It was a complete disaster. Thousands, no millions of armored warriors, armed with weapons were rushing towards the great kingdom's walls. All the kingdom's great heroes, heroines, and champions stood bravely in the face of the attack.
And with a cry, the battle began.
.
.
.
By just receiving fatal blows after an hour of battling, the heroes, heroines, and champions got tired and retreated not due to tiredness, but by fatal wounds.
"Shit... we can't... defeat such a large army alone!" a heroine yelled.
"Someone... must save us today, or the great kingdom... will fall!" a champion exclaimed. "Who will save us?"
"I will save you all!" a voice boomed throughout the battlefield and the great kingdom.
Then from the firmament came down a figure. A boy wielding some sort of mighty sword descended down like a god. The boy had deep brown eyes, auburn hair was a bit muscular and he had an aura of a great fighter.
"It's God Eric!" one of the heroes shouted. Everyone got excited by the presence of Eric. "We are too weak to continue, oh mighty God! Please fight them for us and save us all!"
"That I will!" Eric said, and in an instant, he gave out several blows with his sword.
Bam! Whoosh!
Thousands of them fell with every blow.
"Take that, sucker!" Eric yelled as another blow defeated another wave of the army. "Now, all of you taste my Mighty Mega Destructive Super Slash of the Heavens and Hell!!!"
"What did you just say, Eric?" a voice asked. "To taste what? C'mon! Time to wake up!"
"Huh?" Eric woke up and looked around. He wasn't fighting a large army or saving the day. He was just lying on his comfy bed.
"Was I dream-talking again?" Eric asked.
"Yep. And you said out many heroic phrases by which I can praise you with!" his father informed. "But now, won't you get ready for your school?"
"Oh! Yeah!" Eric said. "How in the heavens can I forget about going to school!" Eric clearly hated going to the school—whaddup?
"Then why don't you hurry up?"
"Yeah!" Eric said, and ran to his bathroom, brushed his teeth slowly, then jumped into the bathtub which was already filled with cold water.
"Brrr..! And they say that this literally helps in boosting your slacking energy!"
After that quick even of bathing himself, Eric dried himself with a towel and then like a nimble fox wore a t-shirt and black jeans, and now looked ready for school. "Oh! And the bag!"
Eric had forgotten to pack his bag, so he rushed up and filled his bag with all the necessary books and stuff. He then glanced at the clock sitting on his table. [08:42 A.M.] already! His school starts at nine and it was nearly nine!
"Crap!!!"
Eric with his bag rushed downstairs and headed for his exit, when suddenly his mother's voice came, "Hey! You forgot to eat breakfast! Don't you care what your mother makes for you with all her heart?"
Eric sighed. He couldn't leave for school until he ate it all. Plus, he was indeed hungry, so what damage would this breakfast do? He was going to be late!!!
Eric reached the table where freshly baked cookies were severed, and they were still warm. Eric munched two, no four of them like a hungry wolf tempted by the smell of food and felt like taking more. And he did. Later he told his mother and father bye and went to the garage and brought out a box, a premium edition to that one.
The bus didn't come at his place, so he always had to ride his way to the school which was half-a-kilometer away from his home.
Riding the BMX, Eric hummed a catchy tune... which went, "Nyahn nyah Nayan..." literally the Nyan Cat™ song.
It was [08:53] when he reached his school, which stood near a forest. Snakes, alligators, spiders were regular things here, especially if they are hunting for warmth in this cold climate.
Eric parked his BMX underneath a tree which was near the school measures, yet isolated. Eric continued humming the same catchy tune as he unmounted from the BMX and enter the school.
School, as you all will expect, was filled with young children going here and there and where, sometimes bullying others, and sometimes getting themselves bullied, with teachers ignoring the fact. This is... how a school works.
Today, Eric was sure he was going to be bullied as he saw Dick coming towards him with a malicious smirk, and his aides were following Dick too.
'Typical,' Eric thought and prepared himself for the worst.
Worst case scenario, Eric gets dumped into the dustbin again. Best case scenario, Dick ignores him and passes by, which was less expected for he gets entertainment by other's suffering. Through, Eric prayed for the best-case scenario to occur instead of the worst-case scenario.
Dick came, passed by with his aides and went to a skinny boy wearing large round specks, reading a comic book, to be exact, Batman™ Volume #78. Dick seemed interested in that comic book.
Bad thing was that the skinny boy's name is Eden, and he was friends with Eric. Once he had helped Eric in his homework and also when Eric once got seizures, he was the one who had taken him to the meds, and now Eric couldn't just abandon him at this moment. He had to pay him back.
"Look! Eden has brought us a comic book!" Dick said, and he looked excited. And then he, with a sudden moment, snatched the comic book from Eden, who could only yell a, "Hey!!! I was trying to—"
He was startled since he was reading the comic book with wide eyes, and when he looked at the towering Dick, who had his comic book now, he could only say, "So-sorry, lord Dick! I di-didn't mean to be disrespectful in f-front of you, rea-really!"
"Wh-what d-did you just s-say?" Dick mimicked Eden's stammering, and his aides laughed out loud. Eric thought Dickerson had some mental problems. "You know me well, don't go, nerdy boy? You know that I won't return it to you and keep it with me for, uh, eternity! Hahaha!"
"Please! I will do anything but just don't take my comic book! I have just bought it yesterday and I am not finished with it yet! I will do anything for it!" Eden begged.
"Oh, you really would do anything for us?" Dick asked, and Eden nodded. "Then lick our boots and do our homework for all eternity, or else see your book getting torn up with your own eyes, what do ye say?"
"This..." Eden was in deep thought. Licking boots and doing homework for just a comic book. "Never!"
"You asked for it!" Dick roared as held the comic book tight with his hands. "Boys! Beat him up!" His aides went towards Eden.
"Halt!" Eric finally took action as he saw his friend getting bullied. "Stop this nonsense, right now."
"Who's that?!" Dick yelled as he looked back at Eric. "Oh! If it isn't the heroic Eric, then who else could raise a voice against Dick!"
"Eric!" Eden exclaimed. "Run! Let me handle this, don't let yourself suffer!"
"Shut! Up!" Dick yelled. "Can't you see I was talking!" Dick threw the comic book away and looked back at Eric. "So, what proof you have to say that what I was doing was nonsense?"
"You were just bullying Eden," Eric said, "and bullying is a punishable offense in all schools."
"Then... why am I not punished till now?" Dick asked. "If I was bullying, then I should have been punished by now, so why haven't I been punished till now?"
"Yeah!" His aides supported him. The other students were minding their own businesses and were continuously ignoring the scene. Those who felt that Eric was right, still didn't support Eric's cause and stayed silent as they were afraid that they would attract trouble from Dickerson, except for Eden.
"This..." Eric was very angry right now. Dick was trying to be smart in front of him! "You shouldn't do this, Dickerson. It's an evil act. A sin, I will say."
"Hey! Did you just say my full name?!" Dick was angered. No one dared to call out his full name in front of him, it was his policy. He felt ridiculed as Eric spoke out his full name. "As your punishment for calling out my full name, you are going down into the dustbin!"
"Who are you to punish me?!" Eric yelled when suddenly all of Dick's aides picked him up, and Eric struggled to be free. "Hey! Let go!!"
"You wanted to be the hero, Erica," Dick said, they had reached the dustbin. Its cover was opened by one of the aides. "But in reality, you just wanted to self-harm yourself. You are too weak to be even called a hero, you are too weak to even show no-mercy. Here's your reward for trying to be the hero."
Eric was dumped into the dustbin like trash. Dick and his aides laughed at Eric's suffering, while Eden was sad that Eric got it because of him. If he had not brought the comic book, then it wouldn't have happened. But there's no medicine for regret, so normally regret filled him.
"Let's go, guys," Dick said, as he saw that it was going to be nine 'o'clock, and the class started at that time. They completely forgot about Eden and his comic book as Dick was enraged at Eric, for he called out his full name, which sounded ridiculous in Dick's view. What the fuck!
Eric was mournful. Just immediately as he got out of the dustbin, he ran towards the nearest school toilet for boys. He smelled like rotten trash, and therefore he couldn't just attend the classes with such obnoxious odor emitting out of his body!
"Eric! Wait!" Eden picked up his comic book and kept it inside his bag, and then followed Eric into the boy's toilet.
"Eric." When Eden entered the toilet, he found Eric sobbing in front of the sink, and each of his tears fell down into the sink. "Eric. Don't cry!"
It wasn't the immoral acts of Dick which saddened Eric, but the words which pierced into his mind.
Eden began comforting Eric, who was in deep thoughts. 'I can never be a hero when I am weak! I can never protect others if I can't protect myself! I am too weak to fight the strong! This odor! How will I go to classes! My day is ruined, ruined by that Dickerson!'
With each tear falling, Eric's body quivered a bit, and then with another tear falling, his quivering became intense. Inside his body, there was an unusual process going on. Each of his cells got replaced by a cell that looked golden yellow in color and it glowed! Even his blood cells had such dramatic change.
"Eric, don't worry! I know you are worried about your odor. Don't cry! I always have an extra shirt and pants with me for emergencies." Eden's word halt the process and only Twenty-five Percent of his body's cell transformed into the golden cell. The golden cells stopped glowing after Eric looked back at Eden, "Really?!"
"Yep!" Eden took out a white shirt with cartoons on it and long black pants.
"Thank... thank you, Eden," Eric said. "You don't know how much you helped me today! You saved me from a great disaster." Then suddenly it struck to Eric. "Why do you always bring this here? What emergency?"
"I was afraid that Dick would dump me in a dustbin," Eden said. "But today, you were the one going down. You are my friend, why would I leave you behind? Now, hurry up, take a bath and wear this, your odor is getting stronger!"
"Yes!" Eric agreed too. Then he realized something: true friends are always there in times of need. Looks like Eden is his true friend.
******
The school got over as usual in the early afternoon. Eric took out his BMX which was under the tree for a ride back home. The end of the day had started. Eric sighed as a cold wind hit him, chilling him down.
He looked up at the sky. Clouds were gathering and cold winds were blowing at this time. Then the sunlight got obstruct by a veil of dark clouds.
Possibility of a shower is high, Eric thought, must return home fast!
"Eric!" Eden ran over to Eric, who was about to mount on his BMX.
"What happened, Eden?" Eric asked.
"I just wanted to say that your clothes are now clean and dry, and I suppose you return my clothes and wear these?" In Eden's hands were Eric's clothes, which he had cleaned by himself for Eric.
"This..." Eric had never told him to clean his clothes. "Why did you do it? Why trouble yourself cleaning them?"
"I did it for my best friend!" Eden said, then gave the clothes to Eric. "I did it because I was also responsible for that Dickerson dumping you into the dustbin. I cleaned your clothes to say that I was sorry. Now, change it here while no one's seeing."
The tree was in an isolated area, so there were fewer passersby and people mostly avoided that area.
"Change?! While you keep staring at me?!" Eric yelled. "Turn around! I need privacy!"
"Alright!" Eden raised him both hands up in a defeated manner, and he turned around and didn't look back for seconds...
A cold wind blew near him. "Done already?"
"Just a sec... there we go!" Eric said, then Eden turned around. Eric immediately gave him his clothes. "I thank you again, man!"
"You're always welcome!" Eden said. "Goodbye, Erica! See you again tomorrow!"
"Hey!!! It's Eric, not Erica!" Eric yelled. 'Did he just intentionally joked to make me feel better?'
Indeed, Eric felt better than before, and he even chuckled at Eden's joke. Then this moment was broke off by a cold wind blowing behind him, reminding him again that it was going to heavy rain after some time. He had to get back to his home fast before the rain begins!
He immediately mounted his BMX and sped fast towards his home. The gales had become stronger, and like hungry ghosts, it was howling. The sky and the land darkened further, and it seemed like it was late evening, even if it was early afternoon. Eric paddled faster as gales blew past him. 'Must hurry, I haven't brought an umbrella along with me!'
As Eric was paddling, a leaf flew on Eric's face, distracting him, startling him, bring him and his BMX down. Then came the shower, falling really fast and violently like an air-raid was currently happening at the place.
Eric, with his BMX, was alone in an isolated road, and a mansion-like large house was nearby and it looked like it was abandoned a long ago as mosses and ferns were growing on the walls. As Eric didn't want to catch a cold and also get completely wet, he hurried towards the house after getting up with his BMX.
He kept the BMX near the door of the house, and then barge into the house. As he entered inside the shelter, he found that in front of him was a well-dressed table with freshly cooked food.
Dang! Someone is living here, and I thought it was abandoned, Eric thought, shouldn't have barged in!
"Who are you, boy?" A husky voice of a man asked. Eric looked at the source of the sound and found a pale man looking at him with emotionless eyes. "Why did you intrude here? What business do you have here?"
The man was black-clad, was pale and tall, and looked like he was in his thirties or was even in his twenties. Who knows for sure? Only the man himself knew the answer.
"I, um, thought that this... house was abandoned. So, I, um, barged in to get shelter from the rain outside, so, um, sir, can you forgive me? Please?" Eric explained it all.
"Hmm... never mind, then! Come, sit here, boy," the man said, with a warm smile. Eric sat on the chair and rested his hands upon the dining table, and muttered, "Thanks."
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
"You look thirsty, boy. Here, drink this," the pale man advanced him a glass of water.
Indeed, Eric was a bit thirsty, so he accepted the glass with a smile. Then he drank it and quench his thirst. It felt a bit odd, as it tasted a bit earthy, but still, he drank it and ignored the taste.
"Thanks," he said, and felt a tingling sensation all over his body. "Huh?"
The man grinned, and Eric saw it! He got shocked to find that the man's canine teeth were sharp, long and pointed! Fangs! Vampire! This pale man was a vampire!
"Oh! So you know it. You know what I really am," the pale man said. "Nobody leaves alive after knowing what I am."
"How did you..?" Eric was both shocked and scared to know that the man understood that now he knows that the man was a vampire. Could it be telepathy? Mind-reading?
Eric felt a bit dizzy as he felt his stomach churn a bit, then his vision got a bit blurred.
"Your hunch is absolutely correct," the pale man said after reading Eric's mind again. "In addition, I had added a particular drug in your drink that will make you fall unconscious. By the way, I have been thirsty for human blood for centuries!"
As Eric was about to fall unconscious, the pale man ran to him at an astonishing speed, and bit in his neck, and started sucking his blood. The vampire felt that Eric's blood was really sweet and unique and then started sucking faster. The vampire's goal was to suck Eric dry so that he doesn't spread the news of a vampire living in the neighborhood.
Unexpectedly, some of Eric's blood cells were of golden color also were sucked by the vampire. After the blood with the golden blood cell, entered the vampire's body, the vampire stopped sucking Eric's blood and retreated back as he felt an electric sensation in his body.
Then his whole body started glowing brightly, as he felt excruciating pain inside his body as if all his organs were being ripped off.
"What the heaven is going on?!" the vampire yelled when suddenly a few lines from a novel he had read years ago entered his mind.
[Page 238; Paragraph 3 of Legends of Kyon: The Kloacke Emperor pricked his finger and one drop, one single drop of crimson blood fell on the sinful and pale vampire, whose body started glowing and then he blasted into nothing, completely disappeared from the world, leaving back nothing...]
"This boy's a Kloacke descendant!" the vampire yelled, as he realized that his skin was glowing because he had sucked the blood of the boy, who actually was a Kloacke descendant!
"HELL..!!!" the vampire gave out a yell full of regret and anger, before he blasted away, along with the home, and the blast covered a total diameter of 90 meters.
Normal eyes or electronics couldn't capture such an unnatural blast, but there were some who, at the least, just felt it.
***
In an isolated forest in southern Peru, there was a man inside a cave, who was currently reading a book, suddenly felt a familiar pressure, which startled him.
"Eric?"
***
"And I thought that we had a deal, Zed!" a man yelled to a fat man, who was sitting on a sofa inside a dark room, and the ceiling bulb was the only light source.
"Yes! We had a deal! Now we don't!" the fat man, Zed, yelled back to the other man, who actually was Carl. "You told me that you'll give me the best weapons in the world! These were trash! Find something else, or you won't get the promised thing."
"You..." Carl was about to shout out a swearing word when suddenly he felt a weak yet familiar pressure. "The Kloacke pressure!" A grin appeared in his face. "Must be Shannon's son."
******
"Eric!" Eric opened his eyes as he heard his name being called.
Eric woke up after being unconscious for some hours, and it had already stopped raining by now, plus it was evening. As he opened his eyes, he came face to face with Reed, his father.
"Eric! You're so pale and cold! What happened?!" Reed asked as he touched Eric's forehead.
"Dunno... I guess... I fell unconscious or something... and must have fallen off my BMX," Eric said. He wasn't sure that the incident which occurred a while ago was real or not, so he made up an excuse.
"God! You are so cold, let's hurry back home!" Reed picked up Eric and his BMX.
"I can manage, dad!" Eric said. "Don't be too worried!"
******
"Doctor, is he fine?" Mary asked with a voice of worry and concern, as she looked at the male doctor who was examining Eric, who was lying on his bed inside his room
"He... is fine. He hasn't caught a cold or any fever, don't worry," the doctor said and packed his equipment again. "I shall take my leave now, then." The doctor left. So did Mary.
"Dad..." Eric began. "I am... I am so sorry to make you too worried about my absence. I..."
"You just fell unconscious while riding your bicycle," Reed said. "It's not your fault, Eric."
"But it was I who fell unconscious, and it was you who had to walk miles to search for me," Eric said.
"Just... forget it, Eric," Reed said, with a gentle smile. "You have school tomorrow, and it's already late, sleep." Reed headed towards the door of exit.
"But dad-"
"Just sleep, Eric," his dad said. "Tomorrow is a very special day, you know." Reed switched off the lights and closed the door.
What special day? Eric thought, before sleeping.
******
Next-Day...
Eric woke up fast, and somehow he recalled no dream today. This was strange to him.
"Could it be..?" Eric recalled yesterday's events again, could it all be because of that vampire?
It seemed like it. Eric was pale and... "Nah! I must have fallen unconscious, nothing else!" Eric told himself. It that REALLY the truth?!
Eric shook his head and saw that it was still [07:50] and so he had plenty of time left before school, so he did his regular tasks, from brushing his teeth to packing his bag, all was done. It was just [07:58] when he was done with the regulars. Just eight minutes wasted...
Then he went downstairs and found that his mom was still making the breakfast, and his dad was reading some sort of novel called, "Scholars and Fighters: Brain over Brawn!"
"Good morning, dad," Eric said.
Reed shifted his gaze from the book to Eric and replied, "Good morning, Eric! What a special day today is, isn't it?"
The special day!
"Oh! How can I forget that today is my birthday!!!" Eric yelled.
"Happy birthday, Eric!" His mom said back from the kitchen, and came to the table with a baked cake, with a total of fourteen candles...
"Mom..." Eric had nearly forgotten about his birthday due to the school's tension and yesterday's incident. "Thanks for this cake."
Eric blew all the fourteen candles. Eric had finally turned fourteen! Yay!
"Eric," Reed began. "Your mom has given this cake as a gift, so, I will give mine now." His dad gave Eric a gift box. "Open it."
Eric, unhurriedly and carefully, opened the gift box, and found a bracelet made of gold!
"This bracelet cost me a fortune," Reed said. "Completely made of pure gold, this will remind you that we are always with you, always near you, always there to help you."
"Wow, thanks, dad!" Eric said and wore the bracelet on his left hand.
"It looks great on you, Eric!" Mary said.
"Thanks, mom," Eric said.
"Now, won't we all eat this wonderful-looking cake as a family?" Mary asked.
"That we will!" Reed and Eric said in unison, and the family of three sat to eat the delicious cake.
******
Eric spent more time with his family and then left for school at [08:20]. Even if it was a bit early, he didn't mind it. He had plenty of time to hide from Dick today.
He parked his BMX at the same spot, the tree, and went inside the school. And he met something unexpected.
There they were, Dickerson and his aides, waiting for Eric.
"There he comes! Eric the Stupid!" Dick exclaimed so that everyone could hear.
Not today! Not on my birthday, Eric thought.
"And... looks like he has a priceless bracelet with him," Dick said. "Give it to me, you don't deserve it."
"No. It is a gift given by my dad! I won't give it to you," Eric said.
"Being rebellious, eh? But let me tell you, you are going to be bullied non-stop if you don't give it to me," Dick threatened.
"Please. Not today. Today's my birthday," Eric said, trying to be as calm as possible.
"Oh? So today's Stupid's birthday!" Dick said. "And how can I forget to give you a gift? And oh, I have the right gift! Why don't I dump you back into the dustbin?"
No! Not the dustbin, Eric thought.
Dick approached Eric and held him and Eric tried to struggle with his eyes closed.
"There's no need to struggle! It's a good gift!" Dick said. "Oh, I forgot. You are not called the Stupid for no reason, stupid!"
Eric had enough of it. While his eyes were closed, he gave a push to Dick with all his strength...
...And then he heard his aides yell, "GODAMN!!!"
When Eric opened his eyes, he saw an unbelievable scene. Dick was stuck in a locked, to say, he flew away due to Eric's push and hit the locker hard that the locker's door broke open and went inside with Dick. Seeing this was unbelievable for both Eric and Dick's aides. All this happened in an instant.
How the hell this..? Eric thought. Have I turned into a vampire because of that incident from yesterday? Did yesterday's incident really happen? Have I really turned into a vampiric teenager?
"Woah!" Eden, who was also witnessing the scene, got shocked to find that the tides have been turned by Eric.
This time it was Dick who was suffering instead of Eric! What the hell was going on?! Only Eric knew it well.
A crowd had gathered over the place to see what was happening. All they found was Dick inside a locker, suffering, and twitching.
"Humiliated, huh?" a weak-looking boy, who was many times bullied by Dick, said. "You deserved it!"
"Am I still sleeping?! Am I dreaming this all?! HIT ME!" one of Dick's aides yelled, and then was hit by his friend who behind him for confirmation that if he was or wasn't sleeping. "It hurts, you fool!!! OUCH!!! It really hurts!" the aide yelled after being punched by his friend. "So it's all real!!! Unbelievable!!! Eric really was able to make Dick fly away! Humorous! Err, I mean outrageous!"
Eric looked at his hands by which he had pushed Dick. Too strong! Must understand and control my strength, or else it could be a problem in the future!
Dick, who's butt was inside the locker, was trying to recall everything. First, Eric pushed him. Second, he remembered flying in mid-air at a very fast speed. Third, he didn't even felt the impact of his body crashing against the locker's metal door! And at last, he found himself here.
Too fast to recall everything, Dick thought. Just what did this brat eat today? Or what did this brat lift today to get such terrifying strength to be able to harm me!
Eric, on the other hand, ran away from the scene while everyone was focused on Dick. The ran into the school toilet for boys, again, but this time it was not for crying, but rather to check himself.
He went to the sink, the mirror in front of him, and could clearly see his reflection. He opened his mouth and looked at these teeth.
"No fangs?" Eric saw that there were no fangs in his mouth. His canine teeth were the same as before. "I must have turned into a dhampir! Cool!"
He tried to run and see if he also had super-speed or not. Nope. He was only able to run at his normal speed.
"Nope. I think I just have super-strength for now."
Dhampir means that he wasn't completely a vampire or a human, so for that, he won't get all powers that a real vampire has.
"Eric!" Eden again came inside the toilet to see what Eric was doing.
"Eden! Did you see me teach that Dick a lesson?" Eric asked.
"Yep," Eden said. "But that means you made him your biggest enemy ever! You don't know what he can do to harm you after what you have done, Eric. I feel pity for you, and by the way, WHATEVER YOU DID TO HIM WAS GREAT! HE DESERVED IT!!!"
"Haha!" Eric laughed and then gave a high-five to Eden. "I still pity him... though, let's get ready for the classes!"
Eden and Eric went to their class and sat with their bags and books on their respective tables and chairs.
"Did you know that Dicky got thrashed into a locker by someone?" a boy was discussing with his fellow classmates and friends.
"Yep. I heard about it. Who could it be?"
"I have heard that it was Eric! Nonsense, right?"
"Yeah," a boy said while glancing back at Eric, who was also busy talking with Eden. "How he, who looks thin and a bit weak, could thrash Dick like that?"
"Right! Must be someone else," the boy, who starred the discussion, said.
"Teacher approaching!!!" a boy who was looking out at the door yelled. All the students who were creating noise or wandering around sat down immediately. Eden too returned to his place. A student who was rolling a paper to throw it at his classmate halted his progress middle-way and kept the rolled ball in his pants' pocket while whistling as if he wasn't doing anything. "La! La! La!"
"Good morning, students!" the teacher entered. She was a woman in her thirties, wearing a good vermilion dress, her name is Miss Kathy. She had green eyes and brown hair. And she came in with two children following her, one was a blond boy and the other was a girl with blue hair, and both looked like twins because of their faces, both similar. "Students, meet Lucas and Gwen, who has just transferred here and are going to study in our class. Say hello to them."
"Hello!" the class greeted the newcomers.
"Hi!" the twins greeted back to the class.
"Teacher, where will we sit?" Lucas asked as he looked around the class.
"Ah, yes. There! You can sit beside Eric, while Gwen, you can sit near Gabriel," the teacher said, as she pointed out where they could sit.
Dear Eric, there was an empty desk and chair, waiting for someone to sit on it. It even got cobwebs and dust on it! It was simply because no-one liked Eric except for a few like Eden and the new kid, Lucas. When Lucas saw Eric, he saw loneliness, grief, and sadness. Just as he saw it, Lucas decided that he would be Eric's friend no matter what!
"Hello," Lucas said, as he sat beside Eric. "So... you're Eric, huh?"
"And you're Lucas," Eric said, "and it's nice to meet you."
"Me too," Lucas said. "Well, I am from outside of this country, so I expect that you could tell me more about your country."
"Why don't you read a guide book? It will help you a lot!" Eric suggested.
Darn! Lucas' first move to get close was shrugged off by Eric's suggestion.
Lucas=Nil, Eric=1.
It seemed like Eric wanted to be left alone and so tried to go further away from Lucas, or it's what it looked like to Lucas...
Lucas decided to keep quiet as it was not the right time to make his move. He had struck the iron when it's hot! Meanwhile, Eric was busy wondering about his supernatural powers.
Cool! With my superpowers, I can become a superhero and save the day, Eric thought.
"Ahem, Eric Smith, could you please stop daydreaming right now?" Miss Kathy requested while having a bright smile on her face.
"Huh?" Eric came back from his 'wonderland' and into the mainland. "Sorry, miss Kathy! Next time I won't do it."
"Alright, then. Class, open page number thirty-three of 'A Brief History of the Americas'."
Eric groaned from behind. It's going to be boring for a while...
******
After the classes got over, Eric went to his locker to keep his things. That was going Lucas ran around and gave out papers to many students.
"For transferring to here, we have kept a party to know each other better!" Lucas announced. "Come soon!"
Lucas even gave a paper, which actually was an invitation, to Eric. This was Lucas' second move to know Eric better and eventually end his loneliness. And the second move was a success! Now, they were even.
Lucas=1, Eric=1.
"Hmm..." after thinking briefly, he wanted to celebrate his birthday today. Despite being known as the Scapegoat, he was ignored at the most. When people like Dick have problems, they blamed it all on Eric and bully him. Eric became only dirt in their eyes. And so for that, no one believed that Eric actually thrashed Dick into a locker.
Later, Dick came up. When someone asked how he got thrashed by Eric, he would reply that he rather slipped than thrashed. If they got to know that Eric, twerk, was able to thrash Dick, then it would be humiliating.
Only Eden, Dick, Eric, Dick's aides and other few students who were present when Eric thrashed Dick knew the truth.
Dick eventually got ann invitation from Lucas. Seeing this, he got an idea, an idea of revenge. Revenge on Eric!
Dick approached Eric, and when he reached, he immediately asked Eric, "Coming to this party?" He waved his invitation card.
What does he want now? "Yeah," Eric answered.
"Me too, buddy," Dick said, and then smiled.
Did he just call me a buddy? "Just what do you want?" Eric directly asked the question.
"Oh, direct! I love that! Why don't we wait till the party starts?" Dick said. "By the way, happy birthday... Eric Smith."
Has he gone nuts? Why is he acting so friendly now? Hell knows, Eric thought.
"Thanks," Eric said, and then forced a smile.
Dick went somewhere away then, away from Eric. To his home, of course!
"Eric!" Eden came running towards Eric. When he reached near Eric, he bent down and took deep breaths to regain his lost energy, and then asked. "Coming to the party that is hosted by the new students?"
"Yes," Eric answered. "What happened, then?"
"I was thinking I could give you a gift at the party," Eden said. "Anyways, happy birthday, my friend! And you turned..."
"Fourteen," Eric replied.
"Oh! Happy fourteenth birthday, Eric! Come to the party tonight," Eden said, and then dashed towards the school's exit. He seemed to be in a hurry now.
Eric didn't mind that, and after doing all his leftover works he went to the tree, where his BMX rested under the tree's shade.
After mounting on his BMX, he looked at the tree, and then said, "Thanks for giving keeping my BMX safe under your shade, tree!"
If one were to hear what Eric just had said, they would probably think that Eric has gone mad and would laugh at that. The case was that Eric was really happy today, not just because of his birthday, but rather because of the huge change that has occurred to him. He had turned into something unfathomable! A dhampir (or something like that)!
He thanked the tree to share his happiness. The tree's branches shook due to a fast wind, like if the tree was saying, "No problem!"
The weather was sunny and the heat came down from the heavens. It wasn't too hot, like summer-hot, but it still felt unusually warm. There were some clouds, wandering in the upper atmosphere, like boats adrift.
"Ah!" Eric felt greatly relaxed, as he rode back home.
As he was riding, he reached a familiar place... the place where the incident took place!
"Strange. I clearly remember that this was the place where I fell down previously. This was the place where I met that vampire! But where's the house? It can't just... disappear! If it's not there from the g, how did I get the powers?" Eric said to himself, as he looked around the area.
No even a single trace of the house was left. Eric just didn't know about the magical blast that occurred yesterday.
"Could it be that something really paranormal must have happened with me? Could I have gone into an illusion-realm by chance and met with the vampire? Yes, must be it!" Eric thought of crazy ideas and theories to explain what really happened yesterday. He, at last, followed the "illusion-realm" idea.
He finally reached home, and like usual, his dad wasn't home. His mom was there, watching a soap opera.
"I'm back, mom," Eric announced his arrival.
"Eric, if you feel hungry, there's a jar of cookies on the table," Mary said. "Don't disturb me for food, alright?"
"Yeah!" Eric said. "Oh! By the way, I have to for a party tonight, with my new friend(s)."
"Go, enjoy it like you own the party," Mary said, eyes fixed on the TV.
Eric went upstairs, to his room, then shut the door behind, threw the bag on the bed and also jumped onto the bed.
Alright, now all I have to do is to spend time till the party gets started, Eric thought, and what can I possibly do now?
All of sudden, an idea came into his. That was to get more familiar with his powers. Must take it seriously, or else I can face difficulties in the future. It is better now than later!
"Well, let's see, I have super-strength," Eric said to himself. "On the internet, I have heard things like a vampire's power increases during the night... we will try that later on. But for now, what else can I do expect from super-strength. I know that I don't have super-speed, but that doesn't mean that I don't have any other powers..." An idea suddenly came to his mind.
Well, I can try that. But I have to self-harm myself.
He went downstairs and went to the kitchen and brought out a knife. While going back upstairs, his greedy eyes fell on the cookies that were kept on the table, and so he took it along with him.
After he entered his room and shut the door behind again, he kept the jar of cookies on his table and held the knife.
"Here goes nothing but pain," he said. He held the hilt of the knife tight with his right hand, and then suddenly slit down on his left hand's palm with the knife.
Excruciating pain!!!!!!
Eric groaned, but didn't dare to scream, or else his mom would come rushing up to his room to find out what the hell Eric was doing.
He kept staring at the cut on the palm and it didn't heal very fast as he expected. The experiment was a big failure!!!
But then, he saw that his blood was not red, rather dark red, too red that it actually looked black instead! But then there he saw a liquid oozing out with the blood, a golden-colored liquid, in punitive quantities. My body had iron, that I know. But I never knew that my body also produces gold!
He shook his head as a terrible joke entered his thought. He went to the bathroom near his room while pressing the wound with his hand.
He carefully washed the wound and put some ointments to stop possible infections and then dressed the wound with a bandage. Then they wore a glove over it. Mom's gonna kill me if she gets to know what stupidity I have done.
Eric sighed as he laid down on the comfy bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking several things. What is Dick going to do today at the party? I am sure he has evil intentions!
Eric sighed again, and then pulled out a piece of paper or rather the invitation from one of his pockets.
《 "You've been invited to Lucas' and Gwen's get-together party!!! Hope to see you there!" [ENTER LUCAS' AND GWEN'S ADDRESS]》
Eric put it back in his pocket. "Guess I will have to take a ride in a four-wheeler and reach [ENTER LUCAS' AND GWEN'S ADDRESS]."
Eric then again looked at the ceiling and then god knows when did he doze off!
******
Eric reached their home by taxi.
"Here's your tip." Eric gave the required money to the taxi driver as he stepped off the taxi.
"Thanks!" the driver said, and then went away with the taxi.
"Wow," Eric said that line again after he saw Lucas' house. It was actually a mansion! "They must be quite rich!"
There were decorative lights-that-are-all-connected-to-a-single-wire hanging around near the entrance.
Eric didn't knock at the huge wooden doors as he could hear loud music behind the doors and was sure that because of the noise no one could hear the knocking. Eric barged in, and saw that the whole school was at the party!
The disco-ball was rotating on the ceiling, which was twenty feet high from the floor which was of marble. Fancy lights, food, and beverages, music, people, it was all there at the party, which made it a perfect party.
"THIS... IS... AWESOME!!!" someone exclaimed from behind.
When Eric looked back, he saw that it was Eden who had exclaimed.
"Never have I ever seen him so excited till today," Eric said to himself.
He suddenly got startled after he received a light pat on his shoulders from behind. Must be Duck, oh sorry, Dick!
He looked back, only to see a smiling Lucas, who was holding a glass which had some sort of cold drink (maybe Pepsi?) on his right hand. "What's up, buddy? Enjoying the party?"
Eric gave a friendly smile before talking, "I have just arrived. And it's time to really enjoy the party!"