Saffron
The Blood Swan
D. Aswini
Prologue
Love
has an extreme capacity to offer everything we need but not without extreme
pain. Anyone who tastes the sweet fruit -joy of love, deserves to taste the
bitter fruit -pain of separation. Nobody should taste the bitter before the
sweet. It means not being able to feel the pain of separation before enjoying
the joy of love.
I
deserved to taste both fruits from my handsome guy and my caring brother.
Perhaps, I wouldn't have even touched these fruits, if I'd stayed away from
them.
The
Half Sun
One
week ago my parents insisted that I stay with them but I didn't want to. But
two days ago, I came to beautiful Florence, Oregon, a nice rainy place but with
a wonderful seashore.
The
sky was cloudy, and a slight breeze stirred the air as I walked along the
almost deserted road. I didn't think about where I was going because of
thoughts of my grandma going through my head. She is gone but her affectionate
words still stood out in my mind. Missing someone I loved was a pain I'd never
experienced until she died.
It
was a stolid, dull gray light-the familiar light of evening and the breeze
before the rain blew on me constantly. It was hard for me to walk, as the air
was fresh and very cold and my hands trembled which forced me to stick them
inside my coat to keep warm.
"Hurry
Jesse, hurry, . Move faster. It's not enough. Danger is near. Hurry... "
someone
whispered in my ears. I looked around, afraid of the whispering voice.
The
darkness swallowed the sunless evening and slowly moved toward a starless
night. My trembling legs wouldn't stop my faltering walk.
Suddenly
a girl jumped from a tree. She had long, black, curly hair, and wore a white
dress that hid her feet. Her intense eyes looked at me in a frenzy. Her burning
eyes could only be described as a red sun-dreadful to glance at even once. She
looked very beautiful but her fang made me shudder when I realized she was a
vampire, and her ferocious look frightened me.
I
jerked back in fear with no way to sneak away. My heart beats very fast, and I
couldn't shout with my dry throat. I knew that was futile anyway. I froze like
a statue. There wasn't anyone to rescue me from the blood sucker. I couldn't
budge an inch as she took another step forward, She'd just catch me if I tried
to run away.
I
searched for the whispering one but I couldn't find it. I could only feel the
cold breeze.
"You
look very palatable, and delicious to me," the vampire said in a whisper,
sniffing my scent. "I wonder, should I keep you to myself or share you
with my friends?" she asked me.
I
squirmed, and closed my eyes in fear when she licked my cheek. I felt the
saliva of the vampire on my cheek, and I couldn't turn away from her. I opened
my eyes.
"Taste."
She smiled viciously, "You are going to succumb to me." A hungry
expression crossed her face, her lips parted, exposing the fangs to bite me.
Then I believed the fable my grandma told me.
Abruptly,
a heavy stream of light focused on us. I was scared. The vampire shrieked, and
howled and her voice echoed the sound of her howl.
The
vampire flew toward the forest, and disappeared from my vision. I was right; it
was difficult for the vampire to hunt in the heavy stream of light.
The light began to shine on me, so I hastily
ran from there. I ran but the light followed me all the way home. I couldn't
turn back to look at the bright light and I felt parched when I tried to call
out to my mom. There was a strong pain in my throat.
I
tried to open the door, but I couldn't. The door opened automatically. I didn't
have time to think about the door, as I rushed inside. It was dark inside the
house and I groped for the lock on the door. Finally, I latched it and switched
on the lamp. Again, it was a shock to me because nobody was there.
I
fell to my knees, and trembled and a reeling sensation in my head annoyed me. I
stepped forward, terrified.
I
ran upstairs to my room and leaned against the bed. My eyes closed and I began
to relax. The darkness surrounded me
when I closed my eyes, but I was afraid to turn off the lights.
Someone
knocked at the door of my room.
I woke
up, afraid, . It took some time to realize that it was only a dream. I would
not have dreamt about a vampire. A few years back, I'd dreamed about a fairy.
She treated me as a child, as a friend but oddly the dress she wore was the
same as the vampire's.
I
don't usually read fairytales or fantasy stories. I like to watch horror movies
alone, and love to listen to music late at night without any interruption.
I
wondered if it was possible to dream about a fairy and a vampire? It seemed
mysterious, and absurd to me.
My
eyes wandered over to the clock on the wall as I wasn't familiar with the room.
It wasn't my dad, Reynold's, or my mom, Maria's house. It was our ancestor's property, so in their
memory, my dad decided to make it their permanent residence. About four to five
servants worked there. My mom, changed a lot in the house according to modern
trends, but the ancient sculptures were kept some places, which looked nice.
I heard the knocking sound at my door again.
and forced myself to sit up. I weakly brushed my hair out of my face as
dizziness overtook me. The door opened and I saw that it was my mom. I blinked,
trying to recall what had occurred the night before, . I felt numb until she
tapped my shoulder. Her dazzling eyes gazed at me in suspicion as if she
recognized the dread on my face. Everybody would taunt me if I revealed my
dream to her, I realized. That persuaded me not to tell her about my vampire
dream.
She
creased her forehead when she saw me blink, my eyes. She smiled. "Hey
dear," she said when she hugged me.
With
a deep breath, I said, "Hey." , It took a few minutes for my mind to
return from the nightmare.
"Is
everything okay?" she asked as she embraced me.
After
a few seconds pause I said, "Yeah," and moaned.
"Get
up Jesse. Your dad is waiting for you, " she demanded.
Without
asking her any questions, I nodded and said, "Yes.3I refreshed myself and
went down to see him. Servants were busy at their work. I knew three of them
who had worked there for over ten years, but two were new.
My dad sat on the sofa with the newspaper in
his hands and smiled once when he saw me.
"Hey
dad," I said, irritated, as the nightmare still bothered me.
"Hi,"
." He gestured for me to have a seat opposite him. He showed me the
details about my new school, as he'd already completed all the formalities.
Then, he returned to read the rest of the paper.
My
brother arrived and sat next to me with a gentle smile.
"Hey,"
I said and wouldn't meet his eyes.
"You
aren't like this, Jesse. I know you don't want to stay with us." His eyes
grew very soft. "But you must accept the fact." ," Rick said, laying his arm across my shoulder.
"I'm
fine."," I replied.
"That's
nice." He looked at me with concern. "Why don't we just hang out this
evening?" He took his arm back and leaned back on the sofa. "It's an
Indian restaurant run by my friend." ," he continued in a hushed
voice, and said he wanted to take me out to change my unhappy mood.
"Umm..."
I nodded reluctantly, staring at the floor.
One
of the new servants interrupted us, and we all snapped our heads up at once to
listen her, as she told us breakfast was ready. Dad nodded, folding up his
newspaper .
When
we walked to the table. , Mom was
waiting for us, getting ready to go to work.
"Are
you going to the office?" Rick hissed at Mom grimly.
"Yes,
but I'll be back before your dad," she reminded him. I could tell by the
tone of her voice and her look in her eyes that Mom was worried at the thought
of leaving me alone.
"Why
don't you extend your leave for two more days?" Rick demanded.
"She'll feel alone in your absence." ," he accused her in
exasperation.
I ate in silence because I couldn't think of a
way to protest Rick's request for me.
"No."
," Dad said, "you must come in today." "There is work that
needs to be done." He shoved his
chair out to leave the table.
My mom bowed her head, trying to appear
casual.
Rick
frowned at him in silence. We had been afraid of Dad since childhood, and still
we wouldn't cross Dad.
Not
meeting my eyes, Mom mumbled, "I'm helpless.", but her eyes wandered
to my dad.
With
a small smile I shrugged and whispered, "That's okay, forget it. Don't
worry about me, I'm fine." Rick's eyes widened at my unexpected reply. I
wanted to comfort Rick, but couldn't.
"This
isn't anything new to me." He paused. "Try to live with it."
Rick's voice was a diatribe that I could see hurt my mom.
We
finished our breakfast and parted. Dad and Mom to work, and Rick somewhere
else. The servants were busy with their works, and I felt alone.
I spent the next seven hours looking at
everything in the house, then went upstairs. ,
to my room, exhausted, and listened music.
Next Chapter..
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