Born from silence, silence full of it
A perfect concert my best friend
So much to live for, so much to die for
If only my heart had a home

Nightwish- Dead Boy's Poem

Chapter 37

Beautiful

3 months later

The sun hadn't risen yet when I headed to the stables; I wanted to go riding, just like I did almost every morning. What I wanted was some peace and quiet; fortunately my shadow was nowhere to be seen. The human boy who Klaus had named Marcellus was staying with us now and he kept following me around, no matter how many times I had told him not to. He didn't speak much and he always kept his distance, but I didn't appreciate this little crush he had on me.

I had tried my best for not to be rude, especially since he kept leaving me little gifts, like a wooden horse he had carved, but I was sick of hearing how cute the whole thing was. Didn't anyone understand that just because I looked like a child, didn't mean that I was one. I hadn't been for a very, very long time and I certainly wasn't interested in spending time with human children. I would have wanted the same kind of attention from growing men, but that wasn't going to happen.

Fortunately Klaus had started to give Marcellus all kinds of lessons, like riding and fencing, he didn't have so much time to stalk me. I knew that he didn't mean any harm, he was a sweet human boy, but unfortunately I wasn't a sweet human girl. Things had still been tense between Klaus and me and he had spent a lot of time teaching Marcellus. I honestly hadn't believed that he would really want to help the boy, but apparently I had been wrong. In this case I didn't mind being wrong, the boy had clearly been through a lot in his life.

When Klaus had went to inform the governor that the boy would stay with us for now on, he had learned that Marcellus was actually the governor's illegitimate child. Obviously the governor didn't want anyone to know about that and he hadn't had any problem with Klaus keeping the boy, perhaps he had thought that we were planning to drain Marcellus. Abel was the governor's heir now and neither of them had no problem with Marcellus simply disappearing.

I did feel sympathy towards the boy, but he needed to understand that I wasn't going to play with him, or whatever he was expecting me to do with him. The whole thing was very sensitive to me, I had never fit in with adults, humans or vampires, but I wasn't a child and I didn't want to be. I wasn't really anything. I needed my alone time right now, everyone knew that I didn't want any company when I went riding.

"How is my darling boy this morning…" I started when I entered the stable. To my surprise, my pony, Achille, had already been brushed and saddled, I always did that myself. He was nickering happily, someone had given him carrots. Achille loved carrots; he could have eaten a whole bucket of them. I walked over to him and noticed the flowers weaved into his mane. My eyes widened, who had… That was a stupid question; I could hear the eager heartbeat.

I closed my eyes and sighed, the damn boy had found my soft spot; my baby. That was what Achille was to me, just like all my ponies had been. I had never thought that I would have the same kind of maternal instinct than Rebekah had, but I did enjoy nursing my baby. He was always happy to see me; I could talk to him about anything without fearing judgment, mocking or rejection. Anyone who showed kindness towards Achille deserved a chance, although I was sure that I would regret this.

"Alright, you can come," I sighed.

Marcellus appeared from one of the stalls, he had already saddled the horse Klaus had given to him. Neither of us said anything, we led our horses outside and mounted. Silently we rode across the yard and headed to the small road that led to the woods and eventually to the river; I enjoyed taking long rides along the riverbank. Marcellus stayed behind me, although his horse was much faster than Achille, my darling boy was no sprinter; he was too lazy for that. I could only blame myself for that, I had spoiled him, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. We rode in silence for a long while, I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise.

"Marcellus?" I finally said.

"Yes, Miss Eva?"

"Why did you weave flowers into Achille's mane?"

"I heard that girls like flowers."

"Hmm, who told you that?"

"Miss Rebekah."

Of course. I sighed and gentle pulled the reins, although Achille was already moving quite slowly. Marcellus stopped his horse next to me.

"Listen, Marcellus, you are a sweet boy and…"

"No, Miss Eva, I'm not a boy, I'm 10, I'm a man."

He sounded very serious, I couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, you are a sweet man. The problem is that I am not… what you think I am. I'm…different."

He looked at me calmly.

"I know that, Miss Eva, you are like Mr. Klaus."

I was surprised, had Klaus told him what we were?

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're special. My mama told me about your family, she called you devils."

I bit my bottom lip.

"I see. Doesn't that scare you?"

He shook his head.

"You don't scare me. I'm planning to marry you."

My eyes widened, he had managed to surprise me completely.

"What?"

He nodded determinedly.

"Someday I'll be strong enough to deserve you."

My mouth floundered open and closed, it took a while before I managed to speak.

"You have no idea what you are talking about."

He smiled.

"I know that he didn't deserve you."

"What? Who?"

"Whoever it was who broke your heart."

I hadn't often been as confused as I was now; he certainly wasn't like any child I had ever met. Instinctively I touched my sapphire pendant, after all these years I still wore it every day. Surely Kol didn't even remember that I existed anymore, but that didn't stop me from thinking about him. Finally I managed to clear my throat.

"Listen, I don't know what you think you know about what I am, but things are more complicated than that. I will never… You will grow up, but I won't. Not ever."

I had no idea why I was telling him that, probably because I didn't want him to waste his time. This was ridiculous; he was 10 for heaven's sake.

"I don't care," he said. "I want to be with you."

His words almost brought tears to my eyes, I was pathetic. I knew that he would eventually come to his senses, he would be a man who would want to be with women, but I had to admit that he had managed to warm my heart.

"As I said, you are a sweet man," I said smiling. "We can be friends if you want."

He nodded.

"Yes, Miss Eva, I would like that."

"I'm glad and stop calling me that, just Eva is fine."

"Yes, Miss Eva…Eva."

We continued riding, this time he stayed right beside me.

"Can you fly?" he suddenly asked.

I turned my head towards him.

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Mama said that you can do things humans can't, but she never told me what those things are."

I hesitated; I really wasn't sure what to say to him. Maybe he wasn't scared now, but he probably would be if he would fully understand what we were.

"Alright… How about I show you?"

He nodded eagerly.

"Please."

We had almost ridden through the small forest; the river was right in front of us. I dismounted and petted Achille's muzzle before zooming out of Marcellus' sight. He gasped when I came back a second later.

"You're fast," he said, he sounded excited, not scared at all. "What else?"

I looked around and spotted a fallen tree on the ground; I picked it up and tossed it deeper in the forest. Marcellus looked even more excited.

"That was great!"

I observed him intently.

"This really isn't scaring you?"

He shook his head.

"No, I would give anything to be like you."

I froze, my face went blank.

"You can't mean that…"

He dismounted and approached me.

"I do, I want to be like you…"

"You have no idea what you are talking about," I hissed. Before I managed to control myself, I zoomed in front of him and revealed my vampire face, he startled a little.

"This is what I am," I snarled. "Take a good look, you don't want this…"

I couldn't finish my sentence when he touched my face, he looked curious.

"You're beautiful."

What was wrong with this boy, didn't he have any survival instinct? Apparently not, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. It was a clumsy and innocent kiss, his first kiss. There was the biggest smile on his face when he pulled away; I was too stunned to do anything except stare at him. I gasped when I suddenly saw Klaus standing behind Marcellus' back, he looked furious.

"Klaus…" I muttered.

Marcellus turned around immediately, but he didn't have time to say anything.

"We had a lesson this morning," Klaus stated icily.

"Yes, Mr. Klaus…"

"Go back to the mansion and wait for me there."

Marcellus stepped in front of me; apparently he thought that Klaus was planning to hurt me. Klaus' eyes narrowed.

"It's alright," I said quietly. "Please go back home, Klaus and I need to talk."

Marcellus hesitated; I had to tell him few times that everything was alright before he finally agreed to leave. Klaus certainly didn't look pleased; he crossed his arms and gazed at me callously. I tried my best to look calm, but I really wasn't. I was still trying to understand what had just happened. All I knew for sure was that judging by Klaus' look, I needed to get ready for a new fight.