Neoma (9) [End of Part 1]

The rain had stopped in the early in the morning and the road was no longer a road, but a path of mud. Dmitri was a depressed mess of man the whole morning. He was silent and wouldn’t allow anyone to speak to him, not even Rachel.1

Charles quickened his pace until it matched with Natty’s. “Natty?”2

“Leave me alone!” Natty said harshly, running forward and almost tripping.3

Rachel grabbed Dmitri’s arm. “You have to say something.”4

* * *5

By late afternoon, the group was in the village. Dmitri’s house was in bad shape from some short weeks of being abandoned, but he was too busy talking with Rachel to notice or care.6

“She’s dangerous.” Rachel said, pacing Dmitri’s room. 7

“Natty lived in Cot for as long she can remember and the main rule there was survival of the fittest. If what you think is true, then her emotional changes could be dramatic. You should at least say something; we will probably never see a nicer Natty. What if she is the one?”8

“I get it!” Dmitri sighed, sitting down and putting his face in his hands. “I just can’t handle what the Police told me. I probably should have left Natty back at Cot. She’s causing too many problems…”9

Rachel sat on the bed. “What kind of problems?”10

Dmitri looked over at her, his eyes blank. “If she is what I hope for, I really worry; more so than I am now. You seem to ignore the facts I told you about Natty and Charles. They cannot fall in love.”11

Rachel’s eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth. “Dmitri…”12

“What if the government wants a planned marriage? I can’t let a real Romeo and Juliet story come from this! I… also can’t fall in love with Natty if she is what she is.” Dmitri sighed. He had stood up in frustration, but now he looked weary.13

“It’s hard.” He went on. “You must also refrain from any affection from Charles. It’s an unlikely thing between you two, but it can happen. We have to take lots of precautions in this journey.”14

Rachel pushed back her hair from her face, and stood up. “Dmitri. Please don’t live by these rules you have put up. I mean, you can, but just cover up the tense and rude part of you for us. You are better than this.”15

Her mood shifted to a lighter tone and she smiled. “I’m going to clean out your nasty garden that is out back.”16

She skipped out of the room, humming a children’s tune.17

Dmitri sighed heavily, scratching the back of his neck. ‘Why does this have to be so hard?’ he thought.18

“Hey.” Natty walked into the room, faking a smile.19

Dmitri didn’t bother to turn around and look at Natty; he felt inwardly exhausted and didn’t think he could deal with her asking questions.20

“Are you going to say anything?” She paused. “Do you always brood?”21

Dmitri twitched inwardly. ‘And Rachel expects me to get along with her?’ he thought.22

“Dmi–”23

Natty was cut off as Dmitri turned around, pulling something from behind his dresser. He seemed really frustrated, but Natty stood her ground. Guessing that one-to-many comments actually got to him, she refrained from saying anything else.24

The object Dmitri had pulled out from the dresser was an antique sword that looked like something you would find in fairytales. A ruby sat plainly on the top of the hilt and it fit the somewhat details covering the hilt and sheath. The sword didn’t look particularly dangerous… just as long it stayed the way it was.25

“I’m not going to hurt you… this is just for making a point that I’ll need to break through your wall.” Dmitri explained calmly, never once looking up front the floor. Natty could tell from the tone in his voice that he was very agitated.26

Natty wasn’t particularly sure what was going on, but she narrowed her eyes in turn to show that she was playing serious now, too. Her forced light mood had evaporated as she waited for Dmitri to start talking.27

“We are now very close to the capital, almost halfway, and our traveling group in particular needs to keep strictly to ourselves. This means that if anything about our names or where we are heading leak out…” Dmitri closed his eyes as he thought of something before he continued, looking up to meet Natty’s eyes.28

“If a certain bit of information leaks out to a superior source, I will have no choice but to kill the one who leaked out that important bit and the person to whom it was told.”29

Natty’s tone was sour and her mind knew that Dmitri was hiding something more than it appeared [bingbing!!]. “So what is it that you’re hiding?”30

The gloom around Dmitri’s face vanished as a smile twitched the corners of his mouth; Natty obviously hadn’t understood his talk. Too physically and emotionally tired to restate anything, Dmitri put back the sword. He slowly, quietly, showed Natty out of the room, a smile creeping across his face.
Natty watched the door slam in her face before swearing under her breath. On the other side of the door, Dmitri’s hand lingered hesitantly on the doorknob. Faintly hearing Natty’s swears, a smile appeared on his face. Turning from the door, he picked up the dusty old book, which had been sitting on the counter the whole argument.31

“And you still believe she’s the one… foolish man.” He whispered, running a hand over the ancient leather cover.32


Natty stomped into the back garden and leaned up against an aged fence. She didn’t feel as angry as she normally would after arguing with Dmitri. Pushing herself away from the fence, Natty shoved those thoughts from her mind and looked around at where she was.33

Rachel had informed the group that Eru, the place that was Dmitri’s home, technically had three seasons because winter began to take over as soon as the summer sun began to fade. The trees stood naked in the frost that gripped every plant mercilessly. The wilted brown and black figures that were once flowers shivered in the smallest breeze and few people were out and about. In Natty’s mind, this first impression left the mark that Eru was a ghost town.34

Overhead, the clouds were a dark grey and swirled around angrily. Rachel was sitting on an old bench by Dmitri’s window, staring at the ground with a blank look when she looked up at the sky.35

“Hey, Natty!” she called. “How about we get you a good haircut and a nice set of clothes? I think you and Charles’ll need a fresh start.”36

Charles, who had been running his hand over the old fence a
few feet from Rachel, turned to look at Natty who was on the opposite end of the garden. He had heard her come in, fuming, but just wanted to leave her alone. When Rachel mentioned a clean start, he looked up.37

“A clean slate?” he asked.38

“Exactly!” Rachel beamed. “What do you say?”39

Charles sighed. “Of course! I think I should forget everything that happened in Cot.”40

“You shouldn’t do that.”41

Looking up, Natty was glaring at him. Confused, he asked. “Why not?”42

“You’ll forget who you are if you forget your past.”43

“And you’ve both forgotten your pasts!” Rachel intervened. Avoiding Natty’s stare, Rachel watched the ground as she continued talking. “Dmitri chose you for a reason… and by the way both of you have been acting… you can’t remember anything about who you truly are.”44

“But I know exactly who I am!” Natty stated, near shouting. “I’m a vampire!”45

“No, you aren’t.” Rachel said harshly, meeting her stare angrily. “Haven’t you ever wondered what you would look like if you weren’t a vampire? Haven’t you ever wondered why other slave children who came to Cot at the same time you did died before you even turned ten? I know who the true Natty is. I’m positive I know.” Rachel shouted, her eyes shining with tears.46

Natty’s head was hung, her face clouded and unreadable. Charles was in shock, knowing that vampires aged a year every two years for the first hundred. How old was Natty without the vampirism in her blood?47

“Rachel…” Dmitri appeared behind Natty, hearing her outburst. “You’re going to hurt your voice again.”48

Her eyes shining with tears, Rachel gave Natty a helpless look as she followed Dmitri’s escort back to the house. Natty turned her back to Charles, her emotions still shrouded. Deciding nothing better was available to do, Charles followed the two back into the house.49

When the three had left the garden, the skies opened up and rain began to pour down in heavy doses. Natty wrapped her arms around herself, her shoulders shaking, before disappearing into the small room she was given by Dmitri for the time being.50

Hidden by the clouds, a moon rose slowly with a dimmed light. It seemed burdened by an extra weight that never seemed to exist before. Dmitri watched the moon rise to its highest point from his window before picking up the old book.51

“It’s obvious to me, but who will believe me?” he whispered.