Chapter 5- Too Unfortunate
The first period passed quietly that day. Elio was able to somewhat focus on class and forget about everything else. He cannot afford to miss a lesson, no matter what, or that could snowball into a big gap in his understanding of the curriculum.
By the time the bell rang, Elio could finally exhale a sigh of relief. 'I was able to somewhat comprehend the lesson. I was worried my mind would be too occupied to focus. Damn it, this is so nerve-wracking. I can't let all my hard work go to waste.'
Rubbing his face, Elio was about to take out the material necessary for the second lesson when he heard a knock on the class's door.
Looking up, he saw a strikingly good-looking young man standing at the door. He was considerably tall, with soft, friendly eyes and beautiful blonde hair. He had a muscular build and a very inviting aura around him. He radiated confidence without even trying.
In other words, the young man was the exact opposite of Elio, someone who was none of the above.
"Woah…"
"It's Alexander…"
"He's so handsome…"
"Oh my god, he looked my way."
The students started murmuring to one another, especially the girls who had stunned and shy looks on their faces.
The person they were talking about was Alexander Irwin. He was the son of the infamous Aerys Irwin and the heir to the Irwin family. A rich family, prominent in the field of farming, with many large companies and factories across the world. Their products were popular and in high demand, making them a very huge presence in the world's economy.
He was also Fiona Vaylor's fiancé, which was, oddly enough, his most popular title and the way people know about him the most. He studies in the next class, and the two were the most popular power couple in the entire city… Perhaps even the entire world.
They had countless fans who followed their every step on social media. However, oddly enough, Elio had never seen crowds gathering around the school before. Perhaps they did something to stop such attention from people.
"Hey, darling. Can we talk? Excuse me for my intrusion, everyone." Standing there, he waved for Fiona with a warm smile on his face. His eyes were filled with affection and care. A single look was enough to melt the heart.
However, Fiona didn't seem that moved by it as she stood up and walked toward him calmly.
Under everyone's curious gaze, the two walked out of the classroom and headed somewhere.
"Woah! Did he miss her?!"
"That's so adorable!"
"... They're so perfect together…"
"Yaaaa, I'm going to scream!"
The entire class erupted with murmurs the moment they walked away. This was huge news. It was rare to see those two show any affection in public, so seeing them seek each other was extremely rare. Some students even hurried to start posting about it.
'That looked more like a business meeting than a romantic one…' Elio thought to himself with a blank expression. 'Does that girl even feel anything? She always looks so cold.'
He had never in his life seen Fiona move an eyebrow, let alone smile or be expressive in any way. She was even one of his biggest suspects when it came to his monster theory. Ironically enough, she turned out to be involved with his theory… Just not in the way he expected.
'Monsters… Creatures that aren't human… And Fiona, who potentially hunts them down. Just so many things…' Elio found himself slowly losing focus as his pen started scribbling on the piece of paper in front of him. The image of the monster simply never left his mind, even when he thought it did.
Those fangs, those eyes, the monstrosity hidden within them, and the hunger for blood. It all felt visceral, scary, and even somewhat… captivating. Something about that hunger made him wonder why these creatures specifically targeted his blood and not his flesh or anything else.
'Their long fangs… Could that be what they use to suck my blood? Or maybe they're just there to pierce the skin and let the blood seep out?' Instinctively, he touched his own neck where the fangs had touched him. The sensation was uncomfortable, cold, and weird in many ways, but it wasn't painful. Oddly enough.
'It felt like… A needle and then a cold sensation…'
Meanwhile, his pen kept moving across the paper, drawing an image while he was completely oblivious that he was drawing what he was seeing in his head. Elio was decent at drawing, not talented enough to make anything happen with it, and not so bad that his drawings are unrecognizable. He considered it something enjoyable to do in his free time.
"Hm… Hmmm… Hm…" He hummed as he stared into the distance. 'Ugh, I can't stop thinking about it. What is getting into me? I need to forget and stop thinking about this.'
Rubbing his hair, Elio sighed and put the pen down as he stared at the piece of paper. "Hm?"
On the white paper was a scribbling of a creature… It has large fangs and blood dripping out of its mouth. It was a bad drawing, but one that is still easily understood.
'Wha- When did I draw this? I was so lost in thought that I didn't even notice that I started drawing. Did anyone notice it?'
Looking left and right quickly, he felt relieved seeing no one staring at him. His loner personality had come in handy again to hide him from the eyes of the others.
"Fuuuh… Hmm, what should I do with this piece of paper? I can't throw it away… That would be such a waste. I can maybe use it to take notes." He muttered as he flipped it over and put it down. Elio didn't have the luxury of throwing paper like that.
'I will just write some notes and possible solutions on it. Mhm…'
At the same time, not that far away from him, the window of the classroom was completely open. That day, the weather was sunny, but there was the occasional gust of wind that came every now and then.
*WHISTLE*
A random gush of air entered the class, sweeping through it gently. It was barely noticeable… Yet, it was more than enough to take away light things… Like paper.
As Elio was occupied reading his notes, the paper was suddenly swept away, flying off his table.
"Huh?" Looking up, Elio could only see it flying away, heading toward the door.
"Wha-" Quickly, he stood up and rushed after it to get it back. However, right when he almost reached it, the piece of paper suddenly fell to the ground at the door. At the same time, a silhouette appeared.
'This is so bad! Why did that thing fly-... away…' Before his thought could even finish, he looked up, meeting eyes with Fiona. She stared at him, he stared back, then her eyes moved down and caught a glimpse of the paper… Flipped on its opposite side, showing the drawing he created in full clarity.
Elio… felt his heart sink to his stomach. Everything around him started spinning as his panic mode kicked in, quickly shuffling to hide the paper.
However, deep down, he knew it.
'She had seen it… She had seen the drawing!' He cried inwardly as he broke a sweat.