After Colette's syncopal episode, her parents thought it would be best to keep her home from school for the rest of the week. Otherwise known as house arrest. Her parents collected her homework from her school daily, despite Rika's numerous attempts to deliver it herself. Rika insistently spent every day texting a series of narratives about what could have lead to Colette's fainting spell, including ghost possession, alien abduction, witchcraft, and kidnapping. 'Conspiracy theorist,' Colette thought sarcastically.
Thinking back on it, Colette still couldn't make sense of the chain of events either. Colette retraced her steps…. 'I was fine, bringing the cones to the shed out back…but then what happened? Thinking about it for too long just gives me a weird splitting headache.'
Despite the extenuating circumstances, Colette took advantage of the time off to continue her retirement planning. Knitting was going to be in style for the next few days.
The following Monday came around and Colette returned to school. What she didn't anticipate were all the gossiping teenagers gawking over her return. 'You would've thought they witnessed a ghost come back from the dead,' she thought.
Rika met Colette by her locker first thing in the morning and demanded that they meet in the girl's bathroom.
"Rika, we'll be late for first period and it's my first day back. They'll definitely notice if I'm not there."
"Trust me. We have no time to lose and we can always say you still weren't feeling well!"
Colette sighed and lowered her shoulders as if she had already lost the will to refuse. "Fine…but this better be worth it."
Rika and Colette waited for the bathroom to vacate. Rika did one more sweep of the ladies' room before taking a deep breath. "I told you he was into you!"
"Rika…what are you talking about this time?" Colette was a little annoyed since they were missing class for more romance talk.
"Apparently, a vamp-student who recognized Theo mentioned he found you and carried you back into the school."
"Okay, like I said…He's a good samaritan. He probably helps people in need all the time." She shrugged it off and started heading towards the bathroom exit.
Swiftly, Rika blocked the exit and continued, "If that were true, then why did he stay with you after he brought you to the nurse's office?" Rika tilted her glasses forward as if she had spilled the tea.
Even if there were some truth to what Rika was saying, it didn't mean that romantic feelings existed. After all, Theo didn't even try to let her know about this. Rika was analyzing Colette's every move, and it was making her anxious. Colette grabbed her hand and sighed. "Let's just go to class. It's bad enough I had to do all of that homework without the lectures. We'll tell them you were worried about me on my first day back, so you brought me to the bathroom to make sure I was okay."
Rika pouted and responded, "you're no fun. But okay."
Most of Colette's teachers knew about her blackout, meaning her first day back was easy. She even received special permission to sit out during gym class to join study hall. Despite her excitement about missing gym, she couldn't shake what Rika had said earlier. If Theo found me, why didn't he say anything? And more importantly, how did he even find me? Was it just by chance? Colette pulled out her yarn and knitting needles from her bag to work on while she thought out the scenarios. Knitting usually eased her anxiety.
After seventh period, Colette took a different route to home economics class. While she calculated how quickly she could make it there, she saw Theo approaching in the distance. She raised her hand to wave and get his attention. Once he noticed her, his eyes widened for a moment and he paused as if he were waiting for her. Colette could feel other wandering vampire eyes beaming at her from all directions. It was making her feel unsettled.
Her curiosity peaked as she made it to Theo. She grabbed his wrist and ran towards the closest stairwell. Out of breath, Colette made it to the top of the flight and turned to face Theo. He made a conscientious effort not to outpace Colette as she ran up the stairs. Given his physique, he could've climbed the flight in one fell swoop.
Theo peeked down at the knitting piece that Colette was holding to her chest. "What's with the knitting stuff? Isn't that for old people?" Theo teased.
Colette blushed and quickly discarded her knitting project into her bag. "It's a long story, but that's not why I brought you up here."
"Oh?" Theo crossed his arms and leaned in closer, giving her his full attention.
Colette put her hands up and bashfully stated, "Y-you don't need to lean in that close, okay?" She cleared her throat and asked, "Why didn't tell me that you saved when I passed out?"
Theo backed up slightly and frowned his eyebrows. "I didn't think it was important."
"Well, of course it's important! I didn't even get to thank you."
"You can thank me by keeping yourself out of trouble," he responded in a smart mouthed manner.
Colette was getting frustrated with his responses and moved a few paces closer to the stairs. She took a moment to think of her own witty response in retaliation. "W-well, I didn't ask for your help! Forget I said anything-"
As she turns to leave she misses the step and looses her balance at the top of the staircase. Before she could even close her eyes and brace herself for impact, she felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her in from behind. Theo quickly pulled her towards the adjacent wall and barked, "You see! This is what the hell I'm talking about!"
Colette looked up at Theo's face in a shy manner and asks, "T-Theo, are you okay? Your fangs…" Surprised, she couldn't look away.
Theo quickly backed off and covered his mouth with the back of his hand. Uneasy, he turned away and started heading down the stairs. Before he was out of her line of sight, he belted out, "Can you please be careful this time around?"
In disbelief about the turn of events, Colette continued to stare down at the empty staircase. I'm not sure if I entirely understand what's going on between me and Theo. I mean, he saved me again. How do I settle the score now? And his fangs. What was that about?Just then the school bell rings, disengaging her thought process.
"Oh, I'm late!" Colette runs off to get to her class.
Theo never made it to his last class. Playing hooky wasn't something new for him, but it felt justified this time. After all, he was in crisis. He couldn't get his fangs to retract. Losing control twice in a row wasn't normal for him, but he could finally identify the catalyst. It was Colette.
"Damn this girl! Don't tell me I imprinted." Theo was annoyed. He stopped, took a deep breath, and pushed his hair back. Disheartened by this realization, he looked to the sky as if he was begging for answers. It's known amongst vampires that imprinting is an emotional, spiritual, and physiological connection vampires can develop with other beings. Living and even breathing will depend on having that being in your life. Some vampires can go hundreds of years without ever developing this bond. It's a rare phenomenon amongst vampires.
And of course it had to happen to me at sixteen, he thought irritatedly. Angered by this realization, Theo's walk home turned into pacing. Why her? Ever since the night that he saved her, he couldn't stop thinking about her. It was almost a consuming feeling. And more so, it made him worry about her. Humans really are fragile creatures to begin with.But this one is especially prone to injury.
After 50 minutes of pacing, Theo made it to his house and met his mom in the living room. His mother peeked over at the clock and back at her son.
"Well…you're home early…," Renata stated in a snarky tone.
"I could say the same to you, mom."
Renata worked part time as an adjunct college professor at a local university. She teaches history classes with an emphasis on U.S. History dating as far back as the 1800s. Who better to teach about a time than someone who was an eyewitness? If you ask Renata her age, she'll suggest around 300 years old. She always withholds her actual age, as if knocking off a few years would make a meaningful difference.
Theo threw his bag on the ground and plopped himself onto the couch. He used his arm to cover his eyes, as if to apply pressure for the stress.
"So what's eating at you?" she asked.
"I don't want to talk about it…," Theo responded in a dry tone.
"Oh, come on…this is a little dramatic, even for you."
Theo stood up and headed toward his room. Before he shut the door, he angrily exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure I imprinted…"
Wide-eyed, Renata was speechless. He didn't want to get into the gritty details and immediately left the living room to go to his room. Theo threw himself onto his bed and rolled onto his side. I can't stop thinking about what it would be like to bite her. What would it taste like? How would she react to getting bit?
Theo's fangs still hadn't retracted. He took his index finger and pricked it against one of his fangs to feel the sensation. He had never even tasted human blood, and he definitely never bit a human. With synthetic blood, there really wasn't a need to. Confused by these feelings, he gave them some space.
Maybe there's a way to UN-imprint?…yeah right.