The Oddness of Olivia
16:52 Oct 20 2007
Times Read: 665
The Oddness of Olivia
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Part One
~
Olivia Kepling was no stranger in our little country town out in the middle of Georgia. She was the daughter of a small time farmer and kept mostly to herself. She had a few pets and even fewer friends. She tried to be friends with people… but they just avoided her no matter what the cost. Everyone found her strange, eerie, or just plain possessed. I thought her strange, but to me everyone was strange in one way or another.
I remember one particular day in November, the leaves were falling, the sky was overcast and threatening ice-rain, and it was a few days until my birthday. I was walking down one of the dirt roads heading back from town mummified in a layer of scarves, sweaters, and my dark colored duster. I had a fuzzy hat squished onto my head over the plastic band of my pink earmuffs. My gloved hands were clenched tightly in the bottom of my lined pockets as I marched along the road on my thick-booted feet. My long black hair was loose and fluttering down my back as the chilly wind bit into my nose brutally.
The clump of my feet was dull and rhythmic to my ears and for a while that was all I heard, but I soon heard a high squeak that came in a pattern of two at a time. I raised my head and looked around. The de-leafing trees stood half-naked along the roadway as I slowed my pace and gazed about the roadside. I knew we had a makeshift park close by so I thought someone was out swinging on one of the two rusted swings we had. I walked forward a little more quietly than before and looked around a knot of trees.
Someone was indeed swinging on an aged swing… and it was Olivia. She was going fairly high and at a good pace. Each swing of her pale legs brought a strained squeak out of the metal chains. Then I noticed she wasn’t wearing a jacket or even a light sweater. Not even her perfect hands were gloved! The cold wind snipped at my face again and I thought about how cold she must be. I took a step in her direction.
My boot crunched on a twig and her head snapped around faster than anything I had ever seen. Her momentum on the swing immediately dropped and then she was standing stiffly on the ground with flashing violet eyes. The swing groaned off to her right as the wind blew at it with chilly hands. Instinct told me to take a step or two back. I settled for one.
“Hi… Olivia.” I managed to say calmly and wave sheepishly. A small, crooked and awkward smile began to spread across her pallid face as if she had forgotten how to smile, and her black hair hung lifelessly at her thin shoulders.
“Hi.” Her voice was high and nearly inaudible… but I heard her.
“You must be cold… don’t you have a jacket?” I asked regaining my own warmth.
She shook her head. “No.” her dark dress moved stiffly in the wind.
“Would you like to come back with me for some hot chocolate?” I invited with a smile as my nose began to sting again.
“I don’t like hot chocolate…” I felt a sense of relief settle over me, “But I would like to come over. No one ever asks me to come over and play. I don’t think anyone likes me.” I felt my heart go out to her when she said that to me.
“I wouldn’t say that, Olivia. I’m sure someone likes you.” She cocked her head with a confused look on her childish but strangely grown-up face.
“Tell me, Anna… do you like me?” I felt my numb mouth bobble around trying to say something.
“I... yes, of course I like you. Why would you think otherwise?” she shrugged and began walking towards the road with her hands hanging motionless at her sides.
She and I walked silently side by side down the cold road. Once we came to my small little house off in the woods a little ways from the road, I made some tea for myself and gave Olivia a slice of cake. We sat down at the well-worn kitchen table and stared at each other. I sipped my hot tea and Olivia poked at her cake with her fork. After five minutes of this, I broke the silence.
“Aren’t you going to eat that?” I asked her. She looked up at me with those big violet eyes of hers and shook her head no.
“I don’t like cake.” She plainly stated. I thought this odd.
“All little girls like cake.” I stated back knowledgeably.
“I'm not like all little girls.”
“Why not? You look normal to me.” She cocked her head creepily.
“Even you debate the factor of my normality in your mind.” She somehow knew exactly what I was thinking. I put that thought of her mind reading aside; after all, children were more susceptible to psychic activity than grown people were. “Anna?” she called my name. I looked at her in response. “May I come back tomorrow? I like coming here and talking to you. You’re nice.” I smiled at her innocent little compliment.
“Yes you may. I enjoy your company too, Olivia.” I smiled as she stood up and backed away from the table stiffly.
With the shutting of my front door and its screen, I knew she was gone. The room seemed to brighten when she left… and I shivered to think that she had some air of darkness about her. She was just a child!
A few months later, Olivia and I were the best of friends. I took her to church, we would play together, we would go to the park at night and swing on the creaky swings even when the cold air was threatening to drop rain on us. She always wanted to go out at night… never when the sun was full out. She said that she had always sunburned so easily and didn’t like the brightness of the sun… as usual; I thought nothing of it at all. This was Olivia, a harmless little child who needed a friend in her life… and I was going to be her friend. I began to see a change in that little girl’s life. She would smile more often, be-it that she actually knew how to smile again; she would laugh at my corny jokes, play the pretend games I found healthy for her mind, and help me with anything I needed help with.
She knew a lot about the things I did. She knew how to fix my stove when it broke, and my clock when one of its wheels went out of place… she knew so much… maybe too much. No child carried that much knowledge around with them… at least, any child I had ever met in the past.
One evening just after sundown, I was sitting at my kitchen table working on a manuscript I was in the process of writing for the local newspaper and Olivia came in. She never knocked… she never needed to. No one over came over to my house anymore… only Olivia. My dog even ran away.
“Anna, I want you to meet my friend.” Olivia’s voice was high and excited.
I lifted my bent head and gazed up from the scribbled papers crumpled under the weight of both my hands covered in pen ink and toil. She was towing someone along behind her by the hand. My hazel eyes kept climbing upward until they rested on the face of a young man maybe just a few years older than myself.
He was gorgeous! He had wavy brown hair that fell down at his shoulders and dark brown eyes that glittered ceaselessly in dim lighting or pure darkness. He had a pleasant smile on his pallid face as he looked at me buried under the mound of scribbled-on papers, newspaper clippings, pens, empty coffee mugs, and my laptop computer. I managed a small smile back at him as he looked me over and then surveyed my table. Then I took into realization the size of the mess in my kitchen.
“Oh! Let me clear off the table so you both can have a seat.” I jumped up and began scraping off layers upon layers of paper scattered about the tabletop. He immediately began helping me without a word.
“Anna, what are you working on?” Olivia asked as she tippy-toed to see over this Mount Everest of paper.
“I’m working on an article for the town newspaper.”
“Is that the paper that Mr. Hawsty owns?”
“Yes.” She dropped down to her normal height of three-foot-seven and frowned.
“I don’t like him. He’s mean to me.”
I stopped and looked at her full in the face. “Why would you say that?” I was uneasy about my boss talking bad about a helpless child… especially my little friend Olivia.
She shrugged before answering me. “He says I’m an evil child… that I have problems.” She explained to me. I stood up straight and dropped the pile of papers I was holding in my arms. The sense of defense hit me full in the face.
“He. Said. What?” I stressed each word with heated passion. Before Olivia could re-answer me, her friend broke in.
“How about I fix everyone a nice, fresh batch of tea? I seem to like tea much more than coffee.” His voice was so calm and silky. I was instantly addicted to it. I stared at him and immediately forgot about the conflict at hand.
“Uh, yes… tea sounds nice.” I could barely find my voice to speak. “It’s in the cupboard next to the sink.” I finished off with directions. He put down his pile of papers in a spare chair and walked over to the cabinet with a pleasant smile. I could feel myself getting hot as my heart raced.
“Anna?” Olivia asked me cocking her head. “Do you feel all right?”
She was always good at telling if I felt nervous, scared, angry, or happy. She was highly keen to my emotions… and in a way; I suppose I was sensitive to her emotions as well.
“I'm fine.” I sighed and sat down in my chair.
I stared at the blinking cursor of my Microsoft Word document for the newspaper. It was titled ‘Late Crop Plantings May Mean Early Frost’… and I was only on the first paragraph. I stared at it and stared at it long and hard. Nothing was coming to me. I had all my notes and quotes… but I couldn’t seem to put any of it together. I kept drawing up blank.
“Writers’ Block?” Olivia’s friend smiled as he slid a cup of sizzling tea in front of me. I glanced down at it then back up at him.
“Thanks for the tea; it looks like you made it properly.” I commented and quickly wrapped my freezing cold hands around the scorching hot teacup.
“My pleasure, one part milk, two teaspoons of sugar.” He said and went on to explain what he did to my tea.... It was exactly how I would have made it.
“Yes, that’s right.” I said a little suspiciously.
“My name’s Lucias Von Alksten and I take it you’re Anna Henmark.” I nodded without a word. I just wanted to hear him speak… Lucias… nice strong name. I liked it. He leaned up against the kitchen sink and sipped his cup of tea.
“I didn’t know you liked tea.” Olivia said to Lucias from where she now sat across from me, legs swinging a good ways from the floor.
“You take what you can drink when you can drink it, darling.” He smiled at her from behind his cup. My heart took off again.
Again, I stared at my computer screen… but in all actuality, I was watching Lucias. He was very pleasing to the eye. His wavy brown hair was not at all uncombed or stringy or even too long for that matter. It was just the right cut for him. He had a good jaw line that wasn’t too overpowering or too soft, and his clothes were a little on the designer side. His black leather pants were a little snug and around the hips and his grey turtleneck sweater was long sleeve and showed the lines of his chest muscles hidden underneath. He looked like an Abercrombie model… only without the I'm-better-than-you attitude. He was the correct image of heaven on earth.
“So, Anna, you say you write for the local paper?” Lucias asked me. I looked at him… in the eyes.
“Yes… I do.” I felt myself at a loss for words at the moment, orally and on paper. He gave me a look as if he were asking me to keep going, so I kept going. “I really want a promotion and it’s about time I got one too. I’ve been working there since I was sixteen doing teen articles, and then when I got a permanent job there I’ve been there ever since. I know Hawsty is a hard boss… and sometimes just plain obnoxious… but I have to make money somehow.”
“You’re what? Eighteen?” he asked. I nodded. “You’ll get your promotion soon. You’re a very good writer and have very interesting articles. I like your style of expression.” He complimented.
“You read my article?” he nodded with his pleasant smile. This time it reached all the way up to his eyes and made them sparkle.
“I’m a big fan.”
“Oh.” I looked back at my laptop and sipped a mouthful of tea.
Olivia was staring at me from where she was sitting and I smiled at her. She smiled back and swung her legs faster. That child was so happy now that she had a real friend. I'm amazed at how she got by alone all those years. She was such a sweet and well-mannered girl. Although I have never met her parents, I'm sure they’re just as decent and kind as she was. Just the thought of her then and how she has become better at socializing now made me smile.
“Lucias, may I try some tea?” she asked the handsome young man resting against the sink of my tiny house.
“Of course, darling.” He immediately went to work steaming up a batch just for her.
“Can you make it just like Anna’s?” she asked him.
“I can, indeed.” He was smiling… I could hear it seeping through into his silky voice.
I placed my fingers on their designated keys on my laptop.
I began typing.
Something about crops being planted late if the winter lasts too long… and the frost killing them before it’s time to harvest. Farmers would lose money, Georgia would lose food, and the state would suffer because of this wretched winter that was lasting far too long for my good or anyone else’s good. I hated winter. I despised the cold. I wished it would either snow or go away… not just linger and leave stupid icicles hanging off of trees, power lines, roofs, and everything else outdoors. Stupid winters. Why couldn’t it be autumn all the time? I loved autumn…
Anyway, back to the paper.
‘Farmers are eagerly waiting to plant their crops, however, if the weather goes warm then a sudden frost comes, that would kill off anything starting to grow. “What’s the use of planting crops when the weather warms up if they’re just going to freeze off and die later?” one farmer commented on the issue.’
My fingers tapped away noisily. I reached over and took another sip of hot tea. I stopped and read what I had just typed… I didn’t like it… but it was a start. I had to get this done so I could get closer to that long awaited promotion I deserved.
“You know, Anna, a break might help you think more clearly.” Lucias suggested to me.
“A break? What for? I'm fine.” I said and resituated my seating.
“Not by the way you just sighed like that; I think you need a break from work.”
Wait… I sighed? I didn’t hear myself sigh.
“But I don’t…”
“Come on, get up and let’s go.” He smiled and got me to my feet after putting down his teacup and saucer. Olivia jumped up from her seat and bounded to the back door. Lucias helped me into my parka and I shoved my feet into boots before grabbing my scarf and heading out into the frigid tundra of Middle Georgia. Lucias only had his sweater and a pair of leather gloves on, and Olivia went with less than that. She hated jackets and gloves… always had.
The streetlamps were lit and flaming brightly against the darkness of the cold and moonless night. There was a faint wind blowing… and it was cold. I shivered within the fuzz of my parka that was failing to keep me warm.
“You cold?” Lucias asked me with a smile. I looked at him and nodded.
“Always am.” I bound my scarf around my face. “You?”
“Nah. I don’t feel the cold.”
“Lucky you.”
“You could be that lucky too.” He commented. I had no clue what he was saying. I looked at him confused.
“Are you two coming? What’s taking you so long?” Olivia came running up to us. I could tell she was excited. We were getting close to the swings now.
“I'm coming, Olivia.” I laughed and followed her faster and with a lighter step.
We made it to the swings and I began to push Olivia on one. She was so happy to have the wind in her face and to feel free as she swung high and above the world without the cares of life and jobs and promotions…
I hated my life to be honest. I hated working for Hawsty. He was always saying that I wasn’t good enough, or that I’d get my promotion if I wrote one more article for his stupid, messed up paper. I had written that ‘One More’ paper, I had written it a dozen times and a dozen times over! I wanted my promotion! I deserved my promotion!
“Anna, I'm going too high!” Olivia shouted at me as a frightened warning. I apologized and backed off at my pushing. Just thinking about Hawsty and work was making me angry. Olivia dropped down to a moderated speed and height and continued to hum her little song.
Lucias was sitting off to the side somewhere with his arms crossed and a smile on his handsome face. The wind lightly blew his wavy brown hair in a way that made my heart skip a beat or two. He was stunningly beautiful… and probably taken. There was no luck for me. I was ordinary with an ordinary job and ordinary problems with life. What good could come out of me? What world altering powers did I hold? Last time I checked it was nothing on both of those.
“Anna? Is something wrong? You’re pushing me slower.” Olivia said craning her little neck back to look at me. I snapped back from my zoned-out state and looked at her with an ‘hmm?’ escaping me.
“Oh, sorry, I was just thinking.” I answered her once I registered her question.
“Why don’t I push her for a while?” Lucias volunteered as he stood up and lithely walked over to us. His movements were so captivation and fluid I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He moved just as Olivia did! Their gaits were the same if not identical!
I backed away and sat down on the bench to watch the angelic being named Lucias Von Alksten swing an angel of a girl named Olivia Kepling on the swing set. They were both laughing merrily now, and I couldn’t help but smile at their joy. They looked so happy and carefree from everything. I wondered if they had ever experience hardships or troubles in their young lives. I was young and have already taken my spoonful of hurt and doubt. I wondered if they had ever done the same as I. What did Lucias do for a job anyway?
“Lucias,” he looked over at me with his glittering eyes, “what do you do for a living? You’re what? Twenty one?” I asked and crossed my freezing limbs across my ever-chilling chest.
My money was on him being a model.
“I have a night job as a bartender in Atlanta and a day job as a model.” I grunted.
I knew it… he was a model.
I had no more questions.
I cocked my head against the cold air and stared at him and Olivia. She was so delicate, and yet so strong when she would grip my hand as we walked down the roads at night. He too looked frail… but his muscles told me otherwise. Maybe it was just the transparent qualities of both their skins. They had the same hair, the same expressive eyes, the same dark circles around them that made them look weary but yet hauntingly mysterious and lovely. I swore they could have been related… like a brother and sister or something!
I cocked my head the other way as I stared at them with pursed lips. I sniffled once I settled that they were brother and sister in my head. I rubbed my hands together to get the warmth from the friction going before I shoved them between my knees and shivered. I hated wintertime. It sucked.
I imagined spring rolling around… well what was left of spring. I thought of how hot and sticky-humid it would be once all those stupid icicles melted away and the trees replaced their nakedness with robes of fresh flowers and leaves. The Bradford Pears in my front yard would be blooming … and they’d stink up the high heavens with their awful stench of an aroma. Maybe a freak storm would blow in like last year and freeze all the flowers off so they’d skip their smelly stage. Either that or they’d bloom fast. Whichever way, you couldn’t really count on those options to really happen.
“Anna?” Lucias’ voice yanked me out of my world of thought and reason into the world of pain and pointlessness. I looked straight up at him. He had a look of concern on his handsome face.
“Yes? What’s up?” I asked managing a smile. He squinted at me.
“Are you sure you’re feeling all right? You’ve been gone for a very long time.”
“Gone?” I repeated confused. Where was I gone?
“Olivia wants to go inside. She’s getting cold.”
‘Finally!’ I thought to myself as I stiffly jumped up despite the pinching and poking in my legs from the cold winter air. I was ready to leave, ready to go inside and thaw like a frozen can of orange juice in warm water.
Olivia trotted ahead of Lucias and I like a spunky little pony in a meadow of daisies, completely un-phased by the temperature. I walked with my hands shoved up under my armpits and head down as Lucias walked gracefully at my side with his head up and hands in his leather pants pockets. I hated this crap weather.
“Are you, by any chance, related to Olivia? Like her brother or something?” I squeaked out as my teeth clattered against one another.
“Oh, no, not at all. She’s just a friend of my family. Our parents go way back. Why do you ask?”
“You two just looked related, that’s all.”
“I see. Pretty good resemblances for our families just being friends, huh?” I nodded jerkily.
“Your parents still alive?” I managed to ask another question.
“No. They’ve been dead for quite a while. All my family’s dead to be honest with you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Don’t be, no one really cares about that.” He shrugged it off as if it were nothing important. I was confused. Weren’t you supposed to be all sad and junk when someone mentions your dead family members? So much for him being sensitive to deep subjects like that. “I just don’t let it bother me anymore.” He seemed to correct my thoughts about him. I shrugged it off and focused on making it home… and to warm tea.
Part Two
~
The next few days were extremely strange in my opinion. Lucias Von Alksten was not normal… and neither was little Miss Olivia. Both would go out without me some nights and come back content and ready to fall asleep. I didn’t understand, and they both wouldn’t explain. Therefore, I’d just sit there at my kitchen table and write more articles for the paper. I still hadn’t gotten that promotion that I was promised by my shit-hole of a boss… I was on the verge of quitting.
I finally had it on a Friday night.
“That’s it!! Lucias, I’ve had it with this screwed up paper and that screwed up man who calls himself my boss!” I screamed and busted a pen in half. Olivia was at her house tonight and I felt as if I could vent more anger by letting all the bad vibes out well beyond her hearing. Lucias just stared at me with sympathy.
“Then why don’t you quit?” he finally asked me after I dumped a mug of cold tea in the sink.
“Because!” I screamed and flung my right arm dramatically trying to find a reasonable and logical answer for my problem. “Because I can't get another job! That’s why!” I said and glared at him. My expression softened when I saw his face. Even after several days, his angelic likeness was still stunning. “I’m not pretty like you; I can't get a job as a model or an actress or a full time writer… I can't even get a job taking care of horses!” he cocked his head and I nearly crumbled.
“Anna, it wasn’t easy getting where I am now.”
“Oh, well, duh. One look at you and you’re hired.” I retorted and dropped in a chair before I fell over from anger and shock. He laughed… and it was breathtaking. It was such a free laughter… I was jealous. I wished I could laugh like that.
“There was a lot of controversy from my friends and family about me going into the modeling business. Everyone was against it.”
“Why would they be? Any guy would kill for your looks, I mean… look at you! You’re gorgeous!” I said as if it were a no brainier. He smirked at my comment.
“You’re pretty cute yourself,” he commented back. I blushed and looked away refusing to believe it (which I had a tendency to do because his voice was so persuasive). “No, really. I’m being completely honest with you. I think you’re very good looking.”
“Am not.”
“Hey, you’re prettier than any model I’ve ever seen. All right?” he crossed his arms and leaned up against the kitchen sink… his favorite spot that sat right at my side vision so I could stare at him without feeling like a complete loser. He was staring at me… so I shielded my face with my right hand. I couldn’t focus with him staring at me like that.
“Anna…,” he whispered. I immediately looked at him. “I think you’re ready to hear this.” His voice was back to the deep, silky smooth sound it was. I glanced at the stove for a brief second before looking back at him again.
“Hear what?” I squinted at him and pursed my lips as I usually did.
“Hear… what Olivia and I are.”
“Related.” I summed up rolling my eyes playfully.
He smirked. “In a way… but not like family ties or anything.”
I didn’t get what he was saying. “Then how can you be related?”
“Have you ever heard of Cemetery Walkers, the Damned, Leeches… Bloodsuckers?”
“Vampires, yeah… I do stories on them during Halloween. Fact or Fiction stuff mainly.”
“What do you think? Fact or fiction?”
“Fiction mostly, but when I see that bloodsucker of a boss at the office and think about all the stories he’s sucked out of me, I begin to think otherwise.” I crossed my arms on the tabletop and snuggled into my sweater. I had a smidge of an idea where this conversation was heading.
“Both the Von Alksten and Kepling families are well established Vampire families.” My brows rose as I cocked my head slightly and grabbed at my throat. “That’s why Olivia and I look similar, because we’re both Vampires.”
“You mean to tell me that I’ve been hanging out with Vampires for a bazillion months?” he nodded with a pleasant and calming smile.
I took it better than I thought I would. I was calm… and oddly collected. I really didn’t care if Lucias and Olivia were Vampires, after all, they were very nice Vampires… and if they really were the horrible creatures everyone portrays them as, I would have been a drained corps on my kitchen floor ages ago! I looked back at my laptop screen and watched the cursor blink a few hundred times. Next thing I knew, Lucias was sitting in the chair next to me… but I wasn’t afraid at all.
“So…,” he began and stopped, I gave him an expression that asked him to go on. “You’re not freaked out or anything?”
Only one word popped into my head. “Nope,” I grinned and sat back at ease. He did the same.
“Wow. I thought you’d freak out and run away.”
I offered my explanation without him asking for it. “Well, if you consider all the millions of times you or Olivia could have attacked me –mainly at night in dark areas where a body could have easily been hidden and never found –and you both left me alive... I think you two would be considered the good Vampires.”
“Really… good Vampires?” he stood up slowly and towered above me… but I wasn’t afraid. After all, what would I be leaving behind in this dump? A good job? An awesome boss? A loving family? I don’t think so. “You think we’re good Vampires?” he asked.
I nodded.
Absolutely no fear entered my body.
“You know, Anna, I could take you right now. I could end your life and erase you from the earth. Right. Now.” His eyes flickered inhumanly. I stared up at him feeling like I wasn’t really here.
“What would I leave behind anyway, Lucias… a small-time article legacy in a small farming town in Georgia that would last, oh, what? A year, two at the max? It would be a kind gift if you killed me.”
I felt like I was mocking his attempt to frighten me away from death… but that’s what I was feeling. A slow smile crossed his darkly beautiful face. He bent down closer to my face.
“You should be scared… Anna,” he whispered. I shrugged and looked back at my notes from interviews.
“Why should I be? I’m going to die sooner or later.” I flipped the page over and scanned over it. Lucias didn’t move from where he was hovering over me. I didn’t mind though… it was actually comforting and secure to have him here.
“So you’re not going to be afraid of me or Olivia?” he asked in my ear.
“What for? You two are my friends and the only thing I’ve got left in this cruel world.” I scribbled some self-notes onto the paper and began typing on my laptop. Lucias took my chin in his right hand and turned my face so I would look at him. His skin was like cold marble, firm and unchangeable… everlasting.
“Why?” he looked me straight in the eyes and smiled.
“Do you think I live for this stupid article? Heck no! I’d gladly give up this job if I knew I was never going to get that promotion I wan—”
He leaned forward and kissed me.
I sat frozen in my chair unable to think, unable to reason, unable to act. Lucias, an amazingly beautiful Vampire, was kissing me, a worthless, averaged appearance girl who had absolutely no life without a cause worth living or dying. His breath was sweet. His smell was intoxicating… it was like Heaven in this Hell called Life! What on earth was happening!
He pulled away from me smiling.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
“Then why didn’t you?” I gasped.
“I didn’t think you’d let me.” I grinned at him.
“Lucias…”
“Shhh…” he put a cold finger over my lips. “You need to get some sleep, Anna.”
“What about you?”
“Vampires don’t sleep, darling.” I smiled again.
“I knew that.” He laughed and stood up straight.
“Go to bed, Anna.” He sat down in a chair and crossed his arms.
“I don’t want to go to bed. I’m not sleepy.” I protested and sat deeper in my chair.
“Go.” He said a little more firmly and pointed towards the hall.
I jumped up with a grin and headed towards my room obediently. I slid down the hall in my bare feet and swung into my room grabbing the doorframe as I went. I smiled as I took off my sweater and put on my tank top and shorts. I scrubbed my teeth mercilessly as I put up my mid-back hair into a ponytail with a thick rubber band. I spit out the access toothpaste and took out my contacts. I turned off the light and poked my head out into the hall. I could barely see Lucias sitting in the same position he was in when I left him.
“Good night!” I chimed and grinned.
“Good night, Anna.” He said and shooed me off to bed.
“You sure you–”
“Go to bed, Anna!” he interrupted and added a laugh. I nodded and shut my door.
I was asleep before I hit the pillow and my dreams were filled with pleasantries of Lucias and I. He could have come and sucked me dry at any second… but I didn’t care at all. It would be merciful to me to die…
I woke up to a sunny day… sunny… crap. That meant Olivia and Lucias wouldn’t be by my house until dark. Stupid sunshine. I shuffled over to the kitchen table littered with papers and yanked my computer out of hibernation. It buzzed to life as I turned to make myself some tea. I opened the airtight container and saw that I had only a few teabags left. My mood sank. This was the last of my Irish tea that came straight from Ireland. I didn’t have enough money to get more! I snatched a teabag and put the container back. I put the kettle of water on the burner and turned the stove on Medium-High. I got down my favorite tea mug and went back to my computer… my daily ritual of working for that stupid promotion but never getting it.
Then I noticed that my papers were piled up differently. The ones I had to do last night were on the ‘done’ pile and there was nothing left for me to write. There was a note on the pile. It was from Lucias… and he had beautiful handwriting! Again… I was jealous.
‘Dearest Anna,
I thought you might like a little help with your work… so I did some for you. I believe I became a little carried away once I became started. Sorry I didn’t leave you anything to do. I guess that means that you’ll have to spend the whole day with me.
Love Lucias.’
Wait… ‘Spend the whole day with me’? What did he mean by that? Wouldn’t the sun burn his skin?
“Good morning, Anna.” I jumped and spun around with a gasp.
Lucias was standing at my back door, in my kitchen, smile on his face, with a box in his hands. My jaw dropped. He smiled at me and walked forward faster than I had ever seen him walk. He kissed my forehead and handed me the box. I took it as my mind wracked for something to say to him.
“Lucias… how did you… doesn’t the sun…”
“No worries. The trees offer enough shade for me.” He smiled and looked at my kitchen table. “I see you found my note.” He commented when he noticed it had been moved from where he had placed it.
“Yes, I want to say thank you, but you didn’t need to do that for me. I was almost done anyway.”
“Hmmm,” he vocalized sweetly. “You’re never ‘almost done’.” I sighed and pursed my lips.
“I know.” There was a moment of silence before he said anything.
“Aren't you going to open it?” he asked and pointed to the large box in my hands. I looked down at it and remembered that I was, indeed, supposed to open it.
“Oh, right.” I peeled off the wrapper as Lucias went to the stove to remove the kettle that I completely didn’t know was ready and hissing violently.
The box was fairly large… almost a foot tall and a foot wide… and I wondered what it could be. Once the brown wrapper was completely gone, I looked at the writings on the box. It was a box of tea from Ireland! My jaw dropped again.
“I noticed you were out of tea, so I brought you some.” Lucias turned back to me and handed me my mug of steaming hot tea. I stared at him in shock.
“I –I don’t know what to say!”
“You could start with ‘Thank you’.” He smiled.
“All right.” I smiled and put the box down. “Thanks.” He crossed his arms and cocked his head.
“My pleasure.” He grabbed my fresh cup of tea and handed it to me. I took it happily. “Where are we going to go today?” he asked as he looked me over.
“I don’t know… we’d have to find something to do that doesn’t involve going outside.”
“You look very cute today.” He said with a smirk. I looked down at what I was wearing. I blushed when I saw that I was still in my shorts and tank top.
“Oh… uh… I’ll go change.”
“No need to. I like what you’re wearing.” He pulled up a chair and sat down.
“I look nasty.” I protested.
“No you don’t. Come sit down.” He patted his knee. I pulled up a chair and sat in that instead. He smiled at my choice. “We can stay here if you want to.” He suggested to me.
“Really?” I hated going outdoors in the daylight now. I did my best to avoid it whenever I could. Staying inside sounded reasonable. “We could watch a movie or something.” I finished off.
“A movie? What kind?” he smiled.
“I don’t know… you pick something out. You’re the guest in my house.”
“Anna, I practically live here. You pick something out. I finished your articles for you.”
“Ha! You live here? And so what about doing my articles. That’s payback for letting you stay here instead of that motel.” I argued and bobbed my head around with a point. He laughed at me with a boisterous sound.
“Very well, I’ll pick the movie.”
I triumphantly trotted into the den and shut the blinds… well; they were already shut, so I just fixed them. I grabbed a blanket and hopped into one corner of the couch as Lucias scanned over the movies. He obviously found one, because it was up and playing before I knew it. He sat down on the couch right next to me and sat stiffly. I snuggled under the blanket as the main title rolled up. It was the first of the Lord of the Rings movies… my favorite trilogy.
The prologue kept going as I stared at the screen intrigued. The Shire was such a beautiful place and I wished I could live somewhere like that. A sweet smell hit my nose and I turned to take a full whiff of it. It was coming from Lucias. He looked over at me and smiled before staring back at the TV screen. I continued watching the movie. The smell kept coming to me and I kept taking deep breaths of it. It was intoxicating and I watched as Bilbo did his best to let go of the One Ring… his intoxication. I laid my head back on the couch and almost fell asleep. That smell was so good.
The movie seemed to go on forever and we were only one hour into it when the scenes changed to Rivendell. Aragorn and Arwen were on the bridge together saying their lines of love and commitment against opposition and odds. Lucias was right next to me now, and he was whispering Aragorn’s lines in my ear. His voice made Viggo Mortensen’s sound empty. I nearly melted hearing them quoted to me. I slowly looked over at him and found that he was only a few inches away from me. His eyes were shimmering wildly as his small smile sat on his lips. I touched his hair and stared at him like an intrigued child. He leaned forward grinning and kissed me, filling me with that intoxicating smell. I kissed back with my heart pounding out of my chest and in my throat. His hand moved up to my neck and felt for my pulse, he found it and smiled again. He moved closer to me and pressed his cold skin against mine. I ran my fingers through his hair and leaned back against the armrest of the couch.
He pulled his mouth away from mine and stared at me in the eyes. He was trying to say something to me… but he wasn’t saying anything. I waited for him to talk.
“Anna…” he started and then stopped. It was as if he wanted to say what he was thinking… but he didn’t want to say it to me.
“What is it, Lucias?” I asked gently.
“I... I want to know if you…” he stopped again. I outlined his jaw with my fingers.
“Ask me anything, Lucias. I won’t think you strange for asking. Just ask me.” I persuaded. He nodded and attempted to continue.
“Would you… like to be with me?” he seemed honest and fervent with what he was asking me. He wasn’t joking… his gaze was strong and pleading.
“Are you being serious?” I asked to be sure of what he was asking me.
He nodded. “Yes, I am… being serious.” He was having problems talking to me now… as if he was choosing his words carefully in his head before he said them.
“I would love to be with you… but how are we going to do that? Vampires don’t get old… and I will… because I’m not… I'm not a Vampire.” Something was coming to me… and I slowly began to realize it the more I thought about it. He came closer to my lips again. He ran his fingers down the side of my face, behind my ear, then down my neck. I started gasping for air. It was getting hot in this blanket.
“Would you become a Vampire… for me?” he asked.
“Why not? I’ve got nothing to lose. I have no family, I have no normal friends, I have a stupid job that I wouldn’t mind losing… there’s nothing holding me back from saying yes.” He began to smile.
“Is this really what you want?”
“Yes…,” I nodded. “It is.”
He leaned onto me easily and lowered his lips down my neck slowly. I leaned my head back and waited for the biting pain of his teeth cutting into my flesh. He would have to drink me almost empty and then have me drink his blood in order for me to become a Vampire like him and Olivia. His mouth felt for my pulsing vein in my neck and found it easily. He locked on and bit down, causing me to give a gasp of unexpected pain. I felt myself being drained of strength and life. I lifted a shaky hand and saw it turning from tan to a sickly blanched color. My breathing grew shallow and my heart slowly stopped beating. I listened to it fade away….
Part Three
~
I lay on the couch motionless. Lucias was hovering over me and my fading eyesight strained to see his beautiful face. He held my head steady and bit into his own wrist, sending blood gushing out. He held it down to my mouth and told me to drink.
I refused the blood at first, choking as it forced its way down my constricting throat into my body, but soon I drank freely. I drank as long as he would let me… and I felt hungry for more. He had to hold me down to keep me from heading for his own neck.
“Stay down, Anna. It will take a few hours for the change to take place. It’s going to hurt a lot.” He said softly and sat back, leaving me writhing on the couch.
Fire was surging through my veins as the Vampire blood destroyed what was left of my humanity. I was transformed from the old Anna into one of the Living Dead that wandered the world feeding and raving in the darkness. I grabbed at my stomach and curled up into the fetal position aching from the amount of pain burning into my every nerve, muscle, and bone. I felt my body stiffen under my skin, going rock hard like eternal marble in an age-old castle.
Lucias never left my side. He sat there on the couch and let the movie play. He held my hand when I thought the pain would be too much to bear. He stroked my hair out of my face as I sweat from the transformation. What was a minute in life seemed to me as an eternity in the galaxy of time. I forgot about everything. I forgot about my articles for the paper, the horrible boss I had to subject to, the miserable and family-lacking life I led, and the constant thoughts of ‘What would life throw at me today’. All that was forgotten and useless to me now. I was going to live forever… with Lucias and Olivia and all the other ageless Vampires in the world. Nothing human mattered…
“Anna, wake up.” Gentle whispering entered my head and drew me out of unconsciousness. Lucias was talking to me… but I was weary and wanted sleep.
“Let me rest… it’s still midday.” I mumbled and fanned him away with a stiff hand.
“Get up, Anna, you need to stretch.” I opened my eyes and saw him sitting at my covered feet.
“Why?” I questioned. He smiled, eyes sparkling.
“It’s not midday any more.” He said.
“What time is it?” I sat up stiffly and swung my legs over the side of the couch. The TV was off and no light was coming in through the windows. My vision was blurry and I thought I lost my contacts while I was asleep. I touched my eyes and found that they were still there. They must be sitting in my eyes weird. I took them out and my vision cleared immediately. I looked at Lucias who was sitting with arms crossed and a smirk on his face.
“Your vision becomes better than perfect and will remain that way. You won’t be needing those anymore.”
“What else won’t I need?”
“Food, air, time… the list goes on for a while.”
“Air?” I questioned again.
“Yes, you can stop breathing any time you want, but I don’t think you’d want to go without smelling what’s coming up behind you.” He smiled at me and I smiled back.
“I guess not.” I agreed. He stared at me for a long time, but I looked away unable to hold his gaze.
“What’s the matter, Anna?” he asked quietly.
“Nothing.” I answered too quickly. He knew otherwise.
“Tell the truth, Anna. What’s the matter.” He asked a little more firmly this time.
“What am I going to do about the whole work thing? I don’t exactly want to quit… but the boss won’t give me a promotion let alone a raise.” I did a lot of shrugging… and he listened intently to what I had to say to him. His intent gaze seemed to look right into the depths of my soul as I pondered all the possible outcomes to my situation. I thought up about five different solutions… all ending in failure… except for one. I hated doing this… but it was the only way I could get anything. I would have to resort to force… and I despised doing that.
“What are you going to do about it?” he asked me after I thought all I could on the matter.
“I think…” I began and tried to find working that would make sense to me. “I’ll go and tell Hawsty what I feel like.” A sadistic feeling smothered my thoughts as I thought of Hawsty’s fat face turning red when I gave him a piece of my overly thoughtful mind. I would go to the office right now and ‘talk’ to him, maybe doing a little persuading. This night would be a great evening. You never know, something lovely might happen when the dark of the streets killed the light of the street lamps.
I glanced at the clock. It was nine thirty.
I bounded off the couch and skipped lightly to my room. This would be a great way to start Vampirism, and I was absolutely thrilled! I took a quick shower to de-sweat myself before blow-drying my hair into an awesome style. I never knew my hair could be this obedient and perfect! Even my complexion bettered itself! Beside the facts of being cold all the time, not having a heartbeat, or having to drink blood to survive, I think it would be all right.
I curled my lashes and found absolutely no use for mascara or liner… I had that built in already, and then I changed clothes and bounded out of my room. Lucias was waiting for me on the couch exactly how I had left him. He was still wearing the smile he had on when I left.
“You haven’t moved.” I commented to him.
“Why should I? You were gone no more than a minute.” He said and stood up to stretch his limbs.
“That’s not possible. It takes me at least thirty minutes to do my hair alone.” I reasoned.
He flashed up to me in a blink of an eye and smiled as he took my hands in his own and kissed them gently. “Hyperspeed is a wonderful gift.” He explained softly. “You’ll need to know how to act more slowly to blend in with the world around you. Even then you will still move a little faster than everyone else.”
“How about feeding, and strength, and all those other things?” I rattled on. He held a cold finger to my lips and shushed me.
“I’ll teach you everything you need to know.” He smiled and kissed me.
Olivia came over ten minutes later and she stared at me hard as she stood in the doorway of the den as I sat comfortably on the couch. Lucias was standing between us in his leather trench coat that had a modern designer look and bright silver buckles that flashed in the dim light of the lamp dying out by my side. She lifted her nose higher and let out an audible sniff.
“Your blood is different.” She commented honestly and with a confused tilt of her head. I smiled and nodded with a tiny nod. I shifted my eyes towards Lucias and her gaze immediately fell on him. “You changed her?” she asked him demandingly as her hands balled up into fists. He smiled.
“I did,” he answered her and crossed his arms. Her expression changed to that of shock and amazement.
“Why did you do that! I liked her just the way she was!!”
“Olivia, darling, you want to be with her forever don’t you?” the little girl nodded. “This was the only way I could make that happen for you.” His voice was soft and calming; it was clear he was trying to keep her from raging and going into a violent fit of flying claws and gnashing teeth. He squatted down to her height and looked her straight in the flashing eyes. “Olivia, it was the only way.” He stressed more clearly. She looked down at my hardwood floor and nodded.
Her hands relaxed and she looked back at me. I smiled and stood up holding out my arms like a mother would when comforting her saddened child. She immediately walked up to me and hugged me with inhuman strength, strength that I now shared with her, Lucias, and all the other Vampires roaming the earth. I hugged her back and swished her mousey black hair behind her ears.
“I’m going to have a little chat with my wonderful boss, would you like to come with Lucias and I?” I asked her as I leaned back out of her grasp and looked at her glittering eyes. An evil little smile snuck up onto her innocent face as she stared back at me, probably thinking all the thoughts I had when I thought of what I could do to that wretch-of-a-man Hawsty.
“It would please me most if I could accompany you and Lucias to Mr. Hawsty’s office and witness what lies ahead for him.” She said like a grown woman of seventy-four with wisdom galore.
“Shall we go then?” Lucias asked us all. I looked at him, picked up Olivia, and set her on my hip, something I couldn’t do before. We trotted out of the house (without jackets, of course) and made way towards the office where Hawsty practically lived. I knew he was still there; he never left the place until 11 at night on a bad day, on a good day it would be around 12 to 1 in the morning.
Tonight was extremely cold. The wind was very nippy and it stung my nose a little, but it wasn’t intolerably awful. Olivia was humming her eerie little song as I bounced her to my smooth gait. Lucias put his arm around my shoulder and walked with a smile as he strode beside me happily. He was glad he found someone to stay with him for eternity, and I was glad this gorgeous Vampire picked me! We all knew he could have had a model instead of an average-looking girl of 18 in a small-time farm town in the middle-of-Nowhere Georgia.
The streetlamps flickered as we walked under each one. I asked Lucias why this was, and he said it had to do with our electrical currants being able to affect other electrical fields we come around. That explained to me why the lamp that I was sitting next to seemed as if it were going to die out. Dead and decaying leaves swirled and scraped the two-lane, blacktop road as we turned onto it from the dirt road leading from my house. Our booted feet made light taps on the dead grass at the side of the road where we walked, and the moon above glowed silver among a sea of rolling clouds and flashing stars. Tonight was perfect… and I was about to make it better.
Hawsty’s house was ten miles from mine if you walked, but it just took us about four minutes to get there instead of the usual half an hour it used to take me. The front porch lights were off… but they always were; Hawsty never turned them on. He hated being bothered by anyone and everyone. I put Olivia down once we reached the gated drive of this very nice house with a fancy screen door, a gold knocker, and a white porch swing that creaked in mourning in the slight wind.
Hate and anger welled up inside of me as I glared at the house where my greedy fat boss sat every night laughing that he had gotten away with one more article. The nearby street lamp popped and fizzled out with a string of sparks leaking out of its glass belly. Olivia and Lucias both looked at it then back at me.
I was mad, and everything around me was showing it. I touched the lock on the gate with icy fingers and it crumbled under my stone hard grasp. I slowly pushed open the gate and it ground iron-on-iron until it hit the stopper stone. Leaves blew across the pathway as I stepped one foot onto the walk. This was my moment to give this man a fragment of my ever working mind… it was time for him to receive what was owed to him.
The wind grew stronger with each step I took towards that rich looking house. Olivia and Lucias followed me at a safe distance, then came and sat on the swing to wait. Everything fell silent as I approached… and I heard the classical music playing on an old record player. The music stopped suddenly and the creaking of the wood floors inside the den sounded. Hawsty knew someone was here… and he was afraid. I closed my eyes with an evil grin spreading across my pale face and listened.
I could hear his heavy breathing thicken. His heart picked up and pumped blood a thousand times faster through the half-clogged arteries and vessels of his body. I stood as still as a statue as I heard his fat feet trying desperately to be quiet on the noisy floor. There was a click and I knew the light had just been turned off… the heat was gone from that place. There was heavy shuffling and then all went quiet.
My smiled widened.
He was hiding.
I grabbed the door handle and turned it, going against the deadbolt and crushing it. I let go and the door opened on its own will as the wind blew across the empty yard. I stepped into the dark house, eyes adjusting to the blackness instantly. I swept the foyer with my gaze and continued down the hall. Olivia and Lucias followed me. My hands relaxed as I took a deep breath. I could smell that fat man’s blood racing around his body. He was afraid now… and I was hunting him.
“Hawsty!” I whispered faintly as his name echoed around the house and reverberated off the walls. His breathing caught in his throat as he froze where he was hiding.
“Come out; come out, where ever you are.” I chanted like a child playing a game of hide-and-seek. No one came out… no sound was heard.
I raised my nose to the air and took a deep breath. His smell wafted out of the den where his desk was. He was hiding there… perhaps behind his desk. I walked into the den and bypassed a leather couch that sat in front of a plasma TV hanging above the stacked-stone fireplace. My eyes locked on the desk and flashed vampiricly. A movement caught my eyes and I realized that Hawsty had pulled his obese face back into hiding after an attempt to see who or what was in his house. I flashed up to the desk and glared down at it. His chair was empty… but he was there.
“Hawsty… it’s me, Anna.” I said calmly. The heartbeat relaxed.
Hawsty’s head emerged and stared at me with relieved shock. He got up with difficulty and fell into his leather desk chair heavily. He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at me through the darkness. He turned on his lamp and rubbed his face.
“Have you brought me a new article?” he asked. I cocked my head and smirked.
“What makes you think that?” I asked and evaded his question. He didn’t like smart remarks or questions being directed at him, so he frowned at me.
“I ask the questions to you, not the other way around.” He stood up and lit a cigar with a silver lighter. “Now, did you bring me an article or not? You want that promotion, do you?” I could hear Lucias and Olivia sitting down on the leather couch and watching us. Hawsty didn’t see them.
“You promised me that promotion ten dozen articles ago, Hawsty.” I informed sternly.
“I did not!” he laughed as if I had made the whole thing up. I glared and the lamp flickered.
“Calm, Anna.” Lucias’ whispering voice came to my ears, but Hawsty didn’t hear a thing. The lamp steadied.
“Why don’t you have a seat, Anna.” He suggested. I slowly walked around his desk and sat in his chair. I put up my feet and made myself comfortable. He stared at me in shock.
“Why don’t you have a seat, Hawsty.” I said and pressed my fingertips together. Something in my voice was strong enough for him to realize that I wasn’t playing games this time, I wasn’t going to lose. He sat. “Do you know how long I’ve been working for you, Hawsty?” his fat face jiggled as he thought up a number.
“A year?”
“Two.” I corrected. “I started when I was sixteen.”
“So?”
“I've written more articles than you have.”
“So? I just put everything together.”
“I meant when you were working in my position for your boss.” I took my feet down from the table and leaned forward angrily.
“What are you trying to say?” he drew a puff on his cigar.
“I'm saying that you’re a man of no quality, honor, and trust. You owe me what is due, and it’s about time you gave it to me.” He laughed to shrug off my boldness as he stood up and walked around to my side of the desk, I sat and trailed him with my eyes.
“I don’t owe you a single thing! If anything, you owe me one more article.” He grabbed the desk and hovered over me. I had enough. I stood up and glared eye to eye with him. I grabbed him by the collar and shoved him down in his desk chair. I pulled out a drawer and found the promotion slip he needed to sign. I snatched up a pen and shoved it at him.
“Sign it.” I ordered. He chuckled and blew out a smoke ring.
“There’s no way in the underworld I'm signing that.” He refused. I grabbed his head and slammed it into the desktop, cracking the wood and maybe a few bones in his face.
“Sign it if you value your worthless life!!” I screamed. I pushed harder on the back of his neck and slowly cut off his trachea.
“OK! All right! I’ll sign it!” he whimpered. I let him up and he grabbed the pen from me.
I watched as he slowly scribbled his name on the promotion paper as he glanced at me… then to his desk drawer. I had no idea what he was thinking about… but I’m sure he had absolutely no good intentions. He handed me the paper and I snatched it away from him with evil delight.
I had been waiting for this for years! I scanned over the paper and inspected his signature with care. It looked right. It looked like his handwriting. And it was my ticket out of this dump of a job.
Hawsty leaped for the drawer he had been staring at and pulled out a revolver. He pointed it directly at me and I took a step back. I knew that a Vampire could be killed with anything, not just a stake through the heart like it says in the movies or in books. An evil laugh emerged from Hawsty’s fat mouth as I stepped back again clutching my prized paper tightly.
“You’ll never be able to get out of this alive, Anna!” he said and grinned as best he could through the fat on his face. His finger curled around the trigger and I began to wince. I was too young to die here, I had just gotten what I wanted in life and here it was being taken away from me.
In a flash, Olivia was at his hand glaring up at Hawsty with vampiric eyes. She grabbed his hand at hyperspeed and began to crush the bones in his hand and wrist. Hawsty began to cry out and release his grasp on the gun. Lucias was behind Hawsty next, making sure the man couldn’t get to the phone. Olivia took the gun and broke it in half like a twig that had fallen from the winter trees. Her eyes flashed as her fangs grew out to a horrible length. Hawsty screamed and Olivia jumped at him meaning to rip him to shreds. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the man.
“Let me rip out his heart!!” she growled and clawed at my stone hard arms with her nails.
“No, Olivia! He hasn’t done anything to me!” I tried to make her stop.
“He tried to kill you so I see it justice to do the same to him!” she screamed and gave another burst of energy into her struggle to free herself. I could barely hold her back and Lucias grabbed Hawsty to move him out of the way of little Olivia.
“Compose yourself!” I screamed at her and she drew to an immediate halt. “If anything happens to him, I want to be the one to do it,” I said and flashed my eyes at him.
Hawsty shuttered when I looked at him. I put Olivia down and walked up to the man. He was mine now, my first kill, my first meal… and I was hungry. He was trembling violently as I came closer and hovered over him smiling. His heart was racing. I could hear it. I could taste it.
I bent down to whisper in his ear. His breath caught in his throat as I began to speak.
“Say goodnight, Hawsty.”
The lights died.
He screamed.
And I caressed his neck with the kiss of death…
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