a single window with a window seat. 

I have a bookshelf at the far right corner of my room and a hammock at the far left near my window for some relaxing time or someplace where I can read. Just beside my hammock is my white two-person bed which now has those ombre sheets that I bought at a sale on some online shop. 

Above that is a painting of a pretty ballerina in a swan dress that my mother hung for decoration. Beside my bed is my white side table with an unlit candle, my laptop, and a book I almost finished reading. To the left of that is my bathroom. At the right of me is a door where I keep my clothes, and just beside it is a white full-length mirror that you can open and store your jewelry – I don't even own that much jewelry, to begin with. 

Finally, besides the said mirror is a dresser that my mother put a week after we moved, and she filled it with strange things that you put on your face.

I dropped my bag on the floor and threw myself on my bed lazily. I kicked off my shoes and socks before rolling onto my back to stare at the ceiling.

I took a pillow and buried it to my face as I let out all of my frustration to it. Why?! What just happened to me back there? Am I going crazy? I mean, you don't just scare people away and have the guy you rescued thank you and turn out to be this vampire-werewolf mojo, ask you out, and follow you home. It's just too freaky!

But despite all of that, I have something in my mind that struck me as the oddest thing I have ever heard.

‘I like your smile.’

Ha! Like my smile? Only a psychopath would say that – which I think that Prick guy is. But still, it was the first time anyone had ever said it to me.

Could it be that this killer smile of mine is slowly diminishing?

Curious about my thoughts, I got up from my bed and headed towards my dresser. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I'm half Asian - a side that comes from my mom, so my eyes are a little sleek. My other feature comes from my father - a Canadian who grew up in America. Brown hair with golden highlights at the end, gray eyes so light that they look like white, thick eyebrows, normal-sized nose, pale skin, high cheekbones, and lips that badly needed a scrub and some color.

Not ugly and not that pretty either. Not bright and not dumb. Not skinny and not fat. Not tall and not short. That's me. I stared at my reflection a little longer. It was not out of vanity but out of curiosity. I bit my lower lips as I thought about what I was going to do.

‘I really really like that smile of yours. It's pretty.’

I don't know why those words kept repeating themselves in my mind. Perhaps it was something that I only imagined that I would hear in real life, but now that it happened, I am suddenly curious about what I look like when I smile.

It has been years since I smiled, and I don't know how I managed that.

Slowly, I lifted the corners of my lips and into a smile. The moment that I did it, I wanted to scream at my reflection. 

Nope. I haven't changed a bit.

I still look like a murderer who hunts innocent kids.

I still look like Snow White's stepmother becoming that old hag.

I still look like the Wicked Witch of the West.

I still look like a dying cow.

I still look like Shrek.

And any other horrible people or villains with a horrible smile. But my smile is more fatal than theirs will ever be.

And you know what the worst part is? On the mirror of my dresser, just the top right corner, a tincy wincy little hair just appeared.

The mirror freaking cracked!!

I have gone worse. That stupid psychopath. Either he's out of his mind, or he's just blind because he was lying about that pretty part.

Now, I have seven years of bad luck ahead of me.