Orna Puella

- IX -

I walked inside and took my shoes off. I knew that I would be the one cleaning all the mess if I get any mud into the house. The kitchen door swung open and there was Elsie, her slim shoulders tense with cold fury, her eyes looking like two shards of black ice.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” she hissed through her clenched teeth and I pulled my jacket off.
“I missed the bus,” I grumbled. “I had to walk all the way home.”
“Really!!” she looked like she was about to start spitting fire any second. It wouldn’t surprise me a single bit. “I’ve heard that you missed the bus because of some filthy half-breed!!”

Ah yes, here we go… I gritted my teeth. Cerylia, one of those days I will murder you, I swear.

“You were doing Dragon knows what with that lowlife, weren’t you?!” Elsie hissed. “I don’t believe this!! You are a human for crying out loud!! You shouldn’t be even looking at half-breeds without feeling sick...!”

Now I was mad. I opened my mouth and was about to tell her that I can’t look at her and her precious Cerylia without feeling sick, when the kitchen door opened again and Vicky walked in.

“Selena!” she breathed and I almost cried with relief.

I ran towards her, ignoring Elsie and I hugged Vicky as hard as I could, feeling almost dizzy when I smelled her cherry shampoo. Vicky was my mom’s younger sister and she loved me immensely. I adored her for as long as I could remember.

“Oh, Talath…” she muttered, kissing the top of my head furiously. “I missed you so much, you have no idea! Oh kiddo, what took you so long?”
“I missed my bus,” I said softly. “Had to walk home…”
“Bus?” Vicky sounded confused. “You had to take the bus to school? Great Lizard, why?!”

I pulled away from her and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

“Because I didn’t want to walk there,” I shrugged.

Vicky stared at Elsie, her eyes darkening.

“You made her take the bus?!” she asked in a low voice and Elsie’s nostrils flared furiously. “Didn’t you call the Cab for your daughter?”
“Selena wanted to take the bus,” Elsie said tightly.

Vicky took a deep breath and looked at me.

“Come on,” she said finally. “Let’s go eat.”
“There is food in the house,” Elsie said immediately and I couldn’t help but snort at that.

“Food” meant stale bread and warm water when it came to feeding me. I managed to keep my mouth shut, knowing that Vicky will have to leave eventually, and then I will have to face Elsie all by myself again. Vicky was unbelievably good at magic; better than Raven, Ealarauc, and Elsie combined. I suspected for a long time now that she didn’t even shy away from necromancy now and then, and I also knew that Elsie was scared of her. If you valued your life and well-being, you didn’t want to piss Vicky off. She had somewhat of a short temper, and if she uncorked on someone, it was frightening.

Vicky ignored Elsie completely and pulled me to the front door. Soon enough we were sitting in one of the cozy little diners that I would always go to whenever Vicky came to visit - which unfortunately didn’t happen too often - or sometimes with my dad.

“So…” Vicky said after I finished my second serving of food. “What time do you have to be at school tomorrow?”
“Eight,” I said, enjoying my coffee.

She nodded.

“I’ll drive you.”

I blinked at that and carefully sat my mug on the table.

“Umm,” I said uncomfortably and Vicky looked at me with puzzlement. “Umm, it’s okay, Vicky… I wanna take the bus…”

She slowly pulled out a cigarette and waved her hand around, making sure that there was a bubble around her that didn’t let the smoke to spread around the diner.

“Really,” she said after lighting her cigarette.
“Yeah,” I shrugged, trying not to blush. “The bus is actually okay, you know…”
“Uh huh,” she said and shook the ashes off the tip of her cigarette into a tiny ashtray in front of her. “Tell you what…”

I tried to drown myself in my coffee mug. I am beyond lame…

“Tell you what,” she said seriously, puffing on her cigarette. “What time does the bus come?”
“Six-forty-five,” I muttered and she nodded.
“Okay. Tomorrow morning at six-forty-five you’ll get on that bus…” she paused and waved to the waiter for coffee refill. “Then you will get whoever you are planning on meeting there out of the bus…” she took her refilled mug and smiled at the waiter. “And then both of you will get into my car and I will drive you to school. Hell, we will have enough time to stop and get coffee,” she grinned.

I started to cough, my face burning hot.

“Vicky…” I finally managed. “What… What are you… What are you talking about...? I don’t…”
“Selena,” she sighed and drank some of her coffee. “What’s his name?”

I gulped the rest of my coffee down and this time coughed for real. Vicky waited patiently. Finally, I could look at her again.

“Raven,” I sighed in defeat.
“Uh huh. Same class as yours, I take it?”
“Yeah…Vicky, he is…” I closed my eyes briefly. “He is not… He is not human,” I finished in a small voice and carefully looked at her.

She seemed almost bored.

“Yeah,” she shook the ashes off. “I figured that much, since he is riding the bus and all… I mean, what are the chances for two humans to ride that damn thing?”
“It doesn’t freak you out?” I muttered and she snorted.
“Oh, Selena… Wait until you meet the Tramp.”
“The who?” I blinked in confusion and she smiled slyly.
“You’ll meet him soon enough, I think. So, your Raven… Half-elf?”
“Half-demon,” I muttered and closed my eyes again.

Vicky made a small “huh” sound.

“Interesting,” she said softly.
“Still doesn’t freak you out?” I opened one eye and looked at her.

She grinned.

“No, Selena. It takes a hell of a lot more than that to freak me out, believe me. You want something filled with obscene amount of sugar?”

I laughed.

“No, I am stuffed… I could use more coffee though.”

She signaled for the waiter again, and soon enough I was sipping my coffee and thinking that life could be pretty great. Especially, if Vicky was around.

“How long you gonna stay?” I asked and she shrugged.
“Depends…”
“On...?”
“Depends on the Tramp.”
“Okay, who the hell is the Tramp?” I demanded and Vicky grinned.
“Let’s just say that the minute your stepmother sees him, there is an excellent chance that she will have a stroke…”
“I like him already,” I said thoughtfully and Vicky laughed.