Only Human (5 page)

All I can think of saying
, is that I’ve drank so much blood this evening, that I just couldn’t fit anymore in. I know! I’ll say I felt
The Fever,
and had to isolate myself from the others. I’m a little young for that, but I’ll say that I am an early developer. It is unlikely, but it’s not unheard of in this generation.

I can hear someone coming, someone wearing heels so it must be a teacher. I hope it
’s Greko! No, there’s more than one person walking, and I can hear giggling. It’s Simone and her cronies.

‘
Awe poor sick Aecia; can’t drink blood from a bowl, doesn’t like the mess we made. You wouldn’t think she was from a third class clan would you, with all her refinement?’

I
’m not reacting Amica, I’m just continuing to talk to you, and writing down what she says. I’ve found that her verbal diarrhoea seems much less threatening when you look at it in black and white, on paper! It actually looks ridiculous, they’re just letters bundled together, to make spiteful nonsense to hurt people. Wait, I hear Garok! He’s not allowed in here, he must have heard her jeering at me.

I
’m not writing now, I’m taking you with me in my thoughts.  I must stop him from coming in the girl’s pit room. I’m not having him getting into trouble as well. Ha, Simone has shut up now, doesn’t want to look like a bitch in front of him. The girl is so transparent!

‘
Are you all right?’ Garok is asking me.

‘
I’ll be fine, don’t worry, I think I may be starting
The Fever
early, it has happened before’ (I hate lying to him).

‘
Should I get Mrs Greko?’

‘
It’s ok, I’ll come with you to find her, but I’ll speak with her alone Garok, A female must speak with another female in matters such as this. Do you understand?’ (I cannot allow him to be a part of this lie).

‘
Yes, yes, it’s just that I was worried you know.’

‘
No need, come.’

I sound so calm, my insides are like jelly but no-one must see, not even Garok.  Mrs Greko will be in the lounge area with Mr
Prados, he is the teacher looking after the boys. Yes, I see her, they are both in here. They are lounging on two high backed leather chairs sipping blood from two flute glasses. This room is an oven! There is an enormously over stoked coal fire underneath a fire surround of marble gargoyles. Obviously, there are some sections of this establishment that warrant a much higher rating than just ‘two star’. The girl’s sparse, cold pit room, doesn’t really even rate that.

‘
You must go to your pit Garok; I will see you at breakfast.’

I can see he doesn
’t want to go; I don’t want him to go, but he mustn’t be tainted with my lies. Mrs Greko has seen me and she’s coming over.

‘
Child, I have been looking for you, what on earth happened at dinner?’

‘
I am sorry Mrs Greko; may I speak with you in private?’

‘
Is this a personal matter child? If it concerns any of the other children in your dormitory…’ She is bending closer to me now and whispering ‘I am referring to a certain Simone, whose unpleasant behaviour with regard to you, has not gone unnoticed by me.’

I can
’t believe it, she is daring to find fault with a ‘First Class’ student with a bloodline connected to the Elders! She continues; ‘Well, if it is something of that nature, then we better had talk in private hadn’t we?’

I can see your face friend, in my mind
’s eye and you are laughing at my bizarre, surprised expression. I am walking with the teacher I have had since my eleventh year, whom I had classed as nice, agreeable, and definitely not controversial. She has just committed an offence to one of the bylaws, written by the Elders hundreds of years ago:

With regard to students; if a first class student requires discipline
, it is to be brought before the High Council and under no circumstances to be discussed with a teacher of a lower class status
.

             
Mrs Greko has gone one step lower than that, she has berated a higher class student to a mere student, not a teacher, and a student that is borderline second class at that! I love her at this moment, but I am also frightened for her. I hope Mr Prados is still dopey from his evening meal and hasn’t heard her.

             
We’re in her pit room now Amica and this is quite formidable too, compared to ours. She is lighting a gas lamp, and it is quite eerie with shadows dancing up and down the walls, but somehow it’s comforting too.

             
‘Ok Aecia, is it Simone that was bothering you at dinner, or is it something else?’

             
‘It’s not Simone it’s,’ suddenly my mouth is really dry, I feel my heart beating a little faster as I know I am lying again. ‘I have symptoms of
The Fever,
Mrs Greko. My mother has explained to me that according to the programme of self-discipline from the Elders, I must isolate myself and prepare to meditate until it passes.’

             
Her eyes are narrowing as she looks at me; she looks sceptical; what can I say to convince her? Think Aecia think!

‘
You are telling me the truth? This is very unusual Aecia in one so young. Have you seen a Doctor to confirm this?’

‘
No, not yet, but my parents are planning to take me after this trip.’

‘
Hmmm I see, well I will be interested to know the outcome of your appointment dear. I will speak to your parents when we return. For now we are here and we have a very important night tomorrow. We are to tour the Ordinatio and meet three of our Elders. This is a great honour and privilege as you know. Go to your pit now and get some rest. We will speak again at a later date.’

Phew! I might just have got away with it
, for now at least. I’ll have to warn the parents about this latest subterfuge as soon as we arrive home. I’m so tired, and I have to go and sleep in a two star grave now to rejuvenate, some hope!

Wait, who is loitering outside the girl
’s room? Garok, what is he playing at? It’s not long till sunrise and he is wandering around the hotel.

‘
Garok, what are you doing? I’m being questioned for leaving where I was supposed to be, and you will be in trouble for staying where you are not supposed to be.’

‘
Sshh, come.’

‘
Where are we going? It’s almost sunrise.’

‘
We have ages yet, come on, we can go up in the lift and have a few minutes alone before we sleep.’

‘
Why do we have to go outside for that Garok, we are alone here, now?’

‘
It is not safe, too many people.’

‘
But it’s not safe on ground level!’

‘
Come.’

He
’s not going to give in is he Amica? Oh well, maybe just for five minutes. It is quite romantic ‘The Capital’. I wonder what other architectural wonders live here? What is wrong with me? Why am I talking about architecture when I am about to look at the stars with my future mate?

This lift is huge
, with iron webbed double doors that are really heavy to open and close. Not a problem for Vampires, but for a fourteen year old human girl, even one with superior strength, it is an impossible task.  Luckily Garok is old school and has them open before I reach the lift.

The inside walls are filled with advertisements of theatrical productions and public seminars. They are not posters or externally
drawn pictures. The words and pictures are integrated and ionised into the iron lift wall; they are part of it. There are so many different types of advertisements (I’d say about fifty) and they are all in different fonts and styles. I am fascinated and baffled at the skill required to perform such a task!

Garok
’s hand is warm in mine as we reach ground level and step out into the dark. It is not very well lit here, and I can barely see his face as he turns to me and touches my face. He is so gentle and soft as he covers my lips with his own. A kiss from him transcends time; I am transported to a plane of existence I have never known. This must be what ancient Humans mean when they describe ‘heaven’. Wait, I hear something, is it music? But everyone is in their pit, it is almost dawn. IT IS ALMOST DAWN!!!

‘
GAROK, we must get back, you, I mean, we will burn! Hurry, we must get in the lift!’

‘
It has gone!’

‘
What, gone where, we have only just stepped out of it.’

‘
I am so sorry, Aecia! The lift must automatically return to its rest position in the centre of the hotel.’

‘
But…But, what can we do, is there shelter? Did you see an entrance to another building here? There has to be somewhere, is there a park nearby? We can dig a pit in the soil!’

I am petrified for Garok, he will burn in front of my eyes and there is nothing I can do about it. Amica, be a real person and tell me what to do!! The music is louder, deafening, an army of disjointed voices battling to be heard. It is the birds, of course it is! They are heralding the arrival of the glorious, murderous sun!
I can see the shadow diminish as the light is creeping along the street. We are lost Amica, I will die with him, my soul is part of his and we are lost.

             
Garok is holding me now, stark fear and despair in his eyes but something else too. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m sorry!’ He just keeps repeating the same words. It is not his fault, he mustn’t feel guilt, I want to tell him, but I can no longer speak. The light has reached us!

My eyes are closed and I can still feel him i
n my arms. Is he an illusion brought on by my need for him? Is he really ash at my feet, but my heart won’t accept that? He has pulled away from me and is speaking my name.

‘
Aecia open your eyes, Aecia.’

I open my eyes
, and look into the large, brown eyes of Garok, the human! His teeth are white, straight and even, like mine, and he is reaching towards my mouth and taking out my fake fangs.

‘
What colour are your eyes? Take out your lenses.’

How can he speak so calmly? I am ecstatically happy, totally confused
, and absolutely terrified all at the same time. I can manage to ask, ‘You are human?’

‘
Yes, did you not suspect that I was?’

‘
I hoped you were, but then again, as I grew to like you, I wanted you to be a Vampire. Not suffering the miserable existence of living a lie as I do.’

He looks upset now, what have I said?

‘Don’t, don’t be so selfless and good Aecia, don’t make it harder!’

He turns from me and wipes his face
, before turning towards the lift and pressing the button. I can hear the screech of the metal as it ascends towards us.

             
‘Is it working again? Why is that Garok? Don’t you find it strange?’

             
‘I don’t know why, it is Vampire made, it is evil.’

There is so much venom and hatred
in his voice when he speaks of Vampires. What is wrong with him? He looks angry.

‘
Garok, have I upset you, I am scared. What do we do now? What if someone has seen us and knows we are human? We will be drained and executed; every member of our clans will be punished and exiled!’

‘
Put your fangs and contacts in, go to your pit. I will go to mine, and we will speak tomorrow night.’

His words are cold and distant and I just don
’t understand. I want to cry now, and I can’t help reaching up and turning his face towards mine.

‘
Garok, what did I do to change you so?’

His eyes soften as he looks into mine and clasps my hand,
‘I am not angry with you, I am sorry.’

The lift has reached the pit floor and he kisses my hand briefly, pulls open the iron webbed doors
, and turns left towards the boy’s dormitory.  I can feel myself shaking as I sneak past the other pits in the girl’s dormitory, and not just with fear of the consequences of our humanity being revealed.

Garok has acted so strangely. I don’t know if he is angry that I am
human, or angry that he is. One minute I can feel his emotion for me in his kiss, and the next he is cold and angry. I just don’t get it!

20.01.3012

Hallo friend, I am actually writing my thoughts to you this evening. It is 7 p.m. and I am first up, sitting in the bathroom and writing to you. I couldn’t sleep at all as you can imagine, and now I have to get through a whole night that includes meeting the Elders; the tyrannical Kings of our world, with the power to snuff me out like a candle.

Not looking forward to seeing Garok either this evening. I never thought I would be feeling that way about him, not ever. Maybe I
’m being harsh; he did have a terrible shock as well last night. It could have just been a reaction to the frustration of knowing that we are both human beings, trapped in a dangerous Vampire world.  We can’t live freely and honestly together and it’s so damn unfair!