The Vampire Princess Saga Box Set (5 page)

CHAPTER 12

Before
going to bed, I put on a long white nightdress.

I looked at my face in the
mirror, as I was taking hold of my hair.

When
I stared at my face in the mirror again, I got stupefied; I almost couldn’t see myself on it.

It
s reflection looked distant and fainting, as if I didn’t exist; I wondered if it could be a hallucination.

The
owl came to my window again.

I
shivered when I saw it, perfectly still. It was watching me closely.

I came next to it and this time. I didn’t want to frighten it; I was just trying to welcome that animal.

Eros
made me see the owls in other way.

Previously
I perceived it like a frightful and ominous bird, but now I was aware that it is like a friend… a guardian… which came to my window almost every night for watching my sleep.

“
I won’t scare you.” I said low and tried to touch it; though, it flew to the corner of my window, hindering me on doing that.

“
I am not going to hurt you”, I said, quietly.

I realized I had frightened it.

A few minutes
later I lie down on my bed and put down my head cautiously on my pillow. I was looking away towards the owl. It stood exactly in the same place for a long time as it was just watching me carefully.

I wasn
’t afraid at all because I thought of Eros all the time and on the subject of everything he had told me about them.

His voice and words comforted me in the presence of that intimidating bird, of which almost everybody was afraid of.

While
I stared at the owl, I felt as if Eros was there in my room.

It would be nice to have him there, protecting me.

I closed my eyes and
fell asleep quickly, in the presence of that owl, so still, with its huge eyes.

***

Sunshine burst at my window. I woke up with the daylight on my face. My eyes were so sensitive. I put my pillow over my face, trying to block the clarity over me.

And I
stayed on my bed more than I should.

CHAPTER 13

Every
Wednesday
,
after class, there was a basketball game in the gym.

I sat
down next to Mirta to watch the match.

The game had not
started yet. Christian needed a player to complete his team.

He was annoyed
because they couldn’t start the game with a missing player in the opposing team.

For the first time
Eros turned up unexpectedly to watch a basketball game.

He
arrived after everyone had taken a seat, then he walked in slow motion and isolated from the supporters.

Since
he arrived there, my glance was focused on him. It was amazing the power of enchantment he always exercised on me.

Mirta elbow nudged my ribs.

“Look who is coming.” she said, leaning her head towards him.

“
Err… I’ve noticed”, I said, staring at him.

H
e looked distracted and at that moment I had not seen me yet.

“
Why don’t you go there and talk to him?” she asked, glancing at me with a malicious smile.

“
What am I supposed to say?” I asked, with a serious tone in my voice.

As I was a
voiding showing I was really interested on him.

“
Think of something.”

“
I’m not so creative”, I jeered.

“
Ask if he likes basketball.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“
Great idea!” My voice sounded wry.

Christian saw Eros by himself.

“
Hey, you there!” He asked, immovable. “Do you want to complete our team?”

Everyone around
heard his invitation.

Eros
realized that everybody was staring at him, as if he was a celebrity.

I
strengthened my neck, alert, trying to listen to his mysterious answer.

“
Are you talking to me?” he asked, in a serious tone.

“
Yes, I am”, Christian answered, holding the basketball.

“
Am I designated to play in your team?” Eros asked, and his eyes were cold.

“
No, my team is already complete.”

“
I agree”, he said rapidly, dropping his backpack on his seat, and then he walked into the sports court.

The game started. Christian was outstanding on the shots, scoring lots of points.

The others
players supposed Eros was like a fish out of water. It seemed like he had never seen a basketball before.

All
of his moves were affecting his team.

He was
doing everything wrong. He held the ball so clumsily. That was pathetic.

I
got quite disturbed for watching that game, as well as how his teammates were mad at him.

“
He is very bad in court!”

Mirta
commented that and I remained quiet. I was pissed off.

In a matter of
time, after his perception about the game, Eros found out the perfect strategy to play.

He
grabbed the basketball several times.

It was amazing
how quick he could move in the court.

We
could see only his shadow running; no one could stop him, not even the best player… ‘Christian’.

The
supporters changed their idol. They commenced shouting loud Eros’ name, on the contrary to Christian.

Christian
was furious. No one had ever detracted him on the basketball court.

Mirta
sat back next to me. She was upset due to Christian’s defeat.

Unlike
me, I was bursting into joy, watching Eros crushing Christian on the court.

The game ended
with the effusive victory of Eros’ team.

“
That’s beginner’s luck!” Christian told Eros, when he left the court, dropping the ball madly.

Eros
noticed he was glowing with indignation.

“
I have never seen anyone playing like that!” one of Christian’s teammate vehemently said.

“
Shut up!” Christian shouted.

I tried to
talk to Eros while all players were leaving the court.

Eros
turned back to get his stuff.

He
was bent when I approached him.

“
How did you do that?” I asked and opened up my eyes in surprise.

He turned to look at
me as he was arranging his books.

“
I don’t even know”, he said, and his voice was aloof.

“
You moved so fast! You dominated the game!” I exclaimed, staring at the court.

“
Christian didn’t like it.” he commented.

“
He’s not used to being defeated.” I affirmed.

“
He’s
a jerk.” He finally smiled.

Mirta
come to me in silence as she was upset.

“
I’m leaving…Are you staying here?” she asked and acted as if Eros didn’t exist.

“
I am going home, too…” I told her.

Eros
frowned and stared at Mirta, at the way she acted before him, while she was very anxious and left
us behind.

“
See you tomorrow.” I said as I was walking.

“
Okay”, he agreed and stood still.

CHAPTER 14

The next day, I was astonished.

The
main topic at school was about just one person, that is, Eros.

All around
we heard comments on how amazingly Eros had played.

Everybody
was delighted about him, mainly the girls…

As soon as
he arrived at school, everyone was looking at him while he came walking slowly, lonely, only holding his books.

He noticed everyone
was admiring him. The girls tried to approach him. However, he stepped back, avoiding them to touch him.

Christian
was angry again; Eros was detracting other skill from him.

F
irst, he used to be the ‘best player in court’. And secondly, “the most attractive guy in school”.

When
Eros avoided the girls that was an open door for Christian to distil his poison
on him and make awful jokes.

“
I think he doesn’t like girls!” Christian mocked.

Eros
gazed at him, frigidly.

Mirta
and I were watching everything from afar.

“
What did you say?” Eros asked, staring at him.

“
I said you don’t like girls!” he repeated, looking straight at him with his ugly face.

I realized
Christian wanted to pick a quarrel with Eros.

“
He is completely ridiculous!” I said as I hated Christian’s behavior. I walked away quickly, and I got sickened due to that stupid tumult.

“
I won’t take into consideration what you have just said.”

Eros
said and he seemed unconcerned about that situation.

“
That’s a compliment for you”, Christian insisted and chuckled.

Eros
went away politely, avoiding troubles.

T
he students got disappointed with his attitude, he being humiliated by Christian before everybody and acting like that.

T
he teacher was explaining chemistry to the class. Everyone was too interested on listening to his explanation.

Until
Mirta saw a drop of blood on her notebook, she raised one of her hands and touched her nose.

Soon
she noticed she was bleeding.

“
My nose is bleeding!” she said, nervously. “Sometimes this happens.”

When
Eros noticed a fresh blood smell coming
from Mirta, he stood up and stepped out the classroom.

I
didn’t understand his strange reaction.

I didn
’t know why he had stepped out of the classroom, very fast.

On that
moment I wasn’t paying attention to Mirta because I was paying attention only to him.

I
escorted Mirta to the toilet and try to help her.

When it
got back to normal, we came back to the classroom.

I looked at his
seat and it was empty, that is, he didn’t come back after that. I perceived he had left his books on his desk.

The
class was over and everyone left the place, then I realized the classroom was empty.

I walked
very fast towards his books and took them with me. I decided to give them back for him personally.

I walked
down slowly on a desert street. Several houses were shut; there was few people strolling on those premises.

I
examined every house as I was hoping to find him.

Then I
met an old man who was walking on the street. He lived in one of those houses. I had seen he was holding a newspaper.

“
Mr., please can you tell me where Eros lives?” I asked when he stopped in front of me.

“
No one called Eros live here.” He answered and smiled after that.

His eyes remained focused on my puzzled face. I was disillusioned and dissatisfied with the information given by the old man.

Then I
asked it to another woman who was also walking down the street. I asked her the same thing.

“
I’ve never heard this name before”, she affirmed, and frowned.

I
still wasn’t content. I deduced it could be a mistake. Maybe all those people weren’t well informed about their new neighbor.

Optimist
ic, I asked to some more people the same information.

And I
received the same answers, not those I wanted to have.

“
He
doesn’t live
here
.”… “
I don’t know him
”.

Afterwards, I went home while I still was carrying his books, wondering all the time why he had lied to me about where he lived.

“
What was wrong with this? Was he ashamed about his origins?

Or was he
married? Could he have wife and children?

I
was sorry during the rest of the day. Eros had become an enigma to me, a mystery in my life.

I knew
very little about him, besides his weird way and his icy skin.

At the same time
He had been very close to me, it looked as if he was so far away from me
as if he were just a hallucination from my imagination.

I was angry
with myself; I was silly of caring about his life.

Sometimes I noticed
he didn’t care about me at all.

***

I was absentminded at
dinner; I couldn’t take my eyes from my meal.

“
You didn’t eat anything!” my mother complained to me, noticing that my plate was still full of food.

“
I’m not hungry”, I said, gazing at nowhere.

“
What happened?” She said as she knew I wasn’t okay.

“
Nothing has happened.” I tried to hide what I was feeling.

“
Don’t lie to me! I know you.” She looked at my face and asked: “Have you had a problem in school?”

“
No.”

“
Is it a boy?” she insisted.

I
languished. My sad gazing at the dining-table demonstrated I couldn’t answer her question.

My omission
made my mother notice what was happening to me.

Behind everything
there was a boy, who was the reason of my sorrow.

After all,
my mother had also been a teenager.

“
In that case… I can’t help you.” She stood up to take her plate to the sink.

I had always been reserved to talk to my mother about certain subjects, mostly when they referred to the guys I was interested in.

It was a
kind of impediment where I couldn’t express what I felt really and what were my objectives concerned to them.

CHAPTER 15

I found Eros in the reading room, a spacious place with several tables and chairs.

He
was sitting on his chair, his elbow hung on the table. He seemed being concentrated on what he was reading. I approached him, miffed.

“
Why have you lain to me?” I asked with a determined voice as I was staring at him.

“
Have I lain to you?” He asked and frowned.

“
You don’t live at that address… I’ve been there and asked the neighborhood about you, and they told me that you have never lived there.”

“
You don’t want to know where I really live.”

He said and t
he expression in his eyes became him even more distant and mysterious. I felt insecure, and, at the same time, I seemed fascinated by that whole mystery in the air.

M
y duty was to solve it.

“
Why were you after me?” His face was austere.

“
I wanted to give this back to you.” I put his books on the table and bit my lip; after all, I was angry. “You left them yesterday, in the classroom.”

“
You shouldn’t have gone after me yesterday”, he said, looking ahead.

“
I should!” My anger increased. “So then I was aware you had lied to me.

“
Do you consider that a lie?” he crossed his arms over his chest and stared into my eyes.

“
How do you name it?” I was irreducible.

“
A misunderstanding”, he answered, coolly.

“
That’s a misunderstanding… your neighbors don’t know they’ve got a neighbor whose name is Eros.” My voice turned up.

“
I’ve never seen you so angry”, he confessed, and unfolded his arms.

“
I hate lies!” I stared at him and he could feel the taste of my fury through my eyes.

“
If I hurt you … I apologize now …”

“
Lies don’t dissolve with apologies.”

I said and turned my back decided to go away, however, he remained looking at me as I was walking to the reading - room door, without looking back at him.

I
decided not to come back and tell him some other nonsense, which were stick in my craw.

Eros
, for having lain to me, he had destroyed a beautiful feeling which was growing inside of me.

I decided I wouldn’t stay in school to watch the other two classes. I didn’t want to see him after our conversation.

I was so overpowered by anger. Then I thought me being far away from him
it would be the best solution, at that moment, for all I was feeling.