Blood Moon: Chapter 6 - The Box. The Boy.

An opened box, a beautifully crafted black wooden box with silver carvings, played a melody so beautiful and ethereal that it was sorrowful. It resonated with the feelings of the person who was holding the box. The black-haired boy gazed at the ballerina who was dancing gracefully and unearthly in the box. It was a present made especially for a girl a long time ago.

“Happy birthday,” he whispered to the doll.

He put on his coat and disappeared in a flash of red light. Within seconds, he was standing in front of a pale green painted house. A girl was seeing someone off at the door. His heart stung in pain. He was slightly enraged.

She knew he was there and she was startled. He spoke to her in her mind, told her not to be afraid and not to run. However, that frightened her even further. He could hear her screaming in her head, confused and alarmed. He had no choice but to leave. It wasn’t his intention to frighten her. He could only watch her from the shadows, unnoticed by her, because he belonged to the darkness.

****

It was hopeless. No matter how hard she had tried, she just couldn’t bring herself to sleep, because the moment she closed her eyes, she would see the man. Robyn might have seen those visions before but they were never that intense. So intense that it seemed like she had lived through those moments before. The only thing that had been running in her mind the entire night was “who is the man”.

Every time, she would almost see his face but couldn’t. She feared him, but yet felt close to him. She knew him. Yes, she did know him.

But who is he?

Robyn didn’t dare to close her eyes anymore. She had wrapped herself up with her quilt and sat on the bed, still hugging her legs tightly, with the lights in her room all turned on, including those in the bathroom. The voice had stayed in her head. There was something alluring about the voice but there was also a hint of sadness in it. No matter what she’d tried, it was stuck in her head.

****

Jack Kennington walked into the class charmingly on a Monday morning, looking fresh and cool as ever, but nobody knew that his mind was completely blank at that moment. He had greeted everyone robotically without anything going through his mind at all. He was trained to be a gentleman and to never show his emotions on his face no matter the circumstances. Well, until he met the only girl in his life that could make him loses his temperance, a girl that he should never had fallen in love with.

He simply dropped onto his chair, threw his bag on the desk and stared at the door, as if hoping that she would appear out of thin air. He was worried. Robyn had stayed home for the first time since he met her. Ashley told him Robyn was sick when he went to pick her up (Robyn had surprisingly succeeded in convincing Damien to let Jack fetch her to school, somehow). He knew it wasn’t much of a deal getting sick but he had a bad feeling, a feeling that something had happened to Robyn.

A hand slammed on his desk and woke him from his woolgathering. He looked up and, much to his dismay, he looked straight into a pair of annoyingly violet eyes. He stretched his lips and shown his bright white teeth to him, trying his hardest to hide his annoyance.

“Good morning,” Jack said as cheerfully as he could.

“Where’s Robyn?” Damien asked flat out, scowling, demanding an explanation from Jack.

“She’s sick. She’s staying home for today.” The smile had disappeared from his face. It was just too hard.

Damien stared at the desk, his lips moving as if mumbling to himself. “Must be because you and your friend visited her last Friday.”

“Still spying on me, I see,” Jack smiled cunningly but he paused. He looked at Damien, surprised. “My friend?”

“He showed up right after u left. He’s not with you?” It could be heard from Damien’s tone that he had begun to worry.

They were quiet and stared at each other blankly. It wasn’t until the bell rang that they grabbed their belongings and ran out of the class, and they bumped right into the last person in the world they wanted to see — Leroy. They didn’t stay long enough to even apologise, leaving Leroy utterly clueless and surprised. Their teacher was shouting at them, threatening them with a month of detention, but they never turned their head once and went straight out of the school door.

Jack’s afraid. He’s afraid that something dire had happened to the girl who had messed up his heart, afraid that his intuitions coming true. But he knew he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. He could feel it in his purple-eyed rival.

They ran like Robyn’s life depended on it and bashed on her house door. There were small noises like something running away on the other side of the door and then there’s a dog’s groan. It had to be Nelly, Jack thought.

They kept banging on the door but they still did not get any response. Jack thought of tearing down the door, and that was when Robyn finally answered the door.

Jack and Damien looked at an unrecognisable Robyn. She was tired with dark half moons under her eyes and blood red veins popping in her once beautiful dark emerald eyes. She could barely greet them.

“Hey, what’re ya guys doin’ ‘ere?” She asked weakly, her eyes barely opening.

“Are you all right?” Both of them asked frantically.

“What happened?” Jack grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her a little. She just looked away, avoiding his glance.

Damien looked around the house with the lights all switched on in broad daylight and it immediately clicked. “You saw them again?” The only response he got from Robyn was a slight nod that would be missed if one’s not paying attention.

“Them?” Jack looked at the both of them, clueless. He had always hated this kind of situation where there was something that only the two of them would know, leaving no space for him to get into their world at all. It made him felt so crestfallen.

They had sat Robyn down on the couch and waited for her to confess. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t tell them anything aside from seeing and hearing things since last Friday.

Robyn and Damien had been talking about things he didn’t understand. He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t take the feeling of being helpless when something had clearly happened to Robyn. He stood up from the couch, crossed his arms and glared at the two of them. “Will you tell me what’s going on ever?” He raised his voice on the last word. Annoyance was clearly noticeable in his voice, and he could guess it was written all over his face, too, as Robyn looked apologetic. This face of his had only been seen by Robyn. She always had a way of messing up his emotions.

Damien let out a sigh and sat Jack down, trying not to argue with him at that moment. “All right. I’ll tell you.”

Jack and Robyn raised an eyebrow on him. He shrugged. “I’m trying my best not to make things worse for Robyn. So don’t make me jump on you, Kennington.”

Damien was silent for awhile, searching for words in his mind. “Well, uhm...Robyn used to be able to see things when she was three. We think those things were some sort of spirits or ghosts. And every time she sees them, she would switch on all the lights and hide herself up.” He took a glimpse of the lights and Jack immediately understood.

“It stopped when she started first grade. But, as you can see, she saw them again.”

“Why did she start seeing them again?” Jack asked anxiously.

Both he and Damien turned to Robyn who was being as quiet as an invisible person. Robyn was clearly struggling inside, pondering whether to tell or not to tell, but she finally cleared her throat and looked straight into their eyes.

“I saw the man from my dreams and visions.” She stopped as if that was the only thing she wanted to tell them. However, seeing their confused little faces, she added, “I think those things that I saw weren’t spirits. They were some sort of visions, like memories that don’t belong to me. And I’ve been having dreams of the man I’ve always seen in those visions since a few weeks ago. And those nightmares that I’ve been having almost every night recently, I think they’re somehow related.”

Jack and Damien stared at her, unable to say anything. “And what’s more, I saw him. In flesh and blood.”

“You mean you saw the man from those visions?” Damien asked worriedly.

“He came to me. Twice. Once last Friday night after Jack left—” Jack and Damien gave each other a look. “—and once on the night a wol—“ Robyn stopped right when she was about to tell them about something but she continued by changing the subject. “I couldn’t see his face but I know it’s him. He talked to me, somehow. He was so far away but I could hear his voice in my head and I couldn’t get it out since.”

There was a short pause.

“And I couldn’t sleep. I don’t dare to sleep.”

“You’re saying that you haven’t been sleeping since I left?” Jack asked in disbelief.

Even though Jack knew she was deliberately hiding something, he didn’t ask. Not because he didn’t care, but because nothing could be more important than the appearance of a mysterious, and most likely dangerous, man in her life at that moment.

“I didn’t know you’re having nightmares. No wonder you looked paler than usual recently. Especially now. Must’ve been lack of sleep,” Damien said distraughtly and caressed her hair.

“Well, you can’t exactly sleep well when you dream about being stabbed and pierced by millions of thick needles every night, can you?”

Jack eyes widened and his mouth hung open. “I’m surprise you can keep that all to yourself for that long and didn’t go for a psychologist. You could have told somebody. Us, Stella or Ashley.”

Robyn simply shrugged. “I didn’t think it was necessary.”

“So I would be correct in thinking that Ashley doesn’t know you haven’t been sleeping?”

Robyn simply nodded. Knowing Robyn and her carefree attitude on everything, Jack wasn’t surprised by those answers at all. Shaking his head, he came to a conclusion. “I’ll stay with you until Ashley comes home. I’m not going to leave you home alone and I won’t change my mind. So don’t bother arguing with me.” He was impervious and firm and he made it clear in the tone of his voice.

“That’ll be even more dangerous than leaving her alone,” Damien mocked the idea maliciously. “I’ll stay, too.”

Robyn dropped her shoulders and let out a long sigh that could worth for a million years. “Do whatever you like.” She stood up and walked up the stairs. She stopped halfway and turned to them. “Thanks,” she said and gave them a weak smile.

He waited until she went into her room and turned to Damien. He had noticed a presence just outside the house and he knew Damien noticed it, too. He knew who it was but he doubted Damien knew of that person’s identity.

“We need to stay close to her,” Jack suggested. He had decided that Robyn could never be safe until he could get a hold of that person’s true intentions.

“All right,” Damien agreed without any hesitation. He swallowed hard before he continued. “You should stay with her in her room. I’ll go check it out. I don’t like it but it’s better this way since he’s one of your friends.”

When it comes to a crucial situation like this, Jack knew he could depend on Damien to make the right decisions, but he still couldn’t stand his sharp, offensive words. “He’s not my friend. We merely share the same type of blood.”

“And that makes you the same as them. There’s never an exception. And there’ll never be one.” Damien stared at him with eyes burning in hatred.

“I’ve always been the black sheep in my family because I’m not like them.” Jack narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice but it was still firm and impervious. He took in a deep breath and let it out. “Right now is not the time for this pointless argument,” he said in a voice that sounded he was trying very hard to keep his emotion under control.

“The problem now is, she’s not gonna let us stay here for long, I’m telling ya, let alone allowing me to stick with her in her room,” Jack rubbed his forehead a little with his forefinger.

“Hypnotise her with your oozing pheromones. You’re good with that,” said Damien very sarcastically, sneering.

“I’m serious. And that’s not funny.” The annoyance towards Damien in him had built up as fast as ever and it was about to spill. If Damien was so much as to snort at him, he would pound on him like a lion would on its prey.

And somehow, Damien stopped all the mockeries. Perhaps he had noticed the infuriation in his tone, or maybe in his flaming amber eyes. “OK. OK. If she allows you to stay, you stay. If she doesn’t, you still stay.”

“What? We just force it on her?”

Damien gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Sometimes, you just can’t afford to be a gentleman if you wanna get things done,” he said matter-of-factly.

It had felt weird. They had actually prevented themselves from jumping onto each other without any help from somebody else. And Damien actually patted on his shoulder. Jack just stared at the hand and then at Damien. Damien removed his hand immediately as if being electrocuted, after realising what he had done. He brushed his hand a little as if to wipe off the feeling of touching Jack with his bare hand.

“Right. Off you go, then. Be sure to find out the reason for that person to be stalking Liz— I mean, Robyn.” He went up the stairs to Robyn’s room while Damien walked in the opposite direction, towards the door. He stopped halfway on the staircase when he remembered who they were dealing with. “Quinn — ah, can’t believe I’m saying this — be careful. And a piece of advice, that thing in your pocket, the one you always bring to school, it won’t be enough. You’ll need a bigger one.”

Damien was already one step out of the door when Jack called out to him. He glared at Jack, who was still standing on the stairs, suspiciously. However, he did not do anything more than a nod and then left.

When Jack opened the door to Robyn’s room, he could see her still awoke, hugging her legs on her bed. She seemed to be trying her hardest not to fall asleep. It hurt him to see her like this — reddened eyes, tired, frightened, confused. He sat on the bed slowly, as though afraid if he sat on it suddenly he might frighten her. He touched her hand tenderly and looked into her ever so mesmerising dark green eyes. It was those eyes that have had his heart captive. They used to gleam ethereally, even more so under the bright sun; but now they were blank and dull.

“You have to get some sleep,” he said anxiously.

“Then I’ll see them again. I don’t want to,” Robyn said wearily, without even bothered to look him in the eyes. “I’ll go nuts if I do.”

“I’ll be here, right next to you. Nobody shall harm you,” he said gently, cupping her hands in his. “Just relax and get some sleep.” He moved closer to her, sitting right next to her on her bed so that she could lean on him.

“Damien’s looking for that man, isn’t he?” Robyn said softly when she leaned on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. He’ll find him. Seeing how he becomes a wounded beast every time something happened to you,” he said scornfully. “What a mature lad. I believe he’s only sixteen this year, isn’t it?”

Robyn laughed a little. “You talked like an old man.”

There was a short pause but the silence was awkward.

“Perhaps I am.”

****

Damien stood on the door steps thinking for a moment. What did Kennington mean, he thought. He put his hand into his pants pocket and touched what was inside it. He pondered a little before he went to his house. He opened a white wooden door to an empty house. There were only furnitures; nobody else was in the house. He was used to it. His parents had never really been at home for long every time they came back from travel. He walked into the garage through a door in the kitchen and grabbed a long, heavy iron pipe from the pile. He then walked hastily into his room upstairs.

His room wasn’t exactly a place for someone to sleep in. There were no posters of a sport team or some celebrity on the walls like other teenage boys’ room. His wardrobe was rather empty with only a few shirts hanging in it. Suitcases were lying opened on the floor; clothes packed untidily in them. There were also clothes lying on the floor and on the bed. His desk was full of tools and manuals. Papers were spread all over the desk; on the computer, on the chair and the floor around the desk.

He squatted down beside his single bed and pulled his quilt over his bed. He looked under his bed and pulled out a brownish, heavy-looking chest. He opened it, rummaged through the things in it and took out a glass bottle as tall as a drinking bottle. It was half-filled with clear water. He poured some onto a shirt he grabbed from on top of his bed and wiped it on the iron pipe. He put the bottle in the chest and pushed it under his bed again. He took his cell phone from his pocket and dialled a number.

He waited a few seconds before the person on the other side of the phone finally answered. “Hi, Dad. I know you and Mom are a little busy right now but I need a favour from you. It’s about Robyn.”

He told everything to his father over the phone and waited for his response.

“Son, don’t be too rash,” said the husky voice in the phone.

“I just need a few backups. I’ll be fine. I’m your top student, aren’t I?”

The person on the other side of the phone laughed. “All right. I’ll ask some of them to go over. Good luck, son. And be safe.”

“Thanks, Dad. Good luck to you and Mom, too.”

After getting off the phone, Damien went out to the garden and looked around. He could still feel the presence of that person but he’s nowhere in sight. He decided to look around Robyn’s house and the neighbouring houses. He just had to get to that person. He gazed at the window of Robyn’s room. It should be safe to leave her with Kennington, he thought. He never liked Jack but he knew hurting Robyn was the last thing Jack would do.

He followed his intuitions and looked at the direction opposite Robyn’s window. He searched around the houses opposite Robyn’s but that person was still nowhere to be found. He calmed himself down to think. He’s still here. I know it. But where?

“I know you’re here. Who or whatever you are, show yourself,” he demanded. He knew he looked like an idiot talking to the air in the eyes of the passer-bys, but he didn’t care. He waited for a long time but there was no response. “Why are you watching her? What do you want from her?” he asked impatiently, with a hint of anger in his tone.

There was no response either. Just as he was about to shout for that person again, he heard something. Someone was laughing. It didn’t sound real. It sounded like...it came from inside his head. He tightened his grip on the iron pipe, his eyes searching.

D’you know you really looked like an idiot when you’re talking to yourself like that? The voice in his head said while plainly trying not to be overcome by the urge to laugh.

“Who are you?” Damien asked out loud.

The voice gave an arrogant snort. You know me. Everybody does.

Damien thought a little but it didn’t take him long to realise the answer. “You,” he hissed through his gritted teeth, his voice level. He tightened his grip on the pipe even more. “What do you want from Robyn?”

There was a long pause. It was quiet. Damien was all alone on the street. The silent stretched until the voice finally spoke again. I only want to take back what was mine.

“What the hell is that suppose to mean?” Damien asked impatiently. He was infuriated and worried. “Come out and answer me!”

Ah-ah. I don’t think that’s the correct tone to use when asking someone for a favour.

Damien’s chest was moving up and down rapidly. His breathing became heavy. The rage in him had started to spill over and he couldn’t control it.

The voice clicked his tongue a few times. I made you angry, didn’t I? And it sniggered. You’re so easy! You’re more fun to play with than little Jankin. It burst into mocking laughters again.

Damien cursed in his head. He couldn’t control his anger without Jack being there. He had hated his lack of temperance. It had gotten him into trouble for uncountable times. He knew he shouldn’t and couldn’t do anything to the person whom the voice belonged to; but the overwhelming wrath he felt was suffocating him.

“Don’t you dare go anywhere near her,” Damien said firmly.

Or you’ll what? Kill me? With that little rod? It chortled. It stopped its laughter abruptly and his tone became solemn. I’ll get what I want. I always do. And neither you nor little Jankin can do anything about it.

And then, Damien could no longer hear the voice, nor could he feel the presence. He still held on to the iron pipe, not loosening his grip at all. He was afraid, not of his life, but that he won’t be able to protect his childhood friend, his best friend.

Blood Moon: Chapter 5 - The Boy. The Man.

Stop. Oh, hell, please stop.

Robyn wished she could dig a hole right at the spot and hide in it. She could not bear those intense glaring and staring.

She pulled on Jack’s blazer tail when they were walking to their class. “You should stop driving me to school.”

Jack looked utterly shocked. “Why?”

She leaned closer and gritted her teeth. “Because everyone is staring!” she whispered loudly.

His face fell. He covered his mouth and laughed. “Same old Lizzie.”

Robyn greeted Stella and sat at her usual place, and Jack, to her dismay, sat next to her. “What are you doing?” She glared at him and almost shouted.

“Nothing.” He smirked. His eyes were gleaming with wiliness.

Stella had been staring at them since they came in together. She raised an eyebrow. “Am I missing something?”

Robyn said no at the same time as Jack said yes. They looked at one another and Jack laughed. Robyn simply grabbed her notebook and reached out to hit him.

“What? So you’re friends now?” Stella asked in disbelief. They ignored her and were in their own little world. She rolled her eyes and turned back to her book.

“Good morning people,” announced Mr Sullivan, the history teacher, melodiously when he came into the class. Everyone sat down hastily and looked at him. “I’ve got a surprise for you guys.” He grinned.

Everyone else in the class grunted and whined. “Oh no, not pop quiz.”

“Okay, settle down guys. Relax, it’s not pop quiz.” He rolled his eyes. Everyone sighed in relief immediately. “Right. So, there is a new student from France. He just moved here a couple of days ago. Be nice.” He turned to the opened door. “Come in, come in,” he said anxiously.

Robyn’s heart stopped. There was a pressing feeling on her chest that had stopped her from breathing. She looked at the boy who had walked into the class in Lucien East High uniform.

He was tall and wild-looking. He had shoulder-length jet black hair that was slightly curly and messy. He had all the legendary perfect features — skin as pale as snow, an oval-shaped face, a straight nose, and high cheekbones. A pair of edgy eyebrows arched beautifully above his eyes. And his eyes...he had the same eyes as Jack, she thought. They were sophisticated, fathomless and poignant; the kind of trait that did not exist in other boys’. The only difference was his were somber.

He was beautiful. He was like a sculpture of a Greek god or even the god himself. He was a classic beauty. If Jack was the alternate version of Prince William, then he would be a prince from fairytales. But a dark prince, seeing that he gave out an aura of superiority but it was intimidating.

He was wearing a necklace with an inverted pentagram and a stud on his right ear. His shirt was worn untidily and his tie hung loosely around the collar. He was not wearing the school’s dark grey khaki but a pair of jeans instead. And he was not carrying any books or a bag with him. The first day at school and he had already broken at least ten school rules, she thought. The fact that Mr Sullivan did not seem to have been bothered by it was even more unbelievable.

No. Robyn’s heart did not stop because of his otherworldly beauty, but of something else. She knew him from somewhere yet she was certained she had never met him before.

She noticed that he had been looking at Jack for awhile. When she turned, Jack looked completely dumbfounded. They were staring at each other like they were communicating through their eyes. Then, the boy’s eyes were no longer on Jack. He was merely looking at Robyn, with such an intense and unfathomable stare. For a moment, she thought his eyes had become darker.

“Hello. I’m Leroy Henri Andre Pierre d’Evreux. But Leroy would be fine.” Robyn was surprised that he had only a light French accent. He looked as though he was talking to Robyn alone when he spoke. He grinned and two dimples appeared on either side of his cheeks.

After the lunch break, Leroy d’Evreux had already become the name that everyone knew. Johnny the President and Penelope the Cheerleader suggested a welcome party for him to be thrown on next Friday night at Jack’s place, the Manor, since it was the largest house in Donnsville and Jack’s parents would be out for a trip that day. Jack was anything but happy about it, yet he was gentleman enough to not reject them. The news spread out fast and almost the entire school was invited to the party. Stella and Robyn, however, were the firsts to reject the invitation.

Robyn had noticed something peculiar about the new boy. He seemed to be different in some way every time she looked at him. It was as if the he in the afternoon was different from the he in the morning. But she could not tell just what had changed about him. And the atmosphere around him gave people a strange feeling. On top of that, he appeared to be staring at her rather frequently. His stares were blank and cold. It made her felt really uneasy.

After only a week, Leroy d’Evreux had already earned himself a rather...good reputation. Everyone wanted to be around him, girls or boys. Yes, obviously it was because he was handsome and charming (in a cold way, though) and intelligent, but those things were only part of the reason. The other half was...people were intimidated by him.

He was the typical bully in every school, but at the same time, he was not. He would push someone down the indoor pool because they stepped on his shoe, or shove someone’s head into the toilet because they defied him, just as what a typical, airhead bully would do. But he could do much more than that. He had put a paper cutter on Lex the Footballer’s throat for no better reason than being bored, held a ninth grader upside down over the roof top just to see how the freshman would react, and caused an introverted girl to have an emotional breakdown. He was unpredictable and frightening, but the part that made him seemed even more formidable was that his stare was cold as ice and his grin was enigmatic — nobody could tell what he was thinking when he was smiling.

The odd thing was the teachers had never once taken any action upon him. Despite the fact that he had broken over fifty school rules, he had never once gotten a punishment. He was what his name was — the king.

On the next Monday, Robyn was only half awoke when Jack came to take her to school. The last few days were difficult. The nightmare had occurred more rapidly than before and it caused her to have continuous nights of restless sleep. What was more unnerving was that she always woke up at the exact same time — at twelve midnight, and there was always a feeling of being watched. However, aside from the nightmare, she had also started having dreams of a girl. It felt like she knew the girl.

Damien was not back from his absence yet. It was normal for him to be gone for a long time. He had once been gone for almost a month. Robyn wondered how he would react if he comes back to find that Jack had been taking her to school every day since he left. She refused to think about his scary, scowling, veins-popping face.

After the first period of history class, which seemed extremely long to Robyn because Mr Sullivan was teaching about politics, she went happily to the drawing class, her favourite class. It was supposed to lighten up her mood but it did the opposite. She stood frozen at the door, looking at a full of drawing materials but otherwise empty classroom. But there was someone already in the classroom before her.

What is he doing here?

“Robyn Winston,” a handsome dark-haired boy said while leaning lazily against the wall at the corner. “Right?” He added after Robyn did not have any reaction. He was staring at her in a way that made her unable to look away from his seemingly maroon eyes. And he was actually smiling at her, or at least, that was what she thought.

She finally pulled away from his gaze and gave him a soft “yeah”. She avoided looking at him by keeping herself busy with taking the drawing tools out from her bag and arranging them neatly on her table.

A hand pressed onto her table from behind and she could feel that person’s hot breath on her ear when he spoke. “I suppose a ‘nice to meet you’ wouldn’t be too much of a trouble for you, would it?”

Robyn felt a little dizzy. His scent and his voice, they were so familiar yet not. For a split second, something flashed in her mind, but it was too fast and unclear for her to know what it was. She took a deep breath, turned around, and looked at him. He was smirking very lightly. “Well, then. Nice to meet you,” she said it in a toneless way.

Still smirking, he leaned in. His cheek was touching hers and his lips were almost kissing her ear when he whispered into it. “I’ll be seeing you...in every class.”

Robyn could not think straight. Her heart was thumping loudly inside. What does he want with her, she thought. She was so dumbfounded that it was too late when she realised he had taken her blue ribbon bow off her collar. He looked at her cunningly when he smelled the ribbon and put it into his pocket. It was at that very moment that other people started entering the class.

Robyn was wishing desperately that Leroy d’Evreux was only joking and that she would not see him in every class of hers. But her prayers were not answered. She could not concentrate in any of the things she did, including having lunch.

When the last bell rang, she was the first one to be out of the class. However, she was not fast enough. He was already waiting at the hallway, playing with her ribbon. “In a hurry?” he asked cunningly while leaning on the lockers.

Robyn half sighed and half laughed bitterly. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing. Just wanna return your stuff,” he said innocently.

“Then return it already,” Robyn replied impatiently.

He looked at her, with unfathomable eyes and lips curled upward. His eyes looked darker than before. Was it because of the light?

“Come and get it.”

As if she had no choice but to listen to him, she walked to him like a moth being drawn towards the beautiful light. Just as her hand reached for the ribbon in his hand, an arm stretched in front of her, between her and Leroy, and punched right into a locker. Robyn, as if being jogged awake from a dream, gaped at the arm and then its owner. The locker door now had a large dent on it. Everyone went quiet at that moment, staring.

“Stay—away—from—her,” Jack said in a voice that was unrecognisable for Robyn. For a moment, he and Leroy just stared at each other. Robyn could feel Jack’s anger in her, literally. It was as though Jack’s feelings were flowing in her. It was a strange kind of feeling. It felt like Jack’s anger was overflowing enough to affect her, too.

Leroy flashed his ever famous smirk and said, in a lazy tone, “Here. Take it.” He held out the ribbon in Jack’s face. Jack grabbed it angrily. “This is so boring.” He walked off after giving Robyn one last, long look.

Jack turned to her after Leroy was out of sight. He handed the ribbon to her without looking straight at her.

Robyn took it and asked, in a worried tone, “Are you okay?”

Jack finally looked at her, but he did not seem to understand what Robyn meant.

“Your hand?” Her head nodded towards the damaged locker.

He stared at the locker as though he had just realised it was him who destroyed it. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Yeah, I...I’m fine,” he added more reassuringly. “Let’s go.”

He walked towards the large glass doors and Robyn followed suit. Then, he just stopped dead in his footsteps and Robyn almost bumped into him. “Stay as far away from that guy as possible. And if he tries to do anything to you, just scream my name.”

Robyn couldn’t help but chuckled. “If you’re far away, how does that help?”

“I’ll find you,” he said confidently. “Trust me.”

****

Robyn finished her homework that night and decided to go for a bath. She packed everything into her backpack and turned on the tap on the bathtub. She walked over to her built-in wardrobe and opened it.

She froze. Something flashed before her eyes. Her usual T-shirts-and-jeans-filled wardrobe was full of nothing but big gowns with ribbons and bows. It was only for a moment because when she blinked, her normal wardrobe was there. She spaced out for awhile before grabbing her pyjama and underwear and walked hastily back into the bathroom.

She passed by the mirror on the wall and at the corner of her eyes, she thought she saw something strange. Was my hair always that curly? She turned to the mirror but there was nothing out of the ordinary. She could not help but felt a chill down her spine and wondered if something was wrong with her head.

Robyn went to bed early as it was raining again and she felt sluggish. The rain was lashing on the window and the wind changed its pace back and forth. Even the storm was restless as though it was reflecting Robyn’s heart.

“What are you doing?” asked a young man, standing beside the tree that a girl was leaning on. He played with her hair that fell over her shoulders and caressed her arms that were busy doing something.

“Making a flower crown,” the girl replied without looking at him.

“What’s it for?” He put his arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder.

The girl put the crown on her head and turned to look at the young man, smiling brightly. “Don’t I look brilliant in this?”

The young man chuckled and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He took out a small rectangular box from under his coat and gave it to her.

Suddenly, everything was gone and it was pitch black. All that she felt was a sharp pain. This time, it was not only on her abdomen, but her entire body was in pain like thousands of nails were pierced right through her.

She woke up with the rain still pouring down heavily as ever. She turned to her bedside clock and, without surprise, it was twelve midnight.

****

The next day, almost everyone was gathered around a girl before the class started. When Robyn walked into the class with Jack, they just stared at the two of them. The golden-haired girl who was surrounded by them, Annie or whatever, was red-eyed and her makeup was a mess over her face. Jack said good morning to everyone without looking at her and sat down on his usual seat. The girl frowned at Robyn and cried her eyes out again. It did not take a genius to know that Jack broke up with her and Robyn had officially become her enemy.

Robyn sighed and sat next to Stella. “You better be careful from now on,” said Stella worriedly. “I heard she’s kinda crazy over Jack.”

Robyn dropped her head onto the table lazily and groaned. She was having a hard time appreciating the attention she had been receiving lately.

She felt so relieved when Leroy did not come to school. He wasn’t there for the first three periods. However, the enjoyment was short lived. She had planned to go to the gymnasium to watch Jack’s basketball practice during the break time (since an interschool game was coming up) and before that, she went to the washroom.

Before she could react, she was pushed onto the pink-tiled wall by two girls. She had expected something like this to happen, but she never thought it would be so soon. Another girl stood from behind the two girls, arrogant and playing with her golden locks. “I’m surprised the fall from the stairs didn’t kill you.”

She went closer still and stared at Robyn. Without warning, she slapped Robyn with the back of her hand. There was a rush of anger in Robyn and she immediately returned the hit. Ally (or was it Anna) and her cronies pushed her hard onto the floor. “I’ll show you the consequences of slapping me, you bitch!”

The two girls sat Robyn up by pulling her hair and arms. She tried hard to shrug their hands off. The blonde raised her hand high up in the air but the door flung open before she could do anything. Robyn could not see who it was because the girls were blocking her view.

“I see you girls having quite a lot of fun in here.” There was a hint of annoyance in the voice.

The girls moved away slightly but it was enough to let Robyn see the face of the person. To her surprise, she saw the ever so disturbing and annoying smirk on the person’s face. He was her least expected person in the world to appear at a time like this.

For what seemed like a long moment, the girls were staring at him and he did the same. The smirk on his face disappeared and his eyes were gleaming in annoyance. “You have exactly ten seconds to get out of my face,” he said in a deep, cold, toneless voice.

The three girls left immediately without looking back. Robyn stood up and walked towards the door. She thanked him, very reluctantly. “I thought you weren’t in school,” she blurted.

Leroy leaned in without warning, their nose almost touching. “Missed me?”

Robyn was a little surprised and pushed him away. She frowned at him.

He shrugged. “Overslept a little. Won’t happen again.” He slid his fingers down her chin playfully. “A gentleman wouldn’t want a lady to be worried over him.” He held her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. “Mademoiselle.”

At that very moment, Robyn felt rather strange. The exact words and tone echoed at the back of her head, as if she had heard them before. She shook the feeling off her mind and left for the gymnasium.

Damien came back from his trip to Romania on Thursday. As expected, he was hysterical when Robyn told him Jack had been taking her to school every day. It became worse when he found out someone like Leroy d’Evreux had his eyes on Robyn. Robyn thought he was going to have a heart attack. On the other hand, Amanda (Robyn had finally remembered her name) and her two ‘minions’ did not bother Robyn after that day. In fact, they actually tried to avoid her.

On Friday, people who were invited to the party were too excited (or nervous) to bother about paying attention in the class (well, not like they were paying attention before). Robyn was surprised Leroy did not look all too happy. Instead, he looked a little grumpy, too upset to even try to tease her.

Robyn herself was a little excited, too, but not about the party. That day, the first of September, was her birthday. Every year since junior high she would celebrate it with Stella and Damien. There was no exception this year. After school, they brought her to the Starbucks down Woodland Avenue, three blocks away from the creepy book shop on Flinders Street she went the other day.

The moment Robyn walked into the coffee house, she stared at a small round table at the corner and smiled weakly.

“What are you smiling at?” Damien raised an eyebrow at her.

Robyn used the one trick she was best at. “Did I smile?”

After they sat down, a waiter brought out a simple but huge marble cheese cake with a candle in the middle and put it in front of Robyn. It was her favourite dessert. Stella gave her a necklace that was a match to hers. Robyn expected something like a pepper spray from Damien but, to her surprise, he bought her a drawing kit. She smiled brightly when she took it off his hands.

“Hah!! I won. She likes my present better,” Damien scoffed triumphantly.

“Hey! No fair! You have more allowance than I do,” Stella complained and crossed her arms.

It was a tradition between them. They had to compete on who gave the best present to Robyn. But Robyn would be happy with any presents from them.

Robyn went home in the evening and opened her bedroom door to presents from Ashley and her Mom and Dad on her bed. There was also two pieces of cards attached to them. One of the cards was from her parents.

Dear Robyn,

Happy birthday, pumpkin! We’re sorry we couldn’t make it for your 17th birthday. Thanks to your dear father almost ruining his career again. (Robyn chuckled).

We hope you’ll like the dress we got for you. Your father wasn’t entirely happy about my choice, though, but it’s so much better than all your T-shirts and jeans.—

Robyn took out a red strapless satin bubble dress from the box and raised an eyebrow. “Nice try, Mom. Like I would ever wear this.” Nelly, who followed her into her room, barked in agreement.

— We’ll be back for Christmas. Miss my lovely daughters. We love you and tell your sister we love her, too.

Love,
Mom & Dad

She put away the dress and read the other card which was from Ashley.

To my baby sister,

Happy 17th birthday! It took me sooo long to pick a good present for you. Sorry I have to work overtime for this whole week. I promise I’ll cook something good for you later. Remember to lock the doors and the windows before you go to bed and call me if there’s anything.

Ashley.

Robyn unwrapped the present from Ashley and found a white leather cuff watch in the box. It was the one she saw in a shop with Ashley a month ago. That day Robyn was practically glued to the spot and refused to walk away from the shop.

She smiled and packed the presents into her drawers and wardrobe. After checking her emails, fed Nelly and ate half a tub of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, she walked into her bathroom lazily for an hour of a nice bubble bath.

She walked towards the window while drying her hair with a towel. She looked out and saw a car in front of her house. It was not Ashley’s as she was expecting but it was a familiar red Mustang. Jack was leaning against the car door and looked like he was in deep thought.

She opened the window and cried, “Jack, what are doing you here?”

He was a little surprised when he looked up. He just smiled and shrugged.

“How long have you been standing down there?”

“An hour or so,” he replied like he could care less about it.

She almost dropped her jaw upon hearing that. “There’s such a thing call door bell. You ring it so that people in the house know you came.”

“Actually, I don’t really know what I was doing,” he said, more to himself than to her. “And thanks for the explanation on the function of a door bell.”

Robyn rolled her eyes. “Wait right there.” She hastily changed into a T-shirt and shorts and ran downstairs to open the door.

Jack walked towards the door, hands behind him, but stopped right on the doorstep. “You know, girls are not suppose to invite boys into their house when they’re alone, especially at night,” he said in a playful tone.

She frowned. “How did you know I’m alone?”

He looked to his left and right. “Well, I don’t see any sign of Ashley’s car.”

She looked at him with lazy eyes and crossed her arms. “Are you coming in or not?”

“Yes, thank you,” he spoke suavely. He stepped in but stopped again. He took out an antique-looking book from behind and gave it to her. “Happy birthday.”

Robyn was a bit surprised but still smiled. “Thanks.” She closed the door absentmindedly and flipped through the book. “Mythology?”

“I remember you used to like this kind of things. You still do, right?” He looked at her hoping for a positive answer.

She simply nodded. She was not smiling brightly or anything, but she was really happy. She did not expect Jack to remember her birthday, and he even got her a present. It somehow made her wondered if that someone knew it was her birthday.

Robyn served a cup of cocoa for him and herself and talked for awhile. They hadn’t done that in a long time. The last time Jack came into her house was two years ago. And then, something clicked. “Where’s Nelly?” she asked herself aloud.

Jack simply sighed. “Hiding from me as usual,” he said confidently but lazily. “She doesn’t like me, does she?”

“Aww, cheer up,” she said mockingly and patted him on the shoulder.

Jack became quiet all of a sudden. He frowned so much that Robyn thought he was sick. “Do you really believe in myths? All those things like—” he paused for a moment and took in a deep breath. “—Vampires.”

Robyn did not know how to answer his question because, somehow, it felt like a serious question. She swallowed. “The reason I’m into myths...it’s because they’re not real.”

He laughed weakly. “I’ll take that as a no.”

She raised an eyebrow. It was written all over his face that he was bothered by something. She stared at him and thought, she could never know what’s going on in his mind. She leaned closer to him and stared him in the eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Jack was taken aback when she leaned closer and he looked like he was, if she was not mistaken, a little afraid. He tightened his jaw and his breathing became more rapid.

“You don’t look okay. Are you?”

For some reason, Robyn thought he looked even paler than usual. “I...I’m all right. It...It’s a bit late now. I should go,” he said while he stood up and went straight for the door, but not before he wished her a good night.

Robyn stayed at the door until Jack’s Mustang was out of sight. She was about to close the door when she saw him again—the man in dark clothes.

He was standing at the spot where Jack’s car was seconds ago, firm and unmoving. There was a strange feeling that she somehow knew him, not as the man in dark clothes but an acquaintance or somebody even closer than a mere acquaintance. However, she was afraid. It was the moment that she heard voices in her head again that she slammed the door shut immediately. She ran around the house and locked the doors and windows. She even closed the curtains and hide in her room.

She was sitting on her bed, hugging her legs, rocking back and forth. She was horrified. She began to see shattered and blurred images of a man the moment she heard the voices. She couldn’t see his face but she knew it was the same man she dreamt about.

A knock on her bedroom door made her jumped. Her mind went blank, her heart stopped and she just stared at the door. There was a knock on the door again.

“Robyn, are you all right?” a voice shouted from the other side of the door. It took Robyn a few seconds to realise that it was Ashley. She had been so absorbed in her own world a moment ago that she didn’t even realised Ashley had come home.

Ashley went in with Nelly when there was no answer from Robyn, and the only thing she saw was a Robyn that looked at her with a terrified stare, hugging her legs tightly and shaking. She rushed towards her immediately and took her in her arms.

“What’s wrong? Did you see them again?” Ashley hugged her tightly and caressed her head. Nelly put her head and paws on the bed, letting out quiet moans as if to tell Robyn that she's worried.

Robyn was very young back then, back when she first saw images of people that she didn’t recognise. She was only three years old. She would cry and hide in her room with all of the lights in the room turned on, just like what she did moments ago. Only this time, she turned on every single light in the house.

Ashley always thought what she saw was spirits. That was what Robyn thought, too, but she knew they were more of visions than spirits as she grew older. And as she grew older, she had stopped seeing those visions all together. She hadn’t been seeing them for eleven years until weeks ago, when she started seeing them again.

“I saw him. The man from my dreams.”