Chapter 4 Theo
Theo
Theo took the tram home. Rather than risk the questions about what exactly that job of his was that were likely to come up if he’d stayed at the dorm, he’d rented a small apartment in the Valley.
The studio was a half-hour tram ride from Madame Celeste’s and just big enough for him, his books, and his laptop.
Theo should have used that time on the near-empty tram to mentally let go of the previous night and prepare for another day of mostly studying in New Elvenswood’s University Library.
He’d missed almost three years of school when he’d been with Bernard, and New Elvenswood offered summer courses in English Lit and Film Studies—just the kind of thing that might help him catch up.
And yet, as pale light started flushing the horizon with tender peony and pink, Theo couldn’t get the vampire out of his head. The vampire who booked me…when? I didn’t even ask.
Theo had never seen hair so pale that it was almost metallic, not unless it came out of a bottle.
He wasn’t a hundred percent sure that wasn’t the case for the vampire, just knew the guy hadn’t seemed that kind of vain.
Then again, I’m clearly shit at reading vampires.
Otherwise I wouldn’t have had to run and move to a whole new city.
Theo slumped in his seat, looking out at the city, where the shops were starting to open. He had really blue eyes too. Ice blue, but sort of dark. No, hard? Like when you look at a frozen lake and know you’ll hurt yourself if you fall.
This Peter person had looked at Theo a lot with those eyes, and not at all in the way Bernard had. Bernard had always had that hungry look, but Theo had only been able to recognize that later on.
Instead, Peter had appeared to be cataloging and dissecting every gesture, every word, every involuntary reaction of Theo’s. Theo wasn’t sure whether it scared him or not.
Doesn’t matter if he scares me. I’ll be seeing him again if he’s as interested as Celeste says, and I’ll just have to deal with it. With him.
Theo shivered as New Elvenswood passed by outside, the streets, houses, and people bathed in the lilac of predawn. In the distance, gold and copper light gilded roofs, windows, and streets alike.
Theo pulled himself out of his daydreaming when the tram came to a halt at his stop. As he rose to get off, he realized he’d been running a hand over the side of his neck where the odd vampire had bitten him.
The bite site didn’t hurt at all. When Bernard had done it, Theo had always been sore, right up until the moment Bernard had bitten him again. The pain had been a shackle, a constant reminder.
At his place, Theo had a quick shower and shoved an apple into his school bag along with Celeste’s cookies. He headed out, and twenty minutes later, he was among the first people in the university library, so he had his choice of workspaces.
Up on the second floor, in front of an east-facing window, there was a solitary table hidden behind two shelves.
Those shelves were stuffed with law books, but Theo didn’t mind that.
He loved the view, and just like every day since he’d started here, the table was empty when he got there.
He plugged his computer in and got to work.
Theo spent most of the morning reading theory and taking notes for his paper on Gothic horror and the appeal of the slasher movie. He had to select a few movies for analysis, and then he’d need to rewatch them.
Once he was done with his notes, he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes before stretching. “Only so many hours in the day.” And work. I have work too. The blond vampire’s face flashed in front of his mind’s eye, making Theo frown before he went back to studying.
Around midday, Theo decided he’d done enough.
He packed up his things while he considered The Shining, The Witch, and a few other movies for his paper.
His laptop went into his bag, and so did his notepad.
The apple and the cookies were still there, and Theo scowled at them. In my defense, time flew by today.
Theo was looking forward to the walk across campus and back to the tram stop after sitting in the library for so long, and just walking past the law books and down the stairs relaxed his tense muscles.
The library had grown noisy, in as much as libraries ever got noisy.
There were more people here now, their books and laptops spread out on the bigger communal tables on the lower floor.
The normalcy of it all was something Theo enjoyed these days; something he hadn’t had for so long.
The vaulted ceiling echoed his sense of freedom, his sense of hope.
Smiling to himself, Theo walked out of the library and blinked at the sun. New Elvenswood University’s lawns were lush and green, even in the height of summer, and students were lazing on the grass, though probably not as many as would be here during the semester.
Theo watched a group of people laughing about something and wondered what the joke was, wondered whether it was time to hang out more with other students, find a group he could belong to.
He wanted that, and he hated the pang of jealousy that made him look away and despise the students he’d never even met.
I used to have friends. Before Bernard scared them away.
With the memories of his time before coming to New Elvenswood haunting his thoughts, he forgot his surroundings, missing the tall, dark-haired man approaching him from the side until it was too late.
“Hey, Theodore.”
Theo froze, his mouth going dry. His eyes widened. He spun to face the man who had come close, way too close.
“Bernard,” Theo said in a small voice. The word felt like razor blades on his tongue.
Bernard was tall, strong. Stronger, because he was a vampire.
“Looks like I finally found my runaway,” he said.
Theo’s vision narrowed and he couldn’t breathe. The hair on his neck stood up, and his mostly empty stomach clenched.
“No.”
Theo turned to run, but Bernard was too quick. He caught Theo by the arm. That taste of freedom Theo had felt just five minutes ago drained out of him like wine from a broken bottle.