PRESENT CHAPTER 6: VAMPIRE 101 DIANA I felt a knot forming in my stomach as I watched Anastasia pull Gualtiero away from me and disappear into the crowd of partygoers. What just happened? I thought to myself. “Looks like your boyfriend ditched you,” I heard a voice reply to my internal question from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find Zari standing there with a dirty smirk on her face. She is not an ugly girl by any means, but when she drinks, something hideous comes out of her. “He probably got bored hearing you whine about your dead parents all night,” she continued, faking an exaggerated yawn. “If I were him, I’d ditch you for your hotter best friend too” she laughed hard. I don’t know what came over me in that moment, but I suddenly had enough. Without thinking, I grabbed a half-filled cup off a nearby table and threw the sticky sweet contents of it right into Zari’s face. She squealed in horror as the liquid poured down her face and onto her dress. “Oh, you bitch!” she shrieked, as others watched, pointing and smirking. “You’re the bitch, Zari,” I said quietly, tossing the empty cup onto the floor and storming out of the party. *** I tried my best to hold back my tears as I walked home by myself. God knows I’d cried too much in the past few months. I don’t want to be known as a weak girl, but the universe really seems to be testing my strength lately. I’m not usually the kind to insult others, much less throw drinks in their faces, but Zari really had it coming. The nerve of her to make an insensitive comment about my parents’ death, not once but twice. And then the stuff that she said about Gualtiero and Anastasia… Well, she wasn’t totally wrong about that, was she? said a nagging voice in my head. I’d seen the looks that they had given each other upon meeting. Anastasia could barely keep her composure and Gualtiero almost looked like Romeo seeing Juliet for the first time. He was at a loss for words so much so that I had to whisper to him what to say to her. Yet when he turned to me and asked me to dance, I thought that I had been mistaken about their mutual attraction. I had even blushed with embarrassment at my own thinking. Now it seems that I wasn’t really wrong at all. Gualtiero is polite, he is a gentleman. It is possible that he felt obligated to give me attention since it was me who invited him to the party, not Anastasia and he didn’t want to be rude. But when she pulled him away, he couldn’t resist. He didn’t even look back at me over his shoulder. I was instantly forgotten about. But then what was all that stuff about how I make him happy? About how he’s never felt happier in his life? And why did he fight so hard for me if it was Anastasia he was interested in? Could it be that I misread his character completely? That Gualtiero was actually just another lying sleazebag like all the other guys I knew, who would say anything to make a girl swoon, even if he didn’t mean it? No. Something in my chest told me that I wasn’t mistaken. Gualtiero really was different than all the other guys I knew. Still, nothing made sense. I paused my walk momentarily to tie my hair up, feeling the warm summer heat get to me. It was so hot out tonight; it gave me chills remembering how cold Gualtiero felt to touch. I bet Anastasia is doing a good job keeping him nice and toasty right now, I thought to myself, wincing and resuming my walk. Anastasia. How could she? She was supposed to be my best friend and she knew I liked Gualtiero. It’s like she only pretended to be happy for me finding a guy I’m interested in until she saw his good looks for herself. Maybe she thought I’d be okay with her taking him since I owe her so much for all the things that she has done for me in the past few months anyway… My cheeks reddened with shame at myself for even thinking that. Anastasia wasn’t like that. When I lost my parents, she took me in with open arms and never asked for a thing in return. I’d only ever felt her wanting my happiness. Perhaps she simply underestimated how I felt about Gualtiero. It’s not like I was very open about my feelings with her. Hell, I haven’t been very open about my feelings with myself yet. Or maybe, Diana, you’re just letting Zari get to you and you’re reading into this all wrong, said a voice of reason in my head. The feeling of calm didn’t last long as I flashed back to Anastasia’s stunned face seeing Gualtiero for the first time. After all, what girl wouldn’t be attracted? *** After a long shower, I changed into my PJs, made a cup of tea and settled onto the couch with the old journal I found amongst my parents’ things. “Let’s see if you can get me to forget my horrible night, Iosif Michea…” I put on my glasses and opened the journal, peering at the antiquated but beautiful handwriting from so many years ago. When I first saw the Beast, I had nary an idea of what it was. Pale and humanlike, with needle-sharp teeth and extreme speed and precision. It had strength unlike anything I’d ever seen. A ruthless, cold killer that used its teeth to suckle the blood out of warm-blooded creatures, human and animals alike. This Beast took the lives of everyone I loved from me and for years I dedicated myself to nothing but learning all there is to know about this horrible creature that I would come to learn is called a vampire. Vampires? This was not what I expected to be reading about when I picked up this journal, but I was intrigued, to say the least. For those whose eyes lay upon this writing, be warned of the signs of the Beast, for it is cunning and seductive and can easily attract innocent humans. A vampire, I have learned, is: -Exceptionally good looking -Deathly allergic to sunlight -Not dependent on human foods, only human blood -Extremely fast and strong -Immortal -Only killed by exposure to sunlight or a wooden stake through the heart -An expert in the senses: hearing, sight, touch, taste and smell -Cold to the touch -Unable to enter a human’s place of residence unless invited inside by someone who dwells in it. -Unable to show their reflection and does not cast a shadow Exceptionally good looking and cold to the touch? He may as well have been referring to Gualtiero. I laughed out loud at the idea although the thought of his name brought an uneasy pang to my stomach. As if sensing my sad mood, Lucky waltzed into the room and jumped onto my lap, purring softly. I ran my hand through his soft fur and scratched him behind the ears. “At least I have one loyal friend in my life,” I said sadly. I turned my gaze back to the journal and flipped to the next page, but before I could read more of Iosif Michea’s vampiric adventures, I heard the sound of the door unlocking and in came Anastasia, her hair and makeup still annoyingly perfect despite walking home in the sticky heat of the night. “Oh, thank god you’re home safe!” she exclaimed. “I only called you about a dozen times. Why didn’t you answer the phone?” “Sorry, I guess I left it in my purse, and I didn’t hear it,” I said truthfully. “I wasn’t really expecting any calls.” “You should have known I’d be worried sick, Diana,” she said, removing her heels and walking over to the couch, plopping down next to me. “What gives? Why did you just disappear like that?” “I’m not the one who disappeared,” I said bitterly. “If I recall correctly, it’s you who disappeared with my date.” I immediately blushed at my own words. “I mean, not my date, but like, you know, the friend that I was with.” “I was calming him down, I told you that I would! I mean, someone had to, the guy was beating everyone there to a pulp,” she said. “And how exactly did you calm him down? With your lips?” I said, once again cringing at my own words. Get it together, Diana, this is not a good look for you! Anastasia shot me an offended glare. “Seriously? I can’t believe you’d even ask me that Diana.” “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just in a mood” I said. “I’m not the kind of girl who kisses on a guy she literally just met,” she said, ignoring my apology. “And even if I was, I wouldn’t go right for the guy my best friend has a huge crush on. You’ve got dibs and I’m not one to break girl code.” “I’m sorry,” I repeated, then sighed. “This night just went all kinds of wrong. Roman being gross, Gualtiero beating everyone up, Zari being the literal worst. I shouldn’t have gone to that party. I feel like my presence just ruined everything.” Anastasia reached over and put her hand on mine, “Don’t say that. It’s good that you went. Even if things didn’t turn out perfectly, at least it’s a start to getting your life back! I’m proud of you for getting out there. And for throwing a drink all over Zari” she added with a laugh. “I may not have been there to witness it – sadly – but I heard the talks about it.” I covered my face in embarrassment but laughed. “Oh, god.” “You and Gualtiero sure made an impression on everyone tonight, with you both throwing drinks and punches around,” she said through more laughter. “In my defense, she had it coming.” “I don’t think anyone is disputing that,” she said. “She’s a total bitch. Everyone thinks so except for Oliver and the sleazy tools she cheats on him with.” “Thanks,” I said, smirking. “So, how did you calm Gualtiero down?” “I just talked to him,” she said, not quite meeting my eyes. I raised an eyebrow. “You just talked? What did you say?” “I told him to calm down and that violence doesn’t solve anything. I had him sit for a few minutes and breathe until he felt more relaxed.” I stared at Anastasia, not quite believing her. Gualtiero was in a furious rage. I’d actually never seen anything like that before. He calmed down simply by being told to? It was difficult to believe. “I see,” I said. “Yeah,” she replied, yawning. “Anyway, I’m going to go up and change. I’m glad you got home safe, Di.” “Yeah, you too,” I said. Anastasia threw a smile in my direction then got up, grabbed her discarded heels and walked away. I stared as my best friend disappeared up the stairs and felt the knot that I had already been feeling in my stomach tighten even more. I knew Anastasia better than I knew anyone else on this planet and I knew one thing was for certain right now: she had just lied to me about how she calmed Gualtiero down.