Chapter Nine

"I still don't get how you could've ever been with her bro" Sal said as he stuck his thumbs in the straps of his bag leaving room between his elbow and his abdomen. He kicked an empty can off the walk way as Mer interlocked her arms into his and caused a few bumps as she skipped a few times along with us.

I sincerely didn't know either how I'd gotten together with Amaya. I never loved her because she'd always been way too fussy and awfully picky. She did almost whatever made her comfortable not minding others and that didn't still stop her from being a wimp. She was pained, pained that I wasn’t “hers” anymore and every single day made reality hit her more – she’d never get a chance with me, again. I was certain that I was accurate with my hypothesis because we'd grown almost together. We attended the same elementary school, high school and now, college. 

Her mum was the wealthiest woman in America, almost as wealthy as my dad and our lives had been entangled with each other's right from her birth. She was born six weeks after me but our parents were the forces that kept us from drifting.

After some rational thoughts, I realized that our parents were the reason why we dated. At least, my parents were the reason why I did. They'd wanted to have some other kind of bond other than the vocational one they already had with the primes - Amaya's parents but they were selfish! My parents were.

We got to the bus stop and I slumped hard on one of those inviting long benches that was well shaded. The sun was baking me already and I was having a slight brow ague already.

I brought out the crumpled small sheet of paper that had Maisie's number in it from my back pocket. It'd gotten brown smudges and as I sat there lost in my thoughts, fondling it unconsciously, Sal placed a firm hand on my shoulder, stared into my eyes and said:

"It's okay Harvey. A lots happening right now but you've got me"

I felt another hand on my shoulder, one with a weaker grip. It was Mer and she added:

"You've got me too, dear".

An old bus pulled up in front of us and shrugged off every incisive emotion that the three of us were sharing with it's rumbling noise as bolts and screws of the bus shook with it. After a wordless hesitation that lasted for about ten seconds, they got on the bus and out of my view with a weak whitish trail of fog at their heel, after them.

I didn’t notice the weather condition till then, the clouds had become dull gray and they obscured the full exposure of the golden bulb that shown beneath them. The wind blew silently, an old man with a walking stick walked by then a woman – a blonde, with a baby and a dog strolled past the bus stop where I sat, lost in my world. The thoughts of Mason and Madison chattering about how I was the meanest soul on Earth as they waited for me to pick them up motivated me and I steadily crawled out of my calmness as I strode to where the Elantra was. I passed a few students that were on their way home when my eyes caught some shadow movements in the most reserved place in the school. 

The school's storehouse. 

It was made out of bound to all students when Miss. Withes, a worker for the school died there. No one knew the cause of her death but it was said by some individuals that she was murdered. Others went ahead to say that they saw her when she was bumped off - neck tilted to a queer angle, eyes rolled back revealing just the white part, a broken forehead from where her warm blood oozed out of, broken fingers, a contorted ankle, an adroitly slit throat that revealed her oesophagus, a bisected tummy and some other gooey details.

I decided to keep moving but my curiosity got the better part of me and I found my legs moving in that direction. 

As I got closer, I became more cautious of my environment. Suddenly, all the students seemed to have disappeared and not even the gentle, cold – too cold for autumn breeze caused a leaf to stir, it sent chills down my spine. 

My heart was beating louder than the drums at a parade would and for a split second, I thought that whomever was inside will hear it but I shrugged it off as I realized that I was just being paranoid. 

My brain kept telling me to turn back but no, my legs were hell bent on taking me to the eerily dark place where the insides of the human flesh had been exposed to the world.

I turned round the corner and I felt a burden – a gloomy one as I peeked at what was happening in the dark room through a broken window.

I was astonished to my core! Lying on cartons used to bring in some of the school’s experimental stuffs was Josh, the covered with the dust that had found solace and piled themselves on the cartons years ago and beside him was Logan – Josh's best friend in a small pool of his blood, badly wounded, seemingly unconscious! They were the two vilest bullies I had known all my life.

Not too far from the duo was someone sitting on two boxes neatly arranged, smoking a cigarette. 

"You weren't meant to find me dealing with these two bullies, babe. We should've met at a much better time than this but what can we do about fate?"

The figure stood up and I couldn't see more than a silhouette. The voice brought life to the gloomy building, it held confidence and affirmation like whatever Josh and Logan got was well deserved. The voice sounded familiar and had a little bit of the Bulgarian accent and I recognized it, as well as the physique that was approaching me, it was Maisie! 

As she came towards me, I felt a glimmer of panic but I couldn't move as much as a toe not to talk of running. Besides, how could I run from Maisie, someone that came all the way from Bulgaria, for me. 

She stood directly at my front, the white fumes she'd inhaled slowly escaping through her nostrils and her lips which she parted a little. The smoke formed a circle with us in the middle – like she was in control of its movement.

"Darkness called out to me and I couldn't fight it, it's my home now. Welcome to a vampire's diary"

She said softly as she placed her left hand and traced a scar I had when I was five up to my chin.

Vampires... Necks...

I could've sworn she was going to suck my blood if she really was a vampire – If they existed. 

I shut my eyes as she drew her face closer to mine. I felt her hot breath on my nose and a second later, a little pressure on my lips. I knew what was going on and I couldn't resist. 

My pulse got faster and my temperature – higher. My lips parted slowly and I let her in. Her tongue... Her saliva... And her face were mine for seconds. 

So there we stood, in a deserted dusty and dark room – out of bound to students, with one of the biggest bullies groaning in pain and the other, knocked out, and me, kissing a… vampire – The love of my life. 

"Ehm ehm!" 

Amaya brought us back to reality as she stood at the door.

How could I have forgotten that they were almost always going to be together for a while?