I guess this chapter has become a little bit longer than the previous ones. Because of the inspiration this video had given me, I wrote more than I usually do :)
I'd like to thank Guys in My Head for this beautiful trailer. It really reflects the spirit of the story. I hope you all like it as much as I do.
www . dailymotion .com/video/xe6gtw_unthinkable_people
Having heard a cavernous lament in the depth of his sleep, Ben suddenly woke up and jumped to his feet as if someone had kicked him out of the bed. He looked at his watch. It was 5 a.m. The lament which was coming from the bathroom belonged to Aurah, undoubtedly. Ben put on his t-shirt and went to the bathroom to see what was going on. The door was locked. He held himself back and knocked the door rather gently before he might do something reckless.
"Aurah, what's the matter? Are you okay?"
No response.
"Aurah, what's going on in there? I heard you cry."
No response.
"Aurah, open the door!"
Still no response…
"Hey, don't make me crash the door!" Ben growled.
"Could you please leave me alone?" Aurah groused.
"Okay…" Ben rubbed his face with both hands to get out of his sleepy mood. "You've left me no choice. Keep away from the door! Otherwise you might get hurt!" He gave a warning before he razed it to the ground at one go.
The door was smashed into smithereens. He jumped over it to get to Aurah who crouched by the bathtub. Her arms were wrapped around her own belly. She seemed like having a terrible stomach ache.
"What's wrong?" Ben curiously asked, looking at Aurah's bitter face which had completely turned white.
"That's not something you can understand. I need some time and space to handle it on my own," Aurah said callously.
"If you deign to tell me what is going on, maybe I can decide whether I'll be helpful or not."
Aurah crumbled her belly harshly. "I have a griping pain. That's what is going on," she muttered.
When Ben drew near Aurah, he was suddenly frozen up by a scent his sensitive wolf nose caught. Sniffing the air nervously, he whispered:"Blood!"
Oh, uh!" Aurah raised her eyebrows. "I should have thought that you would catch that!"
"Bloody hell! You smell like a piece of bloody fresh meat. Did you get cut?"
"Sort of," Aurah answered innocently. Then she noticed that Ben's eyes had become bright wolf eyes. "Hey!" She yelled, trying to sound funny. "Don't ever consider changing now! I'm not strong enough to fight you right now."
Ben frowned. "You'll lose anyway if you try to fight me," he said smugly. "I guess we have to call Samuel!" He stood up. "You'd better see a doctor."
"No!" Aurah reached out and caught his arm before he could turn around to walk out. "Don't call him! I don't want him to know!" She paused for a moment, thinking desperately. "Could you bring my mobile phone? I'm going to call my mother."
Ben rushed into his bedroom to pick Aurah's phone. If there had been someone to clock, he would have taken his place in Guiness Records, breaking a speed record.
He had found the right number to hit, before he extended the Blackberry to Aurah. She was bewildered.
"Do you know how to use this?" She gave a tiny smile.
Ben curled his lip. "Are you kidding? Computers and cell phones are my proficiency."
Before Aurah could say something else, her mother picked up the phone:
"Baby, why are you awake at 5.15 in the morning?" Angelina asked.
"Mom," Aurah moaned.
"Aurah! You sound terrible. What happened?"
"Mom, I guess I'm having my first period !"
After she had said that, she lifted her head up to see Ben's expression. But the only expression he had upon his face was a blank astonishment…
Being completely numb, Angelina Castle sighed. She looked for the right gentle words to settle her baby girl down.
"Baby, relax! It's a natural process. We've talked about it before, remember? I wish I were there to help you, but unfortunately I'm not. I think you should tell Samuel. He's a doctor. He knows what to do."
"Samuel is not here right now," Aurah replied.
"Where did he go?" Angelina's voice became tense.
Aurah shrugged. "He's on the night shift and hasn't made it back, yet."
"Are you all by yourself?" Angelina's teeth were almost creaked.
"No, a friend of Samuel's is looking after me."
"All right…" Angelina heaved a sigh of annoyance. "I think you're gonna have to take nourishment. Do you understand, baby?"
"Yes," Aurah whispered.
"Do you think he can help you with that?"
Looking at Ben, Aurah swallowed. "I don't know. I'll ask."
"Maybe I should come to take you back to New York tomorrow," said Angelina.
"No, no!" Aurah objected in a flurry. "I'm good! I'll be just fine when I get rid of this unbearable griping pain in my belly."
"Are you sure?"
"One hundred percent sure!" Aurah tried to sound as cheerful as she can to convince her mother.
"Okay. But, promise me that you'll talk to Samuel about your period when he comes back. Deal?"
"Deal," Aurah replied.
"I love you, baby."
"Love you, too mama. Say 'hi' to grandpa from me!" said Aurah before she hung up.
When she raised her hand to look at Ben who was standing in the doorway, she saw that the blank astonishment on his face hadn't vanished, yet.
After a minute passed in silence, Aurah began to laugh up her sleeve. "Ask!" She said to Ben.
"Ask what?" Ben murmured, studying the pieces of the crashed door scattered on the floor.
"You don't know what period means, do you?" She narrowed her eyes.
"I'm not sure" said Ben, Mr. Know-it-all, feeling embarrassed. "I mean, I've heard of it once or twice on TV, but I've never wondered what it really means."
Aurah coughed to clear her throat before she gave Ben a quick lecture on "female's anatomy":
"Well… Every girl has their menstrual period when they get to the puberty age. It's a sign that your childhood is over, and you're becoming a young woman now."
Ben blushed like a tomato when he finally predicted where this was going to.
Aurah continued calmly. "It goes like this; the waste blood in the womb gets thrown out of the body through the…"
"Okay! Say no more!" Ben yelled, raising his hand.
"All right…" Aurah bit her lip like a naughty child.
Ben was looking for a way to save himself from proceeding this shameless conversation any longer. Actually it had always been Ben's style to make such shameless talks. He'd never ashamed to use an epithet referring to female genitalia while talking about women… till now!
Lucky that his phone rang at that instant! Ben rushed out of the bathroom to take the call. "Samuel," he answered almost happily.
Samuel, wondering why Ben was happy to hear from him, coughed. "I'm almost finished in here. Tell Aurah that I'm coming to take her home."
"Great!" Ben said trying so hard not to sound so cheerful. "Aurah really needs you right now. You'd better be quick!"
"Something happened?" Samuel froze.
"Well, she says she's in period!" Ben whispered carefully. "She might be right. Everywhere smells like blood. It's driving me nuts!"
Samuel's eyes smoldered. "I'll be there in 20 minutes. Keep her warm. Don't do anything stupid!" He said and hung up all of a sudden.
Tossing his head, "Don't do anything stupid!" Ben muttered to himself, with an exaggeration of the drawl that Samuel's Welsh accent had.
Ben got back to the bathroom where Aurah was lying flat on the floor. Her chubby face had never looked so pale before.
Ben crouched and bobbed his head. "It's not good for you to lie on this cold marble pavement. Your dad says that you should be kept warm."
"I feel too weak to move my feet. Would you lift me up?" Aurah mildly asked.
"Okay," Ben sighed. He took Aurah into his lap carefully and lifted her up. "Let's bring you to the kitchen and feed you with chicken wings and chips as your mother requested. Or else…"
Before Ben got a chance to finish his word, Aurah clung to his shoulder and got her teeth into his skin, drawing blood. Ben was struck dumb. Somehow he managed to stand motionless and control his wolf until Aurah was finished. When Aurah tossed her head, half of her face was covered with Ben's blood.
"You are…" He was having difficulty to find the right word to define the young girl in his arms.
"Half vampire," Aurah helped him complete the puzzle.
"Bloody Hell! How could it be?"
"Long story," Aurah heaved a sigh. "My grandpa did some scientific tests on my mom, using vampire blood –without knowing that she was pregnant, of course. And here is the result!"
"Wait a minute! If you're a vampire, how come you are able to eat human food?"
Aurah rolled her eyes dramatically. "Benjamin, waking up so early has a bad effect on your brain, I think. I- am- not- a- vampire! I'm half human!"
"Whatever!" Ben grimaced. "I don't even wanna know!"
After he had placed Aurah on the bed, he swaddled her with a blanket. He was moving fast to get away from the irresistible scent of blood of her and of himself as soon as possible. Just when he was about to arise, thinking that Aurah was done with him, Aurah caught his arm once more.
"Stay here until Samuel arrives," she said smiling faintly.
Ben nodded. He curled up on the corner of the bed without looking at Aurah's direction. It was a few seconds later when he felt gentle finger twisting his hair.
"Your hair is so nice," Aurah said mildly with her sweetest voice. "Like golden."
Feeling somewhat afraid to meet her gaze, Ben kept looking away. He was at a loss as to what to say and what to do.
"I'm brunette," Aurah continued to break the ice, "How boring! Maybe I should dye my hair to red. What do you think?"
Ben swallowed. "I'm not much in favor of red hair," he mumbled.
"Was your mother red-head?" Aurah asked her question of the day, straight like an arrow.
It convulsed Ben's mind. He buried his head in the sheet without leaving one square centimeter to breathe like he wanted to choke himself. He was struggling hard not to expose what he had been collecting within himself through years. Aurah's hand which was caressing his hair stopped.
"I hate what she did to you!" She said vitally with an irascible voice in tone. "But… Ben, I would never ever do that. I know you wouldn't, either!"
Taking a deep breath, Ben finally found the courage to turn his head to look at Aurah's face which was looking much better now with pink cheeks and shiny eyes.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Ben asked desperately with a voice almost provoking pity.
Aurah leaned forward a little bit more and touched his face. But, when the door bell rang, she had to wake up from her un-thinkable dream.
Ben jumped to his feet and run through the corridor. When he opened the door, Samuel came inside in his lab coat. Ignoring Ben, he directly headed for the bedroom.
"How is she now?" He asked.
"She looks good," Ben accidentally said. Samuel suddenly turned and stared at Ben with fire in his eyes. As soon as Ben realized the blunder that he had made, he quickly hung his head and said "I… I mean she is good."
"Dad, I feel fine!" Aurah called out, having come to her feet already.
"I was freaked out!" Samuel heaved a sigh. He took her face between his hands and kissed her forehead. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes," Aurah murmured. She took her back bag and put on her shoes, looking at Ben from the corner of her eyes.
Samuel shook hands with Ben. "Thanks for looking after her. I'm grateful for your help," he formally said.
While they were walking out the door, Samuel whispered in Aurah's ear: "Did he treat you nice?"
Aurah smiled. "Well, he was occasionally nice, but not so delicious," she said walking to the car, holding his father's hand.
The rain was drizzling. "Mmm… I love summer rain," Aurah murmured. Before she got in the car, she turned her head to right to look at Ben one more time. When she met the disappointed look upon his face, her smile widened even farther.
"Hey!" She called out to him with an excellent imitation of his nifty British accent. "Don't be so sad! I was talking cannibalism, NOT romance!"
Even long after Samuel drove his car away, Ben kept standing at the door with an open mouth, thinking of the last sentence Aurah had said to him. Because those were exactly the same words which he had once told Mercy as a joke…
End of Chapter 6