Follow love and it will flee, flee love and it will follow thee (Morissa)

Chapter 12: A couple

Kiera has suggested that Lealia should join a club, it shall give her the opportunity to get to know the others and make some friends. Laelia likes that idea but hasn't found any she enjoys yet. Nevermore has many clubs but, so far, none gets her attention. The one of last clubs on her list of choices is the fencing club. The teacher in charge of this club is Vlad. She hears that her mother sometimes joined him to coach the students from Kiera.

"Maybe this the one!" Laelia tells herself.

She opens the door to the fencing classroom, there aren't any students here at the moment, aside from Enid and another one that just started their match.

"Ah, Miss Harrison" Vlad claps his hands and comes to her with a small smile "I'm glad to see you here!"

"Good morning, sir!" Laelia greets.

"I see you have changed into your fencing uniform. Why don't we have a match?"

"I think the same thing, sir!"

"Call me Vlad is fine. I honestly would like you to call me uncle since I'm your father's friend but in Nevermore, calling me Vlad would sound more appropriate!"

Laelia nods slightly before putting her mask on, taking an epée from the shelf at the side and joining Vlad in the middle of the room, not far from Enid.

"Yo Lia, I'm leaving now, see ya at lunch!" Enid waves her hand at Laelia, it seems like her match has ended with the victory belonging to her. Laelia waves back at her before she leaves then turns back to her opponent.

"En garde" Laelia shouts.

Vlad doesn't make the first move so Laelia charges at him first, but the blade quickly gets blocked by the vampire. He strikes back which forces Laelia to back off immediately. She raises her alert, the man before her is very skillful and she doesn't want to lose too easily. Laelia doesn't need to win but her ego tells her to try and win the match even if Vlad holds himself back and lets her win.

Vlad smirks under his mask as Laelia slowly shifts her posture and charges again, this time much faster and much more precise. She moves just like his old friend, very elegant, yet so powerful with every move.

Vlad steps back and then surprises Laelia with a swift swing, her body moves on its own and dodges it, then comes another one from him. Laelia keeps going backward until her back meets the cold concrete. As Vlad thinks he could win, Laelia ducks down and strikes at his leg.

"Does that count?" Laelia looks up at him.

"Yes Miss Harrison, that count! You got the point" Vlad hits Laelia's head with the epée handle "You should join the club, you're good at this!"

"I'm considering it" Laelia removes her mask.

"You have both your father's talent and personality... and even his sharp eyes I see!"

"My father has brown eyes" she corrects him.

"No, you got his eyes, different colors cannot hide that fact. I taught him back when he studied here. I know him even better than his parents" Vlad's eyes stare at a picture on the wall, Laelia also looks over at that one. There is her mother in the fencing uniform, standing proudly in the middle and her father next to her, they held a big cup together, smiling happily like the real couple they were.

"They were so young in the picture!" Laelia remarks.

"It was taken in their second year. Maverick had taught Larissa fencing so she could go to a competition with him as a couple, they won the first prize. Those two were the best students I ever have!" his eyes flicker while still staring at the picture, memories of the old days flooding his mind like a storm. There were so many things about them that he cherished like treasure, but now they all feel like clumps in his veins. He lives a long life, he knows death, I saw death. Yet the two of them were something else that felt so vibrant to his blant old life.

"Laelia, if anyone ever told you that you have your mother's eyes... it means that they don't know your father at all!"

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Laelia comes back to her dorm at night, all she wants is to have a hot shower, a very long hot shower to wash away all of the sweat and paint on her body. The Art class didn't go as she wanted, she accidentally knocked off a palette of paint on herself. Her uniform is dirty and her face is as colorful as Enid's hair.

"How great!" she tells herself after closing the door of her room.

Laelia goes to her closet and takes her clothes and towel, hopefully, the shower won't be too crowded and she could just pop in right away.

Suddenly, a knock on her door "Laelia, it's me!". It's Morticia.

Laelia drops her stuff on the bed and goes over to open the door for her. The raven-haired is holding a pot of white lilies, Laelia's face lit up instantly "Oh my god, for me?"

"Yes, dear!" Morticia steps into the room, she carefully places the pot near the window then turns back to the blonde "What on your face, dear?"

Laelia opens her mouth, about to answer, however, no words come out as Morticia's hands are on her face, swiping the paint off. Her fingers are cold and soft, the contact made her face go bright red.

Morticia also loves the smooth skin in the palm of her hands. Oh, it reminds her of Larissa, her dear Larissa. Always stressed about exams and panicked when she got low grades. Morticia had held her like this to comfort her, caressed her face, then slowly let her head rest on Morticia's chest like a child. Morticia would kiss her forehead. Sometimes she would kiss Larissa's lips, gently before turning it into a French kiss. Larissa's face would be so red afterward and her eyes would lock on hers in satisfaction... or disbelieve.

"M... Mor... Tish!"

The raven-haired blinks twice before she feels Laelia's hands on her shoulders, pushing her away. The girl's lips are on her, parted by her tongue. Their breath has collided, hot and heavy. Morticia's arms grab around Laelia's waist firmly. Their bodies press against each other as if they are one.

Morticia widens her eyes, can't believe what she has done. The raven-haired let Laelia go, her body slumping back to her bed, her hand clapping on her mouth while looking up at Morticcia. Laelia's cheeks are burning and so is Morticia. Laelia's surprised by the kiss, it's her first, and Morticia takes it so fiercely. She purves her lips into a thin line. This isn't right at all, especially the way she likes it.

And for Morticia, she scolds herself internally. Fuck herself! How could she do that to Larissa's daughter?

Morticia storms out of the room violently opens the door, all she wants to do right now is kill herself or let Larissa's spirit do that to her.

"My my, isn't this Mrs. Addams? What are you doing in Laelia's room?"