A Feast For The Vampires

V

It was the creeping shivers that ran through Kimi that kept his mind wandering in a river full of nothingness. His mind, soul and body were held in the dislocated grip of confusion as he chewed on his bottom lip like a hungry baby koala.

“—lis. Mr. Mikaelis!”

Kimi jerked, his pen slipping out of his hands, rolling off the table and landing on the floor with a thin thud. A groan escaped his lips as he looked up, Mr. Marshall staring down at him.

Mr. Marshall raised an eyebrow, squatted and retrieved the fallen pen. “Nice pen,” he commented as his finger traced the letters engraved in the pen. He held it out to Kimi. “Here.”

Kimi moved to take his pen but Mr. Marshall moved it out of his reach. A silent groan worked its way up his throat, the area between his eyebrows creasing.

“You look like you slept in an abandoned warehouse,” Mr. Marshall uttered as his eyes traced the dark circles awkwardly highlighting Kimi’s grey eyes.

Kimi huffed and shook his head. “I freaking did. Actually, I’ve been sleeping in abandoned warehouses since I was freaking six.” Kimi shrugged lazily. “It has its perks: dust, decay and preposterous sneezing.”

A few of Kimi’s classmates found his words funny and decided to release a few laughs, but Mr. Marshall didn’t find Kimi’s words funny as he silenced the class with a cold stare.

“Since you’re new, I’ll forgive your attitude and return your pen if you can tell me the Latin word for blood.”

Kimi shuddered in disgust. “I freaking have no clue.”

Mr. Marshall released a frustrated sigh and shook his head. “Lunch break detention. Library. Be on time.” And he placed the pen on the table with a light slap, returning back to his teaching.

Kimi locked his jaw and picked up his pen, twirled it in his hand and placed it beside his notebook.

*

With the sound of the bell, Kimi shut the door to the library. He sighed, his shoulders tense as he walked towards the rows of shelves.

“Mr. Marshall?”

A loud thud answered Kimi; this was followed by audible groans of protest and curses. Kimi raised an eyebrow as two figures emerged from within the narrow space between two shelves to his right; they looked dishevelled. The first thing that caught his attention were the eyes of the fair boy—eyes similar to his.

The fair boy had a deep blush on his face as he walked in front of a tall dark boy, his hand in the tall boy’s hand.

Oh.

“I told you that we should have started a little earlier.” The fair boy released a breathy laugh and concentrated his gaze on Kimi. “You must be the new student we’re supposed to look after. Kimi?”

“Kimi Mikaelis. Mr. Marshall told me to come here for detention.”

The dark-skinned boy nodded slightly and looked down at the fair boy. “I guess we better focus on more important things.” He watched as the blush on the fair boy’s face darkened. He chuckled and extended his free hand towards Kimi. “Illiad Vdélla.”

Repulsively, Kimi shuddered, tensed fear creeping up his throat. Unconsciously, he took a step back, this act getting noticed by Illiad. It was then that he noticed the uncanny bronze eyes of the dark boy; they had a certain tint in them.