The To-Do List

The Stranger

Vivian shut the door behind her with her foot and made her way to the kitchen table.  'Where is it? ... Finally!' She pulled a purple envelope out of the bundle of mail and threw the rest onto the table, with the intention of sorting through the rest later. She grabbed a popsicle from the freezer and went upstairs to her room on the third floor. She flopped down onto her bed and threw her popsicle wrapper into the garbage next to her desk. She looked at the fancy script on the front of the purple envelope seeing that it was addressed to the 'Ladies of the Shamblin residence'. Vivian had been eagerly awaiting this envelope all week. She tore it open, no longer caring about the fancy envelope, but what was inside. From inside, she pulled out a card. On the front, it was addressed to the 'Ladies of the Shamblin Residence', on the inside, was the invitation Vivian had been waiting for. It formally invited her and her sisters to the ball being held at the Boysin Mansion the following Saturday. Vivian could no longer suppress her squeal. It cut through the silent house like a rifle. Her two sisters came running into her room, not even bothering to knock, Vivian noted silently. "What is it, Viv?" Her oldest sister, Shyla, said. "Yeah, what is it, Viv?" Mimicked the second oldest sister, Rayane.  Vivian, ignoring their questions (they were probably rhetorical anyways), threw the invitation their way. Shyla caught it and after a moment the two sisters looked at each other, then squealed a piercing squeal of their own. They looked with disgust upon their youngest step-sister, then turned on their heels, leaving the room quickly as they had come. Vivian let out a long sigh. It was clear that they did not approve the decision of bringing Vivian into their family. Vivian had been adopted 3 years ago, and her 'sisters' still did not even try to be nice or treat her kindly. They always tossed their chores upon her, forcing her to slave away on all the chores, that they were supposed to be sharing, from dawn til dusk. Vivian had grown accustomed to it and has long since stopped trying to inform their mother of the girl's horridness towards her. She began thinking of what she would wear to the ball. She was ecstatic, she could barely contain another squeal! She shivered and went to make a fire. Once the fire had become steady, she went and flopped herself back onto her bed to think more about the ball.

The visitor was the one who ruined everything for her. Poor Vivian. She was so excited for that ball, but now . . . Well, now she had a completely different mindset on track. The task she had been assigned with was a difficult one, but not impossible. This had all happened when she unwillingly met Jillian when he knocked on the door allowing access to her terrace. And she had, foolishly, spoken to him. Thinking back, she tells herself, that she would rather have remained oblivious. But she knew that deep down, deep deep deep down, she was glad to know. To have this new knowledge. 

Vivian was still thinking about the ball, super excited. Lying in bed and she could hear that it sounded as though a storm had taken up outside. She heard the rain pelting off the roof. As she was entertaining the idea of the effect a pink dress would have on the men at the ball, vs a deep navy blue one, she heard it. The rapping that could only be a knock, on the door to the terrace. She slowly sat up, and turned to see a hooded figure standing there, getting drenched in the storm. She stood, always one for an adventure and walked over to the glass door. "Vivian!" A deep, rich voice that sounded like melted chocolate came from the stranger. She squinted, trying to see through the rain and under his hood, to find his identity. She, sadly, didn't have X-ray vision, so she could not tell who the drenched, hooded figure was. He seemed to know her, so this wasn't fair, she thought to herself. "Vivian!" he shouted again, against the roar of the storm. "What?" She shouted back, edging closer to the glass. "I must speak with you- urgently" 'Well, obviously, if you scaled the side of my house in a humongous storm, just so that you could talk to me in secret  . . .' She thought, snickering to herself. "Please!" The stranger pleaded once more. ' Whatever. Why not?' Vivian though to herself. She knew that she was a very capable young lady, at age 12, she could take down full sized adult men. Now, at age 17, she felt she could very much handle herself. Plus, when did she, Vivian Elloise Shamblin, ever turn down an adventure? 'The one who was sensible enough not  to let a stranger, a male stranger, into her bedroom while a very loud storm was raging outside.' A little voice said in the back of her head. She ignored this voice. It usually was wrong and just trying to stop her from having a great adventure. There had been many adventures that would have likely perished before they began, had she listened to that pesky little voice. Wearily, she said "How do I know you don't have sinister intentions for once I let you inside?" She said through the glass. The hooded stranger shrugged, "I guess you don't." He replied loudly. The storm was getting worst by the minute. She couldn't very well leave this poor man out there with it. What kind of person would that make her? Someone like her sisters? Psht, 'No thank you' she thought. She left the to the bathroom to grab some towels. She set one down before the door, knowing that it wouldn't provide much help. This man was drenched, so full of water, he could probably fill a bathtub, and she was about to let him relieve all that water onto her carpet. 'Oh, bother,  too bad for that carpet', she thought. She opened the door slightly and the man slipped in, shutting it behind him. She offered him a towel, which he took gratefully. Vivian asked him if he was cold. Looking up, meeting her eyes, he replied that he was indeed, freezing. "Well then, take off your clothes and we'll hang them to dry by the fire" She said plainly. He looked at her then said "That wouldn't be very proper, now would it? We're already in a room together, and the door is closed. That's bad enough, now don't you think?" He said in reply. She sighed, as he was already a huge burden, as bad as a toddler.  In one swift motion, she had grabbed his hood off, swung the coat off his body, grabbed the bottom of his shirt, and had wrenched it up and over his head. He stood, astonished, as he watched her place his coat and shirt over a rack by the fire. She then turned back to him and he saw her eyes look him down. They stopped at his chest, and he remembered the scar that she probably was staring at. But she said nothing and continued her looking him over. When she seemed done, her eyes met his and she said, "We have to wait for your clothes to dry." She walked over to her wardrobe and opened a drawer. Moving a great many clothes over, she pulled out a pair of men's' boxers and basketball shorts. She balled them up and tossed them at him. He caught them with one hand, surprised by the accuracy of her toss. "Go change in the bathroom and bring my your pants, underwear, shoes, and socks" She closed the drawer, looked him in the eyes, then smirked. Actually smirked at him and said "Sorry-" She didn't look sorry at all- " I don't think I have a shirt that would fit. But that is perfectly fine, because even if I did have one, I don't think I'd give it to you.  You know what I always say, 'If you have something worth showing off, show it off!' And you my friend, definitely have a few things worth showing off, that don't deserve to be covered by fabric. Now go change before you catch pneumonia." With that, she practically shoved him into her bathroom and slammed the door. He was worried for a moment, that she might be the one with sinister intentions, but quickly diminished that idea. She was just a female. But man, What a girl! He peeled off his heavily waterlogged pants and underwear and changed into the things she had given him. He sat on the toilet seat and took off his shoes and socks. When he finished, he opened the bathroom door and re-entered her room to find her lounging on her bed reading a book. When she had finished her page, she put her bookmark in and placed the book beside her. She hopped off the bed and took his wet things, hanging up his underwear, pants, and socks, and setting his shoes besides the fire. Then she gestured for his to take a seat on her bed. He did so, waiting for her to say something. She sat on the carpet in front of him, just staring at him. He suddenly felt very self-cautious about his exposed body, how he must look after being in that storm, and mostly, his scar. She opened her mouth to speak and he thought to himself, 'Great, here comes the question. The one question everyone always has to ask soon as they see it. 'Where'd you get that scar from?' The one question he hated. He prepared himself to answer rudely, possibly cut her off, but then she said, "Are you hungry? Thirsty?" He was shocked. She hasn't asked him the question. Why hadn't she asked him the question? It's impossible that she hadn't seen it. What was going on? "Well?" She raised her eyebrows expectantly. He noticed then, that despite earlier choking on water, that he was indeed parched, and he wouldn't mind a bite to eat, either, since she was offering.  "Yeah, actually. A little" She stood up quickly and went towards her door, opening it, then motioned for him to follow. He got up off the bed and went to follow her, then stopped short. " I don't want anyone  else to know I'm here, too see me." She rolled her eyes, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. " Duh," She said, " Why else would you come in through my terrace?" She had a point. " Plus, everyone else is sleeping. Do you have any idea what time it is?" She swept her hand over towards a clock. 1:17. " Oh, well... you were still awake." He said cautiously.  "Good point. But let me tell you something. Dad's out of town, as usual, and my mother along both my sisters, are petrified of the dark. Sounds crazy, I know, but it's true. Don't believe me, I'll take you by their rooms. They all sleep together when dad goes out of town, and they sleep with a nightlight on." He looked at her face and she was telling the truth. He stifled a laugh and said, "Okay, I believe you." She smiled, a beautiful thing he noted, and began walking down the hall again. "Even if they heard something, they wouldn't leave their room, they'd just scream for me. If  they wake up. They are the heaviest sleepers in the history of the world." He could hear the smile in her voice. He broke out in a grin also, relaxing his tensed shoulders. "Wanna do something fun?" Vivian asked him, turning around, a huge grin on her face. He sensed that if there was anyone to have fun with, it'd be this girl. She bore the complexion of someone who's experienced more than most would in a lifetime.  "Sure" He said, hoping that he wouldn't regret this decision later. She grabbed his hand and pulled him forwards, then, coming to a grand staircase, she jumped onto the banister, pulling him up with her. They slid down the banister, Vivian laughing and whooping the whole way. Jillian, however, was not used to doing this everyday, and towards the middle of the second floor, leaned a little to far to the left. Vivian, seeming as out of control as him, fell with him, yanking his arm this way and that way, until she let go of his hand, and he freaked. He began trying to grasp something, anything, grasping more and more air. He squeezed his eyes shut, wondering how in the world it was possible that he would meet his demise the hands of an insane 17 year old. Then he wasn't falling anymore. He opened his eyes, and Vivian set him down on his feet. "Don't worry, the first time I did that, I fell from that exact same spot. Well . . . actually, the first lot of times I did that." She said, smiling sheepishly. He looked in bewilderment at her. She had managed to land on her feet, and then catch him, bride style. He was amazed at the very least. She didn't look very strong, but she had managed to catch and hold all his weight, plus the extra weight the gravity created. And she didn't even stumble with the impact of him. In fact, he'd barely felt himself being caught, just subtly noticed that he was no longer falling.  Looking at his face, she broke out into a huge grin, "Amazing, huh?" She knew that the first ride was always the craziest, therefore, the best. "Yeah you are." He said looking at her, for as if it were the first time he was really seeing her.  As soon as he realized his mistake, he scrambled to correct it, but she said, "I know I am too, but I was talking about the ride." She laughed, the sound indescribable, like nothing he had ever hear before. Beautiful, amazing. She then took hold of his hand again and they were racing down hallways. He knew that he could be going much faster, but he liked the feel of her hand in his, so he kept a steady pace with her. She knew this, but didn't say anything, because she liked the feel of her hand in his too.  When they reached the kitchen, they were both winded. Vivian's house was huge. She swung the doors open and hopped onto the island in the middle of the kitchen. "I'd like some ice cream please." She said airily. "It's in the freezer. You help yourself to whatever you want. Just bring me the entire tub, yeah. And could you grab me a spoon too?" She said, pointing to a drawer. He brought the ice cream and the spoon over to Vivian, and she took it, immediately prying the lid off and digging in. She took bite after bite then paused. Jillian realized that he had been leaning against the island, watching her eat. God, 'She is beautiful' He thought. When he realized that she had paused, he dropped his gaze to the floor. She stuck the spoon into the ice cream and inched closer to him, taking the ice cream along with her. Stopping right next to him, she scooped out a huge bite and tapped his on the shoulder. He looked up and she said "Want a bite?" He opened his mouth and she airplaned the spoon into his mouth. The bite was way to big, so he didn't take it all of the spoon. The little that was left, Vivian ate. "What if I have cooties?" He asked, swallowing the entire bite at once, his throat screaming. She shrugged and scooped another bite for him.  And they kept on like this, her feeding him and taking bites in between, until she was scrapping the bottom of the carton. "There's drinks in the fridge, if you want one." She volunteered. He got up and started towards the fridge. "My names Jillian. By the way." She just nodded and said, "Nice name. I like it." He moved to the fridge and asked her what she wanted. She asked for a Sobe, and he grabbed a Pepsi. "Ewwwwww." She said, eyeing his Pepsi. "Whaaaaa?" He said. "You don't like Pepsi???" He questioned astonishingly. "No! And you do like it? Ew!" She said. Despite her protests, he opened up the can and took a long swig. She did the same with her drink. He stood there, leaning against the island, and she sat there sitting on the island. They were both off in their own little worlds. For a moment, all was silent. The Vivian took deep breath and said "We should go back upstairs." He looked at the clock behind him and nodded. "Yeah."  Vivian hoped down off the island, and took Jillian's hand, once again. And they headed off upstairs. The going up the grand staircase was not nearly as much fun as going down.

 When they got back to her room, Vivian flopped down on her mattress and stared long and hard at Jillian. "So . . ."  she started slowly, as if not sure how to proceed. " What do you want?" She finally blurted out. "It's not every night that an extremely attractive guy comes in the middle of a huge storm, on my terrace, wanting to talk to me. So. . .  what do you want?" He suddenly remembered that he did indeed, come here on a mission. He had just been so distracted by Vivian, that he had gotten caught up, forgetting his reason for attendance completely. He sat down on the bed across from her, as she curled her legs up to her chest, seemingly as if waiting for story time. Her eyes held curiosity and intrigue.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Well . . ." He began, looking her square in the eyes, " you've heard about the recent deaths lately, and how they've slowed down a bit, whereas before, it was 5 a week, now it's around 2?" "Umm.. yeah, I've heard about them. They're kinda freaky... Looks like all the life's been sucked out of them. Almost like a..." She searched for the right word, "vampire." She finally settled on. She looked into Jillian's eyes and saw something that she did not like. Something that she did not like at all.