The Mystery of Love (Robul)

Part 5

By the time Vlad got home, the sun was barely visible over the ocean. He hurried inside and shut the door quietly behind him, hoping no one would notice how late he was. The floor didn't even creak as his feet slid silently towards the kitchen. The house was eerily quiet and for a moment he thought everyone had gone to bed. Vlad heard a voice behind him as he peaked under the cloth covering what must have been left overs from dinner. "You're home late." He turned and saw Alejandro standing at the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against the wall. Vlad shrugged helplessly. "I got sidetracked...sorry." He turned back to the leftover bowl of, you guessed it, pasta, and slid the cloth off of it and grabbed a fork. Alejandro sighed and shook his head as Vlad sat down and twirled the fork in the pasta. Vlad made a face as he stuffed it into his mouth. "It would probably taste better if you were home on time." Alejandro scolded him before coming to sit next to him. Vlad was quiet for a minute before turning to the eldest. "Ali?" "Hmm?" "Do you know if there's a village just south-east of here?" Alejandro was quiet for a long moment, an odd expression on his face. When he finally shook his head, his expression was confused. "No I don't think there is. Why?" Vlad turned his face to his food. "No reason. Just curious." With that he got up and, putting his plate away, headed up to his room. Alejandro said nothing to his retreating back, only thinking to himself about what had prompted Vlad to ask such a question.

Upstairs, Vlad entered his room quietly, not bothering with the lights as he got into a pair of loose fitting pants and crawling into his bed. The room was cool and dark and it soothed his skin after being out in the sunlight for a few hours. He sighed and slid his hands behind his head to cushion his head. He thought back to the two boys in the field, the one with the bright green eyes and pale skin sticking out the most in all of his memories. But who was he? Vlad hadn't met anyone around here that was his age, except of course the people he lived with. They normally let him stay home on family outings. Knowing that they were sure to get stares when the typically tan and dark haired Mediterranean family was walking around accompanied by some pale kid in a black cloak. Not that Vlad minded. He loved having the large house all to himself, it was the perfect opportunity to leave some pranks around the house and practice magic. The first time he had asked if his family could see the little black and red faeries that flocked to his presence every time he was outside, they had all given him strange looks and asked if he was ok. They couldn't see them. Not that Vlad cared per say, it was just frustrating when one of those little faeries decided to pull a strand of his hair. But that boy...what was he doing out there? What were both of them doing out there? If there were no villages around, then they must be...no. Vlad stopped his train of thought. There was no way those two could be countries. It just didn't make sense. Still, the feeling of that being a possibility made Vlad's stomach do a flip and it was a long time before he finally fell asleep.

Vlad couldn't wait to get out of the house the next day. Mainly because of the surplus of people who had showed up to celebrate Rome's birthday, but also because he wanted to see if the two boys were out there again. The prospect of making two new friends-as he hadn't seen Elizabeta and Gilbert in many years-left him feeling jittery. Only when he had gone and dropped yet another glass of champagne Rome had asked him to get did he finally tell Vlad to get out of there. Forgetting his cloak, Vlad bolted from the house and ran into the woods, sun burning at his nose and scalp until he was in the coverage of the thick trees. He kept running, feet nimbly running over the uneven ground and jumping over roots and fallen trees. He headed towards the field he had seen the boys playing in, but before he could even near it he heard voices from in the trees. "Look at this one Sadik! I've never seen one so big!" "Oh cool! Are there any more?!" "I don't know, lets look!" The cracking of sticks on the undergrowth as the two boys walked made Vlad jump. They were headed in his direction. Vlad hid himself behind a large tree trunk just as the two boys became visible to him, the same ones he had seen the day before. The dark skinned one was talking animatedly to the green eyed other boy, who was holding a large metallic golden apple. 'They found the tree?' Vlad thought, mildly surprised. They suddenly stopped. "Shhh...do you hear that Nikolai?" "Hear what?" They were both completely silent and for a moment Vlad was worried they heard him, until...Sadik?...spoke. "Its the sound of complete and udder silence." He then burst into laughter and there was the sound of something being hit. "You jerk! I thought you were serious." "What? C'mon, ever since you saw those-and I quote-'creepy red eyes staring at you from the darkness of the forest' you've been nothing but jumpy." Vlad's breathing ceased. "I'm telling you Sadik I saw someone. And I never said the eyes were creepy, I said they were weird." "Oh whatever! What do you think some monster with red eyes is gonna jump you?" "No because he didn't look like a monster." "Oh here we go again!" "He didn't! He looked our age!" "Oh come on Niki! There's no one around here for miles." Vlad suddenly realized that they were walking a little too close to where he was hiding and were bound to find him if he didn't move. He took a hesitant step in the opposite direction, feet completely silent against the ground. He stepped again, this foot landing on a twig and snapping it loudly, he froze. So did the two boys. "Who's there?!" Sadik called out, voice wavering slightly. Vlad didn't move and stayed completely silent. "Come out, its ok. We wont hurt you." Came the other voice, the one that must have belonged to Nikolai. Vlad didn't move for a long moment until finally deciding to move to behind a tree near them and peer out around the trunk at them. Both of their eyes widened and Vlad moved himself further behind the trunk. Nikolai stepped forward. "Hello." Vlad blinked and keeping the lower half of his face hidden, spoke. "Hi...sorry if I scared you." Sadik let out a sigh and moved forward as well. "Good it speaks. I thought we were gonna have a problem for a second." Nikolai hit him lightly on the arm and sent him a look. Vlad smirked from behind the tree. "Yes I do, and I'm quite fluent in sarcasm if you'd like to know." Sadik chuckled and Nikolai smiled. "I'm Nikolai and this is Sadik, what's your name?" Vlad wasn't about to tell him he knew their names already, cause that's just creepy. "I'm Vladimir, nice to meet you." Nikolai smiled again and Vlad found that he could get used to seeing that expression on his face. "Nice to meet you too! Want to come play with us?" Vlad was about to nod his head until he realized he wouldn't be able to as he had forgotten his cloak. "As much as I want to, I can't." They both flashed him confused glances. "Why not? And hey, we were introduced so you can stop hiding now you know." Vlad shuffled farther behind the tree. "I don't think it's a good idea if I come out." Nikolai took another step closer. "Why's that?" "You might get scared." "Why would we get scared?" "...Cause I'm different..." Nikolai raised a hand and placed it over his chest. "I swear I wont get scared." Sadik nodded and stood next to him. Vlad gulped, Rome always made sure he didn't talk when they were around other people, fangs would scare anyone off in this era. But still, they had sworn. So Vlad took a breath and peeled himself away from the tree, revealing himself fully to them. They blinked. "You don't look scary..." Sadik mumbled. Vlad sighed sharply through his nose and opened his mouth, pointed canines brushing his lower lip. Both of their eyes widened and Vlad snapped his jaw shut. There was complete silence for a minute until Sadik spoke again. "...Oh..." Vlad bit at his lip before speaking. "Told you." Nikolai blinked and shook his head, eyes looking at him in wonder. "So, you're a vampire?" Vlad let out a breath. "Well, I guess." "Like, you know, 'bleh bleh bleh'?" Sadik said, curling his fingers and baring his teeth. Vlad blinked before bursting out laughing. "V-vampires don't say that!" He said through his laughter, hands curled around his stomach. When he was done laughing he straightened up. "Not really, I'm a bit of a special case to be honest." Nikolai tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Like what?" Vlad was a bit caught off guard by the question, but answered it none the less. "Well, although I am a carnivore blood disgusts me. And the whole crosses and holy water thing doesn't work with me, I'm actually Catholic." Sadik raised an eyebrow. "What about the sun and garlic thing?" Vlad sighed. "Well, I don't catch fire when I'm in the sun, but I do burn very easily. I normally wear a cloak when I go outside but I forgot it. And I am allergic to garlic, my throat swells up." Nikolai put a hand to his chin, thinking. "And...wooden stake to the heart?" "Yeah well who wouldn't that kill?" Sadik let out a muffled snicker and Nikolai grinned sheepishly. "I guess you're right." He scratched the back of his head, cheeks slightly pink. Vlad chuckled. "It's ok." Sadik looked between the two of them and grabbed their wrists. "C'mon lets go play!" They walked through the woods until they reached where the field was, the trees stopping abruptly as they were replaced by rolling green fields. Vlad stopped dead at the edge of the shade and Nikolai and Sadik walked a few more feet before realizing Vlad wasn't following. Nikolai looked confused for a moment before face palming. "Did we really forget that fast?" Vlad chuckled again, flashing him a smile before he sat down against a tree in the shade. "It's ok. You guys play, I'll just stay here. I'll remember my cloak next time." The two of them shared a look before they walked over and sat next to him. "Nah, its a bit too hot to be in the sun. Wouldn't you agree Niki?" Nikolai nodded and turned to smile at Vlad, cheeks slightly pink. "Way too hot." Vlad's eyes widened and he felt his own cheeks pink. He smiled. "Thanks.." For the rest of the afternoon they sat under that oak tree and talked, and Vlad swore he'd never had so much fun.

_______________________________________________________________________________

If you're wondering

Sadik-Turkey

Nikolai-Bulgaria

And it's sorta kinda love at first sight XD