Griffin's Salvation

Untitled Episode

The first time she showed up in my room on her own without me coaxing her into it was around the middle of September. One of her favorite patients Gretta, an old lady of seventy five died of old age in her sleep, Gretta came to the hospital for a headache and while they were running some tests she died taking a nap. right before Ju-ri's shift ended. She was planning on staying with Gretta until they knew what was wrong with her but in the end, they never got to. Ju-ri called Gretta's daughter and hightailed it out of the hospital. she went to her place just long enough to grab an overnight bag and came to my room. she headed straight for the bathroom, without saying a word. She was in energy-saving mode. after a quick shower and a change into her pajama set Ju-ri collapsed into my bed and buried herself in my covers only her hair was peaking out.

It was four in the afternoon and I still had one class left at six, still, I joined her under the covers and she climbed on top of me burying her head in my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight.

- I'm sorry about Gretta

-I don't know why I still get so attached to humans, they have such a tragically short life span.

-I like how you still care

-I've been through this so many times now that it feels dumb of me to still care this much.

- your compassion and empathy are what make you a great doctor, I would hate for you to lose it. she was so tense, that I started running my hand through her hair to soothe her, I would massage her scalp from time to time until I felt her relax in my arms and fall asleep. we stayed like that until it was almost time for my class and I rolled her onto the pillows slowly, making sure to not disturb her sleep. Throughout the three-hour-long class, I kept checking up on Ju-ri to make sure she was still asleep. I'd turned the voice recorder on because if anyone were to ask me a gun to the head to repeat anything the teacher said, I would be a very dead man. I didn't like this professor anyway, he was a vampire and he gave me the creeps. something felt off about him. this was a Wednesday night course, the first day I attended this class, we both scented each other and nodded to acknowledge that we knew we were the two non-human people attending the class. today was different, when I got to class he stiffened and shot me a glare filled with so much hatred that I froze on the spot. that look left his eyes in the blink of an eye leaving me perplexed, for a second though I thought I'd imagined it. But no, then through the class I started getting this uneasy feeling like I'd put Ju-ri in danger inadvertently. I scheduled a pizza delivery from Papa John's to coincide with the end of the class, Ju-ri had started to stir from hunger, and I was sure she was going to be up by the time class ended in thirty minutes. I put the weirdness with my professor behind me and hurried out of the classroom the moment the time was up. I caught the delivery lady right as she reached the entrance to my dorm building with my Coke and a large pizza. she made sure she had the right guy and left. Ju-ri was sitting up on the bed leaning against the headboard with my covers pooled around her waist channel surfing. I put the pizza in front of her on the bed and went to hunt for cups so I could pour us the drinks, I got a mismatched pair from the cupboard in my kitchenette.

- what are we watching? I asked giving her the cup of soda, so she could put it on the side table on her side of the bed.

-I cued on what you were watching already, one piece? this pizza is either great or I'm very hungry.

- thank you. we sat back and enjoyed our food in silence while watching the TV distractedly

-My parents have organized a family reunion this Sunday. Ju-ri said when we were done clearing the food away, the pizza was all gone so I threw the box in the trash while she put the rest of our drink in the freezer. Do you want to come too and meet them?

- I would love to.

-My siblings are going to be insufferable, feel free to reconsider. we may be old but the habit siblings have of picking on each other does not go away with the passing of years.

-I'm looking forward to it.

Ju-ri said the dress code was casual, I had asked how they usually dressed to those reunions. I picked my most flattering pair of jeans I had in twos for every color and a fitted turtle-neck sweatshirt. I grabbed my coat when she was ready and flashed in her bedroom. Ju-ri's parents' place in Zermat was heavily warded so I couldn't go follow her there on my own, my magic had gotten stronger over the years but not that strong still.

Her parents had chosen to build their palace home on the foothills of four mountains arranged in a semicircle around their property. It was cold as f**k, the cold air was seeping through my puffy coat. That was the warmest coat I had and I might as well have not worn anything, for all the good it did me. The house was stunning, especially with the backdrop of a snowy mountain range. The house was made with yellow brick, it was a mixture of multiple styles of architecture that blended together to make the most stunning antique-modernist palace. The front door opened the moment our feet touched the steps, I hoped the face with the dead eyes did not belong to anyone in Ju-ri’s family, the man looked like the stereotypical butler in most English movies, I was relieved when he crisply greeted us and told Ju-ri that her family was gathered in the fairy ballroom. I waited until we were out of earshot before grabbing her hand.

-is there more than one ballroom in this house?

-Yes, the fairy one is the largest so I guess everyone was able to make it this time

-You said you had six siblings, are we meeting more than eight people today?

-Yes, I thought you knew that!

-How many Julie

-you only call me Julie when you’re mad!

-I’m not mad I’m nervous, how many?

-Five hundred give or take a hundred.

-Julie!

-What? Three thousand years Kian, Jun, and Songi the two brothers that came after me found their mates when they were two hundred years old, they’ve been popping babies for millennia with absolutely no chill, they’re twins by the way. They have ten times removed great-grandchildren older than their kids!

-Wow.

-So let’s just go in there and see what happens, everyone is anxious to see you.

-Fine. I didn’t let go of her hand the thought of meeting so many people gathered around just because they knew I was going to be there was daunting.