Valkyrie - the Vampire Princess (5 page)

CHAPTER 8

I woke up, it was after midnight. I was soaked with sweat, which was not due to high a temperature, because the night was cool. I felt freshness in my bedroom.

My body was wet with sweat as I looked to expel the dream I had minutes before. Then I sat on my bed trying to come back to my normal state. My heart was running a thousand miles an hour, and it didn’t want to reduce its beat.

I tried thinking of a good thing to frighten away that strange sensation inside me. My dream’s real scenes were stronger than me. They hammered my thoughts impetuously. 

Eros followed after me through the entire  dream, where he took me to a dark place. It was precisely an enormous room with several closed doors.

He opened one of them and called me just gesturing with his right hand at me, for me to go on with him, and then I awakened before I could make a decision.

It was an idiotic and senseless dream, but I didn’t understand why I had become so panic-stricken. I got another fright when an owl rested upon my room’s window.

I didn’t remember I had left my window open. I always closed it before going to bed. I was in doubt if I had rocked into sleep before I had closed it.

The owl stayed still, staring at me all the time, with its enormous, grey eyes. I didn’t know any more what was making me tense - the dream I had before or that animal in front of me.

I rose from my bed as I was trembling from head to foot. I walked to my window, trying to frighten away that terrible animal with my pillow.

The owl flew to a tree outside the house. It was probably  where the owl had come from. I closed my window and pulled the curtains, uniting them. I felt secure after all the precaution that I had taken.

I went back to my bed and I took hours to recover and get back to sleep again.

CHAPTER 9

Chemistry Class had finished. All the students had been released from  school.  Mirta didn’t attend school on that day.

I picked up my notebook and pressed it against my own chest, which was a habit I always had. A mania I acquired since I began to attend school.

Eros and I went down the corridor stairs. In distraction I ended up stumbling over the stairs, where my fall would have been bad if it was not for the rapidity of Eros’s hand onto my arm as he caught me in time.

I felt paralyzed by his hand’s coldness.  How could it be so frozen when the day was excessively hot?

“Take care!” he exclaimed as he put his hand on my left arm.

“What a frozen hand!” I murmured without thinking. “I mean...”  I tried to repair what I had said but I had been interrupted by his sensual voice.

“I suffer from a rare disease.”

I sensed he felt ashamed by my thoughtless comment and he soon justified the why of his coldness.

“I avoid touching people for that reason.”

“I have never heard about such a disease.” I said piously.

“Only one case in one million. Therefore many people don’t know it,” he explained.

“I am one of those people,” I admitted.

“It is a torment in my life. I have to live with this.” We faced each other. “I look like the living- dead.”

Our gaze searched each other again.

“Isn’t there any  medical treatment?” I asked him as I turned my gaze aside.

“I have had several treatments and nothing has worked.”

“Are you always like this..., ‘frozen’?” I insisted.

“Yes, I am, all the time.”

“Wow!” my voice sounded enraptured.

“See you tomorrow.” He walked ahead, leaving me behind.

“Bye-bye!” I answered discouraged. I thought I shouldn’t have commented regarding his cold hand. He could have been offended by me.

***

On my way back home
, I walked very slowly,  staring down at the ground, thinking of Eros’ hands and how cold they were. How was it possible for a person to be icy all the time even on warm days? 

His
illness not only bothered him, but also all those who had been touched by him. I was dying to help him and wanted to find a cure or a solution for his problem. I couldn’t do anything except feel sorry for him again. I sighed. That made him anomalous.

***

I talked to
my mother about Eros’ illness.

“
He said he suffers from a rare disease,” I said crestfallen.

“Your father looked like ice, too,” my mother said ingenuously.

“My father?” I was very surprised at my mother’s comment. “Did he suffer from that disease too?”

“I do not know. He never said anything about it. In fact I saw him just once.”

“Have you and my father never been lovers?”

“No, we have not. 
I have never said this to you, but I think it’s time to let you know everything.” Her face looked slightly shocked.

“
Everything?” I asked cautiously.

“
I had met your father in a nightclub. We left the place together and… how can I say this to you?” she frowned and looked at the floor.

“You
slept with him,” I affirmed severely.

“
Yeah, we spent a night together.” She sat on the sofa. “One night was enough…” she confessed, sounding repentant at her past.

“And
I was born.” I stared at her, disgusted. “So that's why you hate him so much!”

“
I don’t hate your father. I just avoid talking about him. It has been very hard for me, bearing all of this by myself.”

I realized she was crying in silence.

“Being a single mother and not knowing the father of my daughter.” She put her fingers on her face and wiped a tear away.

“You
should have avoided that situation,” I said and my eyes were wide-open and serious.

“
If I had, you wouldn’t be here in this moment,” she said, firmly.

“
It would have been better,” I said and went to seek refuge in my bedroom.

Talking about
my father had always been a torment for us.

“D
on’t say that again, Valkyrie!” She came walking after me. “You are my life,” she confessed.

“
I didn’t say that I am not your life.” I sat on my bed and placed a cushion on my lap. “I just think you didn’t need to suffer so much… if I hadn’t been born,” I said and leaned my head to the side.

“I
would face anything to have you here with me.”

She confessed and hugged me tightly.
Her hug expressed her immense love for me.

We
remained together for a long time. My mother was everything I had in my life and I was all she had in hers.

It became much clearer
to me. We depended on each other.

CHAPTER 10

Some
students decided to make a luau at the waterfall. I decided to go since Mirta would be there. She convinced me and I agreed to go with her.

I realized
they had excluded Eros from this event.

He didn’t
get along with anyone. Eros was always isolated from people. That’s why he hadn’t been invited to the party.

Between classes, I walked to the school courtyard and I saw Eros. He was sitting on a wooden bench under a tree. His face was hidden in a book. 

I approached him pretending I didn’t want anything and I sat down at his side with my hands leaning on the bench.

“What are you reading?” I asked looking at his book page.

“A book about owls,” he answered looking up at my face.

“Do you like owls?” I couldn’t avoid my surprise.

“They are the ‘symbol of wisdom’.” His countenance seemed arrogant.

“I didn’t know.”
             

“There are many things you don’t know yet,” he affirmed looking into my dark eyes.

“An owl came to my bedroom window and I frightened it away,” I confessed.

“It is a bird that does no harm to anyone.”

“But it is frightening... that animal has large eyes...”

He smiled at me and then he looked back at his book’s paragraph. That was a way of telling me that his reading would be more interesting than my words.

We remained voiceless for a time, until I had the courage to break the silence between us again.

“There will be a luau this evening at the waterfall. Do you want to come with us?”

“I don’t enjoy that kind of thing.” He closed his book and glanced away.

“It’ll be cool,” I tried to convince him to go with us.

“Who will I know if I show up?” he said, looking back at my face.

“I’ll be waiting for you there.” My voice sounded hopeful.

“I’m not making any promises.”

He got up, walked away leaving me wondering  if he would go to the luau or not. I remained seated, with no enthusiasm to face my classroom again.

***

In the evening,
when we arrived at the waterfall, everything was so pleasant - being faced with nature’s beauty. I loved it all. I felt the gentle wind biting against my cheeks. I was so excited.

We got out of the cars
. The guys were looking for a suitable spot to make a bonfire. Delighted, I watched the blazing twigs for a long time.

The folks
served us drinks. We sat on the ground and in front of the bonfire. I refused to drink intoxicating drinks as I remembered my mother’s words.

I sipped my soda
, while listening to the sound of a guitar. They were singing such a moody melody. I stood up to go for a walk around the waterfall. Mirta was talking to Christian at that moment. She looked at me while I was walking away slowly.

“Excuse me,” she told Christian and
came after me.

“
What’s wrong with you? Don’t you like it here?” she asked me.

I looked at her worried face
.

“Yes,
I do,” I responded a little confused.

“
Why are you feeling like that?” She wanted to know more.

“
He didn’t come,” I told her, looking down at the floor.

“
I can’t believe you’re here thinking of Eros!” She placed her hands on her waist and looked upset at me.

“
I just wanted him to be here with me,” I confessed and my eyes were gleaming.

“
And you always declare you aren’t in love with him.” She added, thoughtfully.

“
He’s my friend,” I said, trying to sound indifferent.

“I’m your friend too,” she said, looking at my face.

“Finally you and Christian are together,” I changed the subject almost immediately.

“
Have you noticed that?” She said and smiled, her face looked content.

“
I have not only noticed it but I’m very glad to finally see you together.” I smiled back.

We lingered quietly for a moment. Then a boy
approached us. He looked at me anxiously.

“
Hello. My name is Douglas,” he said, watching me.

I had no interest in knowing his name
.

“Valkyrie,”
I said, rudely.

That was completely unnecessary
, me there, chatting with him.

Mirta
went back to Christian and I was alone with him. I avoided facing him and kept my eyes down all the time.

“
I’m trying to talk to you since we arrived here,” he said.

I remained
silent. He gazed at me all the time and I was bothered by his gaze.

“Are
you always so quiet?” he asked me as his hands went into his jeans’ pockets.

“
I speak when it’s necessary,” I answered, in a serious tone.

“
Me too, I’m shy too,” he shrugged. “Do you like luaus?”

“
They’re cool.” My answers were short and he realized I didn’t want to talk to him.

“
It seems that your girlfriend is having fun with my friend Christian!” he said, staring at them sitting around the bonfire. They were totally involved in a conversation full of intense glances.

“
Let’s go back to the party,” I said and walked away hastily.

“
Wait!” he suddenly said and grabbed my arm. “Let’s talk a little bit more.”

I looked up into his eyes and
remained still. An owl appeared, flying silently and landed on a tree trunk, just a few yards from us.

I glared it
and realized it was staring at me with watchful eyes, as if it was observing me. It seemed to be the same owl that showed up at my window.

“
I hate that creature!” Douglas shouted when he saw the dark bird. He picked up a piece of firewood and flung it against the owl.

“
Go away, omen!” he yelled at it.

I tried to stop him from doing that,
so he wouldn’t hurt the owl. Then I remembered Eros had told me several good things about the owls.

“
Don’t do it!” I shouted and ran to him.

The torch
hit the bird and it flew away, vanishing into the darkness. I felt awful about that and wished to walk away. I turned back and left them.

“Where are you going?”
Mirta cried out loud.

“
I’m leaving,” I said, walking away.

“
Are you going by yourself? She asked, desperately. “It’s dangerous!”

“
What happened to her? Does she feel like that because of an owl?” Christian asked, mocking me.

Mirta came
after me and stood in front of me, trying not to let me go away.

“
You can’t go back home alone, it’s dangerous.” She held my hand firmly.

“
That wasn’t funny… what Douglas did.” I was so angry.

“He
just wanted to frighten the bird. No one likes owls. They bring death messages,” she explained.

“
I like owls and that’s just a silly superstition!” I frowned, outraged.

“
Alright, Valkyrie, let’s go back to the party then!” she said and held my arm firmly.

“Okay,” I agreed with her.
“I’ll go back because you’re asking me.”

Then we walked back to them.