Sacrifice Helle

The front door opened up and I heard my fathers voice from the hallway, “We’re back!” Mom went out to greet them with a smile on her face. “She’s up?”, I heard my father ask. Shortly after he appeared in the kitchen door to take a look at me. His face smiled at me and he laughed “Ah, it’s good to see you awake, at last. Well. Have you eaten anything?” I nodded and stood up. My father took me in his arms in a hug. “I missed you guys.”, I told him. Dad sighed. I knew that both my parents were upset about how I had simply left with no notice. Then I turned towards my mom who came walking back to the kitchen, “Honey, take your shoes of at least, I don’t feel like cleaning the floors everyday…” “OH..” Dad got a guilty look on his face and smiled at me before he hurried back to take of his shoes and jacket. I followed him with my eyes and then... From the hallway came a kid walking.

I froze still in my track upon seeing him. He stopped too and looked at me nervously. “Who are you?”, I finally asked.

The boy in front of me seemed so familiar, yet there was something so very odd about him. “Are you really..?” I found myself mute. It couldn’t be. How? No. Who was this cute boy? He looked… sad? Broken. But… there was something so delightfully fresh and new about him that kept my eyes on him. It was like… he had just been born. He looked at me with sky blue eyes. He looked younger than me, yet I could have sworn he was by far older. But those two images of him collapsed in my head and I got no clear image, only a blur of memories, my mind scanning all the faces I had ever seen. I could not find his. And yet, “It must be you…”

“Helle..”, his voice came out so unsecure, not like the one I remembered.

“Vaan…” It didn’t look like the Vaan I knew one bit. This was… a live boy! Just a kid! But it must be him, who else? I swallowed and blinked at him. He was real enough. I was speechless. His skin looked so alive, tanned, I was even paler than him now, and he had .. Freckles? I laughed when I saw it. Vaan had freckles. When he saw me laugh he loosened up a bit and smiled back. His teeth.. The corner teeth, they were normal. No fangs. “Oh my God…”, I whispered. He came closer to me and I reached out my hand to touch him. He was so alive... His hair too, so filled with life, I touched his cheek and felt that he was warmer than my cold fingers. My mouth was left open as I could not find any words to say, then I just smiled out of surprise and pulled him into a hug. Reluctantly he hugged me back.

“Oh, there you two lovebirds are, get in here and don’t stand there in the hallway!”, father shouted at us. I jumped and moved away from Vaan immediately, then turned to my father red as a tomato and shouted at him “Don’t call me a lovebird! It’s sick!” “But you are so cute together.”, my father kept on teasing. My eyes widened and my mouth turned into a thin red line as I stomped back to the kitchen and crossed my arms glaring down at my father who had seated himself. “We are NOT together, so you can quit that act!” “Then why are you blushing so much?” “Everyone would when they are as embarrassed as you guys make me! He’s just…” Vaan slowly walked into the kitchen and stood by the door not wanting to rush into the fight. I glanced at him, then back to my father. “He’s just a friend.”, I lied. A sad look came over me. Vaan wasn’t my friend, I had no idea what he was.

“I’ll be in my room.”

The rest of the day I simply slept and ate in my room. They let me be alone. I was sad, but didn’t dare to face Vaan again in front of my parents. Everyting was a mess and I felt so horribly alone in all of it. I snuck downstairs and stole dinner leftovers with me, other than that I stayed put in my bed. The sun went down and I hadn’t figured out much. I was so alone in all my decisions.

I curled up and hugged my legs, dozed off, and traced my thoughts back to things that had happened to find an answer. There was none. And I had many questions. Asami, how to get her back? I searched for an answer. Nothing came to me. How to reach her? Go to the underworld. To get there, as close to her as I could, I would need escorte. Still. No hope of getting her out. I remembered the look she held on her face the last time I saw her and my soul screamed in pain. That was not my sister. But when she awoke from that state she was in… Then she would feel far more alone that I felt. And I couldn’t be there.

Did I do the right thing? “You’re still alive aren’t you?”, I asked myself. Yes, I did the right thing. But slowly, all hopes to save Asami left me. They had begun to abandon me already back then. Only a little piece of hope stayed left. The hope of a miracle.

Where is Darien now? “What do you think?”, I whipped my mind and nugged my tongue. “You need to stop bothering him. He hasn’t done anything but be there for you, and what the fuck do you give him in return? You name yourself the unofficial guardian of his enemy… I’m an idiot.” I tried to think of how things could have been had I acted differently, but all it did was bring me down, so I gave it a break and focused on the eartly matters.

Will I have to go to school tomorrow? I could go back to the church I supposed, but that would do no good. Pointless. Go to school.

Vaan? “Oh, don’t remind me….”

Right then the door opened up and he himself entered. When you speak of the sun…. He looked at me then his mouth opened and he asked, “Can I come in?” “Aren’t you already here?”, I snorted back, then regretted what I’d said, “Sorry. Just come in. I’m sorry for being a bitch.” He closed the door behind him, and the room was once again dark. “Why do you sit here in darkness?”, he asked. “Thinking.” For a short while he was still, then spoke his mind. “I’m… Uhm.. I don’t know what to say.” I looked away from him, once more there was silence for a while, then I asked him: “What happened to you? You are human right?” “Yes.” “How?” “I slept with you, but didn’t turn you. Then I became mortal.” I shook my head in disbelief. “What an explanation!” “Well, I don’t feel like going into detail.” Frustration built up in me.

The Lord, yes, I had been told before about his little curses. Darien held one too. But that wasn’t such a serious one. “Does not Iselin know of this?!”, I suddenly asked, turning to Vaan. “She must know, right? She can become human! It follows the bloodline!” Vaan looked like he was pinned to the wall. My face sunk in. “You didn’t tell her, did you?” “As a sire I told my children what they needed to know. I didn’t tell her, because I knew she’d fall for the temptation. And it’s not… It’s a punishment, not a gift!”

“How can you say that?” He took a fast breath as if he was to say something, then sucked it in and kept shut. Fine, I thought. Just as good.

“Your mother wants us to go to school tomorrow. She feels it’s best for you to get on with a normal life. She thinks I’m a friend from school, and that I went along with you to find your sister. I’m sorry for lying to your parents, I didn’t know what else to say. They hadn’t been at home when we.. Arrived, so they have no suspicions concerning that. And… if I may ask, how did you get us here? And.. Me?” His voice lowered down at the end and he slumped his head when asking. I think he already knew the answer to that first question. It was indeed embarrassing to have a demon as a rescuer. I smiled devilishly, but then when seeing how painfully weak he looked in front of me, so humble, I stopped thinking that way and answered him. “Darien teleported us here.” Vaan twitched. He owed his life to a demon. And, he owed it to a human. “I had him transport both you and me because… I couldn’t just leave you there. Something was wrong.” I smiled at him. “Let’s say we are even.”, I suggested. “You didn’t kill me back there, and I didn’t have you killed. Even.” I looked over at him. He kept silent and looking at the floor.

“Tomorrow is a new day.”, I said, “And I’m going to school, so I need to sleep now.” Then I turned around and faced the wall, closing my eyes. Silent tears run down onto my pillow and followed me wandering off to dreamland.