Chapter 3

Nariyan and Curian cringed. Who could have possibly found them? The pair slowly turned around to face their captor. The captor was a tall blonde with the most beautiful green eyes.

“Oh, god,” said Curian. He put a hand over his eyes.

“Wait,” said Nariyan. “I thought you said Angel was your brother. As in a boy.”

“I’m not that pathetic excuse for a man!!”

“Nariyan, meet Kalyxte. Kalyxte, meet Nariyan,” Curian introduced.

“Oooooooh,” said Kalyxte. “So, this is your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Curian replied in monotone.

“You know her?” asked Nariyan.

“Yeah, Kalyxte is a friend of mine.”

“Pleased to meet your acquaintance,” said Kalyxte as she stuck out her hand.

“You failed to mention you have a girlfriend, Curian,” said Nariyan.

“Oh, I feel loved,” stated Kalyxte sarcastically. “You’ve clearly told her everything about me.”

“Sorry,” Curian apologized.

“See, I’m a Nymph,” said Kalyxte and Nariyan gave her a questioning look. “You elves don’t get out much, do you? I can’t date or marry anyone who’s not a Nymph or Muse. And I already have a boyfriend, thank you.”

“Oh,” realized Nariyan.

“Well, I just came to tell you that your dad’s looking for you, Curian.”

“Oh, crap. Nariyan, would you want me to walk you back to your village?”

“No, thanks. I’d rather see you with your head.”

“Yeah,” agreed Kalyxte. “Your dad seemed pretty pissed when I last saw him.”

“When isn’t he?” Everyone laughed. “Well, I should get going,” said Curian as he got up. He started on the path and soon disappeared from sight and Kalyxte and Nariyan were alone.

“Here’s the scoop,” began Kalyxte in a stern tone just low enough so that Curian couldn’t possibly hear, “Curian’s like a brother to me. So, if you ever hurt him, I’ll make sure your life is a living hell.” Her voice returned to its cheery tone. “Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” Nariyan replied.

“I like you,” said Kalyxte as she turned to leave. “We might just be the best of friends, if you don’t screw it up.”

xxx

“Nariyan,” her father said, “I’ve noticed you have been in the forest a lot now, and I was wondering just what you‘re doing there.”

“Nothing, just taking walks,” she was nervous.

“But why so frequently?” Father was beginning to get suspicious.

“Well, it’s finally gotten warmer now and—”

“Ah, I get it, you’re nervous.”

“Nervous?”

“About the wedding. Don’t be nervous, I’ve heard a lot about the prince and he can‘t wait to meet you.” Her father thought he knew why she was acting so weird, but he really had no idea. And Nariyan really didn’t want him to find out about her Vampire friend.

“Yes, exactly. Being in the woods makes me less nervous, and I guess I’m taking advantage of that.” She said slyly.

“So you have permission to go now, if you want, but be back before sunset.”

“Thank you Father.” She kissed him on the cheek and ran out the door.

This time, Nariyan took a different path to the meadow. She walked through the meadow where she first met Curian. She saw the tree as she crossed the meadow; it was as beautiful as they had left it. She almost couldn’t wait to see the Vampire boy; it made her feel happy when she thought of him.

As she got closer to the “secret spot” she noticed Curian wasn’t there. But she expected him to be there anyway because he always was.

“Up here.” He never ceased to amaze her. Curian was at the top of the waterfall, almost where they were yesterday. The Elf quickly climbed up the rock until she got to where he was.

“Look what I found.” He grabbed her hand to lead her to a cave he had found while he was waiting for her.

“It’s beautiful.” She said in astonishment. It had a small opening, but there was a medium-sized chamber, and then a smaller one next to it.

“I found it, and I thought I’d show it to you.”

“It could be our new hideout. In case they really do come looking for us,” Nariyan suggested.

“I agree. And it’s right next to the water, so we can go swimming.” Nariyan rolled her eyes; she had had enough water for a while. Curian laughed.

Both of them decided to stay in the cave for a while and check it out. But then they just sat down and decided to talk. It was getting a little dark outside and darker in the cave, so, Curian pulled out his lighter and lit it. It was light enough to at least see each other’s face.

“Do you smoke..?”

“No, no, I stole this from my brother. In case of emergency, of course.”

“This isn’t an emergency, but it came in handy.” They both smiled, and then paused for a moment.

“If you’re a Vampire,” silence, “then why are you so nice to me, and Elf?” Nariyan asked, changing the subject.

“That’s because you’re nice to me. You are the only real friend I’ve had and you don’t think I’m some the blood-thirsty, psycho stereotype of a Vampire.” A pause, “Or do you?”

“No I don’t. You’re not blood-thirsty, you’re really nice. If you weren’t nice, you wouldn’t have helped that tree, or given me that flower, or splashed me with water. Well, never mind the water thing, but you get the point.”

Curian smiled, he was happy, and able to forget about him brother and father for a little bit.

Tired of sitting up, Nariyan laid down. She was happy too, he considered her a friend. She was glad she was happy.

“I’m tired of holding this, may I put it out?” He was talking about the lighter; of course he didn’t mind the darkness,

“Sure,” she laughed. “You are the laziest Vampire I’ve ever met.”

“I’m the only Vampire you’ve ever met.” Curian smiled and shut off the light, and lay down also.

It was pitch black because they had lost track of time. Nariyan felt a little un-easy.

“What’s the matter, afraid of the dark?” He teased.

“No, I promised my father I’d be back by sundown.”

“Do you want me to take you to the edge of your village?”

“No, father should suck it up. I’m not three years old anymore.”

Curian laughed. They both talked for a while longer, turning into sleepy-sounding whispers, and eventually, they both fell asleep.

xxx

Curian got up in the morning to find the girl was still sleeping. He got up and sat over by the opening of the cave. He tried to be quiet, but unfortunately he woke up Nariyan.

“Good morning.” she said.

“Good morning.”

“What‘s the matter?” Nariyan noticed Curian’s voice lacked the excitement it usually had.

“Last night,” The boy was trying to think of how to tell her this without scaring her, “I heard some guards, looking for you...” He paused, “Can you think of an excuse when you get back to your father?”

“Maybe” she wasn’t too sure what she would say, but she could try. “But can you think of one?”

“Huh?” Curian was still a little tired.

“For your father, he’s going to be so angry.”

“Oh, umm…” He didn’t want to worry her. Plus, she had already seen one of the scars he had given him. “I’ll think of something.”

“And, we’ve got to be more careful from now on,” she said.

“Right,” silence, “We should probably go now...”

“Yeah.”

Elf and Vampire were both vaguely saddened. They had been so close to being caught, but now they had to leave each other for a few days, possibly even weeks, to not seem suspicious. Now, sadness had turned to awkwardness. But Nariyan got up, and started to walk out of the cave. Curian followed her. He walked as far as he could with her. They were completely silent until this point.

“Don’t give away our secret.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Curian and Nariyan went their separate ways, dreading what will happen to them when they returned to their homes. No one found out yet, but they could only hope it would stay that way.