Crystalline

04

There is always someone in our life who knows us even better than we know ourselves. It could be a friend, a parent or a sibling who could always read the truth behind our lies no matter how much we try to hide it. I have someone like that as well.

Sometimes growing up with Mino was more of a pain in the butt than a gift. You know how I said that Mino and I were inseparable. There were moments when I hated it, because he was always able to tell when I was lying about something. Just like at this moment...

Leaned against the wooden door frame of my bedroom, there he was, with his hands crossed over his chest and his judging grimace ready to hear the real story behind my late coming home. Off course that he would suspect, when I came back with messy hair and panting like a dog. Maybe I succeeded in lying to my father, but Mino was another story. And knowing him, he won't let it pass until I've told him everything.

"Come on Maya, I can stay like this all night long. Spill it, what happened and where the hell have you been?"

"Have I ever told you that you can be really annoying when you want to be?"

"At least three times a week."

Even with the scold on my face, I still waved my hand so he could come inside and shut the door after him. Mino's grin showed how much he enjoyed when he was right about something, but nevertheless he did the pointed thing.

And just like that I've told him everything that I saw tonight, from the beginning when I departed from the school's grounds, to the fact that I almost got in the middle of a street fight. But for some weird reason I avoided the fact that I had recognized a face in the battle. Maybe it was because of the fact that I wanted to believe that my eyes were deceiving me, or maybe because I wanted to confront Jaime Valentine myself.

But mostly because, would have Mino believed in me, if I had told him that what I saw wasn't a human being. Would he believe in me if I said that I saw fangs and red eyes? Would he believe if I told him that I saw a vampire...?

Trust me if it was me, I'd say that whoever said that needed medical help. And after what I think I saw tonight, maybe I really needed an appointment at a doctor.

What I did know was that it's a miracle how I managed to escape. One second Jaime's eyes were on mine and the other, I was running away with bolting speeds. My legs were once again working on their own like they could sense the danger. I didn't turn to see if he was following me, I just ran until I reached the front door of the house. But even when I got home, I could still feel his eyes watching me. Even now, when I was curled under the covers ready to welcome my dream I felt as if he was there.

I don't know how or why, but Jaime Valentine was there...

• • •

Did you really think that I would let this go and just forget about the thing? Oh no, because if you did then it's time you met the real Maya Reed. Did I care if everyone in the canteen was watching me as if I had grown two heads, when on lunchtime I neared the 'Valentine' table without hesitation? Or that I left Reina on our table, gaping behind my back and probably thinking that I was mad...

As I neared their table the first one who saw me was Elijah, and trust me when I say that he was nowhere near as surprised as I thought that he would be. Quiet chuckle had escaped his lips and with shaking his head in amusement, he turned his gaze towards his little brother. Whatever his action meant, it was obvious that he knew something...

"Can I talk to you?"

I spoke, surprised how confident the voice sounded in my ears. I had to give more credits to myself, because even though there was a whole zoo of animals running inside my stomach, still I somehow managed to stay calm on the surface. My eyes searched for Jaime trying to get his attention on me, but he was now looking at his older brothers. Staring at each other like that, the three of them seemed to have a silent argument. Finally, after a moment Jaime Valentine snapped out of their staring session. He took a deep breath while still gazing elsewhere and spoke.

"Okay."

He said only one simple word. The sound of his voice, deep and quiet but at the same time, it sounded as if it held the power that could change everything wrong in the world. Smoothly, the baritone of his voice reverberated through my bones reaching to every inch of my skin. The low rumble of his voice was warm and comforting, but at the same time stone-cold.

I wonder how someone can have that kind of an impact on me. How he managed to make me feel all those things with just one word. Seeking for the truth, I looked into his eyes.

They were as black as night, intense to the point that if I didn't look away I'd get swallowed in the darkness of his orbs. One look in his eyes and I knew that everything I saw yesterday was true. And that feeling stayed with me even when I followed him outside of the canteen, not giving matter to the shocked eyes of every student that was present in it.

Few steps after we passed the double doors of the school's cafeteria, Jaime stopped walking without a warning. If I hadn't been walking with a meter distance between us, I would have bumped my head into his back. He turned towards me, but didn't ask anything as if he was waiting for me to start.

"Will you tell me what happened yesterday?"

I asked, but my voice didn't seem as confident as it was in the canteen. My words scalped harshly in my throat as if they tried to burn their way out.

"I don't know what you mean."

He wasn't even looking at me, but his eyes were lost somewhere on my shoulder. They traveled closer towards my hair, where he seemed to gain some interest. His gaze moved slowly over the length of my locks and stopped near my neck. His intense look seemed to have dried my mouth causing me to gulp, but it never occurred to me that - after my action he would turn his head aside, avoiding me again.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Why were you fighting with those ... people?"

When he didn't answer, for a second I wondered why. Without thinking my mouth had spoken the words that were chanting in my mind.

"Your eyes - they were bloody red. And you had ... fangs."

"You are mistaken, Maya Reed. That thing was not me."

With only that said, he turned his back on me and walked down the hallway with fast steps. I would have followed him, I would have chased after him until I squeezed the truth out of him, but what stopped me were his words. He didn't even flinch when I mentioned the eyes and the fangs, nor he seemed surprised by my words. And the fact that he said thing instead of person, was even a bigger encouragement for me to find out what was happening to him.

Whatever he was, I swore to find out even it ends up to be the last thing I do.

• • •

N O T E :

This was chapter four. It kinda took me a while to update it, but I had to change quite a lot of things from the original form and that's why this came so late. Anyways, what do you think about it? Do you have any theory about the Valentine boys?

Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it!

THIA