XXII. A lost boy

Cara

There was a draft in the house, like a cold wind had blown past. I chose to ignore it, I had probably left a window open.

Entering the kitchen, I shut the back door, making sure to lock it. Who knew what else was out there? Something could easily enter the house and rip me apart.

...as much as you fear him, Ivan truly cares for you... Jasper's words were stuck in my mind, echoing inside it over and over again.

I thought them through, calculating over and over again as if it wasn't such a simple statement, Ivan truly cares for you...

Yes, he cared about me, he'd once -long ago -said he liked me. He attacked Hoff to keep me safe, if it weren't for him... if it weren't for him who knows what would have happened? The vampire would probably have drained me of all the blood in my body.

Deep inside I was very grateful and thankful that he showed up when he did. Deep inside I cared for him greatly, what we had before, that doesn't just go away. It stays with you.

There was no night I slept without thinking of him. I constantly pondered on where he was, what he was doing. I even wondered if he was maybe even thinking of me as I was of him. The chances were slim.

Could the police have taken him away for what he had done? I would ask myself every single night. Wasn't it like self defence?

Not possible. Kogo had explained to me that the reason no one out of the seven billion people on the planet knew about the existence of such creatures was totally simple. They kept it a secret. They were very good at keeping secrets, clearly, seeing as I had no clue that my history teacher was a vampire.

It was a whole organisation! They worked under the shadows with behavioural codes, rules, institutions.

It scared me. What they were capable of, it terrified me.

Can I really look past something like that?

One night, when I could not sleep at all, I even tried to search for Ivan online. Finding him proved to be a difficult ,if not impossible, task.

All I learned was that he was tremendously philanthropic, donating to various charities. He also invested hugely in companies seeking financial aid and reaped the benefits when firms earned mega profits.

Essentially, he was only a smart, benevolent man with extremely deep pockets who lived a quiet and exceedingly private life.

I decided to grab a cup of coffee before starting on my English essay. Standing idly, thinking about a world that did not want to be thought about was not going to help me graduate high school.

A knock sounded from the back door. Turning my attention towards the glass door, I saw Aeren, the boy who had been with Jasper.

The hopeful smile on his face willed me to let him in and I opened the door for him. He seemed trustworthy enough. But I did not let him into the house.

"How do you know where I live?" I question him, my eyes roaming his dishevelled form.

He looked lost.

I stared past him and realised he’d climbed up the gate.

"I..."he paused and shifted his gaze to his feet. "I followed you."

I asked him why he did such a thing.

"It's hard to explain. I just had to see you. You're just so... It's hard to believe you are real. I have many questions," he says. All of what he has said confuses me.

"Why is it hard to believe I am real?" I ask. He walks in and takes a look around. He looks amazed by everything, like a child in a candy store.

"No one thought you would ever come..."he answered me. His hands move to the lacrosse stick that I have placed on the counter. He picks it up, his mouth widely agape. "Did you make this? This weapon?"

I nearly laughed. Has he never seen a lacrosse stick before?

"No... It's for lacrosse," I say then realise that the boy had probably never heard of such a thing. He did not look like someone who enjoyed sports." A sport I play. Where exactly are you from?"

For a moment, he is quiet, "...Northwest of here."

Hearing this, I assume he was from Alaska or somewhere around there. I decided not to pry, I only just met the boy.

Aeren moved around the house, curiously touching everything. I cautioned myself to be careful with him, he may be like Ivan and Jasper. Maybe the most dangerous thing about him was that he did not look harmful. Like a slow loris, he could be harmless-looking until he bites you and you die.

"What do you want? You said you have questions. Ask them."

This caught his attention. With an excited look on his face he approached me. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. The paper looked aged and used, like it has been folded , unfolded and refolded many times.

"I was there the night the wolves chased you... I was back at the sire's mansion, past the woods, by the hill. I'm sure you know it, you were taken there, " he began.

Memories from a while ago were drawn-out from the back of my mind. The night the wolves came, the night I got lost, the same night I met Ivan, well ,accurately speaking, when he met me, I was passed out when it happened.

The young man went on to explain, " whenever Master Hale, Jasper, goes out running, especially on full moons, I take time to indulge in one of my hobbies, astronomy. It happened for a short while, eighteen minutes to be precise and few took notice, including me. The moon was red."

I remembered the vision of the moon as I was about to pass out, it was cardinal red with a faded scarlet hue around it.

"In the history book where I am from, it is said, the fulfilment of prophecies by the gods always had signs, sometimes, when curses were averted or ended the moon would turn red as a sign to the people or the released."

Gibberish, it seemed to all be nothing but gibberish to me but in the previous weeks, I had acquired new... open-mindedness.

He handed the paper. It's a picture of the moon.

"I see you dabble in photography, too. The moon was red because the moon was red. That's it. I feel that maybe you are overthinking this. Otherwise, I will be of no help to you," I tell him feeling a little sympathetic.

"Is the sire your chosen? Has he declared his claim over you? Did you knot privately? Where? May I see the mark?"

OK, he's crazy.

"What? The sire? "

This is the last time I am letting a stranger into the house.

"Mr.Vasiliev. Ivan. I see you don't understand. You know so little now. Just answer me this. Do you feel a connection with him?"

Do I? The question he posed was simple enough but somehow difficult for me to answer.

The way I felt when he was around, it was... unexplainable. When he touched me, it was electric. The charge through my body when we kissed, it was unreal...unknown.

The memory of his voice brought goosebumps to my skin. Whenever he spoke, I felt a pull I had never known. My body had always been in need of his. There was a hunger inside me, a hunger for him.

My memories of him were interrupted by the vicious memory of what he had done. A gasp suddenly escaped my lips and my body was thrown back in a shock. I was nearly knocked off the stool.

Aeren looked confused. He had a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why are you asking me all of this?" I ask him.

The boy remains silent for a moment," I don't know. I am lost..."

He continues.

"I just feel that I have to...I want to help... I'll feel aimless if I don't find the solutions and answers of things in the world. Clearly, I should not be here. You don't want me here." He picked up the lacrosse stick. " I will return this once I have made it a more useful weapon for you. I smith too."

He got up and only when he began to walk away did I notice the light limp in these steps. I wondered to myself what could have caused it. I didn't get the chance to ask about it.

He took the backdoor. With his thin, bony hand on the knob, he spoke, " I pray we meet again...we will. I know we will."

And the lost boy was gone.