Chapter 23: 22- Elias

The moment I hear the door to our house opening, I slam the photo album shut and turn around to see who it is. It's silly how after all these years, I know better than expecting anyone else to come see me but old habits die hard, I suppose. "Mom, you're back."

My mom, Almond, has a lot of shopping bags in her hands as she walks in but I don't bother helping her because she's mentioned too many times that she didn't enjoy seeing me carry them. Perhaps, she wanted me to enjoy a life that she wasn't fortunate enough to have.

It was silly but I never told that to her. I loved her too much.

"Hello, love." She has short black hair she keeps in a bun which is mandatory at the place she works. Humans like us aren't given enough places that we can actually work in good conditions but she, unlike most people, managed to get a job as a nurse though it destroys her mentally, seeing our kind suffering so much.

A time would come when I would need to pick a job to work on and though they aren't much, I know she would never agree to me working in a hospital, even though I'd like that. There aren't many choices and working there is the closest I'd ever have to helping, and it pays as well. Not too much but enough but we'd talk about it when the time comes.

She walks past me and hurries into the kitchen. I'm at the dining room so it's easy for me to spot her as she sets her bags down on the counter then says as she begins to unpack her bags. "Did you see her? Solaris?"

"Yeah," I try to ignore the uncomfortable feeling piling in my stomach as I recall what happened today. My eyes turn back to the album and I open it now. A lot of my baby pictures had her in it. At least, the first hundred. "I did."

After I didn't see in school for a while, I got worried. I thought that perhaps, we'd gone too far this time. I mean, I didn't know she'd get that mad because of her chocolate even though she's always been a little too protective of her food but I didn't think she'd just vanish from the face of the Earth.

Not that I planned to do anything about it until Mr Praetorian visited our house. I'd always found him… Unsettling because of how… Poised he always was. He wasn't like any of the teachers and though he did teach art with a passion, it was clear Solaris was his favorite, something he never tried to hide even though I was sure he knew she was being bullied for it.

I mean, it was hard not to get mad at her when she was always so… Lackadaisical about everything. We humans were used as livestock by their kind. We owned properties or worked real paying jobs. They tortured us every moment they could and groomed us into becoming perfect mindless slaves and there she was. Never paying attention in class and yet, still their favorite.

It was like she couldn't care that we humans were supposed to work together and at the very least, try to regain what we lost but if there was one person that couldn't seem to care, it was her.

Still, when I'd seen him at my door, wearing his signature sunglasses even when it was evening, I'd worried he'd finally come to punish me for hurting her or something but all he came to do was ask me to go over and see if Solaris was alright, and if I did that, he would permit my Father into returning home for a few months.

It sounded ridiculous the first time I heard it. He was a teacher, how could he have that much power? My father… Steven, had been sent into the mining industry. It paid a heavy amount of money as well but took the most of our lives. Humans either died of a cold so damning they never survived with their full limbs or being fed on by something their bosses couldn't 'identify'.

They were rarely given leave and I hadn't seen him in three years so I had readily accepted it even though I was a little suspicious at first about why he would go through all that length when he could just go there himself but I was also worried about her so it was perfect. When I mentioned this to Mama, she had become ecstatic.

"Oh, thank God, you're talking to her again." She said as she hurriedly made her banana cream pie. Just for Solaris, she said. I'd not seen her that excited in years to bake again. She usually put it off because it reminded her of Pops but at that moment, she was beaming. "This is the first time in years since you've spoken of her. It makes me so happy. You both were so inseparable when you were kids."

I muttered under my breath. "Yeah, because she kept stealing my food."

And it was true. Solaris wasn't… She wasn't like the other kids at kindergarten. Though there wasn't too much of a difference between her now, one thing that always stood out was how she sat alone when it was lunch and stared at all of us eating. I'd noticed it, of course, and one day, decided to give her my banana.

After that, she went after my entire food and one day followed me home to eat directly from the source, Mama. Almond had found her ability to eat her meals endearing and I— Well, making friends hadn't been easy. Our kind tended not to bond with each other for no reasons so having her by my side was nice, and then one day, there was this incident in school and I never saw her again.

Mama managed to keep in touch with Solaris' mom who said they had to change her school because she wasn't fitting her but that wasn't true. She fit in so much at any place she was that it became unsettling. Nothing bothered her. Nothing could upset her. Her world was fine in her eyes and she was satisfied, so how come?

But Mama didn't question it and promised we'd meet again. So over time, I waited patiently, hoping she would come to me and the day I finally did see her, Solaris had walked past me in school like I didn't exist. Like she couldn't remember me.

You know that feeling? When you realize you've been waiting for something your entire life and it didn't turn out the way you expect? That guy wrenching, soul sucking pain that has you doing things you wouldn't normally do because you wanna feel pain somehow?

That was it. Snapping or saying hurtful things to her was the only way I could get her attention or get her to look at me. I hoped one day she'd get upset and bring up the fact that we were best friends when we were little but she never did.

And I'd really thought I'd passed all of that. Until I saw her eating Mama's food today again.

"Is she alright?" There's concern in her voice and I don't know if I should tell her what I saw because I know how worried she gets. She might end up deciding to go over to her house just to see for herself.

But I needed to tell someone, just to be sure I wasn't making it all up. That my thoughts… They were normal. I mean, Solaris had always been a bit lanky but seeing her terrified me so much. She looked skinnier, paler. It was as if she was translucent, or becoming that. And that vampire at her door…

I don't know how she kept attracting their kind like a moth to flame but this time, I could tell something was off. I could tell the only thing that stopped him from killing me was her even though I'd done nothing to him. And his eyes… Did she know what rank he was? How powerful he actually was?

And why was he in her house for fuck's sake?

"I don't know, Mom. I mean—" I hold the album book tighter. "I mean, there was a Rank A vampire in her house."

I hear the sound of something smashing to the floor has me rising up from my seat, panic flowing up my bloodstream. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes." She walks out of the kitchen now, wiping her hands on the apron around her neck. I can see her hands shaking as she does so and though she tries to act like she's not affected, she's always been a terrible actor. "W-What about her Parents? And siblings?"

"They weren't there, Ma," I answer softly, though I'm sure my response still spooks her regardless. "There are no pictures of them in the house anymore and the temperature there was just… Icy. I mean, he's obviously living there. He cooks for her—"

She pauses. "He cooks for her?"

"He didn't seem happy that she chose your pie over his cooking," I say, trying to swallow down what he had done. He knew I was looking, that it made me uncomfortable and nauseous. He was obviously manipulating her and she looked too dazed to care, though she was always so… Empty lately. I just didn't think it was that terrible.

"He's probably playing a game with her and that girl is too naive to notice it. She's always been so—" Then she freezes. It's as if she just stops and when she finally speaks, her voice is breaking. "E-Elias. What— What did you say about her parents?"

"They— They aren't there?" I say then watch her pale more. "Mama—"

"I think— I think I'd have to lie down." She's holding unto the table now for support and immediately, I rush over to her, putting my hands on her shoulders. Her face is void of color, and her eyes seem distant.

"Mama, are you okay?" My voice is filled with concern.

She takes a deep breath, attempting to compose herself. "I... I'll be fine, love. Just a bit overwhelmed." She manages a weak smile. "I'll— I'll be off to bed now," And she walks away up to her room, shutting her door quietly.

When she's gone, I try to tell myself that it's just her usual mental breakdown. I didn't think she was particularly close to Solaris' family but maybe it was too much. Maybe she thinks they're dead and is mourning them but that doesn't make sense, does it? If they were, we'd all know somehow and she wouldn't be as calm as she looked.

But right now, I don't know what's what anymore and I'm too tired to think so I go to my room as well and lay down, trying not to dream about the things that I can't control but I dream of her. And it isn't a sweet dream but a beautiful nightmare.