by Thais Lopes
I never understood why Artur decided to approach me at first. I was the strange girl in the back of the class, the one who was friendly enough to everyone, but no one knew anything about. Most of my classmates felt uncomfortable with that and avoided me, but not Artur. Sometimes I think that he was attracted by the other “strange one” in the classroom, maybe because he instinctively knew I wouldn’t make any complicated questions about him. But, in the end, it didn’t matter.
Suddenly, I was thinking about Lucio. The vampire had been surprised when he saw me, saying that I wasn’t what he expected, but he wasn’t what I had imagined, either. The old vampires can usually be divided in two groups: the ones who cling to life as it was when they were turned, and the ones who sail on the waves of the new trends and technologies. But not Lucio. He was in a separate category.
Once in a while a vampire would learn to just blend in, take what he wanted from the modern world and keep what he wanted to keep from the old time. Lucio was like this. While he wasn’t blind to the modern world, he didn’t feel the need to be one step ahead of any new tendency. It was easy to notice this by the way he dressed: comfortable jeans and a dark green shirt, the kind you could find in any popular store. Nothing of the new and the best, and not trying to imitate something that was in vogue centuries ago. And he didn’t seem to dress like this because he didn’t have money.
But what really caught my attention was that, unlike almost all the old vampires, de didn’t have any Caucasian trait. His skin had a slightly dark tone that was familiar, his dark hair was long, straight, and tied in his nape. Brown eyes, a face with vaguely native South-American traits, something exotic. He wasn’t exceptionally tall, but was tall enough that I almost needed to look up to talk to him.
I could barely wait to see the reaction he would cause in the girls who lived in the complex. Alice would go crazy.
I must have slept after that, because when Artur called me and I looked up, the class was almost over.
“Kelene?” He called again.
“What?” I turned to him, blinking.
“The guys are going out later today. Cinema. Horror movie.” He drawled, smiling.
I smiled in response. He knew I would like that. Horror movies showed more and more creatures from the Otherworld, but they were so far from reality that, for me, they almost worked as comedy. Most humans had no idea that when the Otherworld decided to show claws and fangs, it was far more dangerous than they imagined. Far more dangerous than what they had seen.
Once class was over everyone went in different directions, looking for lunch, and later we would get together at the cinema. It was the time I needed to disappear and finish that not so little trouble that had occupied the early morning hours. Finally, I would have some quiet.
When I arrived at the cinema the tickets had already been bought and everyone was in line for popcorn. I approached Artur, who gave me my ticket, and I paid him my part while we waited for the room to open.
“Hey, Kelene, what’s this?” He asked, pointing at my ear.
“This what?” I quickly put my hand there.
“There’s a cut, a little bit to the right.”
I searched for said cut, and soon I felt something wet on my hand. Great, I had cut myself and didn’t even notice. Quickly, I took a tissue from my bag, cleaned the blood, and released a few strands of hair to hide it.
“This is the last time I try to put this earring while I’m on the bus.” I said, even though I knew it sounded ridiculous, but without any other ideas.
He just stared at me, his expression shouting loud and clear that he knew I was lying, but that he would respect my decision to keep whatever had happened a secret. I kept my own expression firm, as if that was what had really happened, until Artur looked away. And then he glanced at me and looked away again, giving me a moment’s warning that I wouldn’t like his next words.
“Did you decide? Will you come back next semester?” He asked.
I closed my eyes for a moment. I didn’t want to talk about that, and regretted mentioning it to him. I was thinking seriously about not enrolling on the next semester. After all, how would a degree help me? I could barely attend classes; I was often too sleepy, or needed to leave early. And nothing would change after graduation… My life would always be like this. All this study would be worth nothing. I would never have a steady job, a true career. I always knew college was just another layer to a semblance of normality, something to distract me from my real job.
“I don’t plan to.” I said softly, knowing what would come next.
“Will you give up on everything you’ve dreamed? Everything you fought for until now?” He sounded aggressive, even.
“Not again, Artur. Please.” I sounded tired, and I didn’t care. He had no idea of what I was giving up, of what I had dreamed for my life. I only wanted to be normal. But it was too late for that.
“Then don’t give up. Come back next semester. Please.”
I looked away, but knew I couldn’t avoid it. Facing him again, I answered, still sounding tired.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to, Artur. Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Then promise me you’ll continue if you can.”
I sighed. That was an old dream that never disappeared. Being a normal girl. Just study, have family trouble, fight to have my own place… But I had never been normal, and had attracted the attention of people who should never have known about me. I had made my choice a long time ago, and now I had to pay for that.
“Kelene?” He called, bringing me back to the present.
“I promise, Artur, I promise.” I said impulsively, moved more by the desire to come back than by any real hope that it would be possible. “Now let’s go, the line is moving.”
While we went to the screening room, I still allowed myself some hope. It was useless, I had always known. But I had insisted in studying for the admission exams, and then enrolled in college… Just to satisfy my need of a normal life. None of that was real to me, and it would never be. I should have known, and should have already stopped hoping.
4. Kelene
It was almost ten o’clock when I arrived at the complex. I was thoughtful while going down the street to my building: that would be Lucio’s first night there. How would be the reality of living with a vampire? I was curious, but also very worried. And not without reason, he was old enough to know stories about what I was. I would have to be extremely careful from now on.
When I unlocked the door, I was surprised by the music. I knew it, but it took me an instant to recognize it. Old Times, from a not very known French band. An old vampire with an unusual preference for music. With a smile, I started humming along. Lucio was sitting on the couch, reading one of my books, in a relaxed position that made me think of another time. Most people never saw a vampire looking so relaxed, and I smiled lightly when I realized that was his way of showing that he was putting his trust in me.
“Good night.” I said, crossing the living room and following the hallway until my bedroom.
“Good night.” I heard his reply just before closing the door.
I threw my bag in a corner, and turned to the wardrobe, thinking about what to wear. After just a moment I shook my head, mentally scolding myself. What use was it to pretend to be a little vainer just because I had a new roommate? Even if the way I dressed to sleep meant something to him, in a couple of nights I would be back to what was normal for me. Without more hesitation, I grabbed the shirt and the shorts, both really old, that I used to wear to sleep, and went to the bathroom. I needed at least a quick shower.
From the shower I went straight to the kitchen. I was starving. But I was also feeling lighter when I sat down to eat. Lucio had this good feeling around him, something that was rare, and even rarer on vampires, and he seemed to be an easy person to have around. He was still on the couch, in the same place, apparently engrossed in one of my books, without that feeling of tension
that almost everyone had these days. And it had been wonderful to arrive at home and hear a song that had marked my life. We would get along well, my intuition was saying.
Singing along, I washed the dishes and went back to the living room. Lucio was still sitting on the couch, and he turned to me when I approached.
“You have a nice collection of books.” He said, as if continuing a conversation.
“I had too much free time.” I answered, laughing lightly, while he got up and put the book back on its place, in the study room.
I sat on the couch he had been in, waiting until he came back to the living room. That was as good a time as any to get to know a bit more about the person who was going to live with me indefinitely.
“So… Why did you move here?” I asked, doing just like him and acting as if we had been talking for a long time.
My question took him by surprise, and he sat on the other couch with vampiric speed.
“What?” There was something restrained in his voice, and his expression was closed.
“Why did you come here?” I repeated, even more curious.
“It was pure chance.” He said quickly, and I sighed. There was no way to make an evasive clearer than that. Well, if he didn’t want to talk about it, I wouldn’t insist.
“Keep your secrets.” I shrugged, getting up to go back to my room.
“Kelene, wait.” He asked.
I turned around, surprised. I had imagined that he would be happy to get rid of more questions. But the expression on his face, and especially on his eyes, was strange, unexpected, and incomprehensible. What did Lucio hide?
“It’s not that I don’t want to talk, it’s just… I don’t want to think about it. Don’t be offended, please.” His words came a little too fast, and he caught me with his eyes in that way that only vampires could.
And now I understood his expression. Like many vampires, he wanted to be accepted by what he was. I had done that, without many questions, without fear, and he didn’t want to lose it. Without really thinking about what I was doing, I sat beside him.
“You didn’t offend me. I know vampires usually don’t like to talk about their past.” I said, following my intuition. His expression revealed that I was right, and he held out his hand, hesitant. I took it, and he gave me a half smile. His skin was hot, showing that he had fed not long ago. “I didn’t think that question would be so connected to your past. Forgive me for that.”
“There is nothing to forgive.” He took my hand to his lips and kissed it. I felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the fact that a vampire’s lips were always cold, and barely managed to stay where I was. My whole body seemed on fire, and my only thought was to get away from him, get away from what was making me react that way. “You are a unique woman, Kelene.”
I sighed, memories that weren’t mine and at the same time were coming to the surface, remembrances I tried to ignore most of the time. All of my barriers went up in an instant, and Lucio let go of my hand. His expression made clear that he understood his words had awakened some bad memories.
We stood there for a while, in an uncomfortable silence, while I tried to send the past back to its place.
“And why did you come here?” He asked, finally, using my own question. His voice sounded light, as if I had taken a great burden from his shoulders.
“What?” And I gave back his answer, not sure if I had understood what he meant.
“Students from the country live in dorms, students from the city stay with their parents. And you bought an apartment.”
I smiled, aware that the expression didn’t hide my sadness. That had been the price of my choice. And I had learned that my decisions would never affect only me.
“My family always had some money. My parents died just after my eighteenth birthday, and everything went to me. I bought the apartment because I didn’t want to live alone in our old house. And then I sold everything from before…”
“It must have been hard.” He murmured, looking uncomfortable. He probably didn’t expect that answer, and I had said only the truth.
“It was. But I learned to get out of difficult situations when I was still very young. My parents wouldn’t want me to let my life fall apart just because they weren’t here, so I kept going on.”
He nodded, hesitating for an instant before speaking again. “You really are unique, Kelene.”
He was watching me carefully, waiting for my reaction, surely, to know the limits of what I would accept. But this time my memories kept quiet. It was as if, finally, I had cleaned those words from the meaning they had carried for so long. With a smile, I looked away, and I’m sure that I blushed. And then someone slammed the building’s door, breaking the moment. I looked at the clock, using the opportunity to get away from a conversation that didn’t go as I had expected.
“It’s late and I have to be up early tomorrow.” I said, getting up.
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
I was already in front of my bedroom’s door when I turned.
“And… Lucio?”
“Yes?”
I hesitated. Should I really say that, or was it too early? A glance at the vampire’s face made the decision for me. He also hid many secrets, and feared what was about to happen, I noticed. He feared what I might say.
“It seems you are the best person who could have answered that ad.” I said, at least, smiling before closing the door.
Where had those words come from? I didn’t know, but they were the truth. It didn’t matter that I would have trouble to keep what I did in secret, he was undoubtedly the best person who could have come to live with me. That was what my instincts were telling me, and I trusted them with my life.
5. Lucio
Kelene closed the bedroom’s door, and I tried to assimilate what she had just said. It was hard, I was still trying to deal with the fact that she had been so close to me, even knowing that I was a vampire, and there had been no traces of fear. This had only happened once before, in all my existence. With those words, she was conceding me an honor I had never known before, but that didn’t stop me from questioning. Why would a vampire be the best person to live with her? By all that is sacred, what did that woman hide?
But my roommates’ secrets were a matter for another time. It was time to find out how the balance of power in the city was, and if it would be safe to stay there. I retrieved a stack of sheets from one of the suitcases in my bedroom and carefully slipped them into the internal pocket of my jacket. I wanted to get to the people who could answer me before midnight, as the Witches’ Council didn’t keep the same hours a vampire did. I couldn’t go to the vampires, the local Master was weak and would sell me to Seth as soon as he saw me, even though we were in Semele’s territory. And I had no idea of what to expect from the Fae after so many years without any contact with them. But the Witches’ Council was powerful and had honor. And I had just the right thing to bargain with.
The phone rang when I was almost at the door, and I turned back to answer it, in case Kelene was already sleeping. But it wasn’t the phone at the living room that was ringing. The sound came from the woman’s bedroom, and she answered it a second later.
“Yes?”
I was too far to hear the other end of the conversation, and I shouldn’t do it, anyway. But that second phone line made me even more curious, and I added it to my growing list of questions. Shaking my head, I locked the apartment’s door behind me and went down the stairs.
The complex was built around a curved street, and Kelene’s building was one of the last ones before the back wall. Going out, I could see the lawn on the other side of the street, with a couple of park tables near the walls. The building just beside the lawn didn’t let me see its real size, but it seemed big enough. I followed the street, going up, past what seemed to be a recreational area with a soccer and basketball court. They were empty now, as it was almost eleven PM. A couple of bui
ldings later, a smaller street crossed the main one, also flanked by buildings. I could see some people sitting on the building’s stairs and talking, even though it was late, and a loud laugh reached my ears. Another street crossed the main one, and a group of young people was sitting in a circle at the street corner. They looked warily at me, and I noticed when one of the girls widened her eyes and smiled.
Shaking my head, I went up the last block, leaving the complex. In front of it, on the other side of the street, was a big technical school. It was already empty, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t traffic. That street was always busy. I crossed it, waiting for the bus that would take me close to where I wanted to go. Sometimes I wished those humans stories about us were closer to the truth, it would be nice to be able to just turn into a bat and fly anywhere.
I got off the bus in one of the main avenues of the city, the Contorno, which had this name because it skirted the entire central area. This place hadn’t changed at all since the last time I had been here, even though it had been before the Otherworld showed itself to humankind. With quick steps, I entered one of the side streets, noticing that it was still filled with stores. But while once they had been mostly clothing stores, now I could see a “Herbs & Supplies”, a “Karina – Special Party Clothing”, “Personal Charms”, and a number of other stores that were obviously for the witches and those Fae who practiced mundane magic – influence of being so close to the Witches’ Council head office. There had always been a lot of witches living near the Council, and the Fae mostly lived near the witches. They worked well together.
A couple of blocks and some turns later I saw the house that was the Council’s head office. It had two floors and didn’t even seem too big, just a nice middle class home, blending perfectly with the houses around it. No human would look twice at it, even if they knew the office was around there. But anyone with Otherworld blood would feel the power behind those walls.