The rain poured down heavily. There were people stranded in the street side, whereas, others took shelter at random shops. Across the street was an old coffee shop. Said shop had vines all over it, except for the door and windows. And running towards it was a high school girl, soaking wet from head to toe. When she entered the café, she hurriedly went for the comfort room.

"Oh man! The weather forecast said that it wouldn't rain! I'm going to catch a cold for sure!" complained Callian as she dry her hair using her slightly wet towel.

It took her half an hour inside the comfort room before she went out and looked for a seat. A waiter immediately came closer to her the moment she sat down and asked for her order. She skimmed through the menu that was given to her, when she found something that she like, she told the waiter her order and then he left.

As she waited for her food, she observed the people who were there. Nothing interesting at all, except for the couple who was flirting with each other. But then, from her peripheral vision, something caught her attention. She turned around to see the man clearly. He had red hair that reached his nape and sharp red eyes, over his hair was a black beanie while he wore a black and white tracksuit. He was alone near the counter, sipping his coffee while reading a book, maybe. She studied him for a while 'til she got bored and decided to use her phone. A few minutes later, her food arrived.

Zelman turned his attention to his little black notebook where few pictures of vampires were. He was looking for his suspect. Yes, he was on a mission. But because of the sudden rain, he stopped midway and decided to continue it later. Once again, he felt same eyes looking at him, and so he looked at the high school girl that was sitting not too far from where he sat. The girl averted her eyes immediately.

Hmm.

His lips curved into a smile. He put away his notebook, leaned his back on his seat, and watched the girl attempting to look at him one more time.

Damn it! He caught me staring!

Callian mentally slapped herself for being so obvious. She continued eating her food, took out her phone again before pretending she's busy with it, just so she could lessen her uncomfortable feeling under the stranger's gaze.

"Damn it rain! Please, stop pouring already. I have to get out of here." She mumbled.

But it seemed her begging didn't work. Instead, it only poured more than before. As she was busy, she failed to notice the redhead coming closer to where she sat. Suddenly, she felt chill ran down her spine. She wasn't sure if it was because she was nervous or because of her wet clothes. Then, she saw someone stood in front of her table. She slowly looked up to see who it was, and her face paled seeing the person she's looking a while ago.

Is he angry with me? But wait, why would he? I'm just looking at him because he's handsome! Nothing's wrong with that, right?

He placed his left hand on the table while the other on his hips.

"Hi, young lady."

He greeted as he smiled at her.

"Uhh…"

She was speechless. Now that he's right in front of her, she could tell that he's definitely more handsome than before and it mesmerized her. His smile made her heart flutter and his white teeth that looked similar to fangs– wait, fangs? She was out of her delusion and narrowed her eyes at his teeth.

This guy has fangs!

"Young lady?"

"Oh, sorry!"

She blushed. No one ever called her young lady.

"Mind if I join you?"

Of course, I do mind! So, no!

"Sure." She answered instead.

He sat down at the vacant seat facing her.

"Umm… Mister, why'd you sit here? Your seat there is way more ... uh- comfortable?" She asked him.

But the guy only smiled at her. Showing his fangs again.

"I preferred sitting here."

A pause.

"Why?" She finally asked.

A lone brow raised in his confusion. It only added to his handsome features. Another long pause. Now, she's really getting uncomfortable. Luckily, a man entered the shop, her gaze fell outside and saw that the rain had already stop. She immediately gathered her belongings and stood up.

"Err- Mister, I have to go. Bye!" She said as she left in a hurry.

She didn't dare to look back anymore to the stranger she left and so, she didn't saw the smile on his face as he watched her ran outside the shop. She stopped running when she reached the station. She placed her hand on her chest as it rise and fall due to her exhaustion while her other hand was holding on the pillar for support.

"That. Haa. Was. Haa. Embarrassing. Haa. Callian."

She told her herself, breathing in between. Unbeknownst to her, Zelman had followed her and was watching her on the rooftop of a small building, not too far from the station. He grinned at himself, showing his white fangs.

"What an amusing girl, getting my attention."

Days past after that unusual meeting between Zelman and Callian. It didn't rain anymore. Callian still went to the shop, hoping she would meet the redhead man again. But unfortunately, there was no sign of him. The two didn't ever meet again. Callian keeps on coming back to the coffee shop since it was open 24 hours.

The manager of that shop was a good friend of Zelman. So, whenever he got the chance to visit, the manager would tell him about the high school girl.

"She always asked about you, things like, if you're always here or when do you visit and the likes of that."

He smiled as he stirred his black coffee. The Manager raised a lone brow and leaned on the counter, a smirk formed on his lips.

"What's with you and the little girl?"

"Nothing." He replied.

"Nothing? But I saw you two…"

"That was nothing." He interrupted him.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Funny, huh?"

Silence.

"But you know, this past few days, she doesn't visit anymore. Maybe she was tired of coming back here." Said the manager.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."


Today was rainy, and like before, Zelman was there sitting on his favorite seat and sipping his hot coffee. But this time, he was staring at the table where Callian once sat. The chime rang, indicating someone entered or left the shop. He looked where the door was. There. He saw the same girl but with a friend/classmate this time. And there was a little odd about her.

Skipping class?

Her friend was wearing the same uniform she had before, while she wore casual clothes. At the back of his head, something told him that there was something wrong with her, since her friend was guiding her the way. Zelman stared at them. At her. They found a seat, but not the table Callian chose before.

On the other hand, his friend, the Manager, went near Callian and her friend to get their order personally and for other reasons. Once he got their order, he went back to Zelman.

"Look like something's wrong with your girl." He whispered and then left.

Callian's eyes weren't like before. It was empty and all the time she was only staring in space.

"Hey, Cal, aunt Hal's going to get mad at the both of us if she finds out you went out." Her friend said. "It's bad for your health, especially in that condition. You know that."

"We won't stay long, we'll go right after the rain stop."

"Well, yeah. You're right. But still, we didn't told aunt Hal."

"It's okay. So don't worry."

A long pause.

"Hey, Cal."

"Yes?"

There was silence for a moment.

"Now that your eyes are not able to see anymore... why do you still want to come here anyway?"

There was sadness and pity in her friend's voice. She kept quiet as her lips tightened. Zelman, on the other hand, was still staring at her.

Yes. She was blind. She had an accident a month ago. Fortunately, she survived the accident and recovered, but her eyes didn't. That's why she came back at the shop for one last time. Yes, this was her last. After this, she won't come anymore, because there's no reason to do so. She already gave up and accepted that she won't be able to see the man she fell in love with at first sight.

Suddenly, she felt a chill ran down her spine, a chill that was quite familiar to her. She turned her head where she felt eyes staring at her.

"Cal, what's wrong?"

"I think someone's looking at me."

Her friend didn't answer. She waited. And then finally, her friend spoke.

"Yeah. There is someone looking at you."

"Who?"

"A man in a tracksuit with red hair and fiery red eyes."

She was dumbfounded. Her mouth opened and closed as if to say something but no words came out.

"You know him?" Her friend asked but then got worried when a lone tear fell from her eye.

Finally, they met again. But this time, she couldn't see him. Just when everything turned dark for her, a fiery red appeared again before her. Just when she thought she had given up, a flame suddenly sparked inside her.

On that rainy day, in this small town, where stood an old coffee shop – a stranger and a girl met.

FIN

-Updated-