The Vampire Princess Saga Box Set (6 page)

CHAPTER 16

I woke
up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep again.

As I
lay in bed, I tried to calm my nerves, in an attempt to fall asleep again. After many attempts, I didn’t succeed; then I rose from my bed and walked slowly to the window; it still was open.

As usual,
I always slept this way due to the constant visits of that owl.

I
became seasoned to that routine: with it coming to my window almost every night, watching my sleep.

When it
didn’t show up, I always felt weak.

I looked out the window
and sighed.

Between
two trees I saw someone walking quietly, that is, Eros had just come out from nowhere and was standing in my backyard.

I quickly averted my gaze, but then my eyes were back on him.

Eros
was positioned next to a tree.

He
made gestures to me, calling me.

Unwittingly,
I stepped out of my bedroom and went there.

I was wearing a
long- white night-dress and was barefooted.

I didn
’t want I could walk away without first talking to him.

“
What are you doing here?” I asked, with a subtle gleam in my eyes.

“
I need to talk to you.” His voice was soft.

“
How did you find out where I live?” I asked, surprised.

“
I followed you, without your knowing.” he answered, grinning.

My
blood flushed to my cheeks. We walked together and sat down beneath a tree.

We remain silent
for a moment and then he had broken the silence.

“
You may think I’m a freak walking in the middle of the night
,
in someone’s backyard.” He paused. “But I really had to talk to you; I didn’t want you to think I’m a scoundrel.” He said kindly.

I glanced at him, but he was
staring at the floor.

“
I’m not angry with you.” I confessed.

“
I don’t want to destroy
our friendship and miss you.” He looked at the darkness while I was staring at him. “You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met… and I have nobody, except…you, who’s my best friend.” He took a deep breath and confessed.

“
I don’t want you to lie anymore to me”, I said, gasping.

“
I won’t lie again, I promise.” He seemed cautious.

The wind was
blowing fiercely and I felt a cold chill. I shivered, feeling the cold breeze.

When
Eros noticed I needed to wrap myself up, he took his jacket off and put it on my shoulders.

“
You’re not dressed properly to stay here”, he said.

I didn
’t notice I was still in a night-gown.

“
I think it’s better for you to go inside; otherwise, you possibly will catch a cold.”

He stood up and
lifted my arm, helping me to get up.

I felt
other chill; however, I knew it wasn’t because of the cold wind. Those were different shakes, provided by his cold hands on my skin.

I wished that night could last forever and he could not go away.

He
looked straight at me, staring at the pupils of my eyes. Then I could see in his eyes other world that was waiting for me. Through him, I would be other creature.

His long hands gripped my
face and he stared at me once more. I stared back at his face.

I was expecting something else
. Exactly a few seconds later he made in silence a precise analysis of my face, which was attracted by his fascinating gaze.

He decided
decision to leave
my face and his hands went down.

“
Go now”, he ordered, calmly.

I obeyed
silently, like a domestic animal.

I turned
my back and started walking away.

The
expression in my face was of wariness and happiness… that was due to the few extraordinary moments by his side.

Before crossing the doorstep, I stared back and saw him slowly walking away into the darkness and disappearing immediately.

As
if he didn’t exist in that world.

***

When I woke up I was confused, searching about my room with my scared eyes. I rose from my bed and walked to the window and looking at the backyard.

There was nothing
there, just a nipping wind breaking through my window, making the curtains dance from side to side.

I went back to bed
and looked at my feet as they were soiled with the same type of grain
from my backyard.

CHAPTER 17

Lately I have been oversleeping.

Every afternoon, after
school, I always came home and went to my room, where I usually slept for twelve hours.

I couldn
’t understand why I was so sleepy.

All this time my mother
had been worried about me. She thought I was sick, maybe I could be anemic.

“
I’ll take you to see a doctor.” She said as she was so worried about me.

“
I’m okay” I said, trying to make her change her mind.

“
You have slept too much”, she insisted. “Tomorrow, we are going to see a doctor.”

***

The
next day, we drove downtown to the doctor’s office.

While we were
in the waiting room, I was looking at
a middle-aged man; he was wearing a white medical coat.

My
mother was by my side and described to the doctor my behavior in the last few days.

He started asking questions
, about how I was feeling. I responded all his questions, irritated, though I thought everything was just
nonsense.

A nurse walked me to the emergency room
and lay down me on the stretcher. My mother stayed with me.

I
looked at her and noticed she was nervous, pacing back and forth.

T
he nurse brought the necessary instruments to collect my blood. I looked to my left when I felt the needle of the syringe into my left arm.

The
clock was ticking and she was still trying to collect my blood, but it didn’t seem to pump.

After several
frustrating attempts, she decided to call the doctor.

My
mother got even more apprehensive about what was happening.

She
knew there was something wrong.

The doctor
came in, followed by the nurse as she was telling what had happened to me.

“
What’s going on?” my mother asked the doctor, with a weeping voice.

“
There is nothing to worry about. We just couldn’t find the blood vessels of your
daughter.” He said that prudently.

After
three attempts, they finally managed to find my vein.

My blood
was dark and thick.

I noticed
that something was unusual.

The
result of the blood test would come within three days.

I walked out
the clinic and I looked at my arm and saw swelling and haematoma on my skin.

“
Satisfied?” I asked my mother when I stepped into the car.

“Not yet, I need to check your blood test.” she replied.

“
I will never put my feet back
in that damn clinic! Look what they did with my arm!” And I slammed the car door as I was outraged.

CHAPTER 18

On
the next day, I went to school with a bad mood, because my arm was still swollen.

Before I entered the classroom
, I met Eros in the hall. I tried to come back and not to face him. It was too late, he walked beside me.

“
Are you still angry?” he asked.

“
No”, I answered, looking ahead.

“
Why are you avoiding me?” he insisted

“
I’m not avoiding you.”

At a great pace
, I left him behind, though he held my wounded arm, obstructing me.

“Ouch!” I screamed.

“
Are you hurt?” He looked down at my right arm. “What’s this?”

“
This was an unlucky blood test.” I looked away awkwardly.

“
Have they collected your blood?” He raised his eyebrows.

“
Yeah” My voice was very weak.

“
Are you sick?” he asked.

“
I’ve been sleeping too much and my mother is worrying about me…she thinks I’m anemic.”

“
That’s stuff and nonsense…” he said, glancing at me with a slight smile.

“Do you think this is nonsense? And if I’m really sick, what do you think this?” I asked, disappointed.

“
That must be a lack of blood”, he said, in a serious tone.

“
How?”… “Lack of blood?” I asked, perplexed.

“
You need red meat.” he explained.

“
I eat red meat every day.” I went into the details, ingenuously.

“
Try to eat only raw meat.” he said, looking at my face.

“
Thank you for this hint!” I said, ironically.

Would who eat raw meat? I thought to myself.

“I’m serious”, he said.

Eros and I
stared at each other, in silence.

I felt
other chill as I stared at him, confused. He seemed to understand more about my problem than my own doctor.

CHAPTER 19

I
came back to the library and tiptoed, trying to reach a book on the shelf.

I
couldn’t even touch it.

Suddenly
I heard a male voice, making me shiver.

It
was the same voice that scared me whenever I listened to.

“
Let me pick it for you.”

I looked back at him and my face
gave evidence of my astonishment.

Eros
didn’t need to tiptoe to touch it. He just stretched his hand to grab the book.

When
he raised his arm, his sleeve rose and I could see the tattoo on his left arm.

“Here it is.” he said, handing me the book.

I took the book,
absently. I stared at his tattoo with watchful eyes.

“
What is this on your arm?” I asked, biting my lip.

My
curiosity was much bigger
than my silence.

“
It’s a symbol of Neptune.” he said, while lifting his sleeve to show more clearly that drawing.

I had the strange
feeling when I looked at that tattoo.

I deduced
I had seen it before, somewhere, but I did not know
where and I couldn’t remember how.

“
You surprise me every day!” I breathed deeply. “I thought you didn’t like these things.”

I finished
and
I felt myself becoming dizzy.

“
I didn’t do this tattoo because I wanted… it appeared on my arm.” He faced me again.

“
Do you always make use of your sense of humor to justify all the wrong things you do?” I looked at the ground thoughtfully.

“
Do you think it’s wrong for someone to have a tattoo?” He stared at me penetratingly.

“
I think it’s wrong the way in which
people use them.” I said, looking at his arm.

“
In my case, it’s part of my survival.”

“
Are you a sort of gangster?” I asked, impressed.

“
Do I look like a gangster?”

“
I don’t know… sometimes you’re so… mysterious.” I confessed, doubtfully.

“
Does it bother you?” Eros asked, staring at me for a moment, with his cryptic gaze.

I
was still confused about him.

“
A little bit…” I turned around without looking at him and walked away.

I couldn
’t continue our conversation and even more looking into his eyes.

CHAPTER 20

I hosted a dinner for my two school friends, Mirta and Eros.

My mother
wished to know them.

Eros was the first one to come.

I went to the
front door to welcome him. I cared about doing my hair before opening the door for him.

“
Get in!” I told him.

“
Thanks.” He looked tense.

We were going to the living room
and my mother was on foot, observing us.

“
Mother, this is Eros.” I said, nervously.

They stared
at each other.

“
Hi” she first said.

“
How are you ma’am?” he asked.

My
mother looked at Eros; her eyes seemed the most vigilant ever.

“
Sit down” my mother gently asked.

Eros
sat on the sofa and my mother sat on the chair next to the couch.

And then
I went again to the front door to receive Mirta.

I barely
opened the door and she walked in, as if she was family member.

“
Where is your mother?” she asked, looking at the decoration house.

“
There.” I
pointed a
finger at my mother.

Mirta
glanced at Eros, with his backs to us while he was sitting on the sofa.

“
Why didn’t you tell me he would come? I would have dressed the most appropriate
clothes.” She whispered in my ear.

I looked at her
from top to toe
and perceived her clothes. Mirta was wearing a miniskirt, her legs were exposed.

Her clothing
was like an invitation to any
man to travel through them and even Eros.

We
finally went to the living room.

“Ma’am, are you Valkyrie’s mother? You’re so young!” Mirta said this before I had introduced her to my mother.

“
How are you? My daughter talked very well about you!” she said and stood up.

“
I am fine.” she answered with a smile.

And then
she stared at Eros, who was still sitting on the sofa and he seemed nothing satisfied.

“
Hi, Eros!” she said and smiled at everyone.

“
Hi!” he said, seriously.

At first
I didn’t notice him staring at Mirta’s legs and that had been a relief inside me.

We sat on our chairs at the dining-table when dinner was ready.

My
mother sat at the heads of the table. Mirta sat by my side and Eros took a seat in front of me.

“
Who are your parents, Eros?” my mother asked after she placed the food on the dining-table.

“
My parents… don’t live in this town.” he responded, quietly.

“
What about your parents, Mirta?” she continued, looking at Mirta.

“
My father is a lawyer and my mother is a housewife.” Mirta he said proudly.

“
Mother, we’d better eat.” I said.

We all
had dinner quietly.

Later
my mother brought the dessert.

***

After dinner, we went back to the living room. We sat on the couch and talked about the town and about school, too.

Unexpectedly,
we heard the sound of a horn.

Mirta
skipped quickly and rose from the couch.

Eros’ look stopped on her legs.