Predestined At Vampire

I woke up to the screams, I wasn't surprised. I knew perfectly well why.

I had pulled another stunt. It seemed involuntary. It just happened, and before I knew it, I was back at the orphanage.

The door opened with a thud. I covered my head with the blanket.

"Enough Zoe! I can't take it anymore! You're going back to the orphanage today! I tried. I swear I tried." She shouted.

"I know..." I whispered.

"You know, then why do you act like this?" She asked exasperated.

"I don't even know. I must be an imbecile."

"Or crazy! How could you? Look at me, Zoe. Look at me, damn it!" She said nervously.

I pulled the blanket off my head and slowly turned toward her. The woman was wrapped in the towel, and her skin was completely purple. I had put violet in her cream. Since she was blonde, her tinting cream already had that coloration, and she probably didn't notice the trap until she was all purple.

"How do you imagine I'm going to work? "I kept quiet.

"I'll let you know at work that I won't be attending....and I'll take you back." The woman was pissed off and left slamming the door.

I started to pack my things. This time there was no turning back. Her mind was made up.

This was a nice home, but I didn't feel at home here. It was as if this was not my place in the world. And the worst thing is that I felt this way at the orphanage too.

(...)

"Again Zoe?" The teacher said.

"I don't know what's gotten into me Professor Louise..."

"You need to change. You're almost eighteen now. You won't be able to stay here when you're of age." She sighed.

"I know." I muttered.

"You don't have a job, how are you going to live? For God's sake Zoe!" She squinted.

I kept quiet.

"You can go. I'll try a new family and let you know. Try not to destroy your chances again." She said stunned.

"Yes, ma'am." I spoke and got up to leave.

"Zoe?" She called out.

"Yes?" I spoke still on my back with my hand on the doorknob.

She sighed.

"Do you like me?" She asked.

"I do." I answered the obvious.

"Would you like to do an experiment in my house?"

I turned to her.

"Are you serious?" I asked in surprise.

"I am. I'm sure there is no other family for you. But soon you will no longer be a government responsibility and you will be on the street. I worry." I said fondly.

"Then I do. I'll try to behave. I promise." I perked up, hoping I wouldn't screw up again.

"You can go now. I'll get everything ready and by the end of the day you'll go with me." She said and I smiled.

"Yes, ma'am." I spoke and opened the door.

I went back to the bedroom and sat on my bed. It was a bunk bed, actually. The girl who slept on top of it had left. She had gone to live with one of the couples who had returned me. It had been almost a year. I didn't spend even a week in their house.

I didn't really know what was wrong with me. Things just happened. One moment I was determined to stay in that home, the next I would do something wrong and get kicked out. I really hoped that Louise's home would be different. She was special, she loved taking care of us. And she knew how troublesome I was. It would be easier. At least I hoped it would be. Or else my next address would be the Viaduto do Chá.

There was nothing to clean up, I had just arrived, so when Louise left the office, I was already standing in the doorway waiting. I was afraid she would change her mind.

She closed the door with the key and looked at me with a suspicious smile.

"Shall we go?" She asked.

"Let's go." I replied sheepishly.

She walked in front of me and when we got to the car, she opened the trunk for me to put my things (which came down to what could fit in a backpack).

She opened the driver's door and got in, opening the passenger door for me from the inside. I sat on the seat and smelled jasmine. Her perfume. It permeated every part of the car.

She started the engine and drove away in silence. It was not a bad silence. She was giving me space.

The car drove through a gate and into a gated community with several townhouses. It was beautiful.

She stopped at house number 62 and we got out.

Louise opened the gate and we went inside. It was a symbolic gate. The fence was low and there was a small garden. It looked like the houses in the USA.

We came into the small living room, it was cozy and elegant. Louise's face.

"Here we are. Did you like it?" She asked watching me scan the room.

"Very much." I smiled.

I'll show you around, then you can settle into the guest room.

A man came in carrying my suitcases and climbed up the stairs with them.

Louise showed me all eight rooms of the house and the pool in the back, the more she showed me, the more a feeling came over me. The feeling that I was finally home. The place I had been looking for all these years.

She left me at the door of her room and I went in, after saying goodbye and thank you.

The room was large and seemed to have been decorated for me. Which was impossible, since until that morning we didn't know I was coming. And a decoration like this would take at least fifteen days to be done.

I took my things out of my suitcase and put them in the closet.

I began to explore the room. Besides the bed and the closet, there was an armchair, a rug, and several pouffes. Besides a desk, with a notebook on top. There was a door to the bathroom, where a shower, a toilet and a sink made up the environment.

I went back to the room and opened the notebook. There was a picture of a girl on it.

She looked about my age and a lot like me. I touched her face and shivered.

"She was six years old when she died. When you arrived at the orphanage it was a year ago. I thought you looked so much alike."

"Who is she?" I asked curiously.

"My daughter. She would be your age today." She whined.

"Is that why you brought me?" I asked in agony.

"No. I brought you because I care about you." She emphasized.

"You said I was staying in the guest room." I confirmed.

"I thought it best not. You're not a guest here." She said, smiling.

"Thank you." I thanked him.

"Go rest." He said and walked away.

"I will." I affirmed.

I showered and went to bed. It took me a while to fall asleep, but when I did, I had my first strange dream. The first of many.

***

I rolled over in bed, I was cold. I opened my eyes and noticed the curtains blowing in the wind.

"I could have sworn I closed the window. Was it even open when I lay down?"

I got up and closed it, went back to bed and closed my eyes.

I heard a rustling, as if someone was passing by.

I opened my eyes and saw him. He was standing there, hovering over me and looking at me.

I jumped up.

" Who are you?" I asked startled.

"I'm Nicholas." He said as if he wasn't breaking into my room in the middle of the night.

"And what are you doing in my room?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is what I wish to show you. Come." He said already pulling me by the hand.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't even know you." I replied, already pulling my hand back.

"I assure you I'm trustworthy." I said smugly.

"I don't think anyone who sneaks into someone else's room can be trusted. I replied, narrowing my eyes.

"I can assure you that I am. But if you don't want to know what I want to show you, then go to sleep. I'm not coming back." He said, trying to sound disgusted, but failing miserably.

He looked at me with his dark, sparkling eyes. It was impossible not to look. His pale skin, slightly reddened on his cheekbones and lips, held my attention completely. He looked no older than twenty. Maybe less.

"I accept then. But you have to bring me back before dawn. Or I run the risk of...never mind." I spoke, scared to death that Louise would send me back.

"Back to the orphanage? You won't. I can guarantee that too." She spoke as if she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"How do you know about the orphanage?" I asked curiously.

"I know a lot of things. Most of them about you Zoe." He stated.

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

"Do you think I would bother to enter your room without

less know your name?" He said smiling enigmatically.

"No. I don't think so." I finally spoke.

"Shall we go?" He called out.

"Let's go...before I regret it."

He opened the window, with just a hand gesture. Then he took me in his lap, and as if we were feathers, he jumped. I wasn't afraid. I felt safe with him. I felt at home.

I woke up in a jolt. I could still feel Nicholas's hands on my skin. The dream had been so real.

I forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Even after the shower I could still smell the woodsy scent of the mysterious man who had visited my dreams that night.

I went downstairs and found Louise sitting at the table. She smiled when she saw me, she always did that at the orphanage. She really liked me.

I pulled out the chair and sat down next to her.

"Make yourself comfortable Zoe. " she said.

"I am. Believe me. I've been through several houses and I haven't felt at home like I do here. Thank you Louise." I thanked her once again.

"Actually...I've always wanted to adopt you. Ever since you arrived ten years ago." She said and I was surprised.

"And why didn't you adopt?" I asked, imagining that if she had done so it would have avoided a lot of upset.

"They wouldn't let me. I'd be taking someone's place..." She interrupted herself.

"But things have changed, haven't they? In two months I would have been a burden, and they passed it on to you without a second thought." I rebelled.

"You're not a burden." She said.

"Not me. You're the one who eats like a bird." I returned.

"I haven't eaten that in years. Zoe..." She smiled.

"What?" I asked looking at her.

"You really don't remember anything from your childhood?" She asked, looking at me strangely.

"No." I said simply.

"Got it." I said.

"Can I ask you a question?" I said hesitantly.

"You may." She answered.

"How was it? That she..."

"We were on the beach. I didn't see exactly what happened. One minute she was next to me, the next minute I saw her being washed away by the waves. We found her body six days later. She was unrecognizable. We identified her by the clothes she was wearing. Her father killed himself after that." She said with a sad look on her face.

"I'm sorry. What was her name?" I asked.

"Zoe." She answered, surprising me.

I looked at her wide-eyed.

"I was the one who gave you that name. We didn't know anything about you." She said.

"You named me after her?" I asked stunned.

"I was so bad. I wanted a piece of her and I saw it in you." She replied.

I remained silent. I had no coherent answer for that.

We got home and I went to take a shower. I didn't use the bathtub, I wasn't a fan of lots of water together, I felt safer when the drain was open and the water was running. Louise said she was going to take care of I don't know what in the street, and went into the shower as well. When I got out of mine she was already gone. I had chosen a comfortable outfit, a pair of light blue shorts and a black T-shirt. To complete the outfit I wore black tennis shoes.

I went to the garden. It wasn't big, but it was incredibly beautiful and cozy. The twilight helped the beauty even more. In the back there was a fountain, and I walked over to look at it. It was beautiful.

I heard a rustling and turned around. I saw a figure that snuck up behind a tree.

I walked a few steps toward the figure then sat a scent. That smell. I knew it very well. It was the smell of Nicholas. I ran. Was it possible that he was real? Or was I daydreaming?

I walked over to the tree and saw that he wasn't there anymore. I looked at the tree and saw something carved into it. Two names inside a heart. The most cliché thing in the world. But what caught my attention were two things: the carving was not recent, and two: it was my name and Nicholas' name on it. What did it mean?

I touched the letters and then I felt myself being sucked into another place. I closed my eyes and when I opened them I saw myself in someone's arms. But who? The perfume. It was him. Nicholas Vacchiano. I opened my eyes to confirm what I already knew.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi. Is that a dream?" I asked.

"We can say it's a memory." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Each thing in its own time." He said evasively.

I shut up and only then did I notice that I was all wet. Nicholas put me down and I saw that I was in a room. It was nice and luxurious.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"My home." He replied smiling.

"Why did you bring me here?" I wanted to know.

"I saved you." He said.

"From what?" I asked.

"It's still early. Soon you will know everything." He replied.

I walked to the window and saw the ocean. The moon reflected its light on the water. We were on a high part, like a cliff or an island. I felt cold and cringed. He came closer and hugged me. I imagined that the cold would diminish, but it only increased. His skin was cold.

"You better change your clothes." He said, noticing my skin shivering.

He handed me a towel and a change of clothes, exactly the same as the one I was in, and left. I changed and walked out the door behind him. I found him sitting on the floor next to a fireplace, everything was dark except for the crackling fire.

"Come get warm." He said.

I approached him quietly and sat down beside him. He pulled me to himself and again I noticed his cold skin. It didn't bother me, so I kept it that way. It was nice to be in his arms. I looked into his eyes and saw that they were violet. They had changed color, I was sure.

"Why are your eyes different? And why is your skin so cold?" I asked curiously.

He didn't answer, he brought his lips closer to mine and kissed me. It was sweet and calm.

"I need you so much Zoe. More than I ever imagined." He said, looking mysterious.

"I feel that way too." I said looking mesmerized at him.

"Everything about me is attractive Zoe. There's no way you couldn't feel that way." He said smiling.

"Aren't you going to answer my question?" I questioned.

"I am. I was trying to stall you, but at some point I'm going to have to tell you. So let it be now. My eyes change color when I need to feed, and my skin is cold because..." He interrupted himself.

"Why?" I encouraged.

"I'm a vampire, Zoe. He let go.