Chapter 4: Evras tent
Slim white fingers crawled out from under the lid and pressed the coffin open.
The pale face of a young woman with long black hair came to light. She gathered together the many layers of her midnight-blue skirts and climbed silently out of the coffin.
Pretty scary, thought the man, who stood his arms folded across his chest in the corner of the tent, anxious maintaining as much distance between himself and the coffin as possible.
The vampiress wiped her hair out of her face and just wanted to arrange it into a ponytail, when she felt being watched and turned around.
Gillian looked at the tall, slender figure, who stared at her without a word, and she was irritated for a moment.
The man was in his estimated mid-twenties, wearing T-shirt and boxer shorts and he looked at her out of strange yellow slitted eyes in a green, scaly face.
Gillian frowned. "Evra?" Then a grin spread on her face: "Evra! Wow! Look at you!"
"Hi Gillian," murmured the snake man, a little embarrassed.
Gillian was beaming. " My gosh. You have become a real man ... "
Gillian took a step forward: "Let me look at you", and wanted to put her hand to the scaly skin on his face. But Evra recoiled: "Don`t!"
Gillian's smile faded.
She quickly took her hand back down.
Evra had taken a few steps away from her.
He looked down. "I don`t like it, when people want to touch me."
Gillian nodded: "I see. I'm sorry, I didn`t ... "
"It`s ok," muttered Evra.
An awkward silence ensued.
"You look good, Evra."
The snake man looked at Gillian: "You too. You have not changed."
The vampiress smiled. "But you. I did nearly not recognize my best friend."
She laughed, because due to his skin, she would recognize Evra always and everywhere, no matter how much he changed.
But Evra was not laughing, he snorted: "A best friend is not going away for years without sending any messages."
Gillian swallowed.
Evra wriggled away from her, and went to his hammock.
Gillian watched his tall figure.
He really was a lot older now.
That was the moment, when she realized, how much time had actually passed.
For her, it had felt like a blurry series of nights. A time in which she had not aged at all.
But the people around her had aged.
Evra had during this time grown from a teenager to a man. He was not only no longer the boy with whom she had befriended in the way he looked like, but inside of him Evra certainly had changed as well.
Deep sadness came over Gillian, when she, for the very first time, understood, what it meant to be a vampire, who didn`t age, while for the world and people around, time did not stand still.
Evra had turned his back and scooped up some clothes.
"You're right," she said to his back. "I was long gone, and I should have sent messages. But ... there were a few things that I had to find out first. It was important. For me."
Evra turned to her. "What things?", he asked.
Gillian wished, he would understand: "I tried to find out, who is my father."
That was only half the truth.
But everything else she could not confess to Evra.
The snake man swallowed. "Did you ... did you find out?"
Gillian shook her head.
It had been almost impossible to find out any proof, because Gillian was no longer able to ask her mother about her father.
Her mother was dead.
And now she regretted not having asked her a few questions beforehand.
Evra came over to Gillian, and sat down on a stool.
Gillian sat down beside him.
"I'm sorry for you," he said. "I don`t know who my parents are either. Or why I am what I am."
Gillian looked at the snake man at her side. She understood him very well. They had something in common.
"How is your snake?"
"She`s fine," said Evra.
"Can I see her?"
"You ... if you want." He was visibly delighted at her interest in his beloved pet.
Evra went over to the cage and took out his Python.
He put her around his shoulders lovingly and went back with her to the vampire. This looked at the fascinating animal and then asked if she could touch it.
Evra nodded.
Gillian stroked the smooth scaly skin gently.
"Are you not afraid?", asked Evra.
Gillian shook her head. "No, why? You're here."
Evra blushed and was glad that it was not visible under his snake skin. He just became a hint greener.
Gillian was smiling at him.
Evra smiled back shyly.
"Am I still your best friend?" asked Gillian.
Evra nodded.
Gillian raised her hand and formed her little finger into a hook.
Evra grinned. He also raised his hand and snake man and vampiress interlocked their fingers.
Evra held back the snake on its head, because it tried to escape, got up and carried it back into its crate, where it curled up comfortably under a heating lamp.
"Hey," Evra came suddenly. "Darren and I and a few others have started a band. How about us having a jam session for your welcome before the show?"
Gillian was delighted. "That would be great. But remember, I can`t walk around during the daylight any more, you have to play at night for me. "
"Oh yes," murmured Evra. "Never mind, then just after the show. Tomorrow night? "
Gillian nodded.
"Then, see you tomorrow."
Gillian got up: "With pleasure. Until tomorrow, Evra. "
And she left the tent of the snake man with a lighter heart, and went out on her way to the tent of the vampire. Because there was somebody else of whom she had to find out, whether their relationship could be the same, or whether it had been seriously damaged.