CHAPTER 5

The annoying sound of the alarm clock besides my bed jolted me out of sleep. Today was even more annoying because I had just slept for what felt like an hour, as I spent all night thinking about Daemon and his strange way with words.

"My temperature is always the first thing you notice about me everytime..."

What was that supposed to mean??

Aargh!! The morning sun is not yet comfortably seated and I'm already thinking about that jerk, as though my beautiful sleep wasn't enough of a sacrifice for thoughts of him.

Anyhow, I needed to prepare for school and try to hide these dark circles somehow. Just one day and he's already a threat to my flawless face. So annoying!!

As hot water from the shower filled the bathtub, his annoying smile flashed through my head for the millionth time.

Gently leading the toothbrush, ladened with toothpaste, into my mouth, the sounds of his laughter echoed in my ears.

"Shake it off, Valerie. Soak yourself in the warm bathtub for ten minutes and you'd be as you've always been before he showed up." I could hear my subconscious advice me softly, but how was I to face him today?

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Classes have already kick-started in full, and fortunately for me, we had lots of them, though I still felt his uncomfortable gaze on me but I cared less. I needed my grades to be as excellent as previous ones if I desired to be a student in Stanford.

The bell for Lunch break ended another long lecture, as I quietly disappeared from the class.

And no, I am not avoiding him!

I am just not sure of how I'd react around him, and so I took the safe way out of the mess.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly, as I placed my books in my bag ready to go home to a cold refreshing bath and long hours of quality sleep.

"Are you by any chance avoiding me?" How did he get to the door so fast? I was the only one in the class as I was finishing up some assignments, and he was seated jobless on his chair.

"W-hat? No!! Of course not!!" I tried avoiding his eyes, even as my fingers unconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind my ears.

"Because it felt like you are deliberately doing the whole disappearing thing on purpose." He sounded angry but at the same time, not like the anger that makes you scared enough to wet your pants. His hazel eyes were not as bright as yesterday. Was he by chance feeling sad about how today turned out? Was he expecting to have a friend by today after yesterday's conversations?

Whatever the case may be, he looked more disappointed and hurt, than how angry he was sounding, as I led us towards the school entrance.

"Well the thing is that... Erm... Yes, you've been staring at me since yesterday and it's making me feel really uncomfortable." My lips just said everything my brain could think of without going through reason.

"Why won't you even stop staring for a minute?"

"Two reasons;" How he managed to still hold a calm expression baffled me.

"Okay... Let's hear them."

"One! You're too beautiful to expect not to be stared at." He was emphatic and slow with the words, as though stopping any thoughts of me mishearing everything he was saying, "Two!! You have and you still are, the only woman I want to stare at as long as I breathe. Be it from the front, like this..." His lips were just centimeters away from mine, as I felt his cold breath on my face. It wasn't the kind of cold you feel that makes you uncomfortable... The cold breath from his half parted lips burnt down my walls as I felt my heart pounding uneasily in my chest. The car key in my grip must have been the one to suffer everything most as it had to endure my strangles.

"...or even behind, like in class..." He removed his face from mine and resumed his upright position, "I won't get my eyes off you for a moment because I'm scared you'd disappeared on me for real again." The sadness behind his voice seemed to break my heart into a thousand little pieces, and I couldn't even explain why.

"W-why do you say stu-stuffs like that so effortlessly?"

"They are effortless to say because they are the truth. Lies demands more efforts and logical reasoning, which makes lying, in my dictionary, a more harder path to take than truth"

"Daemon!" I wanted to scream so he'd stop making my heart race, but my voice betrayed me, as it came out in an almost inaudible whisper.

"I still don't get used to hearing you call my name. No one calls me like you do" The smile on his face was clearly not one out of happiness but of pain. What exactly was going on with this man in front of me?

"I- i- I have got to go now."

"Should I walk you to the bus stop like yesterday?"

"That wouldn't be necessary, thank you. I brought my car with me." Fiddling with the ignition, I finally brought the car to live and drove off without looking back for a second.

WRITER'S CORNER

"Hey D! I would be going hunting by weekend, wanna tag along?" An unconcerned Seth asked Daemon who had just stepped into the house, sparing him a second's glance before returning back to his magazine reading.

"Where exactly?" Daemon asked, stopping his journey upstairs, as he made his way towards Seth.

"Dobroe utro" A smile curved on his face, as he dropped the magazine for the first time since Daemon entered the house.

"Russia??" Daemon lifted an eyebrow, unsure if he interpreted the country correctly.

"Yap. It's a perfect spot for feeding. You're already looking pale." He said softly with hands interlocked on his knee placed over his other leg.

"This has always been my skin color just like yours."

"Mine has life in it unlike yours." He teased with a chuckle.

"We are both dead." Daemon didn't seem to be in the moods for jokes, as he made to ascend the stairs and disappear into his room for the next 12 hours.

"Be the smart prick all you want but at least I spend this beautiful gift of life and youthful looks extremely well." A wide grin sat on his face, as he took a standing posture to show off his youthfulness.

"Moreover, that saying about the beautiful ones not being born yet is extra accurate because with every century, I get to see fresh breeds of beautiful women." A light laughter echoed through the walls of the room but unfortunately, Daemon still held a straight face.

"There's only one beautiful woman for me and..."

"... she's dead, gone and forgotten by even her own family members. Why can't you let go?"

"It's not as though you marked her or something. You're just killing yourself over nothing."

"Will going on this trip make you stop talking about Valerie?" He half yelled but stopped as he decided it wasn't going to change how his brother saw the entire situation.

"Valerie??" He called back to himself, trying to rack through his memory files for the name, "Who's that?"

"Wait! Was that also one of her names? You see how confusing this story is already?" He said after about a minute of deep thoughts, finally figuring out the riddle, as a satisfied smirk sat at the side of his mouth.

"But for your question, yes I would stop being on your ass about her. Just live and have fun. 2021 won't come back again in a millennium."

"Alright then." He said, turning to continue ascending, as he suddenly remembered something and stopped, "But what about the party you were planning so much to attend? I mean the ones with those fancy people and their petty change."

"Well, I decided bonding with my brother is more important and I don't know when next you'd be grumpy and unaccommodating, so allow me enjoy this moment."

"We can still bond over dinner or some special dish."

"Hunting is better than being handed. Let's just bond over hunting and keep the games to ourselves."

"Are you really sure about the party?"

"There would be more in the nearest future and moreover, the Delacours are attending, Ramsey told me."

"Oh! Those annoying pricks!"

"Yeah, that's why I don't want us to cross paths with them yet. Ramsey is going to be in attendance so he's going to give me the details when we're back. So you're going to Russia with me this weekend?"

"I'm not saying my reply twice though." Daemon sighed in frustration as he disappeared into the lobby upstairs.

"Come on D!! Just a yes to ease my troubled heart."