6:Visit from Haydon

KATERINA

I sat on my bed finishing the last of my homework. Today had been extremely long, especially since I met Haydon Veneziano. Now don’t get me wrong, I did not like the poor soul, on the contrary, there was a high chance that I absolutely hated his guts. However, there was a large part of me that actually thought: maybe this guy isn’t what all the rumours paint him out to be. He was well behaved- most of the time, and most importantly, he did not try to assault anyone thus far. Now, I wouldn’t say that meant he was in my good books, but it did make my hate for him recede slightly. Only slightly though.

Then, there was the matter of his appearance. As much as I wanted to deny that Haydon was absolutely attractive, I had to admit that he was nothing short of a walking male model, oozing absolute beauty from head to toe. Again, it did not make me like him, but made me hate him just a little less.

Suddenly, I heard the loud sounds of purring and soon my black cat, Night made her way onto my bed. She walked slowly, her shoulder blades swiftly cutting through the air with her smooth, nimble movements.

" Hey Night, how are you?" I asked as she found her way into my lap.

Night meowed, as if in response to my question. She crawled into my lap and then closed her eyes and began falling off to sleep while gently purring.

When I had finished my homework- with much difficulty I might add- I packed my books away into my bag, disrupting the sleeping Night who angrily got off of my bed and exited my room. However, the departure of Night was greeted with the arrival of Dylan.

He stood in the doorway, a fake smile plastered on his face and his hands behind his back in a suspicious sort of way.

“What can I do for you?”

There was a sort of annoyance in my voice and I looked at him with folded arms.

“Did you see the new vampire at school? What was his name again…?”

I could tell that Dylan knew his name but was trying to fish for information. It was an old strategy that had now ceased to work.

“You know his name Dyl, stop playing dumb.” I said with a sigh.

It was then that Dylan decided to fully enter my room and set himself down on my bed, as though he were the owner of it.

“Fine,” he said, “I’d like you to tell me what you think of Haydon.”

I turned to him in disbelief, I knew that Haydon was an intriguing new face in town, but it was still strange that Dylan was asking about him. He was never one for being interested in anyone other than himself and Jasmine.

“What’s it to you?” I asked.

Dylan replied with a short shrug of the shoulders. I don’t know why, but it irked me that he was behaving this mysteriously. Something was going on, and I was not going to let Dylan pretend that he was not hiding it, and so, I resorted to my mom’s strategy: The full name, death stare power combo.

“Dylan Zachary Drackon, you better tell me exactly what is going on right this instant.”

This was followed by a signature death glare which was characterised by the burning eyes of a mother’s anger, frustration, and one of the most feared expressions known to any child- disappointment. It was something I’d learnt with constant observation of our mother, and something I had now perfected.

Dylan and I locked eyes for a moment. It seemed as though Dylan was tired of losing to me. He, however, looked away within the span of five minutes and finally surrendered.

“Okay! You can stop the mom look now; I’ll tell you.” He said with a sigh and the shook his head. He then looked up and an evil smile made its way onto his face. It was then that I realised… I had been played.

“Well, if you insist. Haydon is in the living room. Apparently, he is here because mom needs to interrogate him.” He then stood up, flattened the wrinkles in his shirt, and then offered another smile, leaving me in anticipation. Since when did my brother learn such devious tactics?

“He is asking for you.”

It took me a total five minutes before I could actually process what my brother had just told me. Thereafter, I proceeded to be puzzled, leading me to a very vital question.

“What?”

“He is downstairs, and asking for you Katerina, which is why I was wondering what you thought about him, and also… if you two have a thing?”

A thing? A THING! My brother had to be insane! Just plain insane.

“I’m giving you five seconds, literally five, before I break both your legs and suffocate you.”

With this, he left before I even counted to five. Clearly, he got the message loud and clear.

I then tried to calm myself down for a moment, as I attempted to figure out why on Earth Haydon was asking for me. After a while, I took in a long, deep breath, shook off my worry and then rushed downstairs only to see Haydon's body slung on my couch. He had a lazy smirk on his mouth and was drinking a glass of red wine. He swirled it once or twice before noticing my presence. However, just as he stared into my eyes, I looked away, pretending to be looking around the room to find my mom. Unfortunately, she was not here.

"Hey there, Doom, Gloom and everything in between!" Haydon's silky-smooth voice spoke.

Great, he even figured out a nickname for me.

"Hello sickeningly attractive demon. Sorry to keep you waiting," I said with folded arms and a scowl on my face. I honestly could not see myself having any fun during this encounter.

" Yeah well they say you always have to wait long for breath-taking girls.” He then froze for a second before continuing. “Wait, did you just call me sickeningly attractive? "

I inhaled sharply and froze. Damn it. I did call him that… Way to bloat his already inflated ego Katerina!

" Psssht no. I said sickeningly ugly.”

I was sure that “I am lying” was written all over my face.

I rolled my eyes at him and the room was then immediately filled with the presence of my parents. Relief flooded through me. I was literally saved by their entrance.

My dad made his cool, calm entrance.

My mom was more of a dragon. Her very presence made Haydon sit up as straight as possible.

"Aah a Veneziano. How long has it been since I saw you Haydon? Five years?" My mom said.

" Actually, it's seven," he said politely, and then took another sip of his wine.

My jaw dropped and my mother noticed.

" Do not look so surprised Katerina. Mr Veneziano used to attend our vampire and Vampire hunter meetings when he was younger. He always wanted to take over his father's place as leader of his empire. I wonder why you stopped Haydon?" She looked at him.

" Well I needed a break from all of that...serious stuff. I have to live my eternity the way I want, and my dad is not leaving this world anytime soon." He said shrugging. My mother’s mouth twitched into a quick smile. She was trying to bite back a lecture. She was just itching to give the poor vampire a piece of her mind.

She then took a seat on one of the couches and my dad followed suit, moving his red hair out of his face and showing off a toothy grin which Haydon returned. He was always so friendly.

My mother then proceeded to clear her throat and take off her glasses which was always a sign that a huge, brutal threat was about to follow.

"Well we have some rules for you if you are going to stay here. We know you and your temper. Firstly, you are not allowed to give yourself away to any humans here. Having them find out about vampires is always a huge headache for both councils. Second, we expect your feeding habits to be merciful and all of your victims to have their memories wiped. Thirdly, if you ever try to massacre this town like you did previous towns, you will be murdered, immediately. And lastly…” My mother paused, looked at me, and then, at Haydon. “My daughter is off limits. Don’t try to get involved with her like you usually do with other young ladies, she deserves so much more than a stupid idiot who chases his desires instead of his ambitions.”

I just stood there, unable to move the entire time. I was totally terrified, and I wasn’t even the person my mother was addressing. I could tell Haydon was also somewhat affected by my mother as he gulped down and said, " Okay deal...but I have one condition, your daughter has to walk me home right now."

He had a death wish. No, scratch that... He was suicidal.

My mom stood there in disbelief while my dad sat there and grinned like an idiot. I tried not to laugh too. I really did.

"Didn't I tell you to not come near my daughter?" She yelled in disbelief.

Haydon smirked. "Now now Christine, we wouldn't want bad things to happen in this nice town you have here. I know you are quite familiar with what I am capable of?" He said smirking evilly.

Despite me not liking Haydon one bit, I had to admit that he had nerves of absolute steel.

My mother sighed and nodded reluctantly. She seemed too tired to argue with Haydon and my dad looked just as tired. “Just let her go with him, it will get him out of our hair,” my dad said.

" Fine, just go," she said.

Haydon smiled, set his now-empty glass on the table, jumped up and grabbed my hand. His action left me confused. Soon, however, I began feeling what seemed to be tiny sparks, shooting from my hand which was enveloped in his own. It felt so strange, but I chose to ignore it as we whisked passed the door and into my front yard.

Haydon was strong and even now, as I struggled to break free from his grasp, I utterly failed. Admittedly, I was not trying that hard though. Haydon finally let me go after realising that his grip was too tight. He then awkwardly shifted his weight to his left leg and looked up at me, straight into my eyes. His handsome features seemed to be emphasised by the bright rays of sunlight which touched his face. His face seemed so angelic, almost making me forget that Haydon was a demonic incarnation of every evil thing to be in existence.

Why did he have to be so evil and good looking all at the same time?