The Darkness Within Us

3. The Deal

~~Valentin~~

It was already next Wednesday, English class, and I was checking on my draft while listening to music and my tablemate was playing a woodblock puzzle on her computer. I have seen and smelled her recently in the library. It looks like she frequently spends time working there, as do I. She always sits in the same spot in front of the window.

“Okey guys, since we have 30 minutes left why don’t we proceed to share your feedback with your classmate? Come on, use your time wisely.” Everyone got closer to their partners. Salomé turned to me cautiously and then slid her chair closer.

“Hi.” I greeted her lightly.

“Hi.” She smiled awkwardly as she put her lioness mane behind her ear.

“So… you picked Werewolves for your essay, uh?” Icebreaker, yes.

“Oh–yes, yes. At first, I wanted to write about witches and that, but I ended up more inclined toward Werewolves.”

“Interesting…”

“Yes… Well, you did yours about a Goddess of the moon.” I nodded. “What do you say if we begin with yours?” She asked.

“Sure.” I turned my computer on the document she sent me with my essay and her feedback so she could see it too.

“Do you mind if I–” She pointed to my computer.

“Not at all. Please, go ahead.” She leaned closer and started to scroll.

“Okay, so, you see what I highlighted here? Well, I like your redaction, but I think the phrase is too broad, and that makes you lose control over the idea that you want to share. So what you can do is make your phrases shorter in this way.” She pointed out how. “This way your sentences will be more objective without cutting off information.”

“You’re right, that’s pretty good. I noticed as well in your essay that you have neat redaction. So, I guess it will be harder for me to give you feedback.”

“W-well, thank you, I guess.” She smiled shyly as she tucked her hair behind her other ear; that ear that I once bit...Goddammit! I cleared my throat, trying to clear my thoughts as well. I don't know how that thought came to me so suddenly.

“Em, here, in the third paragraph. What about this–” Her awkwardness and nervousness disappeared as she focused and exposed her feedback. Her scent drugged me as it entered my nose. I discreetly sniffed the sweetness of her body; her skin smelled like soap, her hair like green apples, and she was wearing vanilla perfume. I looked down at her, she was batting her lashes with her knuckle on her lip as she was pondering something with her attention fully on the screen. It’s still hard to believe she is the same drunk girl I met the other day, she not only looks completely different, but her attitude is also like she was a completely different person. After she finished, it was my turn to give her feedback. I was being honest when I told her that earlier, her draft was written neatly. I guess she’s natural at writing.

After the class was over, we exchanged goodbyes and she disappeared. On Thursday I didn’t get to see her, but she was in the library because her scent still lingered. On Friday, I saw her in History and then and then in English too. She was again acting weird around me. She tried hard to avoid my eyes, and each time our eyes met she looked away uncomfortably.

This time we didn’t have to share our feedback, so she just kept silent; mostly looking at her phone and eating snacks. That is something that she always does, eating in a classroom that has three huge signs that warn that eating in class is forbidden. I could tell she was tired; I also smelled that odd scent from the last time. I was searching inside of my head for something that I could tell her because even when I was able to feel that she was uncomfortable near me, I didn’t have to be a mage to know that. But she fled the moment Prof. Mann dismissed the class.

That same afternoon, I decided to go to the library. I felt her scent there but she was nowhere to be seen. My feet guided me to her empty spot and my body decided on its own that I was going to sit there. When I placed my backpack on the desk her scent intensified, making me turn.

Behind me, there was a settee against a wall. The settee had a small wooden part on the right arm, and someone snuggling their backpack on it. This, someone, had their feet on the wooden part and their head leaning on the other arm of the settee, the best part was the book resting on their face.

“Is that Salomé?” Same clothes, same backpack, and same scent. Yes, it was her. Salomé started to sit up, and I froze. She removed the book from her face, stretching her back, and she squeaked when she noticed I was there looking at her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to startle you; I didn’t know it was you.” Lies.

“Oh it’s- It’s ok. I get surprised easily, though. It's so embarrassing that you caught me sleeping.” she said, holding her cheek in an attempt to cover a red mark caused by the book.

“Not at all. I guess you must’ve been tired.”

“I- I guess.” She stood up hanging her backpack on her shoulder and then she looked me directly in the eyes. “Em, I gotta go… See you in class Valentin.” There was again the awkwardness and nervousness and I tried to guess why...

“Wait for a second, Salomé” I called, making her stop in her steps and turn back. “Can I ask you something?”

“Em, sure. Tell me.” She faced me.

“Do you dislike me or something?”

“W-what!?”She raised her voice. Her eyes opened like full moons and her face paled. Her pulse raced as well.

“It’s okay, you can be honest. I won’t get mad at you or anything.”

“It’s not-it’s not like that.”

“Then how is it?” She didn’t say anything for a while and then she spoke.

“I’m sorry if I gave you that impression. I’ve never meant to be rude to you. Please don’t mind me, I am this weird and awkward...” She wasn’t lying, but that was not all I know.

“I see… You know, you look familiar to me. Tell me, have we met somewhere else before?” Her beautiful eyes widened once again. I hit the nail.

“Mmm...no, I don’t really think so.” I believed her that she was so drunk to even remember my face, but now her whole attitude is pointing to me that she already knows who I am…

“Are you sure?” I took a step forward, raising my brow as she stepped back.

“Em, yes?” I kept lurking until her back touched the wall.

“Do you really not remember me at all?” Her face blushed. “Because I do remember you.” Her heart was drumming inside her chest, I could hear it perfectly. It was a beautiful sound...

“What if I do or don’t, what do you want?” She snapped defensively as she tugged from her backpack.

“I want you to feel comfortable around me, Salomé. After all, we’re partners.” She was piercing me with her wary eyes.

“Sorry, I’m not sure about that.” She dropped her gaze to somewhere.

“Why?” I took another step forward.

“Well… because…” She, exasperated, looked up as if the answers were written on the ceiling. “Because I’m deeply ashamed of my crazy behavior.” She leaned her forehead on her hand covering her face. “I cannot look at your face without feeling ashamed of myself. I’m not like that, but I didn't control myself and let that happen…” I could feel her bitterness.

“You shouldn’t.” She finally looked back at me, pulling down her hand. “I don’t have a bad impression of you because of all of that. You weren’t in your best moment anyway. And now that we’re talking about that, I also would like to apologize.”

“Apologize?” She looked confused.

“Yes. I was less drunk than you, so I should have been able to tell that you weren’t actually conscious of that. I want to say sorry about that, I’m not that kind of a jerk.”

“It’s okay, I don’t think you are…”

“Then let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?” She grasped her backpack, looking at me with a mixture of curiosity and distrust.

“Yes. Since we already accepted the truth, we both know what happened and we can’t change it, but we can choose to forget what happened or simply ignore it. Whatever you want, but let’s just move over it and get along. There’s no need to feel awkward or ashamed next to each other; we were only two drunks doing drunks’ stuff, so we can get over it. What do you say?” I stretched my opened palm to her. - she took a second or two to think.

“Okay, deal.” She stretched my hand, sealing our pact.

——————————————–——–——

~~Salomé~~

Honestly, since I made that deal with Valentin, I feel more at ease around him. There are times when I look at him and flashbacks make me blush and think about things that I shouldn’t, but at least they are not as bad as to make me want to hide my mead under a rock, so that’s good. He usually starts the conversations with me and I find it okay, he likes to talk, and I think he is actually a nice guy.

“So, do you really think werewolves eat people?”

“Uh?” His voice took me out of my thoughts. “Well, that’s possible, I don’t know.”

“Well, I don’t think so. When have you seen a wolf attacking a human? Only when they get in their territory or cross their path when they are extremely hungry, which is unlikely.”

“Well, this is not a regular wolf, it is a huge beast that has no control over its mind and is guided by its murderous instincts. There is not a single version of how they originated, but all the multiple versions say the same about them; each full moon a completely normal-looking man shifts into a hungry monster.” I opened the source cited in my essay to show him.

“Look. This one here says that Zeus cursed Lycaon, King of Arcadia, and all his descendants for trying to feed him with his own child’s meat.”

“Well, that’s a bit…dark, though.” He said, reclining on his chair. His body looked so relaxed that i felt envious.

“I know, right.”

“But if they are ‘werewolves’, shouldn’t they look more like a wolf?” He asked, leaning forward as he pointed to the image with his pen.

“Well, they are technically wolf-men, so, I guess they have a humanoid form because they are the mix of a man and a wolf.”

“Interesting...although a bit exaggerated.” He said, leaning back on his chair.

“All urban tales are,” I stated. “All these kinds of urban legends and countryside tales are exaggerations of the people because we are like that. Humans like to exaggerate, especially when we are scared though; and gossip spreads rumors, and modifies, and keeps spreading in different versions or even more exaggerated ones.” He nodded as I thought about how to add that to my essay, i'ts actually a good idea.

"I have heard about another version that says they are children of the moon, created by the Moon Goddess, living unseen among men and with wolf spirits that allow them to shift voluntarily."

"You mean, like Twilight?"

"What!?-No!" He spat out, dumbfounded. And then he started laughing. His laugh filled my ears, it was really nice to hear. He had a beautiful toothbox.

"Okay but, shouldn't the children of the moon be vampires or something like that? cause, you know, they lure at night and hide from the sun."

"Well, you're associating the moon with the night, and it is not exactly the same. And when have you seen a vampire howling to the moon?" He said.

"You got a good point there" I laughed softly. " That would be hilarious to see."

"Who knows, anyway? Some say most legends are based on real life."