Attacks

Back in the tent, Stella was a little worried but that didn’t stop her from going over to Ana and have a little fun.

Stella’s POV

“So…you have a crush on my brother?” Ana’s checks went deep red.

“What makes you think that?” I shrugged.

“Don’t know. Maybe you staring at him, thinking we don’t see it?” Ana blushed harder.

“Has he noticed?” I shook my head.

“Lately, he has a lot of things to think about.” Ana nodded, a little bit disappointed. Nate was so deep in his research that he would definitely ignore Ana or any other girl. Plus, he has always been a flirt and I’m not sure if Ana would accept this.

“You should talk to him, get to know him. He’s very different than what you imagine. You might not like him as much after.” She nodded, the disappointed look still there. At least I was fair.

“Shane! Ow!” Everyone turned their heads to look at Tracy.

“What happened?” Sami asked, going closer.

“I wanted to go to Austin but because the tent is a little…small I tripped and fell on Shane. Look what you did!” I trailed my eyes over where Tracy was pointing. It was just a scratch but this didn’t stop the blood spilling out. I started having a sick feeling, but in a good way. My eyes were on the blood, a small amount but still, it was…weirdly enough, tempting me. I licked my lips, unconsciously.

Like in one horror movie, we heard a branch cringe. I got out of the trance and looked at the worried teenagers around me. I couldn’t figure why they stopped abruptly. Then, I felt it. A presence, and it was slowly approaching. The boys were tensed and the girls were clinging to one another or one of the boys.

I stood there, alone on my own side, the presence fading. I sighed, moment when I felt the presence again, very close. Everything happened in slow motion for me. Something took the tent, maybe the wind, and the teenager girls started yelling.

“Stop yelling. It was just…” Greg was taken by something above. The girls started yelling again, this time, running around too. I couldn’t believe how calm I was.

“Let’s stay together! Don’t run!” Sami started but no one listened. Eventually everything calmed down and we were sitting together near a tree, not far from where we set camp.

“Something took Greg. I can’t believe it.” Tracy was in Roy’s arms, Sami was in Shane’s and Ana was in Austin’s arms. Riley was shaking slightly but she was calmer than the others.

“Maybe it was a bear.” Riley rolled her eyes.

“It took him from above. Plus, in these woods there aren’t any bears.” Tracy started shaking harder. I closed my eyes. I didn’t know how to tell them that the presence was still there somewhere.

“I’m scared.” Sami finally chocked out. They all nodded slowly. I opened my eyes and sighed.

“Maybe if we stay in silence then, whatever that was will go away.” Unfortunately for them, Greg’s body dropped on the ground. Again, girls started yelling. Greg’s body was bloody and his eyes were still open. Riley, the one who was shaking the less, went to close Greg’s eyes, even if she was a little freaked out. When she finished, she turned to us and smiled sadly. Until, something took her too.

“What’s happening?!” Tracy yelled again. I got up and went closer to Greg’s body. “Stella! Are you crazy?! Haven’t you seen what happened to Riley?”

I nodded to a very worried and scared Tracy but I couldn’t stop the curiosity. I watched above to see just the sky, there were black clouds, indicating there will be a storm later. I looked in the right and in the left and everywhere. Nothing. There was nothing. Until I felt it again.

“Stella!” I turned to look at them, time when something came from behind. I turned to see everything happen in a second. Something pushed me hard, making me fly back into a few trees. But, I was still alive. And it didn’t even hurt as bad as it should. The thing that killed Greg and Riley flashed in front of me. I could see it was a boy and he had red eyes and fangs.

When he got closer he wanted to stab me or kill me in some way but he stopped.

“Stella?” I was shocked, he was shocked.

Halfway to the Truth

“What do you want?” Eric asked out loud, coldly. He already knew that person was a vampire. Also, the evil smirk on the vampire’s face was a pretty visible clue. He flashed in front of Eric.

“What do I want? Well…let’s see…” He put a thinking face. “I want a new car –maybe a Mercedes CL class, freedom, blood, oh…and your little friend…” He licked his lips.

Eric punched the vampire so hard, he flew into two trees. He didn’t waste any time, he wanted to kill that bastard. The vampire just smirked.

“Leave her alone,” he said through greeted teeth.

“She’s beautiful. Even more than before, in the 1890’s. Stella Blanche, a vampire girl you could actually die for. From a pretty princess she transformed herself into a true devil.” His smirk grew. “I guess we should thank you for this.” Eric’s grip loosened, his head lowering. “It must be hard to be in your place right now. To be so close to the one you loved for centuries, yet so far. But, if I know the story correctly, you left Stella for her older sister, Rebeca.”

Eric turned around, his eyes closed tightly.
“I loved Stella.”

The vampire rolled his eyes.

“Sure, sure. And when an older, fiery vampire used her charm on you…” He flashed close to Eric’s ear. “You forgot her.”

Eric was very tense in that moment. His fist was stark white. “I never stopped loving her.”

The vampire raised his eyebrow.

“Really, Eric? Really? You blamed Stella when Rebeca died. I guess it was her fault. She made Nathan kill her. She couldn’t stand the idea of her adopted sister’s filthy blood on her hands. Nathan did it, of course. He loved Stella more than anything. He was and still is her brother.” He started walking in circles around a mad Eric. “She changed, she’s wiser now, but the love she had for you is still somewhere deep down…if it is anymore. Stella Blanche…I would bang her anytime.”

Eric’s eyes opened and glared daggers at the vampire.

He heard another chuckle from the vampire. “She’s not stupid, she’s feisty…” He licked his lips again. “I like it when they’re opposing. When they try to escape. When they struggle and scream, pleading to stay alive.”

He flashed behind Eric again. “Don’t you, Eric? Don’t you want to hear her screaming for help, to see her tasty blood running down her smooth legs…to bang her senseless…to tame the…leviathan.”

It was enough for Eric. His eyes changed from blue to fiery red and punched the vampire again and again. He found a small branch and thrust it through the vampire’s heart, killing him in an instant. He turned around and walked where he knew Stella was. While walking, he couldn’t stop thinking about what that filthy creature said. How right his words were, annoyingly.

He left Stella, he made her blow up from so much fury and hurt. It was his fault that Chris died and, most importantly, it was his fault that Stella suffered so much, and suffers even now, after more than 100 years.

In the tent Stella couldn’t believe how much Tracy could talk. She was sitting on her butt, a bored Nate leaning on her shoulder.

Stella’s POV

“Will she stop soon?” Nate mumbled loud enough just for me to hear. I chuckled. I couldn’t believe how many were there with us. The tent was a medium-sized, nine people occupying it. Beside me was Sami with her new crush, Shane, on Nate’s other side were Roy and Greg, opposite me and my brother were Tracy, Ana, who was pretty much gazing at Nate, Riley, a girl I just met, and Tracy’s best friend, Austin. It was weird, they all seemed so silent at school and too cool for anyone, yet they were friendly and nice.

“So, I told Jamie that we couldn’t be together anymore and he blamed Eric, but it wasn’t his fault.” I raised my head immediately.

“Eric? The Eric from school? The silent and…” She nodded.

“Yes, yes. Maybe it sounds impossible but Eric was a very out-going guy.” Riley nodded.

“True. He was a flirt. I think he had a few girlfriends just in that time.” Nate raised his eyebrow.

“What’s a ‘few’ for you?”

They all shrugged.

“10 or 12…more or less.” I was surprised, no, beyond that. Nate seemed to be too. We glanced at each other. After that moment people started talking, not letting Tracy interrupt much. She had too big of a mouth.

I stopped when I felt Nate tense up. I gave him a worried glance and he just gave me a reassuring smile. He got up and went outside.

Normal Narration

Nate was indeed a little tense, mostly after the number of weird flashbacks and all the events. He felt a presence, he felt Eric walking towards the tent. He had some questions and he wanted answers from the one who caused that mess.

“Eric…” He mumbled, narrowing his eyes at him. Eric knew that look very well and stopped. He sighed and leaned on a tree. Nate walked closer, until he was just a foot away. “You know what I want from you.”

“I…don’t remember everything. Let’s start with what you found out.” Nate was a little skeptical but he started talking.

“I went to the library, the woman there told me that you went there every day and stared at one picture of a girl. Stella Blanche. Who is she?”

“A young woman from 1890. She disappeared a long time ago and the citizens thought she’s died, as well as her brother, who went with her. But they didn’t, everyone was wrong because they didn’t know the truth.”

Nate glared at Eric.

“And what’s the truth?”

Eric smirked. “Vampires. Real vampires that can’t survive during the day and hunt for blood as night falls.”

While for Nate things couldn’t get any weirder, Eric’s eyes went red. He walked closer to Nate. “You want to know a secret, Nate? I am a vampire too.” He flashed behind Nate.

“It’s plain daylight and you are here. You said that vampires couldn’t survive the light of the sun.” Eric’s eyes went back to normal.

“Correct. But, vampires these days found a trick.” Nate was shocked when Eric took out a necklace from his pocket, with a weird stone on it. “This is a lapis lazuli stone. It was used in ancient Egypt to create seals. As long as we carry it after us, we can survive the light. But not many vampires have it. It’s a rare stone. Most of them have amethysts. Those were used by the ancient Greek people to prevent intoxication.

Also, European soldiers wore amethyst amulets as a protection in battles, believing that the stone could heal people and keep them cool-headed. It’s not as strong as Lapis Lazuli but it works. Amethysts have this power of keeping the vampires calm when they see blood. I also have one.” Nate was very intrigued by every little word Eric said. Also, the handsome vampire was a little skeptical as to telling Nathan the truth about him.

“Who is Eric Arche?”

“That’s me. I found the truth a year ago. I was so furious that I killed my father. That’s when I realized what I was and what I could do.”

“This also means you’re the Eric who broke Stella.”

Eric nodded slowly. “What’s the story behind that?”

Eric shrugged.

“I don’t know everything. I remember how I met you…Stella and Nathan, that I was a vampire even then and my family wanted me to marry Stella, but she was in love with someone else. I didn’t love her either but after our parents forced us to spend a lot of time together I started falling for her. I knew she was too…until her sister came back. She started flirting with me and toyed with my head. I was getting closer to Rebeca and far from Stella. I still remember the day I went over to the Blanche mansion. Stella thought I came to apologize…that’s when it happened…”

Eric was on his way to Blanche mansion, his mind going all the time to Rebeca. That vampire was incredible, charming and smart. She got Eric where she wanted just in a few days. He rang just once and Miss Blanche was at the door. She was smiling widely. She had always liked Eric.

“Eric, I’m so glad you’re here.” She invited him in, and started asking about his parents. He smiled and responded to every question, until Nate entered the room. When he saw the guest he glared, his eyes changing from green to red and back to green.

“What are you doing here?” His voice was so powerful and mad that anyone could get scared. Eric wasn’t an exception but he didn’t show it. Nathan ignored the curious glances his mother gave him and walked to Eric. “You’re going to destroy her. Piece by piece she’s falling and you did this. Don’t make things worse and leave.” Eric felt in like the most ashamed man in the world. Still, he couldn’t deny the attraction he felt for Stella’s sister.

And there was Stella, still. She was a nice, lovely and innocent girl, but she was a vampire and she was nothing like one. She couldn’t even go and hunt! Rebeca was the opposite of Stella and he liked this.

“Eric!” The vampire turned to get in a tight hug from Rebeca. He smiled and returned the hug. Unfortunately, Stella came down too and saw the scene between the two. Her heart ached.

“Eric…” She mumbled. Nate glared at both vampires and went to his sister. Miss Blanche was already gone, searching for her husband. Eric’s eyes traveled to Stella’s sore ones. She looked beautiful outside even if she was horrible inside. Rebeca, like always, didn’t care about the younger vampire, but Eric’s heart ached too and for a moment he felt that love again. It disappeared when Rebeca tangled her fingers in Eric’s.

“I’m sorry.” These words Eric just couldn’t stop saying out-loud. These were also the words that made Stella completely broken.

“Sorry?! You’re sorry! That’s all you can say? Every single time? I’m sick of this, Eric!”

That was also when Eric broke too.
“It’s all about you, isn’t it? You’re the youngest member, the princess, and you always get what you want! Things aren’t always going to be easy like that, Stella. Grow up! You’re such a baby! Wake up! You are a vampire! Do you know what that means? Do you know what a vampire is?! A parasite, a hunter, a bloodsucker! You can’t even look at blood! I don’t know how you live! I bet you didn’t even know you drink blood!”

Stella’s head bent down. Eric was right. She was just a pussy, worse than a human.

“That’s when things changed, drastically. Stella wasn’t the Blanche princess anymore. She changed her way of living. She was different. That’s all I know.”

Nate was surprised.
“So it is your fault.”

Eric’s head bent down, the hair covering his eyes.

Leviathan

It was weird. I was alone in a black space. I already knew I was dreaming, but it still freaked me out a bit.

Monster

I turned to see no one. I could have sworn I heard a voice.

Monster!

I glanced behind to see blood drooping, forming a huge puddle on the floor.

I hate you!

I knew these words. I gasped when the scenery changed.

Stella was in a mansion, her eyes bloody red. Nate was next to her, his eyes the same color.

“Stella…don’t go…” The boy, Eric pleaded with the girl. He had small minute cuts on his face and a large wound on the chest. He was also stumbling on his feet. Stella smirked.

“Eric, Eric, Eric…such a noble soul you’ve been. You said you loved me…how foolish I was to believe you. You left me for her. Well, now she’s dead and you’re alive. Let’s see how this will work out. Be grateful that I won’t kill you.” Stella glared and walked away. However, Nate went over to Eric and took him by his shirt.

“When you met Rebeca you left Stella without thinking. Do you know who killed her for good, Eric? It was me. I killed her for Stella’s happiness. Rebeca wasn’t a Blanche, she was adopted.” Eric’s eyes widened. “I hated her because she hated Stella. My only sister is Stella and you just broke her heart. You deserve to die by her hands.” He smirked. “Like your brother and our parents.” Nate dropped Eric and flashed away.

Outside the mansion was sitting Stella, her eyes back to their original green. When Nate walked next to her he saw tears dropping on her face. His eyes softened.

“I wish I could go back in time and change everything I’ve done.” Nate sighed and took Stella in a one hand hug.

“You haven’t done anything wrong, Stel.” She gave a forced laugh.

“Half of my life I lived like a princess, until I blew up. I was drowning in my own feelings and now look what I’ve caused. I killed our parents, I killed Chris and I made you kill Rebeca. And it’s not just Eric’s fault. I’ve always had everything but the reality was I had nothing. I never knew what real friendship or real love was. I just had you.”

Nate’s arm tightened around her shoulder.

“Stop with this bullshit. I killed Rebeca because she destroyed our lives.” Stella sighed.

“Just mine. She messed with my head. She faked her death because she didn’t want to marry the Arche and when she had seen Eric she decided to fuck with my life and get back what she was supposed to have. Eric liked her and…forgot about me. I should’ve killed her myself.”

Nate shook his head.

“Stella, when will you understand that you are my life?” He took his pendant off. “See this? The endless knot. We’ll be siblings forever, we’re bound to an eternal brotherhood.” Stella’s head bent down.

“I’m destined to an eternal fight. I will always be a leviathan, no matter what will happen in the future. I will always endure pain and blow up at one point.”
Nate sighed but didn’t say anything.

I opened my eyes at the sound of my phone ringing. I sighed and responded.

“I hope you’re ready for a big announcement!” I flinched, hearing the bright and happy voice of Tracy.

“What?” My voice was groggy.

“Don’t tell me you were sleeping.”

I opened my mouth to say something but she started talking again. “However, move your ass here. Today is that camp thing! Eric will be there…I think.” I rolled my eyes. After my dream I didn’t think I wanted to see him.

“Don’t we have school?” Tracy sighed.

“It’s Saturday, silly! Now put something cute on and, please, use make up. There will be half of the town.”

I rolled my eyes again but managed a small smile.
“Fine. Anything else?”

She coughed.

“Take Nate too. Ana has a small crush on him.” I gasped and laughed.

“You’re joking, right?” She started to chuckle.

“No. Now I’ll let you get ready. Be at the Screen in an hour?” I agreed. The Screen was actually a big publicity screen in the center of the town. I closed the phone and put it on my nightstand, but didn’t get out of bed. I drew my knees close to my chest and rested my arms on them.

“Leviathan…” I mumbled.

When I arrived at the Screen I was with Nate, who wasn’t in a great mood after the latest events. I caught him glancing at me again.

“Relax, Nate. It’s just a day in the woods with our friends. Nothing bad can happen.” He rolled his eyes. I bet he wanted to say something about this whole thing but a squeal interrupted us.

It was Tracy.

“I’m so excited! This will be a lot of fun!” I smiled, nudging Nate to do the same. He gave a tiny one, but it was good enough for now. We climbed in our cars and drove to the forest. The camp would take place there. When we arrived, I looked with a shocked expression out of the window.

“Wow. She didn’t joke when she said half of the town would be here.”

Nate was still in his thoughts. I rolled my eyes and got out of the car. In one moment Tracy, Ana and Sam were right next to me. Tracy was beyond excited, Ana was in her own little world, maybe thinking about Nate, and Sam was bored. We walked in silence towards the others. The mayor was there too, announcing the start of the camp.

“Why are they making such a fuss? It’s just for a day.” I said out-loud, not really addressing someone in particular.

“A day and a night.”

I turned to see Eric. I raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, so now we’re talking again?” He shook his head, a small smirk visible even if it was almost unnoticeable. He glanced back for a second and left. I wanted to see what he was looking at. It was Nate. He had a serious face, his eyes cold. I shivered seeing those green orbs so icy.

When the mayor finally ended his speech I went in an adventure, trying to find my friends. Fortunately, they found me faster.

“Come on! We have to go to our place.” I looked at Sam.

“Our place?” She shrugged.

“Of course. We reserved it…well, I did.” We walked in nothing but silence. Tracy was talking nonstop, no joking.

“Are we there yet?” I asked, my ears bleeding. Tracy nodded, unfazed by my tone. We stopped in a deserted place. There were just trees and weed and other things forests have.

“Isn’t it a little too far?” Ana asked, her voice shaking a little. It seemed she didn’t like nature. I didn’t either but something there was different. Familiar, even. I looked at Nate who had the same expression as me.

“No. Don’t be afraid. Nothing happens in this town. It’s so boring.” I glanced at her.

“What about those crimes?” She scoffed.

“I bet they’re just false information thrown in by the media. Mayor Wood is obsessed with fame. He wants his little city to become the next New York, who knows.” She was talking like everything was as normal as it could be. That girl was very optimistic, always thinking positive.

“Bullshit,” I heard Nate mumble under his breath. I chuckled.

While the teenagers were installing their tent, deeper into the forest, Eric lay on a branch, his eyes closed. He opened them when he felt someone walking over.

The Endless Knot

After school I went directly home, tired and, for some weird reason, paranoid. I felt someone watching my every move but every time I looked behind, there wasn’t anything.

“I’m home!”

No one responded, sign that dad wasn’t home yet. I walked upstairs and directly to my room. I jumped on my bed and sighed. This day freaked me out. I put my hand under the pillow and felt something like metal. I took it out to see a pendant in the form of a knot. I watched it closely, inspected it and found something. Two initials.

“S…and N…”I jumped and put it behind my back when I heard the front door open. I heard someone’s steps on the stairs, ascending, and soon enough, Nate’s face appeared at my doorway. “Where have you been? You sure weren’t at school.”

He didn’t say a word, just stared.

“Just, around.” I beckoned him to come and sit next to me on the bed. He complied, even if it was terribly slow.

“Remember what happened in the morning?” I nodded.

“Have you found anything?”

Nate stared at Stella’s face, not sure if he should tell her or not. In the end he chose the latter of options. It wasn’t the time yet. She would get scared.

“No. Just old documents about the town.”

I nodded, a little unconvinced.

“Have you talked with Eric?” I shook my head.

“He said I should go back to my friends.” Nate raised an eyebrow and started spacing out. I stood there, the newly found pendant in my hand.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” I looked up at Nate. He was staring at something outside my balcony. “We just moved here and things happen.”

“Like what? This thing with Eric? That’s nothing.”

Nate shook his head. “Stella, we’ve been here for about three days and people went missing. It may sound like a horror movie but their bodies haven’t been found.” I chuckled.

“And we’re vampires, right? I’m Bella and you’re Edward, right? Or I’m Elena and you’re Stefan…and Eric is Damon or what?” While I was making fun of the situation Nate glared at me.

“I’m serious! This is not one of your stupid fictional books!” I flinched. I’ve never seen Nate so stressed in my life. He took a big breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes. When he opened them, there was something else. His green eyes were fiery and not in a good sense.

“Nate…?” I couldn’t put my hand on his back because I felt my hand burning. I opened it to see the pendant burning my skin. It was red, like fire. I dropped it on the bed and it slowly turned back to its original color. Nate’s eyes were now on the pendant as well. He tried to hold it but it was still hot.

When he finally got a hold of it he glanced at me.

“This is the Endless knot. An ancient symbol representing the interweaving of the Spiritual path, the flowing of Time and Movement within. Which is Eternal. An eternal binding. What’s this?” He took it closer to his eyes and inspected it. “S…and N.” His eyes opened wide. “S…” His eyes traveled to me. “Stella.” I looked at him curiously. “And N…from Nathan. Everything makes sense…Stella and Nathan, bound to an eternal brotherhood…” I raised an eyebrow. “Where did you get it from?”

I shrugged. “I found it under my pillow when I arrived home.” He nodded. For him, everything made sense. It would be sweet if he would tell me what he was thinking too. While being in my own thoughts I didn’t realize Nate was getting up and walking to the door.

“Oh. I’m sorry for blowing up like that.”

I smiled and winked. He shook his head while smirking and left, the pendant going with him. This day can’t get weirder.

It was late at night when I felt watched again. I looked in every direction but I couldn’t see anything. There was nothing wrong with my room but still, something was different. I got up from the chair, I was doing homework, and walked to the balcony. When I opened the doors I felt paranoid again, the feeling of someone watching me intensified.

I heard a noise and turned to see the ouroboros pendant glow a fiery red again. Hearing something drop, I turned back to see water, no, blood. I screamed. Nate was by my side in the next second.

“Stella! Are you alright?!”

I was on my knees shaking. I didn’t know blood made me so weak, it clearly didn’t before. I was staring at the place I previously saw the blood, but there wasn’t any. Nate’s arms were tightly around my still shaking shoulders. “Stella?” I shook my head and kept it down.

“What’s happening, Nate?” I raised my head and looked in the distance. “I feel…different. Since we moved here I feel watched. I’ve always been able to feel presences before seeing them but now…it drives me crazy.” Nate sighed and hugged me close.

“I know. I’m sorry. Everything will be alright. I promise you.” I nodded and let myself lay on Nate’s chest, feeling safe.

What is love?

Love, that’s actually a subject I’ve always been keen to talk about. While time passes, the ideas change and so does the point of view of many, over this emotion but also, life itself. However, back to the original subject, what is love? Of course I’m not referring to familial love or the one between friends. Those are branches of this extraordinary feeling. We can say they are also levels and the highest one is the most beautiful: the love between two people who are ready to make commitments for each other. For me, personally, ‘I love you’ means way too much for my age.

Each one of us has had at least once in their teenage years something called ‘a crush’. What’s that? It’s someone you like a lot, you think about him/her, you miss him/her that person is always in the back of your mind even when you want to do something else. Of course that’s not love. It’s simply a infatuation with a person of different or the same gender. I’m not a person who discriminates so I do believe everyone has the right to like whoever they want. But, love doesn’t appear at just 16 or 17 years old, let’s be serious now. It annoys me how I hear on the street teenagers using this word. Since you as a girl or boy call someone ‘hot’ and ‘sexy’, those aren’t words you use for someone you care that deeply for. When you come to the ultimate level of intimacy, and I’m not talking about sex, well then you use words like ‘beautiful’, but then again that depends on the culture too. In my country, and I think everywhere except the Asian part, use ‘hot’ much often than other adjectives. Of course that’s just my opinion s and world is large and there are unique types of thinking. I’m not judging but we can say I’m kind of…complaining, whining like a brat, though I’m not. Anyway I just want people to understand that in a die or live situation, someone who loves you would either save you, though that’s what anyone would do no matter the feeling, or even die with you just so you would never be separated. On the opposite side, if the feeling is not that deep, if you’re on the top of the building and want to jump, the other person might as well nudge you, the hurt would still run as deep as the one sided love.

I know there are a lot of broken people, girls and boys, and I know the world doesn’t seem as right and everything turns blue but the world doesn’t end just by that. Think like that, a failed relationship means a new beginning, a new story and even more important, a new lesson. That’s how you find your true love, through mistakes in relationship. You might as well pass it if you don’t understand it and truthfully, I’m not in the place to say I do because I’m quite complicated when it comes to relationships but I know how it feels and I know I’m not the only one.

Jackass

Nate woke up because of someone shaking him. He opened his eyes to see the librarian watching him with worry.

“Are you ok? You spaced out completely! I called you a few times!” He shook her hands off and got up. It was weird because the last memory wasn’t even his. He was connected toStella, they are siblings, but it seems this connection is stronger than he imagined. He looked for the last time at the picture of him and Stella and turned the page, back to the Arche family.

“Eric Arche…He looks familiar…” the librarian nodded.

“He looks exactly like one of our citizens. His name is Eric Vernon. He’s a great kid. He comes here often.” Nate raised his head and looked intrigued at the woman.

“Why? What does he do?” The librarian put a finger to her lips and thought.

“Actually, it’s really weird. He’s looking for hours at this family document. He’s staring at the same face.” Nate raised an eyebrow.

“Whose?” The woman opened the document back to the page Nate just spaced out.

“Stella Blanche.” She said pointing to the picture. Nate closed the book hard, scaring the librarian and got up. Now things were deeply covered by mist.

At school, Stella got over the boring lessons without doing much. The day was going really slow.

“Hey! Wakey, wakey! It’s lunch.” Stella rolled her eyes at Tracy. She was way too happy and optimistic and hyper for someone sane.

“What happened to you? Was the party last night too much?” Stella narrowed her eyes at Sami, while the girl simply laughed. “Though, I’ve seen Nate. That guy can drink, no joke.” I nodded staring at my sandwich.

“Oh, oh. Have you heard the news? There’s going to be a one day camp tomorrow. It sounds like fun, so?” I looked at Sami who looked at Ana who looked back at me.

“I don’t know…” Ana trailed. Sami’s eyes weren’t on us anymore, they were trailing behind us. I looked over to see Eric. I turned my head fast and closed my eyes. Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you going to invite him over?” I looked at her like she has grown another head.

“Yeah. Do it. I want to see something.” I rolled my eyes and walked over the table Eric was. When I arrived he didn’t look up. He already knew I was there, though.

“Hy…” I mumbled. He didn’t look up this time either. “Eric?” Nothing. I turned my head to my friends and shrugged.

“You should go to your friends, Stella.” I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. He moved his head to one side and started watching outside. I started walking back to the three girls until I heard, even if it was a good distance away, him mumbling. “Silly girl.”

“Well?” I shrugged.

“He didn’t even look at me.” Tracy’s smiled faded.

“But you talked a lot yesterday.”

“Well…things change.” Tracy and Ana looked at each other worried while Sami’s eyes went back to Eric.