The cold

Bloody Christmas stones

The past few months were quite the same , Neil even managed to get used to Nerezza's quirks and if one looked past that he figured Nerezza could be someone interesting. Neil wasn't dumb , he knew something was weird , especially when it stared at him right in the face. At first he figured it was because people preferred to avoid Nerezza, that wouldn't be too surprising...but that wasn't it. He could understand avoidance but people breezed right past her like she wasn't there and she had a cheshire grin on her face every time it happened, like she just loved being treated like the air. There were even times when he thought she wasn't real,that she was some made up evil friend. But she was real alright , even he knew his brain wasn't that good.

Not all was good off late though, for  one thing he kept getting recurring headaches for the past few weeks, not the kind that bought tears to his eyes, no, the kind of ache that made you pull your hair, what one gets when one is forced to see Twilight in all it's glitter glue leeches and impossibly clumsy glory. It even drove him to a doctor who prescribed a  few painkillers that didn't help at  all.  Nerezza didn't seem concerned at all, not that he expected her to be all mushy , but he did kind of expect their familiarity to breed concern.

Neil sighed, staring at the pages of  Good Omens ,not really reading it. It was one of his favorite books but the persistent  rotten little ache in his head kept him from enjoying it. Neil got up from his seat, what he needed was a nice long walk ,the castle did have an amazing garden,he might as well put it to good use ,and he did need some alone time. Nerezza though didn't seem to understand the concept of alone time. Neil huffed, he would throw a nice loud tantrum when his head felt fine, he didn't realty have the energy for it now. The castle grounds had one of the most exquisitely designed gardens in the world, the center of which Neil was staring open mouthed in disgust .At the center of the garden stood a fountain, what disgusted Neil was the fact that the dozen or  so cherubs were replaced by the late king, Damien's father.

"Why the hell would the late king want a statue of himself pissing out in the front garden?" Nerezza chuckled at Neil's expression, he looked like a kid who had been forced to eat lime. Lady Legasus , queen of the seelie court,  sure did know how to put someone in a fix.  She wondered if the late king ever realized that there was no three headed dog in his fountain.Probably not.  He was far too vain to consider the truth.  Lady Legasus probably knew that. She wasn't one to play careless games."Why did no one remove it  ? " Neil asked. Nerezza smiled, nobody liked the late king enough to bother. A chance to have a good laugh at the late king Rompe probably made their day.

They continued their stroll at a leisurely pace. If one forgot the fountain, the garden looked like paradise, not the kind of garden that has all those structured roses popping up where it was designed to , instead the garden's beauty lay in the fact that it was let loose ,untamed and wild. Neil took a deep breath , the smell of wood and wet grass assaulting his nose. His face lit up in a smile when he noticed a tiny squirrel digging into the ground, it's bushy tail twitching,so much  in it's own world that it forgot it's surroundings. He wanted to be like the squirrel too, sans a care in the world.

"Isn't it time we head back ,princess. " Nerezza invaded his moment without a shred of remorse.Neil muttered a few choice words under his breath , heading back to reality. He didn't mind it much, just envied the squirrel a wee bit. 

They both entered the library in silence, neither of them bothering to break it, it wasn't an awkward one. Nerezza went back to shelf of horrors picking up yet another book with gruesome tales to tell. Neil let out a slight gasp of surprise, in his place he found a velvety blood red box with a neat bow tie on top. On top of the box lay a black card in which the words "The mystery gift -Merry Christmas in advance  Neil  - bloodrocks" were written in a beautiful script. Neil stared at the box baffled, somebody was out to be the creep.. there was a read box, a red bow tie, red font , perhaps a red crayon in the box to top it tall,pfft. He opened the box carefully, peering inside it confused. Inside the box , lying comfortably on a  small satin pillow was a stone, a red stone.Neil picked the stone up carefully, bringing it closer to his face. Upon coming in contact with his hand the stone started to glow a bright scarlet. Neil, bowled over by the pain ,didn't even get the time to scream before blacking out. The stone sizzled and hissed a few seconds before vanishing into thin air.

Nerezza was bought out of the book by a soft thud. She frowned on seeing Neil huddled on the floor motionless, his face a very sickly pale. Upon seeing the box, the message and the boy she understood, a little. She bent down in haste pressing a finger to his vein. She could feel a pulse, surprisingly. She knew only a handful of people who've survived absorbing a blood stone, none before their change. She was confused as to  why anyone would ever waste a blood stone  over a boy that wasn't even of age. It was something that people killed over , a cursed gift. She lifted the boy up gently , carrying him to the sick ward .She knew there was no real danger anymore, one either died at the exact time the stone merged with the body or not at all, but she didn't feel like taking chances, not with the stakes of the game this high.

*1032

Greetings feykin!

Hope y'all enjoyed the read! Vote and comment....

To all the twilight fans out there...um...oops, no offense meant though..