[Diana]
"How many boyfriends have you dumped now?" I asked my little sister.
I had just finished the final day of the first training week and had enjoyed a nice shower.
Now, I was in the middle of braiding my little sister's hair because she wanted to take so nice photos to send to her new crush.
"Only like… six or seven," she responded.
"...You make it seem like that's a small number."
"Big sis, that's nothing. I know you're from the older generation, so you don't really get it but us new gen, if we haven't dated ten people by the ti we turn sixteen, we're losers."
I lightly yanked her hair, causing her to wince.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"You're three years younger than . Don't make it seem like you're an entire generation apart from ."
"But I am. You haven't even had your first boyfriend yet. Speaking of boyfriend, how is it going with you and Bell?"
"...Hmm, I think we—"
In the middle of answering, sothing suddenly hit in my chest. It wasn't pain or fear but this strange pressure.
A sudden surge of emotion slamd into my body and it was so dense and tangled that it caused to nearly jolt but I tried my best not to seem off, so as not to alarm my little sister.
These emotions didn't belong to .
They belonged to the person with whom I shared a connection — Bell Agnus. The sa boy we were just talking about.
My fingers froze.
"Diana?" my sister asked, tilting her head. "You ssed it up."
"I… oops. Sorry about that. What were we talking about again?" I asked, forcing my hands to move again.
"How did you already forget? Big sis, are you sure you don't have an early case of dentia?"
"...Hahaha," I laughed, but my focus was already gone. "Give a second."
Dropping her hair, I reached for my phone and my thumbs began typing about:
[Are you okay?]
My finger hovered over the send button and was about to press it when the pressure in my chest vanished as if it had never been there. The emotions had cut off so cleanly that it made my stomach twist, making question whether I'd imagined the whole thing.
That… that was strange. Did the connection malfunction?
I didn't know much about it. I only knew what Bell had told , and he refused to explain how he knew what he knew.
Staring at the screen for a few seconds, I then locked my phone.
I… maybe he got shocked by sothing, but he's okay now.
Looking back at my little sister, who had already begun trying to find the best angles to take photos of herself, I reached for her hair.
"All done?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Who'd you text? Peaches? When's the next ti she's coming over? She told she was going to teach how to copy her makeup style."
Smiling, I nodded at certain monts as I listened to her ramble.
But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself that everything was okay, that strange sequence of events that lasted less than a minute lingered in my mind.
…Sothing has to be wrong. But what? Would I be overstepping my boundaries if I asked?
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I snatched it out so fast that my little sister's jaw dropped when she saw the device appear in my head in between her blinking.
"Where did that co from?" she asked.
I didn't answer as I was reading the text ssage I received.
It was from Bell:
[I'll see you in a bit.]
My chest tightened. Was the reason for his emotions ?
What did I do? Did I do sothing wrong? Oh no. Oh no!
I began to panic. It could have sothing to do with Ichiko. Did she say sothing bad about ?
Or maybe this was sothing completely unrelated. Or maybe… or maybe—
As I finished up my little sister's braids, I began to feel the distance between and Bell getting shorter and shorter. An indication that he was making his way over.
I couldn't see a literal map, but if I could, there would be a dot en route to my house.
Usually, I'd be happy to see him. He was a face that lit up my day. Just seeing him was enough to give energy. Just the scent of his blood was enough to satisfy my hunger.
But this ti, I was dreading his arrival.
He's coming. Why is he coming? What did I do? What did I do?!
As I was taking pictures of my sister, my palms were so damp that the device nearly slipped out of my grasp.
When I handed it back to her, she looked at , then the phone, then back at .
"Big sis, are you sick? Why is my phone so wet?" she asked as she used her shirt to dry it.
"No no," I replied quickly. "I'm fine. Just a little hot in the room."
"...We're in the basent. It's freezing cold in here. Speaking of which…" she left the basent and I was alone, standing in front of the mirror.
My reflection was flickering in and out, a sign that I was losing control of my vampiric powers.
Taking deep breaths, my reflection began to solidify until it was no longer vanishing from the mirror.
Breathe. Think happy thoughts. It might be a bad thing. After all, his emotions seem to be back to their usual state.
A few minutes later, there was a knock on the front door.
Before I could even stand up from the chair I was seated in at the dining room, my mom had gotten up to answer the door.
"Oh! Bell," she greeted warmly when she opened it. "It's good to see you."
Standing in the dining room, I watched from a distance as he stepped inside.
With the sa polite smile that he always wore, he greeted my mother, "Hey auntie. It's good to see you too. Ouu! I can see that your diet is working."
"Really?!" my mother asked, touching her face. It was just a placebo effect caused by his words, but she looked pleased with her weight loss.
When they heard his voice, my younger siblings didn't hesitate.
They rushed him imdiately.
"Bell, did you bring sothing for ?"
"Big brother! Snacks?! Any snacks?!"
"You have a new toy for to play with, right?"
With a laugh, Bell reached into his bag and handed them over to the children, shooing them away. Then, for my little sister whose hair I just braided, he handed her an expensive makeup kit.
She snatched it before he could take it back and like a gremlin, she vanished into the basent to try it out.
My mom shook her head, smiling.
There was still sothing guarded in her expression, sothing unresolved due to the incident that first connected Bell and . But whether it was an act or not, she had buried it beneath acceptance and forgiveness.
After all, it was caused by a demon curse mark.
She couldn't put all the bla on the poor human affected by it. Especially when that sa human was developing a close relationship with her daughter.
As the two of them were talking, I didn't move.
Not because I was afraid — which I was, but because I saw it.
I'm not sure if it's because only I've been with him long enough but everyone else didn't notice.
Beneath the voice, the smile, the gifts, and the sweet words he was saying, sothing was off with his eyes. I stared at them and I could see that they were empty.
Not blank like when you stare off into nothingness.
It didn't seem to be signs of soone tired either.
They were just completely hollow as if the black wasn't the color of his eyes but rather a giant hole that led to a void.
A chill ran down my spine.
It reminded of that first ti I'd stared too deeply into him in an attempt to explore the emptiness that exists in him.
Even now, as he was smiling and laughing while speaking to my mother, I could see that his eyes weren't.
He was acting.
Sothing in my mind was telling to run away but I was quite literally frozen on the spot. I wouldn't have been surprised if I looked down and my feet were in literally blocks of ice.
"Diana?" my mom called my na once. "Diana?" she called again.
It was only the third ti that my na was said that I reacted and my frozen legs twitched.
"Aren't you going to say hello?" she asked .
Bell turned toward and our eyes t.
The connection between us was present. I could sense his location. I could feel his emotions but there was nothing to feel. He had no emotional color at the mont, no intent, as if everything was normal.
"Hey," he said with a smile.
My throat tightened and even though I opened my mouth, no words ca out.
I probably looked really stupid in that mont.
Sohow, the house emptied around us. My siblings were all off to do their own thing, enjoying the gifts that he brought. My mother excused herself.
A door closed and it was just the two of us.
My house was already cramped with all the people that lived in it but right now, it felt smaller than ever, even though it was only the two of us in the large room.
Bell stepped closer, and I took a step back instinctively.
Realizing what I just did, I forced myself to remain where I was when he took another step forward.
As he spoke again, sothing shifted, and it felt like his face wasn't there.
I know it sounds crazy because physically, his face was perfectly fine. But as my mind was trying to process him, it failed to do so. It felt like there was this large black shadow that swallowed up all of his features, including his expressions.
I couldn't see anything. Just the shadow.
My heart started racing. Fast. Too fast!
I could barely breathe and it felt like there was a hand gripping tightly around my neck.
"Diana?" he asked, his head tilting slightly. His voice was sweet and yet, it made feel like spiders were crawling underneath my skin. "...Why are you so nervous?"
I couldn't answer. I couldn't read his face. Was he frowning? Was he smiling? What was going on?
I tried my hardest to slow my heart down, but it refused to listen.
It only got faster and faster.
Even the connection between us was telling nothing. The only thing I could see was the shadow and it was masking everything from .
I… I'm scared.
All the happy mories I've had with Bell disappeared, and images of that day long ago flashed through my mind.
Before I realized, I had taken steps away from him and he had reached out, grabbing by the wrist. His grasp was firm but gentle, warm, yet extrely cold.
The pulse of my veins must've pounded against his fingers.
"...Why are you walking away?" he asked softly.
I stared at him, my chest getting tighter and tighter as the shadow grew until his entire fra was coated in complete blackness.
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