Sorry for the very long wait. School work was insane and I had a lot of exams to complete. But I'm getting Lebaran holidays since I live in Indonesia, so that's two weeks of holidays. : )
This is a story about vampires.
Oh, I know what you're thinking. Another Twilight fan.
No, actually, I've tried to make this story as original as possible. It shouldn't be similar to the series at all. Anyway, please do not be put off from reading/reviewing my story just because it is a vampire story.
Blue Flames and Bloodshot Eyes
Chapter 3
Allison’s house stood solitarily, almost defiantly from the main mass of human houses. It was even larger than Shirley’s and Brett’s and with grounds at least three times as big. It was a mammoth even amidst the largest dwellings. It was fantastically lit up by soft, light blue lights surrounding the large structure, giving it an almost phantasmagoric, ethereal appearance. Large, shadowy trees that were nearly devoid of leaves obscured most of the house from others, though.
“This house is massive,” Zachary commented.
Zach and Shirley stood watching the house from outside the main gate, on the clean, well-kept sidewalk.
“Allison’s parents are really rich,” Shirley explained. “Her mother’s the president of a large import-export business and her father’s a really successful lawyer.”
“She has a very fortunate family then,” Zachary said.
Shirley nodded. “Yeah, she’s got everything. And she’s a really nice, good person as well.”
The human girl stepped towards a small device attached to the side of the wall. She pressed a small button on it and put her face close to it.
After a while, there was a loud crackle of static. “Shirley?” a voice said from the device. “What are you doing here this late?”
“I’m here with a friend,” Shirley spoke into the device. “Could you do me a really big favor? Please?”
“Oh, all right. Come on in then.”
Shirley stepped back from the gate. There was a click and the gates opened inwards by themselves.
Zachary was impressed. “You humans have magic too,” he said.
“No, silly. It’s called electricity,” Shirley said, chuckling. “You know – like lightning?”
“Impressive. You harness nature’s powers,” Zachary said. “Ah … will it be alright if this Allison sees me? What if she –”
“Trust me, it’ll be alright,” Shirley assured him, raising her voice so that she could be heard over the squeaking of the gates. “Allison believes in a lot of strange things.”
“Am I strange?” Zach asked.
“No, I didn’t say that.”
“I don’t want to meet anymore humans.”
“Why not?” Shirley said. “You’ve already met Brett and I. One more couldn’t hurt, right?”
No, it couldn’t, Zach thought. But he knew better than to trust these humans so easily. He didn’t understand why Shirley, on the other hand, trusted him so easily.
Or maybe this could be a trap, the Vampire thought. What have I gotten myself into?
He remained silent as he followed the human girl through the large, main road leading to the front doors. Zachary couldn’t help looking around at the trees rising up like monoliths around him. They created enigmatic shadows that made the entire place look eerie, even for him.
He couldn’t help casting subtle, furtive glances around him. It was as if something could leap at him from the darkness. When they reached the front door, bathed in the outdoor lights, Zachary suddenly felt a lot safer.
“Yeah, I know,” Shirley said. “The place is pretty creepy. You’ll get used to it, though.”
The doors creaked open and the head of another human girl appeared through the crack.
“Shirley, is it alright for you to be out this late?”
“Hi, Ally!” Shirley said. “We need your super research powers again.”
Allison was slightly taller than Shirley. She was dressed in pink pajamas, her dirty blonde hair slightly ruffled. Her entire demeanor seemed to be less confident than Shirley’s firm stance. Zachary thought that he ought to be careful when talking to this human. She seemed so timid and bashful that a slight insult would probably cause her to break down in tears.
“So, who’s your friend?” Allison said.
Shirley leaned forward and whispered into the girl’s ear. “His name is Zachary. He’s actually a vampire.”
“A vampire, seriously?” Allison said, eyeing Shirley. “You haven’t gone crazy, have you?”
“If you don’t believe me, ask him yourself.”
Allison looked up shyly at the Vampire and slowly extended a hand towards him. “Hi, I-I’m Allison.”
Zachary stared at the girl’s hand, not knowing exactly what to do. He was not too familiar with human gestures. He did, however, feel slightly guilty when Allison withdrew her arm.
“Er, all right,” Allison said. “Come in, then.”
Shirley gestured for the Vampire to follow her. Once they were inside, Allison closed the door behind her.
“So what do you need, Shirley?”
“Zachary has something for you to look at,” Shirley said, turning to face the Vampire. “Show it to her.”
Zachary took out the golden rod from the inside of his jacket and held it out for Allison to see. The girl peered closely at the object, obviously avoiding eye contact with the Vampire.
“It sort of looks like an old pictorial alphabet,” she said.
“You mean, like Chinese or something?”
Allison nodded. “But I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said, breaking off her concentration on the golden rod to face her friend. “Do you really want to know what it says?”
“Yes, please,” Shirley said eagerly.
“Okay then. But you gotta help me with the research, okay?”
Allison led Shirley and Zach through the spacious mansion and into the living room. A large fireplace at one end of the room was the most noticeable object in the entire chamber. Several large sofas and chairs dotted the room and Zachary wondered why humans needed so much furnishing in their homes. The floor was made of smooth, marble tiles that made the Vampire cringe as he stepped on them with his dirty, mud-caked shoes.
“Shirley, could you go upstairs to my room to get my yellow folders?” Allison said. “I’ll go get my laptop from the computer room.”
“All right. Zach, you wait here, okay?”
The Vampire nodded in reply and the humans split off towards different directions. Zachary walked over to the nearest sofa and tentatively sat down.
The fireplace had not been lit and the Vampire thought that the place would look even more grandiose with firelight reflecting off its walls. Paintings of dreamlike scenery dominated the area and antique ornaments lined the walls.
Zachary thought that this house was quite beautiful. Even Brett’s and Shirley’s house was quite impressive to him – this was far grander.
So immersed in the interior design was the Vampire that he did not notice that Allison had already returned. She was staring at him with great concentration. Zachary wondered why she was staring at him with such focus when she barely made eye contact with him earlier. So he stared back.
It took him a moment to realize that Allison wasn’t staring at him – she was staring at his eyes.
“I found the folders, Ally,” Shirley said, carrying with her a pile of canary-yellow folders.
Allison looked away from the Vampire. “Thanks, Shirley,” she said.
“So, how are we going to do this research?”
“Well, I have some charts of old languages in those folders. We can compare the symbols to some of them there.”
Shirley nodded. “All right. We could search on the Internet too.”
“That’s what my laptop is for,” Allison said, pointing to the rectangular metal object on her lap.
Shirley opened the folders and retrieved large, rolled up sheets of paper. She laid them out on the table in front of her so that all three of them could see. Zachary handed Shirley the golden rod and the human girl began her research in earnest.
“Uh, Shirley, is he really a … you know, a vampire?” Allison said after a while. “Those aren’t contacts he’s wearing, right?”
“Nope, he’s a real vampire, teeth, eyes and all,” Shirley said.
Allison glanced at the Vampire frightfully. “Please don’t suck my blood.”
Zachary frowned at her. “O-okay.”
“He only needs blood so he can use his powers,” Shirley explained, her eyes still trained on the charts. “He hasn’t sucked my blood yet, so don’t worry.”
Allison didn’t seem to be convinced. “Please don’t hurt me.”
“I-I won’t,” Zachary said. He was slightly taken aback that the human girl thought he was some kind of monster. But then again, these were humans that he was dealing with and he was of an entirely different creature.
“Hey, Zach, do you recognize any of these symbols?” Shirley asked, pointing at one of the charts.
The Vampire closely studied the mix of squares, lines and spirals. “Um … no.”
“You know that makes me wonder;” Shirley said, “where’d you learn how to read?”
“I taught myself.”
“How’s that possible?” Shirley said.
Zachary scratched the side of his head. “W-well … my parents taught me.”
“You have parents?” Shirley said. “I thought you said you didn’t have a family!”
“Usually Vampires live alone once they’re about thirteen years old,” Zachary told her. “My parents would have been busy trying to fight off the Incubi – and the Succubi – themselves.”
“Incubi? Succubi?” Allison asked; her hands were clasped together, trembling. “Oh no. Are they dangerous? Do they make lewd comments about you?”
“There’s no need to worry; they won’t be entering human settlements anytime soon,” Zachary said.
“All right, if y-you say so then,” Allison said. Zachary knew that Allison didn’t really believe in what he had said and he wondered what it would take to convince her.
The trio set off to compare the symbols to the ones on the golden object. At various points, Shirley or Zachary would find similar symbols on one chart, but Allison would quickly counter them with some quick research on her laptop.
“Are you trying to help us or what?” Shirley said, sounding a little annoyed.
“Sorry, Shirley. I’m just being logical,” Allison said, timidly shrugging. “But, you know, I think we’re getting somewhere.”
“Fine, fine.”
“He hasn’t hurt you, has he, Shirley?”
Shirley looked up at her friend. “Um, what?”
Allison quietly pointed at the Vampire. It wasn’t a very subtle gesture – Zach noticed her mistrust.
“No, he hasn’t, Ally,” Shirley said. “He’s … he’s on the good side. Why are you acting like that, Ally? You love these kinds of fantasy stuff.”
“Only in fiction,” Allison said. “These things aren’t supposed to happen in real life.”
“Well, it’s happening right in front of ya, girl.”
Zachary picked up the rod and twisted it around, running his fingers across the surface. He hadn’t realized that the symbols were slightly extruding from the surface.
Shirley looked over at him and then at the object. “Do you notice something?”
“The symbols kind of … stick out.”
“Let me see that.”
The Vampire handed the thing to Shirley, who mimicked his actions earlier. “You’re right,” she mumbled. “It does stick out a bit. But what does that mean?”
“That reminds me of those old ink printing blocks invented in China,” Allison said. “It was an early form of printing Chinese characters. The surface of these blocks had like, extrusions and they would dip it in ink.”
“Well, we could try that with this,” Shirley suggested.
“Well, it’s worth a try. I have some washable ink somewhere in the basement – I’ll go get it,” Allison said, sounding increasingly excited.
Allison set down her laptop beside her on the chair and got up. She left the room, leaving Shirley and Zach alone again. Shirley began humming a small tune as she flattened out another chart.
“You seem to be enjoying this,” Zachary said.
“Sure. Beats having to do homework.”
Zachary continued observing the golden rod in silence. It felt as if he was getting closer to discovering something – something big. He hadn’t the faintest clue about the importance of this coveted object, but maybe this Allison could help him figure it out. He did not like how she stared at him, but he was determined to find out what the writing on the rod said.
Allison reappeared carrying a tin, rectangular box and a large, rolled up sheet of paper.
“Great, let’s start,” Shirley said. “How do we use the ink?”
“Well,” Allison said, opening the tin and putting the lid in front of her friend, “we lightly roll the rod over here and then imprint it onto a sheet of paper.”
The lid was covered in a soft material, damp and darkened with ink.
“Just like stamps,” Shirley remarked.
“Yup – oh, hold on, here’s how you do it –”
Allison rolled the rod lightly over the lid, holding it by the edges. When she was done, Zachary stared curiously at how the blackened symbols stood out against the golden surface. Allison carefully set the rod on top of the blank sheet and rolled it from one side to the other. The printed symbols were scratchy and weren’t as clear as Zachary hoped them to be, but it was still visible nonetheless.
“Wow, take a look at this!” Allison said, giddily clapping her hands. “Look at these – they’re so unique. No wonder we couldn’t match them before!”
“What do you mean?” Shirley said. “They still don’t make any sense to me.”
“It’s like those stamps bank accountants or cashiers use or something,” Allison said, carefully placing the rod back on top of the lid.
“This isn’t a stamp.”
“No, I mean – the symbols on the rod were the other way around,” Allison said. “That’s why we couldn’t match any of the symbols!”
Zachary watched the girl scan the sheet of paper eagerly. “Could I see that?”
Immediately, as if he had pressed a switch, Allison returned back into the frightful girl he had seen earlier.
“Um …” she began. She turned to Shirley.
“What?”
“Could you give this to … to …”
Shirley rolled her eyes. “Just give it to him yourself.”
Allison put the sheet down in front of Zachary, and then turned back towards her friend. “It’s getting late. Do you need to stay late? My parents want to have brunch with me tomorrow.”
“Well, could we borrow these charts then? We could decipher it ourselves now,” Shirley said.
“Sorry, Shirley … it’s not that I don’t trust you but – those are the only copies I have.”
“Okay, okay,” Shirley said, rolling up the charts. “We’ll drop by tomorrow night then.”
“Er, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Allison said. Zachary caught the not-so-subtle glance she shot his way. It was clear to see that she still appeared to be very frightful of him.
“Why not?”
“We have school on Monday,” Allison said. “B-besides. I’ll do it for you. I’ll send you a fax later.”
“Well … if you really want to, Ally. But you don’t have to, though.”
Allison shook her head firmly. “It’s okay. I’ll wash off the ink first …”
Allison took the rod and stood up, leaving the living room. Shirley began humming happily again and rolled up the charts on the table.
“I think your friend doesn’t like me,” Zachary said.
“Nonsense – she loves you!” Shirley said, still busily rolling.
Zachary narrowed his eyes, still feeling uncomfortable. “She avoids eye contact with me.”
“I’m avoiding eye contact with you right now,” Shirley said.
“It’s different.”
Allison came back and sat down silently, the cleaned rod in her hands. “Here you go, Shirley.”
“Thanks, Ally,” Shirley said, smiling. “I guess we’ll be going now.”
“Okay.”
Shirley beckoned Zachary to follow her, taking the rod from Allison’s outstretched hands. Allison trailed behind the two as they made their way to the front door. They turned around to say goodbye.
“Thanks again, Ally,” Shirley said. “We’ll see you later.”
“All right,” Allison said, her voice quieting. “Later.”
“Thank you for your assistance,” Zachary said, looking straight at Allison’s face.
The girl nodded and shot a quick glance towards the Vampire. Just as quickly, she looked away. Before Shirley and Zachary could make their first few steps away, the door slammed shut and a small click could be heard.
“Will she be finished with the deciphering soon?” Zachary asked, curious.
“Yup,” Shirley said. “She likes these kinds of puzzle solving things. I think she wants to take a major in symbology in university. Uh, and I don’t even think there is such a thing as symbology.”
As they passed the main entrance, the gates closed automatically behind them.
“By the way, I was meaning to ask,” Shirley said, after an absence of conversation, “what are your Incubi buddies doing now?”
“They are not my buddies,” Zachary said. “They’re probably staying away from the city, bidding their time until I leave. Eventually, I’ll leave.”
“But, they’ll get you.”
Zachary nodded. “I suppose they will. But not anytime soon, I hope.”
“Isn’t there some way you could protect yourself from them?”
“Well, if I had my powers, I could stand a chance against them. But, I need blood …”
“Hmm,” Shirley said thoughtfully.
Zachary frowned at her. “Please don’t tell me you’re willing to donate your blood to me.”
“Well, it’s obvious that you’re not the bad guy around here, aren’t ya? Those Incubi fellas tried to kill me and Brett!” Shirley said. “I know I don’t seem like it, but I really do know that they’re dangerous.”
“I can’t just take your blood,” Zachary said, now getting angry. “I feel guilty when I have to procure the blood of humans. It makes me feel like a thief. Maybe worse.”
“D-don’t get all defensive,” Shirley said. “You just need a little, right?”
“Don’t even think about,” Zachary replied angrily. “You don’t understand.”
He looked away and walked ahead of his human companion. The roads were starting to become familiar now and he sped up his pace. He could find their house on his own, hopefully. After a while, Shirley sighed and followed him.
To be continued ...
Author's Note
Please edit, comment, review this chapter to your heart's content. Remember that when I take your suggestions into consideration, it is highly subjective. If I feel that your input will not help (no offense), I will not take it too seriously. Typographical, grammatical and general syntax errors, however, are a different story. Please help me with those!
