Valkyrie - the Vampire Princess (9 page)

CHAPTER 21

I took a seat at the table in the school cafeteria for lunch with
Mirta. Christian came in along with his three friends. They sat apart from us.

I noticed that
Mirta could barely eat in Christian’s presence and I also noticed he was staring at her all the time. I looked at Douglas. He was sitting next to Christian and I realized he was staring back at me. I lowered my head, turning my hair down to hide my face. I didn’t look at him anymore.

A few seconds later
I withdrew my eyes to my left and I saw Eros sitting at a table in a corner. As always, he was by himself.

I was dying to escape from where I was sitting and go to him.
I bit my lip, trying to control my wish. All the time he kept his head down. Everything around him did not attract his attention. That’s what I thought about him.

Eros
listened to every conversation that came from the students in the cafeteria  including the subject Christian was discussing with his friends.

“
Go there and talk to her!” Christian advised Douglas.

“
Before the other guy invites her to the rock and roll concert,” another boy said.

“
I think she might decline my invitation,” Douglas said.  He was embarrassed.

“Do you want me to talk to her?” Christian asked, trying to help him.

“No,
I’m going there to talk to her.” Douglas took his courage and stood up as he looked at his friends.

“
Go on, kiddo!” they said.

Mirta realized he was coming towards our table and then she said discreetly, “He is coming.”

I kept
my head down, just staring at my food as I was trying to avoid Douglas’ presence. Eros carefully listened to everything and he knew Douglas was walking to my table. He also knew what his intention was.

He thought he should do something to
stop Douglas before he could come to talk to me. He raised his head and looked up at the lunchroom ceiling. Then he saw a ceiling fan. It was just above Douglas.

Eros
stared attentively at that object and narrowed his eyes, exerting efforts to make something happen. At that moment the ceiling fan got loose, hitting Douglas’ head. The boy fell down, unconscious. Everyone became frightened because of that accident.

Several people came closer to him. Christian and his friends were the first to aid him. Mirta pulled my arm and we approached him. There were more people around him.

Eros
had the opposite reaction to the other students. He stood up and stepped out of the cafeteria without at least checking how the unconscious boy was.

***

Sitting on a bench in the schoolyards, I was trying to put my books in order. Mirta came closer to me. She was thrilled.

I l
ooked away from my books and paid attention to her. She was all in pink.

“You
won’t believe what happened!” she exclaimed and her voice was filled with cheer.

“
Considering your enthusiasm, it must be something related to Christian,” I deduced.

“He
invited me to go with him to the rock and roll concert,” she told me.

“
That’s all you always wanted,” I said, with a faint voice.

I was really happy for
her. However, I thought she deserved a cool guy, someone more humble.

“I’ve
waited for this for a long time!” she confessed.

“Congratulations!”
I said, laconically.

“
What about you?” she asked.

“Me?” I wrinkled my nose.

“Aren’t you going to the show?”

“
I don’t have company,” I said and she could sense the distress in my voice.

“That’s
because you don’t want to go,” she said.

“What are you talking about?
” I asked firmly as I looked at her face.

“
I heard Douglas wants to invite you to the rock concert,” she told me, grinning.

I returned to concentrate on my books
, as I was disappointed.

“
What do you think of that?” she insisted.

“
I could never imagine that - me going to the rock concert with him,” I confessed, gazing down at the floor.

“He
thought of you.”

“
Do you want me to accept his invitation? Is it ust because he is Christian’s friend?”

I shook my head.
“Of course not!”

She sat
closer to me. “He must like you.”

“
So am I compelled to go out with him?” I asked.

“
You don’t understand… he just wishes to invite you to go to the rock and roll show,” she answered, calmly.

“
I am so sorry… but I won’t go to that rock and roll concert with him.” My mind was made up.

“And with
whom will you go to the rock and roll show? Will you go with your weird friend?” Her voice was weird.

“
You’re saying this, not me,” I said and looked back at my books.

“Did he
invite you?” she insisted.

“No.”
My voice sounded vacillating.

“
So you invite him. If he declines your invitation, you go with another boy.”

“I won’t do that,” I said, harshly.

“
So you will stay at home,” she said and shrugged her shoulders.

CHAPTER 22

Mirta
succeeded in convincing me to talk with Eros. I had seen him standing in the school hallway.  He was looking at the notice board.

I had butterflies
as I approached him. I didn’t have the courage to stare at him. I squeezed my own hands, trying to tell him what I had arranged with Mirta minutes before.

“Have you heard about the
rock and roll concert in the town?” I carefully asked him, fixing my glance on the floor.

“
It’s the topic of the day.” His voice sounded sarcastic.

“I … want
to go…to the rock and roll concert, but I need someone to go with me.” My voice was faintish.

He grinned.

“Do you want to go with me?” His voice become soft and his eyes gleamed.

My
eyes widened. After all, I was surprised at myself for having the courage to invite him.

He
noticed my concern as I was waiting for his answer.

“Have
you thought of me just because you have no choice?” he asked, in a different tone of voice.

“
Well, actually… no.” I sighed, nervously. “It’s that… I… like your… company.”

“I don’t
think I’m a funny person.” His voice was earnest.

“
So… your answer is… ‘No’.” I concluded, hopeless.

I
turned my back immediately and he was still looking at me. He then pulled my arm, stopping my movements.

“I
didn’t say that.” He removed his hand from my arm and returned to the place he was before. “I don’t appreciate it much … having fun… close to many people.”

“You don’t have to worry.
You have the right to say no. ” I said and looked in other direction.

“
I know…” He was staring at me and analyzed my disappointed face.

“
I’m not upset… I’ll invite another boy.”

I said that and
slowly walked away. He made me feel angry. Intrinsically, I knew he would say ‘No’, but I had insisted because Mirta asked me. She had encouraged me to talk to him.

He was standing away from me, watching me
while I walked away. Then he turned his face to the wall and said something I didn’t expect.

“
I’ll go with… you!”

CHAPTER 23

A forest, with its floor covered up with dry leaves.

The
brown color prevailed at that empty and obscure scenario, in which the sound of an angry wind sung a chilling melody.

I found myself lost
and frightened. It seemed like I was the only person in that terrible place. I was trying to find my way back home and see my mother again.

I restrained
my steps when I realized the wind was blowing much more violently, unleashing all its fury on the trees, which didn’t stop shaking. I sat on my haunches and placed my face between my knees, avoiding looking around me.

That was
when, in the middle of that agitation, I heard different sounds, as if someone was close. I lifted my head a little and saw that man again, the same man who was always in my dreams, since I was a child.

He was wearing dark clothes
.

He stretched his hand so I could
walk in his direction. I stood up quietly, looking straight ahead. I stared at him again and his hands grabbed mine. I could feel his frozen fingers on my warm hands.

I looked up into his eyes,
trying to find an answer for his frosty hands. I was still looking at him and could see his chest. He had an amulet made of iron around his neck.

There was an
engraving on it. I stared at it and then I was taken aback.

It was a ‘symbol of Neptune’…

When I opened my eyes, I realized it all had been just a dream. I sat on my bed as I was intrigued about that dream and also about Eros’ tattoo. I associated one thing with the other.

“
It was in my dreams…I knew I had seen it before!” I said to myself aloud.

I lay down on my bed
again, staring up at my ceiling, with my hands touching my head. I was completely puzzled.

“
What does Eros have to do with this?”I asked myself, surprised, trying to find an answer. I couldn’t understand why.

That
strange man was in my dreams almost every night. The amulet made of iron, with the symbol of Neptune on it, was exactly the same as the tattoo on Eros’ arm.

Could
everything be a great coincidence…?