Okay. So, I wasn't really sure which category to put this in, but mythology seemed most fitting, since it's a made up story about vampires. I wrote this for an English class assignment back in Freshman year. Please, no flames, and be nice if commenting. ^_^
Reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy inside. =]
"Alina"
On a busy city street in the outskirts of England in the 1920s, lay a narrow, gray brick building that stood four stories high. The street below the structure buzzed with cars and unfriendly looking people. Cars splashing in puddles was a familiar sound, since it almost always rained there, leaving the area gray and glum. Inside, the wooden floors creaked, a layer of dust covered the furnishings, and cobwebs were in every corner. A lone tree stood outside of the building, and it tapped a window as the wind blew. In the room in which the tree tapped the window was a girl by the name of Alina.
Alina was not like most girls her age. While most children at the age of twelve had parents, Alina was an orphan and lived in the dreary old orphanage her entire life. Apparently, her parents died in a car crash just two weeks after she was born, leaving her with no place to go and no one to love.
Ironically, as a lonely little girl, her name meant "alone", from Dutch origins. Alina was a smart girl, as well as kind and polite but was quiet and kept to herself most of the time, because the other girls in the orphanage didn't like her. This was because Alina wasn't very attractive. Her hair was coal black and was always in messy curls and knots. The skin she bore was olive toned, and she had ugly brown eyes, rather than something pretty, such as blue or green, like the other girls had. Her gray skirt and white shirt were torn and dirty, as well as her black sweater, colorless; like her life. Also, she had a rather large nose, whereas the other girls had cute little button noses.
As a result of this, the pretty girls of the orphanage would call her names, such as "Pinocchio", "scum", "dirty mop", or "rag doll". They would also make her do their chores, which included scrubbing the latrines, washing the dishes, making the beds, and sweeping the dusty floors. Day after day, Alina endured their cruel remarks and orders, and so she lived a glum life.
That is, until a miraculous thing happened for Alina.
It was a typical day for her. After she had done all of the chores and was bullied, she retreated to her bedroom, which was shared among eight girls. However, her bed was by itself in the corner You could scarcely even call it a bed; it was more of a flat wooden board with a thin mat and a sheet thrown on it. She walked over to it, lay down, and sighed.
"I'll never get out of here," Alina said quietly to herself while sighing sadly.
Just as she said this, the door opened, and Ms. Lotty, who ran the orphanage, hastily came into the room.
"Get up, girl. You are being adopted. Come downstairs at once."
As Ms. Lotty turned and left the room, Alina just sat there, shocked. She thought to herself, 'Adopted? Me? But…how? I never met with anyone who was interested in adopting me, and usually the girls meet the adopter, before they are actually adopted…And who would want to adopt ME?…What is going on?'
Alina quickly snapped out of her daze, got up, and headed downstairs to Ms. Lotty's office, where the official adoption papers were always signed. Before entering the room, she took a deep breath, and then reached for the doorknob. However, before she even touched it, the door opened, revealing a man and a woman with Ms. Lotty sitting at her desk behind them.
The man was tall, lean, had black hair, and was wearing a black suit. He seemed very proper, yet there was a kind and gentle look to him. The woman was a tad bit shorter than the man, but was also thin. She bore beautiful brown locks of hair that reached just below her shoulders. She, too, appeared warm and friendly, as well as proper and wealthy, sporting a pretty blue dress and a shawl. Both of them appeared to be in their late thirties or early forties. However…there was something that caught her eye. Something strange about them that was different from other people. Then it dawned on her. Their eyes. Both the man and the woman had black eyes. Alina knew that this wasn't normal, yet…they looked so kind, both of them baring beaming smiles as they looked down at her, revealing their shiny, white teeth. Also, their skin…it was so…pale, almost as pale as Ms. Lotty's hair.
"Hello there, Alina," the woman began with a welcoming smile, "My name is Mrs. Soleil, and this is my husband, Mr. Soleil. We're adopting you." (Soleil is pronounced like "so-lay". It is French for "sunny".)
"H-hi," Alina said quietly.
"The papers are all signed…So, everything is set. Ms. Lotty said you didn't have any belongings, but don't worry, we already have a wardrobe waiting for you at home that my wife here purchased already. It looks as though they should fit, too," said the man.
"Come on, sweetie. Let's go home," said Mrs. Soleil, while reaching her hand out for Alina to take.
As she took the woman's hand, she got chills. Mrs. Soleil's hands were cold. Ice cold.
'Strange,' thought Alina.
When they arrived at the Soleil's mansion, Alina was completely overwhelmed. Everything was so beautiful. The outside of the building was breath taking. It was white stone with flowers covering the front yard, vines climbed up the sides of the immense house, and a black wrought iron gate stood in the front, surrounding the lot. The inside was a whole other story. It was well furnished, with expensive looking furniture, a grand piano, plush couches, and red satin curtains that were closed on all of the windows, leaving the mansion dimly lit with crystal chandeliers and candles.
They brought her to her room, which was as gorgeous as the rest of the house. Her closet was full of beautiful dresses, shoes, and accessories. Everything seemed too good to be true. However, Alina wasn't going to complain, because in a matter of a day, she had gone from dirt poor and lonely, to extremely well-off with a new, loving family. That night, Alina was served a three course meal and ate until she was full. However, Mr. and Mrs. Soleil didn't eat anything. When Alina, questioned them about it, they simply said that they were not hungry.
The first few months were fantastic. The Soleils gave her everything she wanted, loved her immensely , and enrolled her into an extremely nice private school. However, strange events occurred that made Alina curious.
First, when Alina decided that some sunlight was needed in the dim mansion, and she opened one of the curtains in the living room, Mr. and Mrs. Soleil yelled at her for the first time and quickly shut the curtain, telling Alina to never do that again. As a result, she was puzzled. What was wrong with opening a curtain?
'Something is definitely odd about them…but I still love them, regardless', Alina thought.
On top of the curtains never being allowed opened, she also noticed that never had she seen the Soleils eat or sleep. Whenever Alina ate, they simply stated that they were either not hungry or had already eaten, and when she went to bed, she never heard them retreat to their bedroom to sleep.
The strangest thing of all though, occurred once or twice a week. Each week, Mr. and Mrs. Soleil would have company over in the evening. Except…Alina was not allowed downstairs when the company was over, and she had to remain in her bedroom until they were finished. However, she never heard the front door open or close for the people to leave. Alina didn't understand any of this. What could be so top secret that she wasn't even allowed to be out of her room for? And how come she never heard anyone leave?
As much as she loved them, one evening, when the Soleils had guests over, Alina's curiosity forced her to break the rules. When the company arrived, the low murmur of voices, as well as laughter, could be heard in the living room below. Twenty minutes had passed, and Alina had finally built up the courage to leave her room. After slowly opening the door and tip-toeing to the top of the staircase, she got down on her hands and knees and listened for a moment, holding her breath. However, no voices were heard. This made her even more curious, and so, she peered through the railings, down into the living room, and what she saw made her gasp in shock.
Alina's eyes grew wide with fear at what she saw. In the room below, Mr. Soleil was bent over a woman, his mouth at her neck, and Mrs. Soleil was doing the same with a man. Blood was dripping from their mouths and the victim's necks. The Soleils were drinking their blood.
All of a sudden, everything that had made Alina wonder now fit into place, and the realization of it all hit her fast, making her head spin. It all made sense now; the closed curtains, not eating, not sleeping, the pale skin, black eyes, the guests never leaving…It all added up. There was only one logical explanation, and what she saw now definitely proved it true: Mr. and Mrs. Soleil were vampires.
A few moments passed, and then Mr. Soleil, obviously satisfied with his meal, stopped drinking and looked up, shock appearing on his face as he realized that he was being watched. Mrs. Soleil noticed him, and stopped as well to look at what his shocked expression was coming from. Both of them stood there for a minute, staring back at Alina, distorted expressions on their faces. Then Mrs. Soleil spoke.
"Alina…"
Frightened, Alina got up quickly and ran to her room, shutting the door behind her. Unfortunately, there was no lock on her door. She stood in the middle of her room, not knowing what to do, until a knock was heard on her door a few minutes later.
"Alina?"
It was Mrs. Soleil.
"Alina, sweetie? Can we come in? We want to explain ourselves. We promise that we won't hurt you."
As scared as she was, something in Mrs. Soleil's kind voice made Alina trust her, and so she walked over to the door and opened it. Mrs. Soleil was standing there with her hands clasped in front of her, a sorrowful expression on her sweet face, and Mr. Soleil had his arm around her shoulder. Alina backed away into her room and Mrs. and Mr. Soleil followed her in.
"Alina, darling…We're so sorry. We should have told you from the start. Please don't be frightened. We would never want to hurt you. We love you."
There it was again…that something in Mrs. Soleil's voice that was just so trusting and loving, and although Alina had never been this scared in her life, she still trusted them and wanted to forgive them. So, she let them explain themselves.
As it turns out, Alina's assumption was correct. The Soleils were, in fact, vampires. They explained everything; the curtains being closed because they could not be exposed to light, never sleeping because they couldn't, and never eating. The last part was what made Alina's stomach wrench. As is true with all vampires, they drank blood. Therefore, the Soleil's did not eat when Alina did. This led to the whole "company" ordeal. Apparently, each week when they had their "guests" over, the reason, obviously, for them not leaving, was because they were just meals for the Soleils.
After explaining themselves, Mr. Soleil spoke.
"Once again, we are very sorry for not telling you before, but we were not sure how you would react, and…well…we wanted a child very badly, especially Mrs. Soleil here."
At that, Mrs. Soleil smiled at Alina.
"Yes, we are very sorry, dearest Alina. We've grown to love you so much. You see, I had wanted a child so badly, but we vampires cannot reproduce. However, I should have known that it was a terrible idea adopting a human child. You're probably so scared right now. We are terribly sorry. We're nothing but monsters, and we do not deserve you. If you'd like, you can pack your belongings now, whatever you'd like to keep, and we'll take you back to the orphanage, and you can be adopted by a real family that deserves you."
Mrs. Soleil looked as if she were about to cry, if she could, and Alina's heart ached. She wondered for a moment. 'What am I to do? Wait, what am I saying? Who cares if they are vampires, even if they kill people? They love me, and I love them…and they are the only people who have ever loved me. How could I possibly leave them now?'
Mr. Soleil put his arm around his wife again, and they turned and were about to leave when Alina spoke abruptly.
"Wait!"
They stopped in their tracks and turned around.
"I don't care what you are…and I don't care what you do. I love you both, and nothing can change that now."
Alina ran to them and hugged them both at the same time. They responded by embracing her as well, and Mrs. Soleil kissed the top of her head.
This was her family now, now matter what they were.
The End