The after school bell rang shrilly, Seraphina began jamming her text books and notes into a faded blue backpack.
“Hey Sera, got anytime today?” asked a pointed featured girl beside Seraphina. Not wanting to be around people, as always, Seraphina declined politely with the excuse of work and cooking for her father. Walking out of the classroom briskly, she headed down the faded corridors and through cracked doors towards her rusted locker.
Seraphina had stayed to long at work; the sun was already sinking into the horizon and the stars were beginning to unmask their faces of daytime. She ran down the unbalanced and dirty streets; as Seraphina passed a dark alley lined with disfigured fences, she noticed a fight going on. Normally Seraphina would keep going, ignoring the brawl, but something made her stay. The poor soul that the men were beating on was not fighting back, most people attempt to defend themselves or get away, but this one just took the blows as if it didn’t hurt. One large thug threw the person into some garbage cans and bags, he drew back his foot to kick and then the battered person did something most unusual, he looked up at the men and opened his mouth. Something glittered in the faint light, but Seraphina could not see what, the other men, however did. They all scattered, screaming as they ran. The beaten up man collapsed; he must have been punched one too many times. Seraphina ran over to him, she didn’t know why, but she felt she should help him. As Seraphina neared the unconscious one, she noticed he was around her age and ever so beautiful. His hair came down in dark waves, just long enough to touch his cheeks and his pale complexion glowed through the dark night. Bruises covered his arms and legs, his pale shirt and dark shorts were ripped and dirty. Seraphina heard the men reproaching again with more members this time, she panicked, what if they hurt her too? She couldn’t afford to miss school, she needed an education. As the voices grew nearer she hoisted the beautiful stranger onto her back and began running back towards home. He was surprisingly light; Seraphina had thought he would have been at least 2 times heavier, considering he must be around 17 or 18 years old. Seraphina charged down the street, the strange boy bouncing along like an enormous doll. Seraphina could hear the men were angrily looking for the boy. If they found him, both she and the boy would both be as good as dead. She pumped her legs harder and harder, her breathing coming out in deep gasps, was home really this far away? Seraphina rounded the last corner and began digging out the key from her jacket pocket. The men were close, they had split up and now some voices were getting closer and closer. Climbing the steps two at a time, Seraphina came to her door at last. She began jamming the key at the lock, voices getting closer. The key wasn’t fitting very well; Seraphina’s hand couldn’t steady to work it properly. The voices must have been just around the corner when she finally was able to open the door, run inside and slam it right away. Seraphina’s legs almost gave out from running so long. She staggered into the living room and laid the strange boy on the couch. Using one finger, she prodded the boy in the cheek hoping he would wake up.
“Excuse me, sir? Are you alright? Please wake up.” Seraphina whispered. The boy did not stir; he only kept on a steady breathing with his eyes shut tight.
“Um…sir, are you alright? Mr. Beat-up Guy, please wake up.” She said a in a louder tone, but the boy kept sleeping.
“HEY! WAKE UP!” yelled the now very irritated Seraphina. The boy flinched a little but kept on sleeping. Giving up the attempt to arise the strange boy, Seraphina went into the kitchen to get some icepacks for the boy’s bruises and band aids for his cuts.
“What a strange boy.” Wondered Seraphina aloud. “Why was he being getting beaten in the first place? Seraphina pushed aside the thought that she’d brought a psycho into her house and began bandaging the boy’s scratches and icing his bruises. Seraphina stayed away from any bruises that were beneath his boxers (she didn’t know him anyways) and patched up all the wounds under his shirt. By the time she’s finished, the sleeping beauty boy looked like a mummy. She had checked for any broken bones and amazingly enough, there were known; not even a fracture!
“I wonder when he’ll wake up. Maybe he’ll be hungry or thirsty.” Seraphina asked herself. “It’s late; I have school tomorrow so I better get some sleep. I’ll put a glass of water and a sandwich on the coffee table for him.” and Seraphina did so. Seraphina laid a blanket on the boy and placed a pillow under his head and put a tall glass of water with plenty of ice, a peanut-butter and strawberry jam sandwich under plastic-rap, and a note on the coffee table next to the boy. The note read:
Dear Mr. Beat-up Guy,
I saved you before the punks could come back to finish the job. I don’t know how you were able to scare them away like that, could you maybe tell me sometime? Anyways, I carried you back to my home. I live alone so it’s no problem if you need a place to stay, I have plenty of room. Please stay at least until your wounds heal.
If you don’t like peanut-butter and strawberry jam sandwiches, please, help yourself to whatever you would like in the fridge or cupboards. If you need more bandages, they’re in the top left drawer and the ice packs are in the freezer, of course.
If you need anything, I’m in the room next to the bathroom (it’s quite visible). Wake me for whatever reasons!
Sincerely:
Seraphina Sonne
Seraphina awoke early to the high pitched beeping of the alarm clock beside here. She dressed quickly in her plaid skirt and sailor-style shirt uniform and left her small room to find the boy she had saved last night from being beaten to death was still asleep on the couch. Would he ever wake up? Seraphina’s temper flared for a moment before she calmed herself, sighing deeply, she wrote underneath her previous message:
Dear Mr. Beat-up guy,
I noticed you haven’t woken up, so you haven’t eaten the sandwich I left you; please help yourself to anything in the fridge and cupboards. I am currently at school; I’ll be back around 4:00.
Sincerely:
Seraphina Sonne
Seraphina left the note in the same place as before and pushed her shoes onto her feet, grabbed the untouched food for breakfast and stepped outside into the sun. It shone brightly; Seraphina’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the light, once they did, she set out for school with a feeling that something would change today.
“That was strange.” She said aloud to nobody.
Yvon awoke; he was lying on an unfamiliar couch, everything around him was unfamiliar. A single piece of paper lay beside him on a coffee table; it had two notes written on it that indicated he had been saved by a girl. Saved? Yvon pondered a moment before remembering that a gang had come after him. The bottom message and top invited him to whatever food he wanted that was in the house, foolish humans.
With great effort, he lurched to his feet; almost every bit of him ached in pain. Though most of his wounds had already healed a lot, they still hurt. “These will most likely have disappeared by tonight” he thought. Yvon’s body growled with hunger, it demanded a meal. A rat scuttled beneath the couch, Yvon’s hand shot under the comfy sofa and caught the rodent just in time. His speed hadn’t fully returned yet either. In an almost unconscious state, Yvon forced his teeth to extend and sharpen. He shoved them into the squirming creature’s skin; he punctured a fatal vein and drank deeply. The rat writhed in pain and shrieked as loud as its small voice would allow before it went silent and limp. Than sucked at the vein until the rat shriveled and turned to dust. Yvon retracted his teeth and they dulled. This was only an insignificant rat that nobody could miss, but what if next time it was this Seraphina girl? This curse, was it supposed to drive him away from people?
“This hex is truly from hell.” He said and lay back to rest. Yvon scanned the room for any signs of which school Seraphina went to. Alas Yvon found a student handbook; surely that girl would need this. He went over to the handbook where it lay on the floor and looked through it. Once Yvon found what he was looking for, he left the house, locking it on his way out.
The second period bell rang, finally math was over. An already exhausted Seraphina walked out of the math classroom and towards the art room. At least Seraphina was good at art, today wouldn’t be all bad.
“I wonder how that boy is doing.” She wondered out loud staring up at the ceiling tiles as they passed. Seraphina brought her eyes down just in time to catch a glimpse of the boy she had rescued. For a second Seraphina was dumbstruck, then she shook her head.
“It must have been my eyes playing tricks on me.” She thought. As Seraphina walked through the classroom door, every head turned towards her. Not liking the attention, Seraphina quickly headed for the back row seat next to the window, her favorite spot. Miss Anderson, the teacher, walked in; her beautiful blond hair and cheerful summer dress flowing behind.
“Alright class, our new project is going to be drawing people from our class. Who would like to model for the class and don’t worry, whoever models will receive a mark on how well they model for the class. Now, who wants to be the model?” Miss Anderson said in her harmonic voice. Not wanting to do the modeling, Seraphina looked out the window and she saw the boy she had rescued. Seraphina was so surprised to see the boy already well and outside a third story window she started to scream. The whole classroom snapped their heads towards Seraphina, who was still so surprised at seeing the boy hadn’t turned away from the window. The entire class was silent as they stared at the boy until Seraphina came back to her senses and opened the window for the boy. Almost instantly, the classroom was filled with chatter as the boy climbed in. He stood quite close to Seraphina, to close for her own comfort. Seraphina turned towards the boy.
“Why are you here, how did you know I was here, can I finally know your name and how the hell did you do that?” Seraphina hissed low enough for only the boy to hear. The mysterious boy looked at her and smiled like he was fresh out of heaven.
“My name is Yvon Dunkel; you may call me Yvon, Miss Sonne. I read your student handbook and found where the school is and it is a secret how I got to the third floor window.” Than said in a whisper and winked. Once the class quieted, Yvon pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Seraphina.
“Here, you forgot this at home this morning; you’ll need it if you want lunch.” Yvon said in a rather loud and proud voice. Seraphina looked at what it was that Yvon was giving her, with great embarrassment; Seraphina realized it was her student handbook. She took it from Yvon and uttered a thank you with her face glowing red.
“Uh…um…ah……you should probably go home.” Seraphina said. “Miss Anderson, may I show Yvon to the gates?” Miss Anderson stared at Seraphina for a moment.
“No, Miss Sonne. It seems you know this boy, so I’m going to make you responsible for interrupting the class. If Yvon doesn’t have anything else to do, he can model with you, but even if he doesn’t you’re doing it as punishment. So, are you able to model for us, Yvon?” Miss Anderson sternly said while glaring at Seraphina. Seraphina couldn’t believe it. Modeling? How could she do it? She would surely faint from all the eyes staring up at her or the pressure of being a good model. Seraphina opened her mouth to start protesting, but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead, Yvon answered for Seraphina.
“Yes ma’am, I am able to model for you. Seraphina will as well. Thank you for letting me stay, I did not have anything else to do other than delivering Seraphina’s student handbook, so I would have been rather bored.” His voice flowed like milk chocolate, so sweet and smooth. Yvon started to walk towards the front, Seraphina wasn’t going to go but her body seemed to be walking on its own.
“Now, strike a pose together, an interesting pose.” Miss Anderson instructed. Seraphina didn’t know what to do. Should she put her arms up over her head like a ballerina or should she attempt a super model pose? Before Seraphina could decide, Yvon picked her up. His soft hands held Seraphina’s back and behind her knees gently. Yvon held Seraphina like a prized china doll that could break any second. The whole class was curious to know their relationship, they all whispered among themselves as they drew the two upfront.
“Do you think they’re going out?” asked one girl.
“She’s so pretty, but she’s so shy. How did she get a boyfriend like that?” said another.
“She doesn’t deserve him.” The richest girl at school said.
“I envy that guy.” A boy said. The class didn’t think Seraphina could hear them, but unfortunately, she could. Seraphina hated the attention and rumors, she liked being in the shadows.
“Please let this class end soon.” Seraphina thought inside her head. To Seraphina’s dismay, the class to extra long, it seemed like the bell would never go. It seemed like ages before the bell finally rang. Seraphina’s bones ached all over for sitting still so long; Yvon on the other hand looked unfazed even though he had held Seraphina for more than an hour. Seraphina wanted to leave the classroom as fast as possible, but Miss Anderson stopped her and Yvon before they got to the door.
“Everybody seems to have finished the picture and I must say; you two make excellent models. Would you two kindly model again next time?” asked Miss Anderson in her sweetest voice. Seraphina didn’t want to, but after one glance at Seraphina’s face, she knew it would be rude to decline. Grudgingly, Seraphina accepted with Yvon By the time they had finished talking with Miss Anderson the whole class had left, but sadly, they were all waiting outside the door to ambush Seraphina and Yvon with questions. Seraphina hadn’t even put one foot out the door when there was a thunder of “Are you guys going out together?” Seraphina didn’t know what to say, she stood petrified in the middle of the crowd.
“Do you two have a special relationship?” asked a tall girl. Seraphina didn’t know how to answer, but once again Yvon answered for her.
“Yes we do.” He said in a smooth and clam voice, like it was no big deal to say. The blood rushed to Seraphina’s head, she would surely look like a tomato. Suddenly the room started spinning and the faces all around her began ripple and twist. Seraphina felt like she was falling, Yvon’s face was toward hers, he looked worried and flustered and then there was nothing but black.
Seraphina opened her eyes a little. There were voices, adult voices around her and she was lying on something soft. Seraphina’s eyes sprang open and she sat up. She realized she was in the nurse’s room, but why? Seraphina thought hard and remembered Yvon’s worried face before everything went black. Something soft and cold pushed her shoulders lightly back onto the mattress.
“Whoa there, you don’t want to faint again. If you really must sit up, do it slowly.” A familiar voice whispered. Seraphina looked over and there sat a relieved looking Yvon. “You had fainted while the mob was throwing questions at us.” Then Seraphina remembered that Yvon had said they had a special relationship together.
“Why did you tell them we had a special bond between us?” she squeaked out. Yvon blinked once.
“I assumed we did. After, you did save me.”
“But...they meant a…a…a love relationship…you know.”
“I see. I’m sorry.” Yvon blushed a tiny bit on his pale face. Wanting to get off the awkward subject, Seraphina then noticed he had no visible wounds.
“Hey, where are your wounds? What happened to them?” she almost screamed. Staring into Yvon’s face, Seraphina felt flustered.
“It’s a secret.” Yvon softly said with a teasing smile plastered on his face as he leaned in close to Seraphin’as face. He winked at Seraphina, she felt light headed again, his beauty was almost blinding when he smiled.
“Alright, since you’re up, I’m going to take you home. Please wait here while I talk to the nurse.” Vincent said rather loudly and then got up and left. Alone, Seraphina’s cheeks started burning again.
“Yvon is really good looking, but I could never be his girlfriend, I’m to plain.” She thought to herself. “He so nice too, it’s too bad he has his own home. I wish he could stay at my place and keep me company. It gets so lonely.” Yvon and a middle aged nurse with short black hair came back.
“Oh my, do you have a fever, dear?” asked the nurse kindly. Seraphina smiled up at her and asked politely for some medicine. The nurse gave Seraphina some medicine and instructions and sent Yvonne home with Seraphina.
Seraphina walked home in silence beside Yvon. She had regular moments where she felt dizzy, but Seraphina didn’t want to be a burden on Yvon, so she tried to look neutral.
“Are you alright?” Yvon suddenly asked. Seraphina didn’t really know what to say, she couldn’t lie to those beautiful eyes he had. She started to feel dizzy and began to tilt towards her right. Yvon caught her before she could actually fall.
“I’ll take that as a no.” he laughed. Yvon picked Seraphina up in the princess carry again. She instantly felt flustered.
“Please no, you don’t have to.” She tried to say. “Would you rather I gave you a piggy back.” He replied in a kind voice.
“Would you rather I gave you a piggy back.” He replied in a kind voice.
“So, have you figured out how my wounds healed so fast?” Yvon said, changing the subject. Seraphina hadn’t thought about it, but she really wanted to know.
“Um…They weren’t as bad as I thought?” she guessed. Yvon smiled and shook his head.
“Try using your imagination.” He replied. Seraphina thought hard, what did he mean by that?
“Are you immortal?” she asked. Yvon shook his head.
“Are you a god that has come down from heaven…or wherever to do something in particular?” Yvon shook his head again.
“Do you have magic powers?” she asked. Yvon shook his head a very little bit.
“You’ve almost got it.” He said. Seraphina was out of ideas and she felt tired.
“Could you maybe let me think longer on it” she asked. Yvon nodded.
“Oh, we’re here already.” Yvon said looking at Seraphina’s small house. Yvon opened the door with one hand, walked in and set her down on the sofa. Yvon stood for a minute looking at her, he had a sort of longing and painful look in his eyes. For a while, the two just stared at each other.
“Yvon, do you have a place to stay tonight?” Seraphina asked, finally breaking the awkward silence. “You can stay here if you like.” Yvon studied her face longer and longer until a few moments later nodded and thanked her.
“I will make you supper in return for your hospitality.” Yvon declared before walking out of the room as quickly as possible. Seraphina heard many drawers in the kitchen opening and closing and there was lots of clattering. Alone once again, Seraphina pulled her mind away from the noises emitting from the kitchen and started to think of her problem.
“He’s so nice; I think its love at first sight. No, no! There’s no such thing and girl, you have no time for love… but I still do wish he could be my boyfriend. He is so good looking he probably has a girlfriend already, one as amazing as him. I stand no chance, I’m to plain.” Seraphina thought. “Oh, never mind. Shut up brain!” More clatters and crashes came sounded from the kitchen. Seraphina decided that it didn’t sound good; she headed towards the kitchen and stood frozen in the doorway. There were pots and pans everywhere, spices and jars open some mixed together and many overturned, there was such a mess she could hardly believe it was possible in her small home. Yvon looked up from cutting a pepper, his face was all messy and his clothes were stained, he had a guilty expression on his face.
“Miss Seraphina, I’m sorry. Usually I can cook but I just can’t concentrate.” He began to say. Seraphina sighed, it was so messy, but on the bright side, Yvon hadn’t hurt himself cutting vegetables or burned himself from the boiling pot of water on the stove. Seraphina sighed again.
“You know how to clean, right? I’ll make supper and you will clean this up. If you don’t know where something goes, just ask me.” Seraphina mumbled. Since water was already boiling, Seraphina put some pasta in and put some left over spaghetti sauce through the microwave. Yvon cleaned at a fast pace, but every time his eyes met Seraphina’s he looked away immediately. Seraphina thought she saw a sort of longing type of look in his eyes, but she didn’t want to pry so she let it be.
The kitchen was clean before supper was ready, which was pretty amazing since it was a disaster. Seraphina dished out a plate of spaghetti and was about to dish out another when Yvon put his hand on her arm.
“It’s alright, I’m not hungry.” He said. Seraphina sighed again and wondered how many happiness’ had left today from all her susurrations. She sat down at her small table with the spaghetti and began to eat. Yvon was looking long and hard at her which made her feel most uncomfortable.
“Are you sure you don’t want any?” she asked. Yvon shook his head.
“Please excuse me; I’m going out for a walk.” Yvon quickly said and left. Seraphina sat for a minute and wondered what his sudden problem was. Could it be that things were going to change just as she had thought they would this morning?
Yvon hurried outside. His breath was catching in his throat and his veins felt achy and dry. He sped down the street in hopes of spotting a cat or perhaps a raccoon. Panic flared through his mind as he kept on running, there was no sort of wild creature around, he clutched at his chest with one hand in attempt to control himself. He had almost lost control around that girl; there was something about her that increased his thirst. Yvon ran for what seemed forever, it had grown late. He was just rounding a corner into an alley when a hand caught him from behind.
“Hey brat, you ran away last time we saw you. It's time for payback.” A gruff voice said from behind him. Yvon slowly turned around and there stood the gang that had beaten him up.
“What should I do?” thought Yvon. “I can’t go back to Seraphina’s house, they’ll get her too. I can’t harm them either.” But before Yvon couldn’t stop himself, his eyes changed from their ice blue to a blood red that pierced through the dark streets. None of the members of the gang had time to react before Yvon was upon them. Yvon’s teeth sharp and long in as little as 1 second as he began plunging them into the warm flesh of the rough group of people. Yvon worked fast; none of them had even enough time to make a squeak.
As Yvon sucked out the very last drop of blood from the last over muscled fool, he felt more thirst for blood. Lifting his nose to the sky he smelled hard for any signs of other defenseless people that could be around. There were none though, something flickered in the back of his mind, a house and a girl. He knew where the house was and remembered how very delicious the girl’s blood smelled and how delightful it would be to sink his teeth into the soft creamy neck of that girl. Yvon stood up, leaving the bodies behind, and ran off in the direction he remembered the house was at.
