Reborn

[redblood]

Katarina sat with a group of people, pretending that she actually was interested in communicating with those pitiful fools. But in reality she simply tried to pick out who she should have for dinner later that day. As a vampire, human blood was necessary for her survival. Or at least blood was necessary, it didn't really have to be human blood. But animal blood didn't taste too good so most vampires didn't even try to change their diet.

She soon picked out a skinny girl with short blond hair. That girls blood didn't smell of fat, a lot of people ate so much at McDonalds and other fast food places so their blood didn't taste that well. That wasn't the only thing that bothered the vampires, because of all the combustion gases that humans let out the blood was also a bit destroyed from that. Then they smoked and did drugs which also made the blood quality sink tremendously. It was hard to find someone with somewhat clean blood. It had been easier just a couple of hundred years earlier.

The clouds were starting to part outside the window and the sun started to shine through. She sighed. The sun wasn't deadly for vampires, and they didn't sleep all day. It was just that long exposure of sun could harm them. Not kill, only harm. And it could take hours before anyone would notice what the sun was doing to the vampire, which meant they had a lot of time to get away. As long as she stayed in the shadows, inside the school or just walked around outside for a short amount of time, then she would be fine.

Her thoughts traced away from the dinner plans as a male student walked into the school's cafeteria. She had had her eyes on him for some weeks. She wasn't completely sure why, but something in his blood made her drawn to him. At first she had just thought of having him as dinner some evening, but she weren't able to get herself to attack him. She couldn't understand why herself, especially not since she didn't even kill humans. It wasn't necessary since no vampire could actually feed on a whole human on their own. Only vampires in packs could empty a human on blood. But some killed just because it was fun.

Her eyes never left the boy as he walked past her table, so far she hadn't really spoken to him. She had just entered the school as an exchange student some weeks earlier because she wanted to see who he was, and even so she hadn't spoken directly to him. And she hadn't planned to do it yet, she was a patient person, she could wait. She just wanted a bit more information on him before she approached him, and she had slowly and steadily gotten information by compelling his friends to tell her.

Spoiler

 

[MysticKrystal]

Steven walked into to cafeteria to grab a tray of food and go back to reading his book. Steven brushed his medium length black hair away from his eyes and pushed up his glasses. He made his way across the room as he ignored everyones eyes on him. It was a usual thing. Everyone always looked at him. Either he was different and people didn't want to get near him, or people adored him and fell into a deep gaze on him. All if all, he was always in the spotlight, but he never talked.

Steven got to the beginning of the lunch line and the guy standing in front of him picked up an empty tray and handed it to him. "Here you go." he said to Steven. He smiled and gave a light nod of thanks, then started getting his food. Steven picked up a chicken salad bowl and a side of pineapples. He then grabbed a small bowl of mashed potatoes and a bottle of water, paid for his food, then headed to a corner in the cafeteria to an empty table. He sat his tray down, took a seat, then pulled a book out of his bag that was over his right shoulder.

Steven opened the book to the last spot he read, and took a bite of his salad. He read for a few minutes then had an odd but familiar chill down his spine. He turned to look towards a girl he barely knew. He saw her often but never talked to her. They just tend to have several seconds of eye contact every now and then. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at her playfully. He wasn't sure what her name was. He guessed it was something like Katrina.

 

[redblood]

"Charming." Katarina mumbled with a small smile on her lips as Steven stuck out his tongue at her playfully. Then she averted her eyes from him and looked at the others at her table. They would probably have noticed that she didn't really listened to them if they hadn't been compelled not to notice such things.

"Aren't you hungry?" One of the girls she sat with asked. Katarina didn't eat human food of course, that wouldn't make her body any good at all. She would just have to get it out before it started to rot in the stomach since her digestive system didn't work after becoming a vampire.

"No, I always eat a big breakfast and usually I don't get hungry before dinner." She told the girl whose name she didn't even bother to memories. The girl simply nodded and went on about how jealous she were because she always was hungry and always felt like she needed to eat. Then she complained about her weight, but at that time Katarina had already stopped listening.

"Don't you have a lesson to go to?" She asked just a minute or so later, and between the lines of her words were an order. The girl that looked straight into the vampire's eyes couldn't resist and had to agree. She made sure that the others also went to their lessons even though no lessons would start for another thirty minutes.

When she was alone she stood up from her seat and walked towards Steven, many curious eyes followed the exchange student. Since she only would stay a couple of weeks more in the school it was time to put her plan into action. It was time to take contact. Try to figure this guy out.

"Hello there, you're Steven right?" She asked, her Scandinavian accent shined through a little bit. It felt kind of weird since she hadn't spoken with an accent in English for the last hundred years. Was she nervous?

 

[MysticKrystal]

Steven laughed softly when Katrina looked away. He went back to reading his book as he attacked his pineapples with his fork. He read about another paragraph or so before he noticed a rising shadow appearing behind him. A bit astonished, he turned to see who it was. Katrina was standing behind his and asked if he was who he is. Steven replied to her question with a warm smile. he then reached over and gently took her hand, pulled it close to his face, and kissed at her fingers. As he released her hand, he patted at the empty spot to his right and looked up to her, as if asking her to take a seat.

Steven wanted to say words to her, but he knew he couldn't. He had social anxiety which muted him in public. The only times he can talk are when he's alone with a person he's comfortable around. But because of his social awkwardness, no one gave him the chance to get comfortable with. Either people stayed away from him or they tried to get too close to the point it was overbearing. Steven was better off alone, but he didn't mind her company. He knew she would try to talk to him sooner or later after making faces at her every day in lunch.

Steven placed his bookmark in the novel he was reading, closed the book, and sat it down to his left. He then slightly turned in Katrina's direction to give her his full attention while he took a bite of his mashed potatoes. Even if he had company, he didn't like wasting time to eat. Especially when it's one of the very few times he gets the chance to eat. Normally his schedule is quite busy.

 

[redblood]

He didn't say anything, which of some reason didn't surprise her. She had never heard or seen him speak before, and weren't even certain if he could speak. But he might just not be a talkative person, maybe she just had to make him relax a bit more.

As he kissed her fingers it felt as if she would blush, but she knew that that couldn't be since she hadn't been drinking blood for a couple of days so no blood could rush to her cheeks and make them pink. No guy had actually kissed her hand like that for many years, that gesture had since long died out among the men, which Katarina thought was a real pity. She remembered the 18th century, there were gentlemen everywhere, some kissed her hand and others a piece of her hair.

She sat down on the chair beside him, which had been her intention even if he hadn't asked her to do so. "I'm Katarina" She said as she had sat down. Her pronunciation was a lot different from how everyone else said her name, it had irritated her in the beginning that people said it as Katharina, and some even got it to Katherine. Sure, it was the English version of her name, but if they had heard her pronounce it then they could at least try to say it correctly. Another reason why she didn't like humans.

"So, do you always stick out your tongue at strangers like that?" She asked him with a calm a melodic voice. His attitude had seemed so childish and a bit adorable, she couldn't help but bring it up and see what he would say about it.

 

[MysticKrystal]

Steven blushed when she asked him if he always stuck his tongue out at strangers. He only did it to her because she always gave him a chill down his spine when she stared at him. He laughed a little and shook his head no. He the looked up at her, analyzing every aspect of her appearance. He studied the proportion of her figure and, how her hair laid in front of her eye and down her shoulder in such an elegant way. He felt as if he somewhat adored it.

Steven playfully tickled at her side to get a smile out of her. He then reached into his bag and pulled out a sketchbook and a soft lead pencil. He looked up at her one more time, taking his finger and gently lifting her chin to study her jaw line. Instantly he started to sketch a picture of her on a clean sheet of paper. As he drew, he took a few breaks to eat some more of his lunch, glance at her again, then go back to sketching.

In the end he placed his pencil down. It only took him 5 minutes to draw the picture of her. His drawing skills were quite impeccable. He studied art at a very young age and enjoyed drawing people. He handed katarina the picture, then took a sip of his water. He smiled at her and stuck his tongue out once again.

 

[redblood]

He really were an odd person, first he tried to tickle her without much success since she wasn't ticklish at all. Then he took forth a sketchbook and started to sketch. She sat perfectly still once she understood that he was drawing her.

"So you're into art." Katarina said while she moved her lips as little as possible. "I painted myself for some years, but lost interest in it after some time." She told him. Those years had been during the 19th century and her interest had lasted for around fifty years. Now she could find her paintings a bit all over the world, no one knew who had made them though. From a humans perspective, those paintings was made of a anonymous painter. Everyone had guessed that the painter was a man which had made her laugh a lot. All the made up stories about the poor painters life was ridiculous speculations.

After he was done drawing her he took a sip of water before he stuck out his tongue at her again. This time though she decided not to be the mature one and also she stuck out her tongue at him. If only her maker could see her now, he would loose his jaw because of how she acted. She wouldn't mind seeing that actually.

"Do you want to go to the art museum this afternoon? Or maybe later this week if you don't have time today?" She asked him when she was done with her childish act.

 

[MysticKrystal]

Katarina asked Steven if he wanted to go to an art museum after school. He thought for a moment, remembering that he has to go to work after school. He sadly shook his head, then scarfed down the rest of his salad. Steven pulled the picture of Katarina out of his sketchbook and wrote on the back of it. He then handed it to her and stood up. What he wrote down was his phone number. It had a side note saying "Text only" with a smiley face at the end.

Steven picked up his tray and gave Katarina a small bow. He then walked away to the trash cans, dumped his garbage, then left the cafeteria. As he got to the door, he paused for a second, looked back at her ad gave her a wink, then left to go back to class.

Steven walked down the hallway to his next class period. It was almost the end of school with only two classes left. He thought about Katarina for a while. He wondered what she was thinking that caused her to talk to him today of all days. He sat down in his seat and straightened his back, clearing his thoughts. He refused to let anything sidetrack his mind in class. He was a straight A student and he had no intentions to ruin that reputation of his.

 

[redblood]

Katarina chuckled at the piece of paper he had written on. It felt really tempting to call him just to see if he picked up or if he would let it ring until it stopped, but she didn't want to scare him away so soon after actually speaking to him. It felt like he were some kind of mixture between a 17th century gentleman and a modern person, still she knew that he couldn't possibly have lived that long since he obviously was a human.

She sat there a couple of minutes after he had gone, a couple of guys walked up to her to ask her out on a date but she refused them. When her lesson was about to start she rose from her seat and started to walk. No one cared that she were a minute late, no one even noticed it since she had told them not to notice if she was gone from class. Sometimes it felt boring that she could just order humans around and they would obey her, but she still always used that power.

When all her classes was over she took up her phone from her pocket.
"Since you're too busy today, is there any other day you have time to go to the art museum with me? I will be sad if I have to go all alone." She wrote in a text message to Steven. She was certain that it wouldn't be necessary for her to write her name since there probably hadn't been too many people asking him out to the art museum that day.

After the message was sent she fast put the phone back into her pocket and started to walk out of the school. The sun felt uncomfortable on her skin, but it didn't hurt. It would if she stayed out some more hours though. "Almost makes you miss the time when we hide in the shadows, right?" Katarina sighed when she heard the voice behind her.

"Are you following me, Elijah?" She asked without turning around.
"Depends on, are you trying to escape from me, Katarina? You have been gone for awfully long." His voice was playful but also a bit threatening. He walked up to her right side.
"Don't be silly, I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted. Escaping your maker isn't possible before he or she frees you." She told him matter of factually.
"Good girl, and don't forget about that." He said pleased. She walked silently for a minute before she was ready to respond, but when she turned around to look at him he had already left.
"He's way too creepy." She muttered. She had never liked how he could sneak up on and sneak away from people without them noticing. Some vampires could do it, but that number was far from all. Everyone could sneak like normal humans, but some vampires were able to sneak on a supernatural level. It made her shiver.

 

[MysticKrystal]

When school has ended, Steven grabbed his bag and lugged it over his shoulder. He stepped outside and stretched in the sunlight and let out a relieving sigh. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He had a new message from an unknown number which couldn't have been anyone else but Katarina. As he opened the message he read her proposal of going to the art museum any other day. He chuckled and hit the reply button. "Meet me at school around 10 o'clock. I'll take you to the museum tonight, dear. " Steven then hit the send button, placed his phone back into his pocket, and headed towards home.

Steven arrived to his apartment and entered the front door. He slipped off his bag and shoes then went straight for his room. He changed out of his school clothes and into a black button down shirt and black jeans. He the fixed on a red tie, brushed his hair neatly, and pulled on non-slip grip shoes. Steven left his apartment and locked the door to head to work. As he entered the coffee shop, he walked to the back counter, tied on a green apron, and went to work making the customers orders that were given to him.

 

[redblood]

Katarina opened her phone as she felt it vibrating. It was from Steven, of course. "Dear?" She mumbled with a small grin. He hadn't been able to say a word to her but in a text message he even calls her dear. What a strange guy.

"Be careful, you never know what horrible monsters that can lurk in the dark. See you tonight." She wrote back to him. She knew she had to decide soon what to do with him. She had just held an eye on him because he had seemed different, but she was still not certain if he was what she was looking for. She couldn't stay there forever and she had to decided if he would be her future companion or not. Especially since she soon had to leave to meet the elders.

As she got back home, a small temporary apartment, she threw herself at the couch. Maybe she should eat before leaving. It wouldn't be good if she attacked him because of hunger. On the other hand she hadn't felt any hunger during the lessons where she had been surrounded by thirty living blood bags. She could wait with eating until afterwards.

She turned on the TV and relaxed for hours. As the clock got close to nine she decided that it was time to change her clothes. She went to her wardrobe and took out a white tank top, black jeans shorts and a light blue jeans jacket. After she had dressed herself and put her hair up in a ponytail she walked out of the apartment and towards the school. She had no idea if it was warm or cold since she couldn't feel such things. But she felt that it was a little bit windy.

She arrived at the school five minutes before ten.