RED

The Coincidental Rendezvous

© APOORVA 2014

All rights including those in copyright in the content of this story are owned by Apoorva. It's Illegal to steal and/or copy.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

It had been a week since we left Kumaon and came to Dehra Doon. Nothing had changed here, however everything was transformed for me.

I ran deep in the woods as I tried to run away from everyone else, from myself too. Kea's death was finally taking its toll and those flashes kept on haunting me. I could have saved her, I thought for the hundredth time, we would be running together right now if I had. I mentally cried in frustration. The deeper I ran, I hope the farther I was running away from the world.

But this place, the jungles of Tapowan, had a funny scent- it was a mixture of alcohol, semen and...blood.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked around and took a deep breath. The same fragrances returned but the blood hit me hard. Perhaps because I have not tasted human blood in a while, I reasoned. The more I breathed, the more it lured me, pulled me. I thought the curiosity was getting the better of me but the scent seems to drift close to me, I felt a tight pull towards it and I started walking as if in a trance. I had never experienced such an attraction before, except that is for the night we had left from this place.

Coming to a standstill, Could it be? I asked myself.

"Stop it Samyukta," an enchanting voice spoke from the distance

"No," the girl cooed, "You are eighteen; you are allegedly entitled to a love affair."

The voice laughed, "Shut up you crazy!"

I sprinted towards that voice, mentally calculating all the odds of it belonging to the same child I saw being born eighteen years back. The more I followed that blood trail, the more it teased my senses. Restless, I quickened my pace, zooming past all the trees.

The voices became more prominent and so did the scents. I broke down my tempo when I saw a bunch of teenagers some meters away. They were all drinking alcohol and their breaths were sharply pungent. Maintaining an unobservable distance, I scanned their faces. They were scattered here and there; some were kissing each other, some were smoking and laughing, and then there was a boy, with a cup of alcohol in his hand and a compelling blood scent. He had mesmerizing almond colored eyes, plum pink lips and parted brownish-black hair. His face was perfectly sculpted, having a straight nose, prominent cheek bones and a strong oval jaw line. He was a wearing a band T-shirt with blue jeans and black sneakers.

That's him, the voice in my head said, that is the same boy.

"C'mon Pratik, why are you being so weird," a girl with dyed golden hair complained

"I told you Samyukta, I don't want to be with you," he replied, irritated

"Gosh, you're such a kill joy," she snickered, walking away

I grinned. Good boy, I whispered.

In that moment he raised his face to glance at me, but I rocketed away before his eyes could detect my presence. I aimed to run away from him but his scent was so alluring that I had to struggle to get away. It was not just his blood that was so strong; the smell of his skin captivated me too. It was a tang of cinnamon, the earthy smell that always got to me. I have to know him now, my thoughts sprang to life, I need to know him now.

                                                                - - -

I sat on the bench while the newborns chased a rabbit. I laughed at their enthusiastic innocence, and then sighed for not being able to provide them with human blood. They will all turn from healthy to malnutrition ashen skinned creatures gradually- we all will. But we were punished, for what I still do not know, because giving birth to a child was as righteous and blameless as our food. However, the Janiat coven started to see the newborns as a threat a while ago. Because of their own impotency, I thought, and perhaps because of envy.

Everyone knew that Janiat stopped breeding some decade ago because their offspring's were literally monsters, and well, that was ought to be because this was what the adults were. However, the Dorgie coven was rather more civilized and moral. Our young have never posed a threat to anyone, and they never will as far as I know. We all reach maturity after ten years of our birth, but then of course, there were exceptions. Most of the children did not even survive in the womb; one out of ten was the survival rate here. The stillborns were because of mother's blood-parched body for the reason that the fetus also fed on that blood in a span of five weeks since their formation. Now, that human blood was legally forbidden, mothers might as well die with their babies, and Janiat would come out clean for eradicating these infants without butchering them personally. I gnashed my teeth in exasperation.

"Maya, would you help me?" a newborn innocently asked

"What is it?" I questioned, nodding

He looked down at the ground in hesitation. I smiled at his bashfulness.

"Can you take me...to the town with you?" he asked, looking up through his thick lashes

"You are not allowed, you know that?" I said

"Yes, but then..." he timidly, "...I just...you know, wanted to-"

"What is it?" I politely asked, "You can trust me."

He looked at me longer than expected. He was one of the fifteen years old, though he looked as though he was just six. He had honey eyes and thin red lips with gorgeous black hair. He inherited pale skin and a charming face, just like everyone of us.

"I saw a girl a week back," he said, "her family was camping here and I just can't stop thinking about her. She was beautiful and I want to see her...again."

I was speechless.

Most of us found our mates in our own specie, even if they were from other coven, and it was not obligatory to be a two sided thing. But every now and then there were some atypical streaks who wanted to be with a human. We often realized it late, like I had today, yet he was too young to decide his mate was human. Of course he is not consciously aware of that, but he would have that urge to see her not just one once.

"You know this is against the rules," I told him

"I do," he frowned, "sorry I asked. Please don't tell the Elders."

"Where does she live?" I grinned

He looked at me confused, then smiled reddening.

"And oh, what's your name?" I asked

"Harun," he happily replied

"You and I will make a good team, Harun."

* * *