Rose

24. Graveyard

Rose

I stand there frozen and watch Damien walk up to his friend's grave and stand next to it, starring, as if having a mental conversation with his late friend.

When I was young, I indeed did wish of having a date somewhere scary and this place would have felt cool but knowing there are dead bodies a few feet below now feels the opposite. "Look, I know you might think I am crazy," Damien starts,  His hair sticks to his head and his entire shirt is soaked in rain, outlining his fine abs.

He looks like an ideal serial killer in all the documentaries and books I had read, but rather than running away on first impression, I tilt my head in the heavy rain, showing him my confusion. He takes this signal to continue, "It's just that, Cason and I had promised each other to meet our first dates and I just- we can leave if you want," he shouts from afar, stopping midway and I feel my heart ache while imagining what Damien might have gone through when he was young.

His best friend is dead, I do not know why, but all I know is that he must have felt an immense amount of pain, not the physical one but the mental one when he had found out about his death. I gulp, and try to see his face properly in all the rain.

He huffs freely, knowing that there are no Vampires around and can show his other human part to me. Palms on his knees, supporting his upper body, he looks at me with hope. Wishing that I do not leave him and I really wish I could have punched him from a few feet apart.

He really was doubting I would leave him there hanging didn't he?

I shake my head and run towards him, while keeping a strong footing, so I don't slip in the midst of the ground and hug him tight. Surprised, he stands there for a few moments before embracing back into the hug.

We stand there for a few minutes before I break up the hug or else I know we might be standing there forever. His eyes are filled with tears but none drop, I give a small smile. "It's fine, I am good. As long as you don't start acting like a psycho." He smiles at that, his golden eyes melting into my own.

We stand before his friend's grave and I hear him whispering something in their ancient language. I had underestimated Damien; he must have had a difficult  life living as a half Vampire and dealing with so much.

Once Damien has his moment, we walk out of the grave and sit on an old nearby bench. We ignore the rain, which is still pouring, soaking us as we watch the view. In the distance we hear strong thunderclouds and see light flashing and I know it's dangerous. But I still sit there and admire the view, dark grey clouds and the heavy rain makes it hard to see things but I can still see a few tiny silhouettes of buildings farther away from here. All isolated from each other. The smell of wet ground and forests evade my lungs and I take a deep breath and the tiny droplets falling heavily on me gives me nostalgia. If only it weren't freezing, I would have enjoyed the complete situation.

"That… that thing you saw in the classroom," Damien says, interrupting my train of thoughts. I tilt my head and look at him, even though I did say that it wasn't mandatory to explain everything to me. A small part of me was still curious and furious at the same time.

"It's a thing I do often so I don't turn fully human, I need Vampire blood in my body and human blood removed from me every three months since I don't drink human blood. I assure you I don't do that often with her, but I was running out of time," he said, his voice brittle and his head lowered.

"It's alright, I get it. I was the one who overreacted. It's not like we are in a relationship or something," I say awkwardly, damn it, why did I say the last sentence?

"But I want to," I hear him mutter, or was it just my imagination? With all the loud noises surrounding us I wasn't sure so I stayed quiet. "But I want to," Damien says, more louder and more determined.

I gulp, he doesn't really mean it does he?

"But I am going to leave tomorrow," I whisper and give a bitter laugh.

"It's alright, and I don't think you can leave tomorrow, with the bad weather and the way you are shivering right now. We can date for a few days," he argues with hope shining in his eyes.

I feel my heart racing, he is right, I had a feeling I couldn't leave tomorrow but dating for a few days only? What happens after that? We leave and never meet each other. But rather than asking all the questions I had in my mind I ask something else.

"Why?" I ask, and he replies immediately, almost as if he has thought of this already.

"Because with you I feel free. If this makes any sense, you know my secret and you know a lot more than anyone else does, except a few, of course.  And never have I felt the need to spy on you unlike others. You are different and unique and I feel different when I am with you and I haven't felt that in a while."

I smile at that, it sounds so pure and I can't hide the fact that I don't want to spend more time with him. But unlike him, who gave me a full answer, I have none. So instead, I lean forward towards him and grasp his wet hair, the rain water sweeps from his face and falls from his sharp jaw. He leans forward too and I close my eyes.

The time stops in a collision of senses when our lips meet and my heart skips a beat. I feel connected and Damiens fresh breath is much stronger than the wet ground, making it impossible to stop the fluttery feeling inside me.

We both melt in the kiss and behind us, I feel light flashing and a few seconds later, the lighting strikes, even though my eyes are still closed I can feel the lightning hitting the ground a few miles away, but at an exact point as if separating us with its strike. I get the jitters in my heart but we stay there, kissing each other in the heavy rain next to the grave.

No graphics! But dw! By next week I will be home and back to work. :)