Chapter 3
Elves
Elves
July 29
Traveling with James is fun. We never have to take a bus or a train because of his tremendous strength and speed. He carries me on his back when I get tired, and his strides are surprisingly smooth. I’ve fallen asleep on his back more than once.
Whenever I get hungry, we stop at the nearest town, and James gives me some money. He waits outside the town while I go and buy food from whatever food store is there. When I get back, he’s always sitting there waiting.
The two of us split the food and we both start eating, which I find weird. I had always thought that vampires drank blood, but I’ve never seen him do it. “Maybe he did it when I was sleeping.” I thought. I must have had a funny look on my face then because James caught me staring at him and burst out laughing. He had a nice laugh, but I was so embarrassed that I just looked down and started eating. It was good food though.
After lunch, I decided to ask him. “James, have you ever drinken blood?”
He stopped in his tracks, so suddenly I almost bumped into him, and whirled around. He bent down on one knee and looked me straight in the eyes. I then noticed that his eyes were a red-orange color. He answered slowly, as though he were thinking over every word carefully. “Yes,” he answered, finally, “I have drunk blood, but … but that was a very, very long time ago. Got that?”
I nodded. James’ statement provoked a question that I had to ask. “How old are you?” was my question.
“Well, I was human for eighteen years. Then, of my own choice, I was transformed into a vampire.” He stood up straight and, motioning to his body, said, “And I’ve been this way ever since. That was three-hundred years ago.”
I suddenly felt bad for James. He had living for so long. Seeing any human friends grow up and die, when he never would. Living without any family. Now, I was his only reason for life, and I would grow up and die eventually, too. What would happen to him after that? I shuddered at the thought. Then, I hurried to catch up with James and hugged his leg, taking him by surprise.
I laughed when he tripped. I never though that would happen, but wasn’t that hard to do. James wasn’t too happy though. He stood up and picked me up so that I was sitting on his arm. “Warn me next time, okay?” he said.
“Okay.” I promised, still laughing. Then James flipped me upside-down so that my hands were on the ground and he was holding my feet up. I started crying. James picked me up and held me so that my head was on his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“My dad used to“ *sniffle* “hold me like that,” *sniffle* “whenever I wanted to walk on my hands.” *sob* “I miss him and mommy so much.” I said, continuing with my crying. After a few minutes of James comforting me, I managed to calm down.
August 5 (a.m.)
We finally made it to the elf city of Lilia. It’s so stunning. None of the houses are built on the ground. All of them are small, and built up near the tops of the trees.
The two of us were greeted by a group of male elves with spears. They scared me, so I hid behind James. One of the elves asked some questions in another language, and James answered them in the same language. The elf-man pointed at me and said something. “My sister,” was all James said.
Another one of the elves knelt down next to me and said, “I'm sorry if we scared you little lady.”
“That’s okay.” I said, smiling. I gave a small curtsey, even though I was wearing jeans, just to be nice.
He stood up and, speaking to James now, said, “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms.” He started to walk away, and James took my hand before following. It was late, so I went right to sleep.
August 5 (p.m.)
I had a terrible nightmare. I just kept seeing my parent’s death over and over. Then, just before I woke up, I saw James bare his fangs and leap at me. I woke up screaming.
James was in my room in an instant. After seeing that nothing appeared wrong, he asked me what happened. I told him about my dream, and he said, “Well, it just a dream, right?”
“Yea, but it seemed so re-e-eal!” I shouted busting into tears. James pulled me onto his lap, and cradled me against his chest until I stopped crying. When I finally managed to stop, I was tired. I smiled at James and watched him smile back as my eyes closed.
August 6
When I aroused again, the sun was shining through my window. As I stood and stretched, I noticed a small bundle of clothes on the floor. Attached was a note that said:
Nicole,
Your old clothes were getting
dirty, so I bought you new ones.
Enjoy!
James
I looked through the clothes to see what was there. There was a pink long-sleeve shirt, a long black skirt, and a pair of black boots. I pulled the shirt over my head and the skirt up to my waist. Then, I tugged on my boots and went to find James.
When I went to his room, the door was open. “Good to see you slept well.” He said when I walked in.
I nodded. “Thanks for the clothes.” I said, smiling.
“No problem.” He replied. My stomach growled, and he said, “Oh, right, I forgot. Sorry, it’s been a long time since I’ve hung out with humans. I forgot that you need to eat.” He laughed. “C’mon, let’s get you some breakfast.”
After a breakfast of two eggs, we went exploring the city. The elves are very nice, and their gardens are beautiful. James says that they can use magic. Even after all I’ve been through, I’ll have to see it to believe it.
I asked James what the date was. He laughed and said he didn’t know. When we asked a guard, he said it was August 6th. “That’s a week from my birthday!” I excitedly told James.
August 13
Today I'm officially eleven years old! I would have been fine with just James and a few balloons, but he insisted on giving me a big party. He invited almost all of the elves’ children.
I was really excited when it was time to open presents. The first one was from an elf girl named Ameria. She got me a small pink backpack. Next, was a boy named Octavius. His gift was a small silver ring with a heart engraved on it. After that was another girl, Ares, who gave me a doll that looked like me. Last, was James. He presented me with a gold locket. Inside was a tiny picture of him.
“So I’ll always by close to your heart.” He said, smiling.
“I’ll treasure it always.” I told him, and I meant it.
