Leylia

Leylia set down her brush and surveyed her image in the mirror.  Her hazel green eyes sparkled with excitement; today was the pep rally at school.  Not that she really was into the whole overboard show of school spirit; but it got her out of classes for the afternoon.  It had taken her longer today to tame her shoulder length, curly hair.  It wasn’t overly curly but at times it could be annoying to get just so. 

    “Leylia, you’re going to be late,” her mother called up the stairs to her.

    “I’m coming,” she called back down as she grabbed her school bag and her Ipod.

     “You know I have to get to work as soon as I drop you off, I really can’t afford to be late.”

     “I’m ready,” Leylia said as she sped down the stairs.

     “And what about breakfast?” her mom asked with a concern about her eating habits as of late.

     “Jenna is bringing donuts this morning for the gang,” she said as she grabbed an apple from the bowl.

     “You really need to cut down on the junk food.”

     “Really mom, I have yet to be able to gain any weight or grow any taller for over a year.  I doubt it will have any effect on me.”

      Her mother dropped the subject as they got into the car.  Leylia had followed all the suggestions from the doctor; but nothing helped.  She had finally come to terms that this was it; she wasn’t going to grow taller and she didn’t expect much change on the weight issue either.  She put her ear plugs in and turned on her Ipod and started to flip through her list of songs till she found one that matched her mood.

    Their good-byes were brief as she watched her mother pull away from the curb.  She turned to see her friends approaching and gave them a smile; but something made her look around.  It was that goose flesh feeling that crossed over her.  Thinking she saw something move in the nearby trees she moved in that direction trying to see what was there.  But as she looked there was nothing.

     “Leylia, what wrong with you?” Julie asked as she finally caught up to her.

     “Just thought I’d seen something, just my imagination,” she said as a frown crossed over her face.

     “Like that would be a surprise,” Cody said as he gave her a little shove on her shoulder.

      “Thanks for the support Cody,” she replied with sarcasm.  Julie and Cody were her best friends at school, but at times they sure didn’t act like it. 

      “Got something for you,” Julie said as she pulled out a small tissue wrapped item.

      “What’s it for?”

      “Well after you bailed me out with the parents last month I told you that I owed you one.  I saw this and knew it was perfect for you.”

       “Thanks,” she said as she gently un-wrapped the tissue paper.  Her eyes grew wide as she gazed upon the zebra print Ipod cover.  Anyone who knew her even a little bit knew that zebra print was her absolute favorite color scheme. 

       “Oh, wow.  Julie I love it,” she said her enthusiasm bubble up.

       “Well you saved my butt so it was the least I could do.”

       “Okay girls, it’s time for us to go and pretend to learn something,” Cody said as he opened the door for them.

     Leylia took one last look at the woods and this time she swore she saw a momentary glimpse of red before it was a blur and gone.  In first period she only partially listened to the discussion about some book she was supposed to have read last week.  Instead she was focusing on putting the new protective sleeve on her Ipod.  It made it perfect.  She couldn’t help but turn it over and over looking at it from all angles. 

    By third period she was getting anxious for the rally so she could stop listening to the constant chatter of the teachers as they lectured on their specific topic of the week.  Wishing she could get away with just drowning it all out with her music but that wasn’t possible.  She was a straight ‘A’ student but that didn’t come without a certain amount of work.  Thankfully lunch was coming up and then only one more class before the rally and then done for the day.

    Julie and Cody were already seated as she entered the cafeteria.  She stood in line waiting her turn as she scanned the room; she glimpsed a blur of red outside the window and it really bugged her.  She quickly ducked out of line and out the back door just in time to see the red blur enter the tree line again. She followed as quickly as she could but the blur was nowhere to be found. 

    Leaning against the tree she stared off at the slow climb of the hill in front of her.  There were areas where it was very steep; no one could climb up it that fast.  She looked back at the school and was overwhelmed with the desire to climb the hill.  And that was exactly what she did; it wasn’t easy and she slid a lot as she slowly made the climb.  There was no sign of the red blur as she continued to climb up until there was no way anyone from the school could possibly see her.

    It was actually liberating for a change, she had never in her life done anything like this before.  She had never ditched a single moment of any class before this moment.  Her mother would be furious when the school called to announce her missing class.  But for once she was grateful for following her own instincts and escaping the boredom.  There was just something so liberating that she couldn’t even begin to rationalize.

    She began the ascent up the hill and even though her clumsiness caused her to trip over rocks and branches she didn’t care.  Suddenly everything was about getting to the top of that hill; it didn’t matter that her mother would probably ground her for weeks, or that her grade in history might reflect this selfish desire.  She would reach the top of this hill at all costs.  All the little scratches and bruises that she was getting would only serve as her proof that she had this adventure.

    The climb began to get harder as the side of the hill became steeper.  But that only added to the eventual victory of reaching the top.  Which was getting harder.  The area she was at was very steep, but thankfully there were holes in the side that allowed her a foothold.  Grabbing hold of a root that was sticking out of the side she used it for leverage to help her move upwards.   She became very grateful of her grip on this root when her foot became stuck in one of the holes.  Holding on for dear life she attempted to wiggle her foot loose.

   William was watching with peaked interest at the girl as she clung to the side of the cliff.  He had no idea as to what was going on with her but it didn’t seem good.  He had watched as she had stumbled her way up the hillside this far and continued to hope she would give up.  He had never in his life seen anyone so accident prone.  Watching her continue to struggle he knew he should leave, he really shouldn’t be here. 

   He had only been passing through this little town, but he had seen her that one day as she tripped going up the steps of the school and had become fascinated.  So for the past few days he had watched her from the tree line; and then today she had looked straight at him before he had time to move out of sight.  It was that look he couldn’t get out of his mind; he had stuck to the shadows and just taken a momentary glance through the cafeteria windows.  Somehow she had seen him again; he was sure that is what had spurred this sudden race up the hillside.

    She had shifted her weight just as the root cracked and she fell backwards, her foot still wedged into the hillside she hit her head on the rocks and just dangled by her twisted foot.  William was by her side in a flash and lifted her into his arms and pulled her foot out of the hole.  Quickly looking around he knew that the closest flat surface was just a bit further up; holding tightly onto the girl he dashed to that area and laid her down on the ground.  As he gently released her she opened her eyes and looked at him with eyes that were such an unusual color of green.

    Leylia looked up at the guy before her, she couldn’t believe how truly handsome he was.  His pitch black hair, dark eyes, perfectly shaped lips.  For a moment she really believed that she was dreaming; that was until the pain in her ankle started to throb and her head ached something fierce.

   “Where did you come from?” she asked almost too hurriedly as if he would disappear in a flash again.  She had noticed after all that he was wearing a red hoodie.

    “That’s a fine way to treat someone who just saved you,” he said.

    “Sorry, thanks for that but seriously where did you come from? How did you find me here?” she asked again as she reached up and put her hand on the back of her head to try and stop the throbbing.

   “Are you okay?” he asked with such a soothingly perfect voice.

   “Yeah, but my head and ankle hurts,” she said as she pulled her hand back to reveal the blood from the wound on the back of her head.  The guy quickly stepped farther away from her.

    “Your bleeding,” he stated in such a tone she looked at him with piercing eyes.

     “Please don’t tell me you get queasy at the sight of blood.”

     “Queasy, no,” he said as he continued to look at her hand.  Subconsciously she wiped the blood onto the side of her jeans.

      “Great, do you know what happened to my backpack?”

      “I’ll get it for you,” he said as he quickly disappeared.

    She sat up and waited for the dizzy spinning motion inside her head to stop.  Before it had completely stopped he dropped her bag next to her and stepped away.  She just shook her head at him for a second and then had to stop since it made things worse.  She pulled out her bandana and tied it around her head putting pressure on the wound; she couldn’t help but smile as another random thought crossed through her mind.

      “What is it?” he asked.

      “Nothing, I was just thinking about a joke.”

      “What joke?”

      “What is black and white and red all over? My bandana soaked in blood,” she giggled at the thought of her zebra striped bandana being destroyed.

     “If you are ready then I’ll get you back down the hill.”

     “No, I have to make it to the top first,” she said with such intenseness that it shocked even her.

     “You are in no condition to be climbing up any hills,” he assured her.

     “Regardless, I set my goal and nothing short of death is going to stop me,” she said as she stood up.  As her head began to swim again she reached out for anything to grab hold of; nothing was there, and then suddenly he was holding her.

     “I can’t do this it’s not safe for you,” he said with such a tone that she had to look into his eyes.  He was very tall. 

     “What is your problem anyway, you freak out at blood, what is wrong with you?” she asked in a mildly annoyed tone.

     “Are you serious?”

     “Serious about what? Not knowing what your problem is, well I have no clue.”

     “You really are naive,” he said after he helped her to a nearby rock to sit on.

     “Then enlighten me.”

     “For God’s sake girl, I’m a vampire,” he said with such hateful tones. 

    She didn’t say anything, she just stared at him waiting for the real reasons, waiting for him to tell her that he was kidding.  He didn’t say anything just looked at her.  The response she had expected didn’t come; she looked at his pale face and then she saw them.  Just barely visible beneath his upper lip; his fangs that were there. She knew that she should be scared, but she found herself more intrigued than anything.  The air between them seemed to weigh heavy as neither of them moved.  Leylia stared down at her foot and tested its strength; it honestly hurt like hell if she tried to put any pressure at all on it. 

     She looked up the hill; so very close.  Leylia had to admit to herself that if she was going to make it to the top she would have to literally crawl or he would have to help her.  She looked back at him as he ran his fingers through his hair.  He was debating about what he should do.  Everything about this girl infuriated him; as a rule he had never interfered with a human unless it was to feed.  Just being here now was against everything that he knew.

    She continued to look at him with those green eyes of hers and it bugged him.  He should just leave her to fend for herself since she was refusing his assistance to take her back down the hill; but he couldn’t pull himself to leave.  But to help her up the rest of the hill and then back down again was appealing and yet it was a risk.  He could tell that the cut on the back of her head had stopped bleeding but that didn’t stop the scent from being all too noticeable and tempting.

    He should just pick her up and force her down the hill; it wasn’t as if she could win in a struggle against him.  But he wasn’t so sure that once he deposited her there she wouldn’t just turn and try to return back up the hill.  Getting her to the top was the only way that he would be able to see her safely down again.  He just didn’t know if he could guarantee her safety from him. 

    “You know that I could force you down this hill and you would have no way of stopping it?”

     “Then why haven’t you?” she asked in return.  He looked at her with a simple smile.

     “Because I have the oddest thought that you might get injured more trying to climb this hill again.”

   “Well at least you aren’t as naïve as I obviously am,” she said as she smiled in return.

   “This is a bad situation any way you look at it. It is a very big possibility that I will end up biting you,” he said trying to imply the seriousness of the statement in the tone of his voice.

   “Well you could just leave me be, then there is just as much of a possibility that I will be injured more and die before anyone finds me.”

   “True, but at least I wouldn’t be the cause of that one.”

   “But you are willing to get me down the hill, what’s the difference if it takes just a bit longer?”

   “Oh, so you would be willing for me to carry you to the top of the hill and then back down again?”

    “No, I want to climb it myself, well obviously with a little help,” she said defiantly.

    “That is the difference.  I could get you down this hill in a matter of minutes, but to help you up the hill…,” he hoped that she understood what he was trying poorly to get through her pretty little head.

     “If it is that hard or impossible for you then leave me alone and let me do this on my own.  If you want you can come back in a few hours and help me down then.”

      Stubbornly she stood up trying desperately not to show the pain on her face.  There was something so entrancing about this guy and she did not want to show weakness in front of him.  For her that would be more horrifying than anything else she could imagine.  Slowly she reached the  last uphill stretch, she surveyed the area looking for the best possible route she could take.  She closed her eyes and held her breath as she felt his arm slip around her waist; she waited to see if he would force her down the hill.  When he didn’t try to fight her she slowly released her breath and looked up at him.

     “All I can do is warn you, after that it’s your life, or death to contend with,” he said as he started to guide her towards the route he hoped would be the fastest.

     “Thank you,” was all that she could get to escape.  Something about his touch and his willingness to do this for her was causing her to get choked up.

      They didn’t talk the rest of the way up the hill, it took about fifteen minutes to reach the top.  Leylia knew that it would have taken her an hour at least if she had done it unassisted.  Once they were at the top he set her down on a huge rock and stepped away from her.  She took a moment to look around her; this was far from the highest hill in the area but she felt a sense of accomplishment in having completed her goal. There was no way to know for sure what had driven her to climb this hill in the first place; but it didn’t matter she was here. 

     After a few minutes of looking around she focused her attention back to her unwilling companion.  She had heard rumor about vampires, she had even listened to the occasional warning put out, but never would she have believed they existed.  Not until now that is.  Leylia couldn’t help but stare at him; he was perfect. The thoughts of all the information that she had not listened to, information that could be useful now.  The one curious thing that she couldn’t help but wonder is that the movies and TV shows constantly portrayed two different types of vampires; which one was true?

     “Ok, are you ready to get back down the hill now?” he said, still staying at a distance.

     “Could we stay just a few minutes longer? I am already not going to make it back before the end of the rally anyway.  I think the bleeding has stopped, so that is good,” she said as she put her hand up to her head. 

    “Answer me one thing, how old are you?” he asked.

    “Eleven, almost twelve,” she said feeling a bit uncomfortable suddenly.  She knew that she looked older than her age but if the stories are true then he has been whatever age he was for a long time.

    “You are way too young to be out here on your own.”

    “But I’m not on my own, you’re here too,” she said defiantly.

    “That doesn’t help your case any,” he said with a hint of sarcasm to his voice.

    “How old are you anyway?” she finally asked as curiosity got the better of her.  Plus it kept him from going on about her right now.

    “Technically my body is still frozen at nineteen, but I have been a vampire for about one hundred and seventy five years.”

     “Wow, so it really is true?”

     He didn’t respond he just looked at her.  There were too many thoughts going through him right now.  He had known she was young, but he hadn’t realized just how young she was.  Either way he couldn’t help but be drawn to her, that bugged him even more.  He had been alive for a long time and no one had ever had an effect on him like this girl did. That made this situation dangerous for both of them, and he knew it.

    “Can I ask you another question?” she asked, interrupting his thoughts.

    “Yeah.”

    “You drink blood, right?”

    “Yes.”

    “Animal or Human?” she asked, just a bit afraid of the answer.

    “Either.”

    “How can that be?”

    “Well compare it to ice cream, you can have a choice between chocolate or vanilla.  They are both ice cream, with the same basic content, it just comes down to taste.  They taste completely different.”

    “I prefer vanilla, what is your preference?” she asked boldly. 

    “I go based on availability of when I need to satisfy the hunger. I won’t lie, human blood tastes better and is more satisfying.”

    “Do you kill a lot of people?” she asked softly, her stomach churning at the thought.

    “No, killing isn’t necessary.  I try to leave them alive if possible. The victims I attack usually survive,” he said feeling very uneasy about this path of conversation.

    “But you have killed before?” she asked.  For some reason she needed to know.

    “Yes.  Ok, I need to get you back down the hill before it gets any later,” he said as he quickly scooped her up and headed down. 

     He probably should have gone faster than he was, but he would be leaving her soon and that wasn’t anything he was in a hurry to do.  She needed medical attention, but he was stalling. Leylia was comfortable in his arms even though she knew that he could turn on her any minute and bite her.  At least he had said that he didn’t try to kill anyone, that was at least something.  At the speed he was going they would be at the bottom of the hill in a matter of minutes and she wasn’t ready to see him leave.

    She knew that it was ridiculous to even think along the lines of him being interested in her; she knew that she was too young for that.  But at the same time, she couldn’t control the feelings that she was having.  She had never been in love so she had no idea if these feelings could be love or if she was just so enamored by him.  He had after all saved her life.  Everything right now seemed so impossible; and they got worse when she realized that they were at the bottom of the hill.

   He stopped about ten yards of the tree line and just stood there with her in his arms.  Something he would remember for a very long time.  Looking down at her she smiled up at him with a sparkle in those green eyes; eyes that would haunt him for a long time.  He knew he needed to put her down and he needed to leave; leave this area, this town, hell he needed to leave this state.

    “Will I ever see you again?” she asked slightly hopeful.

    “I don’t know if that is a good idea,” he responded back to her.  Her smile dropped.

    “Will you promise me something?”

    “If I can.”

    “If you ever find yourself in town again someday, will you look me up?” she asked.  Such innocence on her face.

    “Sure,” he said, confident that he would never return to this town again.

    “Let me give you my address and phone number, just in case,” she added.  She felt sure that by his tone he wasn’t planning on coming back, but who knows.  The fates could have something else planned if she was lucky.

    He moved closer to the edge of the tree line and there were a lot of people moving about; school was out.  He set her down on her feet and she held onto him for balance.  This was not easy.  He accepted the torn piece of paper with her address and phone number on it and placed it in his pocket.  He looked at her, she was too young to know what she wanted, but he gently kissed her forehead before he pulled her grip off of him and disappeared back into the woods.

    Leylia watched as he became a blur once more.  She reached up and felt the spot that he had kissed her.  His kiss had been gentle but she had still been able to feel the pressure from his fangs, knowing that this should cause concern but it didn’t.  She looked out at the kids as they ran from the school to buses or cars that were waiting to take them home.  When she finally saw a teacher she knew she called out to them.

    The rest of the afternoon was a blur.  She had told them she went out for a brief walk during lunch and had tripped and fell twisting her ankle badly and hitting her head.  She stated that she had woke up and put the bandana on and passed out again before waking up enough to get to the edge of the woods.  Her mother was called and she was taken to the emergency room; where she received three stitches on her head and was put into a cast for the hairline fracture in her foot. 

    She received at least three lectures about how unsafe it was to go wandering around in the woods alone.  After dinner she sat down in a chair next to the window with her leg propped up and looked out at the back yard.  It was getting dark and that meant he was probably leaving by now.  He was leaving and she would never see him again. There was a knock on her door and she looked towards it.

   “Come in,” she called out.  Her mother opened the door.

   “Do you need anything?”

   “No, I’m good.  I’ll probably be turning in soon.”

   “Ok, just call out if you need anything.”

   “I will, thanks mom.”

    Leylia listened to the familiar sounds of locks being turned and lights being shut off before her mom retired to her own room. After a little while longer she finally climbed into bed and turned off the lights.  Sleep was nowhere to be found tonight as she replayed the day in her head.  She thought about his features, his dark eyes, and pitch black hair.  The lines and distinct features that made him different from everyone else she had ever met.  Suddenly it dawned on her, she had never asked him his name; she hadn’t offered hers either. Great she had given him her address and her phone number, both would be useless without a name.

     She flipped on the light just as there was a tap on the window.  She looked up to see the familiar sight of red.  Doing her best to get to the window quickly she just about fell over the chair getting to the window latch.  He opened the window and smiled at her.

    “I am so glad that you came, I feel like such an idiot.  I never got your name,” she blurted out.  He laughed softly at her.

    “It’s William.”

    “William, I like that name.  My name is Leylia,” she added as an afterthought.

    “Well Leylia, I just wanted to make sure that you were ok.” 

    “Yeah, the injuries won’t kill me.  Three stitches with a guarantee of having bad hair days for several months, and a small fracture in my foot.”

    “Guess you just might live after all. I have to ask you to promise me something.”

    “Anything,” she said eagerly.  A promise meant a possible something in the future.

   “Now I am not promising that I will, but if I were to come back through this way again.  And I come by to look you up, I want you to promise to tell me to go away if at any time you feel uncomfortable, threatened or anything else that would make my being here a bad thing for you.”

    “I promise, but I don’t think you ever could,” she said with such open honesty that he felt suddenly very uncomfortable for having come to see her again.

    “I have to go,” he said quickly.

    “Could you stay for just a little while longer. I don’t know if I will ever see you again and I am not ready to lose you yet.”

     “Leylia, you are way too young to know what you want out of life.  I am far from a good thing,” he said as he reached through the window and touched her cheek.

     “How old do I have to be before you would think that I am old enough to know what I want?” she asked as she put her hand over his.

     “At least eighteen. By then you will have had life experiences to go by.”

     “Will you come see me again when I turn eighteen?”

     “If you haven’t already turned me away before then?”

     “Even if I do?”

      “I will return to see you when you are eighteen,” he said before he pulled his hand back and left again.

 

     Leylia sat on the folding chair in the back yard of her house waiting for midnight to strike.  Tonight she would turn eighteen and William would be here for her.  She waited for his smile to lighten up her life.  The house was dark and silent, her mom and her step dad of three years were sound asleep in their room upstairs; the stars were shining and everything was perfect.

    She thought about how he looked the first time that she had seen him and about the night he had come to see her.  There had been a connection even way back then, something that neither of them could ever deny. William had left her that evening with only the one hope of seeing him again in six and a half years; but that had given her something to hold onto.

    Of course he had returned to see her three months later, she had seen him out in the tree line again.  This time he didn’t run from her; he came to her window that evening also.  They had talked for hours through the window; she had known without him ever saying it that he had feelings for her too.  She didn’t really understand the feelings that she had had at such a young age; he had been right about that much.  But those feelings only became stronger as the years went by.

    Every three months he would return to visit her; sometimes he would bring her a gift from the places he had been to.  But she was always happiest just to have him there with her.  When she turned sixteen he had given her the first real kiss of her life.  It had been gentle and undemanding but stirred everything inside her.  Even then he was holding back; afraid to feel anything for her because she was so young.

    William looked at her sitting with her legs pulled up against her chest as she looked up at the sky, every bit as lovely as she had been six months ago, and every bit as demanding to his heart as she had been over six years ago.  Every time he came to visit he had expected it to be the last time; he was sure that she would send him away, asking him never to return.  Instead she always asked when.  The last six months had been the longest amount of time they had been apart; he wanted her to be sure. 

    And even though her being there at this very moment was promising, he still expected her to send him away.  To tell him that she had fallen in love with some human boy and that she never wanted to see him again.  It would be better for her that way, it would be safer for her; but it would be death for him.  As he slowly walked towards her she looked up at him and smiled as her whole face lit up.  He could never miss the sunlight as long as she looked like that at him.

    “I was afraid that you might not come,” she said as she stood up. So much taller than the eleven year old he had once known.

    “As I am afraid you are only here to send me away for good,” he admitted openly to her.

    “I’ve waited for you for the six and a half years you have required.  I still want what I wanted them, I want you.  I know that I love you.  There is no other being on this earth that could possibly make my heart stir as you do.  I don’t care if it is wrong, immoral or whatever; I want to be with you forever,” she said as she slowly moved towards him.

   “Finally you are old enough for me to be able to tell you that I have loved you all of these six and a half years.  As much as I told myself it was wrong every time I returned to see you.  Afraid to destroy your life by returning so often, but unable to stay away. I have waited officially over two hundred years to be able to love someone as much as I love you.”