VI
The weekend crawled by far too slowly. All Ellis could do was to glare at the picture, pace angrily, glare at the picture again, take a cup of blood, pace a bit more, and glare at the picture again. When Serena dropped by, Ellis told her everything. And a few moments later, the two of them were glaring at the picture together, pacing together, and glaring some more.
Really, it was a beautiful weekend.
And school… school was supposed to be a terror. There were three tests and two projects due on that Monday, and Ellis didn't finish a single thing, but at the same time, she was counting the seconds till she could run into the schoolyard and question the life out of Dreyon.
When Monday came, Ellis and Serena flew. They dressed, ate, and packed so quickly they arrived at the school gate an hour earlier than usual. In fact, the freaking security guard hasn't arrived yet.
Serena opened her science textbook and started studying. Ellis opened her book too, but she knew that even if she forced herself to study, she wouldn't be able to memorize a single fact. She simply couldn't help but to stare into the distance, her heart leaping with hope the second she saw a silhouette arrive, only to be disappointed as she saw a random student walk past them.
An hour passed. The courtyard was soon filled with students milling around, chatting away. Serena had finished studying for two tests, and Dreyon still wasn't there.
"Where is he?" Ellis growled.
"Late?" Serena suggested.
Ellis scowled.
The warning bell rang. Every student rushed indoors, grabbing their books and heading to class.
"Ellis, we should go." Serena said.
"A few more minutes," Ellis pleaded.
"Dreyon's not coming!" Serena said urgently. "Come on, we're going to be late. Think about it. If he's coming, wouldn't he be here, like, thirty minutes ago?"
Ellis growled again, but what Serena said was so painfully true. Dreyon wasn't at school.
Whirling around, Ellis stormed into the building, with Serena scampering behind. When Dreyon arrived… he'd be facing hell from her.
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Dreyon didn't come during the first period. Nor the second. Nor the third. By the fourth period, Ellis was getting a little desperate. Why? (1) She probably flunked her entire report card, and since Dreyon didn't arrive with the answers she needed, she sacrificed her grades for nothing. (2) She was so freakishly jittery it was scaring everyone. Every time she heard footsteps in the hallway, she'd sit ridiculously straight, and stare at the door for five minutes before sinking back down. The first few times were all right, but after a while, everyone was starting to get really annoyed by her… perkiness.
During lunch, it was clear that Dreyon wasn't going to appear. As Serena and Ellis sat down with their food, Ellis slammed her fork down.
"I'm ditching school." Ellis announced.
"You sure?" Serena arched her eyebrows.
"Yes," Ellis said firmly. That was it. If Dreyon was avoiding her, fine. Be that way. But she was getting those answers no matter what.
"You really sure?" Serena asked again. "Look, I get that you're excited, but are you sure Dreyon's worth it? I mean, I'm excited too, but since Dreyon's not coming… are you sure you want to chase after him? He's a sick little brat. Just… forget about him. He's not worth it."
"I know," Ellis sighed. "But… I can't explain it. I just have to figure out what's going on. I mean, we've got freaking eternity before us, and ninety percent of it is going to be really boring. If there's something fun, I'm going for it."
"All right," Serena said.
Ellis smiled. "You're staying here, right?"
Serena smiled weakly. "Yeah. I'd like to turn in my project."
Ellis hugged Serena. "Hope you get a hundred percent. Bye!"
Serena waved as Ellis grabbed her bag and disappeared from the cafeteria.
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Ellis ran. She tore out of the school so fast no one saw her at all. For a moment, she paused by the sidewalk. Where would Dreyon go? Probably somewhere quiet? Or maybe he left town?
Ellis scowled, and ran again. She tore down the streets of the entire town, her eyes scanning the windows and buildings for the familiar face. But she couldn't find him anywhere.
Then, it hit her. If Dreyon was trying to avoid her, he'd probably do something entertaining to pass time… like hunting. There were probably lots of good hunting spots. Bars, nightclubs, and slums where nobody cared what happened. Dreyon could be in any one of them, and…
Ellis darted over to the place where he took her for the hunt. This would be a good place to start.
And apparently, Ellis hit the jackpot. Even before she arrived, she could already smell the stench of blood and roasting bodies under the hot sun. Her foot splashed into something, and with a yelp, Ellis leapt back. She had stepped into a puddle of blood.
Ellis steadied herself. The nightclub looked much simpler in the day, where it was just a small concrete building. But there were ugly streaks of red and brown all over its walls, and birds were flocking over, splattering the roof with feces.
Here goes nothing. Ellis took a deep breath and walked into the nightclub.
It was a massacre. The barman was sprawled over a cabinet full of smashed alcohol bottles, his throat torn out. A few girls were dead, scattered all over the floor, their limbs twisted and eyes wide with fear. A middle-aged man was hunched over the bar. For a moment, Ellis thought he might be still alive, but the second she tapped him on the shoulder, he rolled over, revealing a bloody hole in his chest.
"Dreyon!" Ellis shouted. "Where are you?"
Nobody answered.
"Dreyon!" Ellis screamed. "Come right now, you fricking bastard! What do you think you're doing, huh?"
"Hunting," a growl came from behind the bar.
Despite everything, Ellis took a step back.
Dreyon stood up. He really looked like a vampire, his shirt and face stained with blood. His eyes were glowing, and he tossed a limp body behind him like trash. Honestly, it was like being in a horror movie. Except that they were both monsters.
"Dreyon…" Ellis sighed. "What… why… you know what? Let's get you home, all right? You need a break."
"I don't." Dreyon said. He turned back and picked up a corpse as if it weighed nothing, slamming it onto the bar with a sickening thud. He bent over and started drinking. Ellis shuddered as she heard the nasty sucking noise of blood draining from the corpse and into his system.
"Here." Ellis reached into her backpack and took out the photograph, placing it beside the corpse, where Dreyon could see. Then, she stood back.
Dreyon's hands froze. The corpse slithered to the ground, slapping back onto the tiled floor. Blood dripped down his chin, a drop splattering onto the photograph.
"Who is she?" Ellis asked quietly.
Dreyon swallowed. Weakly, he sank into a bar chair. Ellis sat down on the other side as well, so they were face to face.
"Who is she?" Ellis asked again.
"Alice." Dreyon sighed. "Alice Goldsburn."
"It's a beautiful name," Ellis said.
"It is," Dreyon said. Right now, he didn't seem so much like the monster he was, killing people left and right. He seemed more like a fallen warrior, wounded and mourning for someone he lost.
"What happened to her?" Ellis probed carefully.
Dreyon's fist clenched. For a moment, Ellis was poised to duck and run. Then, his fist relaxed. And when he spoke, his voice was still strong, but there was evidently sadness intertwined with the usual drawl.
"She died. There weren't any good doctors or medicine at the time. So she just died like that. And… do you know how hard it is to watch the person you love the most die in front of you, bit by bit and in so much pain? Do you know how hard it is to watch her die and not being able to do any freaking that at all?" Dreyon's voice ended in a shout.
"No," Ellis said.
Dreyon laughed bitterly. "Yeah, so now you know, huh? Like how those stupid soap operas go? The bad guy always has some deep dark secret that makes him the bad guy? Yeah, you got that deep dark secret. Happy now? Hope I got all your questions."
Well… no, he didn't get all of her questions, but Ellis wasn't going to risk asking more. And… in a way, Ellis couldn't be angry at him anymore. Losing someone like that… it probably changed Dreyon in such a way… Ellis wouldn't even try imagining his pain.
"Do you want a ride home?" Ellis asked.
Dreyon blinked in surprise. "What?"
"I mean, I have a nice car. I don't use it a lot, but it's there. And since we can't exactly have you walk around in broad daylight with blood all over the place, I thought I could give you a ride, you know. So that no one can see you like that and all…" Ellis finished lamely.
"That… that sounds great." Dreyon said.
Ellis smiled happily. "All right then. You wait here and try to clean up a bit. I'll get my care, and we'll head home."
With that, Ellis ran out of the nightclub. Yes, she knew that Dreyon could easily run home so quickly no one would even see his shadow. But the reason why she asked him to let her give him a ride was because… well… maybe Dreyon wasn't a monster after all. And Ellis would really like to meet the boy behind the monster's face.