Charles Whispers

Lancaster, England September 14, 2005 Rang... The school bell rang, all elementary school students rushed out of the classroom cheerfully. Running in groups like small fish swimming in the sea. Several parents of students stood in a row at the side of the school gate. Others are waiting in the parking lot. Meanwhile, an old man was standing in the schoolyard, pacing waiting for something. Every now and then he looked at his watch to see how long he had been waiting there. About 3 minutes later, a girl with curly brown hair ran cheerfully shouting for her grandfather who had been waiting for her for almost an hour. "Grandpa…!" The little girl shouted as she ran to her grandfather who was standing next to the walnut tree. "Elen? How was your school? Was it fun?” Asked the old man as he took his granddaughter's hand and held it tightly. "Very pleasant! Today I got A's in language and arts, but I only got C+ in math. I'm not very good at math, I often have trouble answering questions." Her answer is long. She looks very innocent and straightforward, it makes her grandfather laugh amused at her sweet behavior. “Hahaha… yes, I will teach you later, okay? What was the lunch menu? Pasta? Sandwich? Or soup?” “Today's lunch menu is a sandwich filled with eggs, tomatoes, cheese and sausage, then drink my favorite strawberry milk. There's also citrus fruit and yogurt, but I don't like yogurt because it doesn't taste good. So I just gave Sebastian the yogurt, he loves yogurt." Elen babbles. The old man couldn't help but smile at her grandaugther's chatter. “Wow… Sebastian is great, he likes Yogurt." "Why is he great?" "Because Yogurt is very good for health, so you should eat it too!" Said the wise old man trying to show her something nice. "I don't want to! I don't like! It doesn't taste good. I prefer ice cream and milk, it tastes sweet especially strawberry ice cream and strawberry milk.” She denied. "Okay, but if you try to eat a little Yogurt, I will buy you a new doll later!" Grandpa tried to persuade her. "Is that true? Big doll?” “Yeah, a really big doll!” Grandpa answered while spreading his arms. “Wow…then, I want to try eating yogurt!” "Good girl!" Praise grandpa. "But just a little huh, Grandpa?" Elen tries to seduce her grandfather. "Okay, just a little!" "A little is just a spoonful?" "Then, I will buy a small doll if it's only one spoonful." Grandpa answered threateningly. Elen immediately giggled. “Yeah… you cheated, Grandpa! You said just a little was okay!" Said Elen sulking. "One small bowl, okay?" Again, grandfather tried to negotiate considering that all this time Elen only wanted to eat the food she liked. That made Grandpa have to make plans so that in the future Elen also wants to eat vegetables that she doesn't like. "Fine, but the big doll, okay?" “Okay, hahaha…” Grandpa laughed at Elen's innocence. Although very picky, but Elen is a child who is easily persuaded. They walked hand in hand, today Grandpa didn't bring a car because he wanted to take Elen to see the parade in the middle of the city. This afternoon, after coming home to see the parade with Grandpa, Elen played alone near the lake which is only 20 meters from the backyard. Since living with her grandparents for six months, Elen doesn't have many friends because her grandparents' house is quite remote from housing. Elen was holding the handball that Grandpa had bought her last week when she managed to get a B on the exam. But Elen wasn't too happy because she was just playing this ball alone. "Hiks... Daddy Mommy, I want to go home!" Elen started crying because she missed her parents. Since giving birth to her younger brother, Elen's mother has experienced severe baby blues and has to be treated intensively. This forced her to be entrusted to her Grandfather and Grandmother who lived in Lancaster, England. Meanwhile, her older brother still lives with his parents because he is independent enough to take care of himself. Even though she doesn't want to be away from her parents, but because of the good treatment of her grandparents, Elen melts. Elen tightly gripped the ball in her hand, the orange sky caught her attention. She looked up at the sky, looking at her favorite color that filled the sky. Ellen stopped crying. "Finally, you stopped crying too!" Elen gasped, hearing someone suddenly speak to her. Her eyes which were originally looking up at the sky, changed direction and looked directly in front of her. Just a few steps from the lake, a man wearing a black tuxedo smiled at her. Elen's eyes opened wide, she had never met the man before. The man had very clean white skin, a tall body with broad shoulders, black eyes and dark brown hair. As a 7-year-old girl, Elen was amazed. Her cheeks were turning red because it was the first time in her life that she had seen a man who looked exactly like a prince in a fairy tale in a book. The man walked over to Elen and crouched right in front of her. Elen had completely forgotten that she had just cried and now she felt happy because she met a prince of her dreams. "Your name is Ellen, right?" Asked the mysterious man with his gentle smile that made little girls like Elen flutter. Unable to answer, Elen just nodded slowly. "Hello Elen, I'm Charles! Nice to meet you!" "C-Charles? Are you a prince?" Elen Asked innocently. The man smiled at her question. "Yes, you could say so!" "Are you going to be king?" "Yes, someday!" "Where is your palace? Is it big? Is it made of gold like in a book?" "Yes of course!" "Wow..." Elen was taken aback. Her eyes lit up, she couldn't believe that she would actually meet a prince in the real world. "Elen, do you want to be my queen?" "Queen? But I'm still seven years old!" "It's okay, I'll wait until you're 19. How about it?" The man offers something that is hard to refuse for a girl of Elen's age who knows that the prince of her dreams will propose to her when she is 19 years old. "But-" Despite being happy, Elen was quite hesitant as well. "Why? You don't want to be my " "I will! Well, I will be your queen when I turn 19!" She said sure. The man smiled, making Elen even more stunned. "Promise?" "Promise!" "Alright Elen, as a sign of our agreement, will you give me some of your blood?" "B-blood?" “If you will give some of your blood, then in the future you will become my queen!” "But-" Elen was getting scared. She didn't understand what it meant by giving a little of her blood. "Don't be afraid, it won't hurt! You just need to close your eyes for a second!" He said. Elen trembled, but she still followed the mysterious man's words to close her eyes. The man approached Elen, very close. His face went to Elen's shoulder. When the position was right, it began to open its mouth and plunged its sharp fangs into the little girl's skin until it penetrated into the flesh. "It hurts..." Elen winced in pain. But she couldn't do anything. Her body was numb and the screams from her mouth couldn't come out. The man sucked her blood, just a little to mark his territory. After getting some blood from this little girl. The mysterious man laid the unconscious Elen's body on the grass and disappeared with the wind that blew. "Elen...let's go home! It's getting dark!" Grandpa called out for Elen like the previous days. But today he didn't get an answer from Elen like usual. It made him panic, moreover the sky was getting dark. On the grass, he saw Elen lying unconscious. Grandpa went straight to her and saw what was happening. "Oh my God, Elen?" Grandpa checks on Elen's condition. Though she was still alive, but Elen looked very pale. Something on her shoulder caught Grandpa's attention, a mysterious bite mark and a trace of blood. "What's this bite? Oh my God, honey...! Honey...!" "What happen?" Grandma came out of the house in a hurry, panicked at Grandpa's screams. "Call an ambulance now!" *** “I'm sorry that I've been troubling mom and dad, thank you for taking care of and taking care of Elen for these six months! I feel very helped, thank you!" "What do you mean? I'm so glad Elen lives here, all your siblings very rarely come home with their children. I wish one of my grandchildren could live in this house!” Grandma said who somehow had a bad feeling after hearing her youngest son's apology. “I understand, Mom! But now, Emma's condition is much better. She's been able to get back to taking care of Elen and I think I'd better take Elen back to Miami!” "What? You want to bring Elen?” Grandpa immediately exploded when he heard that his beloved grandaugther would be taken away by his son. Grandpa couldn't believe it, he couldn't accept it. "I'm sorry, Dad! But I don't want to trouble you and mom anymore because I have to keep Elen here. She's our daughter, so it's our responsibility to raise her!” “You brought Elen because you thought we couldn't take care of her, didn't you?” Grandpa said with an annoyed face. “N-not like that, Dad! I just thought that-" “You think we're too old to care for our grandaugther, don't you? Listen, James! Just because I'm 90 doesn't mean I'm useless. I raised you and your 11 siblings well. Just to take care of one grandson, I can still afford!" James fell silent at his father's words. He didn't expect that his father would be this angry when he intended to bring Elen back to America. His father had completely changed, from a stubborn man who was firm and very disciplined. Turned into an old grandpa who spoiled his grandaughter very much. "I'm sorry, Dad! But-" "Mommy...!" Elen's voice came from inside the room. They immediately stopped talking and rushed into her room. Grandma checked Elen's temperature which was getting higher and higher, although this morning she had returned from the hospital after the doctor said that she was recovering, but tonight it seems she should be hospitalized again. "Her body temperature has reached 40 degrees, it's very high! We'd better take her to the hospital again!" Grandma said who looked very worried. "Mommy, Daddy...! I miss mom and dad, I want to go home!" Elen was delirious in her sleep. It made Grandpa begin to understand what he should do and it seems he had to let Elen go back to her parents' house. "Elen, it's me, Grandpa! You have to get well soon. When you get better, your Dad will take you home!" ***