Chapter 21: Black
Y'all ready for this? WELL YOU BETTER BE!
(Those who want to read Arthur's story, you can find it on my profile under the title Creatures of the Night.)
But first, more lore!
These are the most prominent demon classes: elemental demons (fire, water, earth, wind, electricity, ice), deities (can be counted as the demon gods, including beings like Lucifer and Loki – but they don't visit that often), zoolingualists (those who can communicate with and control animals, or demonic animals), mythological (e.g. Japanese kitsune and tengu, the wendigo,… This could also be seen as the culturally defined class.), sex demons (incubus, succubus, siren,…) and then there's the mystery class (for example elemental demons who can do more than control their element, or demon's whose species is just hard to classify).
A full list of monster species is hard to give, but here's a try: vampires, werewolves, demons (by far the largest group), magic users (fairies, sorcerers,…), ghosts, jinns, angels, muses, bogeymen, tricksters and illusionists, shape-shifters, mermaids (they have their own underwater communities), necromancers, doppelgangers, trolls and ogres, satyrs and zombies.
Magical animals can either be zoolingualists, mythological animals (like the phoenix), or animals who live longer and are somehow drawn to the other monsters. Once finding a monster buddy, these last kind of animals are stuck together with their new master for the rest of their lives (see Matthew and Kumajiro, Gilbert and Gilbird, Francis and Pierre,…). It's like a monster's best friend, but still, most monsters don't have such pets. You're a lucky creature if you happen to meet your animal other half during your life, even if you're immortal.
xoxox
Beginning of Arc 3.
xoxox
Ivan could remember that day as if it were yesterday.
The sound of lonely seagulls bickering over some petty leftovers, the scent of salty and vast oceans, the feeling of the wind caressing his cheeks and tangling up his hair.
The sensation of letting go, of trying to find peace in a restless world, a restless soul (or several souls, if you want to look at it that way).
And then he came.
Seeing a man he thought was about to kill himself, this stranger had stepped him, pulled him away from the water, gushed over him like one would do over a little child. Dragged him home, gave him a blanket and some hot cocoa, lending him a listening ear (even if he did most of the talking, Ivan just staring in astonished amazement).
Ivan would like to believe him to be a child of the sun. For that day, he showed compassion to a stranger. He touched Ivan's heart like no one had ever done before him.
Ivan was forever grateful for that.
If only he could figure out the why-part of the equation.
Ivan had developed a growing curiosity in his later years, one that wasn't easily satisfied. So to meet a creature whose ideas and ideals were so very different from him own, it simply boggled his mind.
He had to know, yearned to learn more, craved for information, desired it, needed to solve the puzzle.
He was more than intrigued. Much more.
And now he finally had all the time in the world to figure him out.
Yet even with all that time, he still didn't have the patience.
xoxox
New Year's Resolutions
Hi you guys, guess who's back! That's right, it's AV! Your friendly neighborhood vampire!
So yeah, winter break is over. And it's been some of the craziest weeks of my life. Had to babysit a little monster who thinks he's crocodile Dundee, apparently made a new friend, keep getting in weird positions with said friend so that everyone gives me these weird looks (I swear they keep walking in on us on purpose!)(And it's totally not what it looks like, you guys. You're all just a bunch of pervs. Especially YOU, Silver.) Had my first taste of vodka, and it made me never wanna drink again.
Oh yeah, and I'm finally not a virgin anymore! (Again, not in that way.) The week before the break was already pretty amazing, but now I'm really gonna pick up my game. Watch out school, American Vamp is on his way!
At first I wasn't one hundred percent thrilled due to certain reasons, but now I've finally realized those bullies don't have shit on me anymore! I can start working on my grades again, I'm no longer weak… Yes, this year's gonna be awesome!
This year I'm going to show them all what I'm really made of!
AV signing out!
-American Vamp-
Congratulations
And I wish you the best of luck with that. ;)
(Are you sure you are not the one who has his mind in the gutter?)
-Silver-
No
My mind is as clean as the soft skin of a newborn baby.
-American Vamp-
Of course
Sure it i-
[Message ends here.]
Alfred furrowed his brow, eyeing his phone with a high level of suspicion. Why was Silver's message cut off all of a sudden? Had he somehow lost connection with the internet?
Matthew lightly elbowed him, startling the blue-eyed teen out of his musings.
"Having trouble with your boyfriend?"
Alfred's face heated up faster than a flash of lightning, and he scowled angrily at his twin.
"For the last time, Matthew, I'm not gay! In fact, if either of us has to be gay it should be you, because you're way more girly- motherfucker!"
Matthew stuck out his tongue as the other rubbed the sore spot on his upper arm.
"That's for calling me girly," the teen declared, cracking his knuckles.
"Pancake one, hamburger zero!" Kumajiro cheered, running ahead as his owner giggled and the other pouted.
"You have to be attracted to guys in order to be considered gay, Matt," the sunny blond sourly reminded his sibling.
Matthew sent him a mischievous leer.
"Not necessarily. As long as you're interested in one guy, it counts. One tall, demonic, very Russian guy."
Alfred jerked to a halt and stomped his foot in frustration, not able to keep that smug smile combined with scorching amethysts out of his mind as soon as Matthew mentioned the demon.
"I am so not gay for Bragisnky! It's not because we're not at each other's throats anymore that I've suddenly got the hots for him! What are you thinking Mattie?!"
"There's a girl you like then?" the other asked, smiling sweetly.
Alfred paused. "Well uh…"
"Admit it. You've never been in love with a girl before. So there's a huge possibility you're just not that into them."
Alfred shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking again when the bell rung, indicating the start of a new semester at Monster High.
"Why are you so obsessed with it all of a sudden?! You've never asked me about this kinda stuff before."
"Because there was no need to," Matthew explained, shrugging. "Now there is. Because you know Al, normal friends don't think about each other 24/7. They don't crawl into each other's lap the way you do with him. And they definitely don't drink each other's-"
"Sssssssssssh!"
The blue-eyed teen clasped a hand over his mouth and glanced around, glad to see no one had overheard them.
"What were you thinking?!" he hissed.
"Sorry. But it's still true."
Alfred growled and marched on, his twin having to sprint to catch up to him.
"It's not, and I'll prove it! I ain't thinking about Braginsky as long as he's not around!"
xoxox
He was thinking about him. But he had a very good reason for that, mind you!
It was the sunflower. The one standing at the back of the classroom. The stupid piece of flora no one ever seemed to concern themselves about. The one that reminded him of that one time he and Ivan had detention together.
Half of the petals were gone. The flower still stood up, but it seemed less vibrant, wilting slightly. As if the mysterious flower owner hadn't had the time lately to come water his flora.
"Alfred, can you tell me what the answer is?"
"Huh?"
Alfred quickly snapped his head back, refocussing his attention to Mrs. Khemet.
"You weren't paying attention again, were you?" she sighed, and a few students snickered.
"Sorry Mrs. K. Could you repeat the question?"
"All right then," she allowed, raising her eyes to the heavens in exasperation. "Are vampires able to overpower demons?"
Alfred blinked, then grinned. He knew this one.
"Yes they are. But only if the vampire has fed not too long ago, and it also depends on their levels of skill."
The teacher could only just stop herself from gaping at him. With a light shaking of the head she straightened her figure, and smiled victoriously.
"That is correct! I am impressed, Alfred. I'm glad to see you finally joining my class."
Alfred grinned goofily, getting a good-hearted pat on the shoulder from his twin and a few thumbs-up from his fellow students – because he was apparently on their good side again after his epic speech in the canteen. Things were finally starting to look up for World's Worst Vampire!
xoxox
Class was over, and Alfred was taking his sweet time packing his things. He still kept throwing the occasional glance at the lone sunflower, curiosity reigniting as to who on earth the owner could possibly be. Matthew had already gone ahead to catch up with their friends, and almost all of the students had left the classroom.
Someone knocked on the door before entering, and Alfred couldn't help but overhear the conversation between Mrs. Khemet and their history teacher.
"And to what do I owe the privilege, Kalliope Akantha?" Mrs. Khemet said, leafing through some homework assignments. The Greek smiled gently at her, settling on one of the desks.
"Just felt like talking, Ani." (Ani being Mrs. Khemet's first name.)
"I am a bit concerned about one of my honour students. He didn't show up at school today, and he hasn't called in sick or anything. Normally I wouldn't worry all that much, since he's really a model student, but today I handed out some tasks that need to be filled in by tomorrow. Usually I would ask someone to bring it to him, but no one was rather keen on it… Understandable, but still… I guess I'll have to do it myself."
"Is he a vampire? Or another species?" Khemet asked, giving the other a pointed look.
Akantha shook her head.
"No, a demon. Ivan Braginsky. You might have heard of him, perhaps."
Naturally, after overhearing all this, Alfred couldn't remain uninvolved. He zipped up his bag and walked to the front of the now empty classroom.
"Uh… Sorry to interrupt, but did you say Ivan Braginsky?"
Mrs. Khemet cocked an eyebrow, as if to say "It's not nice to eavesdrop," but the other nodded.
"Yes. You know him?"
"Actually, I do. And I was thinking, perhaps I could bring him his homework? That way you don't have to waste time and stuff."
It was really just a pathetic excuse so he could finally find out where the demon lived, actually. But no one needed to know that.
Akantha smiled, eyes twinkling with pleasant surprise and relief.
"Oh, that would be terribly nice of you! How odd, I didn't think Ivan had any friends."
Alfred blushed a bright pink as she gave him the required papers.
"Yeah, we haven't been friends for that long… But could you give me the directions to his house? I haven't been there yet."
"Of course, dear."
xoxox
Alfred was walking through a street full of old mansion-like houses. All nicely bordered by iron fences, all at least three stories high. The windows had neat decorations and the grass in the front yards was nicely cut, not a spot of weeds to be found. Some of the houses were unoccupied, and branches of ivy had curled their way up the walls in an almost artistic manner.
Alfred checked the address again. Yes, this was the right street. Which meant that Ivan was either rich and a lot more of a snob than Alfred ever would've imagined, or he had lied about his whereabouts. Alfred simply couldn't imagine the Russian living here. Or maybe he'd killed someone for it…
"Number three, five, seven, nine…"
He looked up from his little paper for just a second, and was then stopped dead in his tracks. The note with Ivan's address fell from his hands, feathering softly to the ground. Not that Alfred needed it anymore. Even if he hadn't known the demon lived at number thirteen, he would have been able to recognize it with his eyes closed.
Ivan's front yard was filled to the brink with sunflowers. Big ones at the house, shielding it from curious onlookers, covering the bay window at front. Smaller ones at the side of the street, as if you could descend from the house using the flora as your staircase.
Ivan was the one behind the sunflowers at school. He simply had to be. And Alfred felt pretty darn proud of himself for figuring it out.
The vampire re-adjusted the strap of his backpack and marched over to house number thirteen. The bricks were painted a vibrant yellow and the red panes of the roof were replaced by soothing sky blue ones. Alfred pushed against the iron gate, surprised to see it wasn't locked. It did screech a little eerily when it moved, but the sunny blond had expected as much. He followed the mossy path to the front door, climbed the four steps leading up to it, and rang the bell. He could imagine his heart thumping against his ribs, nervous excitement overtaking him.
A few soft noises inside, but no one came to open the door. Getting a tad impatient, Alfred rung again, and three more times after that for good measure. Now that he'd finally found out where Braginsky lived, he wasn't planning on being shut out!
Someone yelled something, and at long last the sound of footsteps came closer to the door. Alfred made a mental note that apparently, Ivan wasn't living here all by himself. Which was in fact a huge surprise, seeing as he didn't have any friends.
The door swung open, and Alfred was met by a very grumpy-looking Ivan. He had bags under his eyes, either some serious bed-head or he'd been rolling around on the floor, his lips were sourly pointing downwards and his skin was paler than ever. The demon was wearing a loose t-shirt and some jeans – who knew Ivan would look that good in a simple pair of levis?! – yet the scarf was still draped firmly around his neck.
At seeing who exactly his visitor was, Ivan's entire expression changed. Instead of grouchy and uninviting, his eyes widened, eyebrows shooting up to disappear behind his snowy bangs, his mouth fell open, and his figure slightly slumped.
"Alfred?" he asked, voice high-pithed with disbelief.
"Uh, yeah. Who else?" Alfred tried to joke, suddenly a little self-aware under the demon's unabashed staring.
"What are you doing here?" Ivan wanted to know, dumbfounded stupidity still showing very clearly on his face.
"Oh yeah-" Alfred set his backpack down and pulled out the homework he was supposed to deliver.
"There was something you had do for history, and it had to be handed in tomorrow. So I offered to bring it to you, and now you can make it and then I'll hand it in for you in case you think you won't be able to make it tomorrow, and… Yeah. That's about it."
Alfred lamely held the paper out, looking anywhere but at Ivan. The demon took his assignment without a word and quickly scanned it, before nodding.
"Ah, spasiba… I forgot to inform school of my absence."
"Why are you staying at home anyway?" Alfred asked.
"…Sick," the demon said after a little pause, and Alfred knew he wasn't telling him the full truth.
"Sooooooo, we're just gonna keep standing here or what?" the American hinted, pointedly casting looks over Ivan's shoulder to try and steal a glance of the hallway.
"Ah, da. I suppose not."
The Russian shot a look behind him as well, before coming to a decision.
"My room is upstairs," he said, turning around and starting to walk away.
"Um…"
Ivan looked back when the vampire didn't follow, raising an eyebrow at his peculiar behaviour. Alfred waved a bit with his hands, frowning at the doorstep as if it had somehow offended him.
"Uh… Dude, in case you don't know yet, I'm kinda a vampire."
"So?" Ivan asked, lightly tilting his head to the side.
"So, I can't come in unless you specifically invite me. You know the drill."
Ivan blinked, then smiled.
"Ah, so that legend is actually true? I did not expect that to be the case."
Alfred rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, but can you please invite me in now? I don't want the neighbours to stare at me."
"Da, da," Ivan giggled. Then in a more serious tone, he continued. "Alfred, you are hereby officially invited into my house."
The vampire sighed and finally took that last step forward, closing the door behind him. Ivan laughed as they headed up the stairs, and Alfred wobbled behind him with a sulky pout.
"Not my fault we work that way… It's just in our DNA, you know? Something that stuck from the olden days, I guess."
Completely disregarding the second floor, Ivan headed up another batch of stairs, and it was only then that Alfred remembered to look around. There were no decorations in the halls, no old photographs hanging from the walls. But Alfred suspected there to be at least some decorations in the actual rooms, seeing as the outside of the house was so colourful.
"Who else lives here?" he asked, recalling the voices and seeing several doors that were apparently not Ivan's bedroom.
"Family," the demon avoided the question. They climbed up the last set of stairs and reached the fourth floor, the one right under the roof. This hallway only had one door, a big, intimidating square of dark mahogany.
"This is my room," Ivan redundantly informed him, sending a short glance over his shoulder before twisting the doorknob and opening the passageway to his room.
As Ivan flicked on the lights and walked over to his desk, Alfred took the time to look around.
The room was pretty big, and probably bright during daytime, thick black curtains shielding a rather sizeable window. Alfred quickly took off his sneakers when he saw Ivan's floor was covered in soft grey carpet, not wanting to get any mud on it. The walls were painted yellow, not as bright as the sunflowers and bricks outside, more soothing. There was a bed standing against the left wall, and it looked like it came right from the fabricant, unslept and cold. What definitely was used, was a suede divan in the right corner of the room. The pillows were fluffy, a blanket hanging half-on-half-off the piece of furniture, and little parts of ice still melting where the demon had lain. Alfred briefly wondered why Ivan didn't use his bed instead, but there was more to inspect.
Left of the door stood a wardrobe, a dusty mirror hanging on the wall above. Four little dolls were placed neatly on top of it, and Alfred frowned when he couldn't remember what those were called (matrushies? mashoshka?). Against the far-right wall next to the divan stood a bookcase, and Alfred wandered over to it the moment he didn't pay attention to his feet. All kinds of books were stored there, talking about various topics. Astronomy, chemistry, biology, history, arts, novels, and so on. From Newton to Kant to Einstein to Tolstoj to Wilde to Pythagoras… They were all present. Either Ivan had a lot of free time to read all this, or he had some sort of reading superpowers.
Alfred reached out to grab a specific book, but flinched when the Russian spoke up.
"Do not break anything, da? I am rather attached to those books."
The younger teen looked back. Ivan was seated behind his desk, which was standing against the wall to the right of the door. He wasn't looking at Alfred, bent over his history homework, but the vampire could feel those shining violets on him nonetheless.
"I'll be careful," he assured the other, before pulling out his book of choice. He flopped down onto the bed, deciding to make himself comfortable while he was here.
The room was completely silent other than Ivan's scribbling and the sound of pages being turned. Alfred wasn't really reading, he just wanted to have something to do while he waited for the demon to finish. There were so many questions he wanted to ask, and it infuriated him to no end that he probably wouldn't get any answers.
What was the thing with him and sunflowers? What did he mean, he was sick? Demons didn't get sick, as far as Alfred knew. And they also didn't have families, if he recalled correctly.
Yes, there it was. The memory popped up as soon as he let his attention slip. It was the one class they'd ever had about demons, a true privilege, because they usually didn't bother with other species. Someone had posed a silly question, and after a lot of nagging and insisting from the rest of the class, Mrs. Akantha had caved in and spent the rest of the hour talking about demons – which was easy for her, as she was part demon herself.
Demons weren't born. Not in the way humans were born, at least. While human babies were born from other humans, demons didn't have parents. They came into existence by enchanted objects, rituals, or an accumulation of specific emotions (fear being a great example, or an abundance of lust and horniness in the case of sex demons). No demon was bound by blood to another, so they didn't have any 'real' family.
Alfred wondered what would be considered worse. Having parents but losing them and completely forgetting who they are, or having no parents at all.
"Done," Ivan sighed, politely muffling a couch in his hand. He leant back in his chair, and Alfred closed the book he had been 'reading'.
"If I am not asking too much, could you hand the assignment in for me? I do not believe my health will be restored enough by tomorrow to go to school."
"Sure thing. What sickness do you have anyway? I didn't know demons could get sick."
The Russian closed his eyes, suddenly looking very tired.
"Moi tsvety…"
"What was that?"
Ivan shook his head, rising from his chair.
"Nothing, dorogoy. You should leave now. The sick have to rest, da? And thank you again, for bringing me my homework."
Alfred barely got the time to put on his sneakers as Ivan ushered him out of his room.
"What's the rush? Is your sickness something embarrassing?"
"Nyet. Just very tiring. I will tell you some other time."
"This again," Alfred groaned, scoffing as he was herded down the stairs. When they reached the first floor, he could hear a voice calling from somewhere in the house. A female voice.
"Brat? Kto eto?"
"Ne seychas, sestra!" Ivan replied, becoming a bit pushy while he guided Alfred to the front door.
The vampire raised his eyebrows, but Ivan didn't feel like enlightening him.
"I will see you at school once I have recovered, koshka. Until then, you will have to go without my blood for a while."
His fangs immediately whined in protest, having completely forgotten about that until now. As if they were already taking it for granted that Ivan's blood was available 24/7.
"How long will it take?" Alfred asked, cursing himself for sounding so sullen.
"Depends. A couple of days at least. Unless…"
He shook his head, and managed a pained smile.
"Goodbye, dorogoy."
The door was closed, and Alfred was once again left with dozens of unanswered questions.
xoxox
"Here is Ivan's homework, Mrs. Akantha."
"Ah, wonderful! Thank you very much Alfred."
The vampire handed their history teacher the papers, and let his eyes wander through the classroom while she skimmed through them. It was then that he noticed something.
Even more sunflowers. It was like Ivan had placed one in every single classroom. But why? And just like the one in his homeroom, this flower seemed in desperate need of water. Too bad Braginsky wasn't here to fulfil that need. Unless…
"Ah, Mrs. A?"
"Hm?" The woman looked up, surprised to see him still here.
"Would you mind if I watered the flowers for a bit? They look dry."
Her eyes shot to the back of the class, and she frowned.
"Of course you can. That's strange, they never look like that…"
She provided him with a watering can, and the following hour Alfred could be seen running through the school to water each and every single sunflower he could find. Most specimens just needed a sip, but some of them had lost a few petals just like the one in his classroom. It was really odd, as if someone had purposefully made them wither. Or maybe Ivan hadn't had the time to take care of them lately? It would make sense, with the winter break having just ended and all. And now that he was sick, he definitely couldn't water… the… flowers…
His jaw plummeted, the watering can dropping to the ground with a loud clang.
Ivan. Sunflowers. Here at school, and back at his mansion.
The sunflowers withering.
Ivan being sick.
The sunflowers and Ivan…
"Oh my fucking God."
Without hesitation, Alfred swung his backpack over his shoulder and raced out of the classroom, through the hallways, and out the main gate. He didn't slow down when he heard his friends call after him, only shouting at them that he had some important business to attend to. He didn't stop for the red light, ignoring the angry honking of drivers. Street after street he kept running, blood rushing to his ears and breath rumbling in and out of his lungs. No time to waste on such petty annoyances, as he really did have more important business to attend to.
Ivan and his sunflowers. There was a reason he had them at home. A reason he had put one in every single classroom. A reason he and Alfred had snuck out of detention that one day, so the demon could go and take care of them as Alfred now realized. A reason Ivan got sick right when his precious flowers did too.
A reason he was that powerful.
Alfred rounded a corner and finally allowed himself to slow down when he found the street of his destination. Panting heavily, he marched towards house number thirteen with the most determination he had ever felt. Speeding down the mossy pathway, jumping up those four steps, he rang the bell. Ready for confrontation.
Ivan had already told him, after all. He didn't solely feed on human flesh. There was something else giving him strength.
Ivan Braginsky was a sunflower demon.
xoxox
Tip of the day
Song: Love me Dead - Ludo
Story: Wishing for You - Mister Diddums (In which Alfred is in love with the Moon, and Ivan longs for the company of a Star.)
Words:
Moi tsvety: My flowers
Brat: Brother
Kto eto?: Who is it?
Ne seychas: Not now
Sestra: Sister