Color Me Red (A Vampire Romance)

11

Gabbi with Tyler had their backpacks, complete with 'ammunition for war,' as Tyler said.

"In short, don't be suspicious," the youngest Roșu concluded after the last round of the same reminders Marcus recited.

"Yes, don't be suspicious," he said and adjusted his tie. But Gabbi, who was willing to make herself useful, raised her hand to do it for him. He nodded. Her previous job as a maid before the brothel had come in handy. As she fixed Marcus' tie, his reminder never ceased.

"One mistake and I'll lock you up again, Ty, get it? Your transfer is done. Someone related to our kind will help you inside the school. He'll be waiting."

Marcus was wordier than usual; he resembled a mother in the movie they watched who fussed over her child's first day.

"Something wrong?" he asked after she had been staring at him with a suppressed smile. She stepped back, satisfied with the tie knot. Anyone with no knowledge could mistake him for a normal human. Well, a tycoon, but a human nonetheless. "I'll watch over Tyler, I promise. I'll tell you if something's wrong." She has wondered why and what work Marcus does. Even Damien helped him. At least she wanted to give him a piece of mind while at work, that his brother is on the right path of anonymity at school.

"And most of all, enjoy." Marcus looked at them like he meant it.

"Yes," she replied while Tyler mumbled an impatient "Of course."

A shiny red car rolled from the manor's side path, and Damien climbed out from the driver's seat. He then threw the key to Tyler.

The latter frowned. "We'll use this slow thing? Can we 'walk' to school?"

Damien responded with a stern "No. You'll be driving from now on."

"But—"

"—Act like a human, damn it."

"Yeah, yeah." He opened the passenger's seat. "Hop in, Gabbi!"

There was no way they wouldn't stand out with such a vehicle, but she swallowed her words.

"Be careful out there," Damien reminded before the door shut.

His brows were furrowed, much of warning and worry. For a moment, she wanted to stay a little longer. For a moment, she wanted to stay with him.

"I will," she mouthed to him.

The engine revved, and Tyler put on his sunglasses. "Freedom, here I come!" he screamed as he sped out the gate.

Gabbi looked back at the front door. Marcus was waving goodbye, while Damien had the same unreadable expression.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine without you," he assured, "He's used to it."

______________

If not for the unbearable experience of being stared at, Gabbi could never immerse into the character of abashed 'new kids' in movies. The moment they stepped out of the car, stress bore into their backs. Iverfield's lifeline is an underground cave, discovered a decade ago a kilometer east of an abandoned village. The country was shaken to find out that a farming village of almost a hundred residents had disappeared, houses into the flames, but as the red ambers died and ashes remained, no traces of bodies were found. They were just gone.

Tourists of all kinds flooded the site, police plastered yellow tapes of warning, and the cameras flashed. Everything was printed in newspapers and reported in the news. But as big as ambiguous it was, it was a cold case.

The hype died, and Iverfield struggled with its tourism bubble but revived when daredevil teens got lost in the forest and found the cave a decade ago. A campaign site around the cave was set by the town council, and the abandoned village was revamped to be a 'cursed gate to the underworld.' It said that a hidden passage somewhere in the village may send one to the underworld, like how the residents disappeared. Surprisingly, people consumed the novelty.