Chapter 4: Dread 0.4
Pierce laid in her bed watching the night sky through the open window, her mind strangely enough was wide awake even though her clock flashed 3 A.M. She was trying to get hold of their new situation and the reality in general. The facts weren't adding up to her, this new guy was just strange being mute and all, even her father was acting out of it since he came back, it was like he was stressed about something.
Her mind was also solely focused on the negative emotions around her making her feel sick because since the guest had appeared, she could feel the darker vibes getting stronger, as if trying to swallow her. Everything felt so out of her comfort zone lately, and it had been a huge bomb on her when her father suggested she tour guide the guest whose name she had yet to know. Either she was too set on her father's rules or her father was breaking them on his own, before she felt like a caged bird but now she felt somewhat free.
He was overprotective of her since her mother died and never let her do what she wanted just so she was safe but now he was giving her a chance to slight freedom which was a totally new subject to her. It was as if he was depending on her, which he never did before. For the others around her age, the things happening were all a set of normal situations, but for her it was a big deal, a break in the usual pattern.
Getting up from her bed dizzily, Pierce pushed away the blanket and snuggled into her furry rabbit slipper which matched with her night gown - a simple sundress with dozing rabbits all over - it was childish but she liked it, even if it highlighted her curves too much.
Looking out the door she saw the dark corridor leading to the dark staircase, so creeping through the stairs very slowly to make sure her father stayed asleep, she got down to the lobby area while minding the steps.
Once downstairs she searched the wall blindly and switched on the lights to the kitchen. Then she sneaked into the kitchen and looked inside the cabinets for her favorite wafers. 'Should have eaten dinner when dad offered it instead of doing all that homework.'
Since the cabinet was empty she closed it swiftly and opened the other one carefully, cringing when it made a slight creaky noise at the end. 'Gosh, should have oiled them before.' Her father was a light sleeper so it made sense to be so silent with every task at night or else she would be busted. 'Where is that packet, I am sure I kept it somewhere around here.' Rummaging around through the jars she scratched her head with irritation, even her neck was starting to itch due to frustration. 'Wher-' she paused herself completely when she heard something strange, so she tried to focus on the crunching noises coming from behind her, it was soft yet loud.
She had to keep from shouting in panic when she was met with the shadowed eyes of their guest munching on her wafers in the middle of the night without any care in the world. She gasped softly when she met the sight. 'First my pasta, then my cookies and now my wafers too...'
She flushed, her rabbit nightie suffocating her. It wasn't a clothing you showed your guests, she prayed the sundress didn't show too much skin.
"You are eating now?" she whisper asked, wanting to divert his eyes away from her dress. She noticed he was still wearing the same clothes from earlier.
A swift nod was his simple reply to her question. And she vaguely wondered why he was eating in the dark.
"Well... what is your name?"
He seemed to be thinking about it which wasn't really something to be thought about and then he shrugged. It reminded Pierce that the guest couldn't speak. "Oh, sorry for being rude," she searched the lobby table for a pen and a notepad and handed it over to him with an apologetic smile, "Here you go, you can write in this."
The silent lad nodded sincerely and took hold of the pen strangely, as if using it for the first time, then he wrote down something on the notepad with great concentration. Once done, he showed it to her with a wide smile, to Pierce he looked like a child who just accomplished to complete a great mission.
She smiled in return and looked over at what he had written, she read it aloud, "Vladius."
The guest nodded briefly, his eyes too wide awake for the night, but so was hers.
"You didn't have dinner?" She was getting out of questions already despite having so many of them. 'Shame on your interaction skills Pierce,' She thought to herself.
"I eat more than what was prepared for me but no worries," his words said but it did worry Pierce that her father might be bad with serving guests. Although she believed Vladius had already made himself at home, for a guest he was good at scouting out the kitchen.
When he was once again done with writing, Pierce read it aloud, "It seems to me you were also hungry."
"Oh yes, I have had no dinner because of all those assignments I had to finish, school is tough before exams."
"School is where you study right, that is where you get your assignments from?"
Pierce nodded accompanying the guest with his questions even though they were basic general knowledge, 'That's weird, he doesn't even know about school?'
"Were you home schooled?" she asked politely afraid that it might be considered rude by the guest, but she was just being curious.
The guest, 'Vladius', nodded after some thinking and then scratched his pen on the notepad again, it read, "I was, for a while."
"Then did you like it, many don't like home schooling."
"Yes, it was interesting to see the masters blow up on my parents when I was being too rebellious."
Her eyes widened when she read that, "So you were a naughty boy, how old were you anyway?"
"9" after replying, he jotted down another set of words, while taking his time, to Pierce the wait was gnawing. There was a flutter in her chest, knowing she was talking to a boy so much for the first time. In school all she conversed with them was about the school project or group work, apart from that she didn't mingle with any of them, and they also seemed to be trying very hard to stay away from her. The reasons she didn't want to know... and above that her father was very strict.
"These things I eat are very interesting, it says 'waffers' here, is this what it is called?"
"Yes, it's chocolate flavored, have you not eaten it before?"
"I like the taste, very new to my taste buds."
"So you haven't really eaten it before." she stated as if confirming.
"New to many things here but you have enough knowledge about it, when did you come to stay here."
"...I have always stayed here since birth that is, I am a permanent resident."
Vladius nodded while brushing away his hair from his forehead, not that it was that long, "I haven't really seen your mother around."
Pierce smiled sadly at that, "She died when I was five, father says she had cancer."
"So she was sick."
"Yes." Pierce wanted to say 'that was what cancer was, a very deadly disease which surely made you sick' though she refrained from saying so. 'He sure talks... differently.'
"So Vladius, where are you from?" she knew she was talking in a voice that she kept reserved for children younger than her, but this Vladius really appeared to be just as innocent and nonchalant.
She saw how he paused in his eating as he had taken out another wafer not even offering her one, "I am from around Sahara."
"That great desert?"
"Yes that desert, but what's so great about it?"
Pierce ignored his joke as she focused her gaze on him, his tanned skin was a major indicator yet he had a physic of a western, 'Must have migrated.'
"You follow any religion?"
To the asked question Vladius looked confused, "Riligon?"
"Yes, but no worries, what are your plans for tomorrow," Pierce changed the subject while her mind came up with reasons for the guest's child like knowledge, 'What person doesn't know about religion and spells it wrong, didn't he say he was home schooled?' Her inner mind added on, 'But when he was 9.'
"I will be going out with you it seems."
'Going out sounds vaguely romantic,' thought Pierce with a slight blush not noticeable as it was a dim setting so she was thankful for that. "For how many days are you going to be here?"
"Want me gone so soon?" he asked with a grin making her stutter with embarrassment, "It was j-just a ge-genuine question."
"Five days or maybe less."
"So... where would you like to start from tomorrow, we have many places we can visit."
Vladius thought about it with a thoughtful frown set on his face, "Someplace where there are a lot of people, someplace where they gather, like a market."
Pierce nodded, "I am surprised you want to go there, many people stay away from crowds, but you are different than the rest," she told him kindly, afraid he would think of it as an insult.
"I am." He didn't.
An awkward silence befell the table as they both stood opposite to each other, staring. Well one was sitting.
She was nervous for some reason she didn't know and had little experience with talking to guys, and the guy in question had a presence worth acknowledging, she didn't know how she ignored him when searching the cabinets. 'Maybe because he was sitting in total dark?'
It was getting embarrassing really fast when she was saved in the nick of time from starting a pointless conversation.
"What is a phone?" Okay so that was also pointless.
"You don't know what a phone is?" Pierce was sure everybody knew about it by now. 'Where was he living if he doesn't even know that?'
"I have been too focused on my health to interact with people or the technology these days, so you might want to tell me the basics of basics."
'I don't know why but he sounds like an old vampire coming out of hibernation,' Pierce shouldn't have laughed when she thought that, there was no reason to but she did anyways since her nervousness and doubts got the better of her and instantly remembered what time it was when her laugh echoed back, "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I just imagined you to be a fictional character from one of my novels, it was kinda funny."
Vladius grinned again not taking any offense or maybe he didn't understand what she said or just ignored her, "It is alright, now where were we?"
"Yes, the phone." She replied, noting vaguely his eyes weren't silver but a deep black.
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