The Blood's Elegance

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

WHEN THERE IS SMOKE, THERE IS FIRE.

The air might be hot, but I will surely miss its coldness during the night, and especially, during dawn when I wait for the sun to rise at the horizon. I will miss the goosebumps it gives me every time I go outside wearing only a tank top and satin shorts. The smell of smoke may not have the same effect on me again. It represented the city and the business of every people driving with rage only to walk fast towards the tall buildings after waking up late from watching dramas or reading novels or playing online games even though they are old because childishness does not stop when you become adult. The green scenery will be different―not a mixture of nature and smoke anymore where the latter reigns more most of the time because the trees are nearly bald and the plants displayed on the side roads are made of plastic. It is not surprising, though. 

I will miss the city life: the parties at night, the review sessions at coffee shops, the drag racing I watch every time the finals has ended because it is my way of rewarding myself (mom neither the cops did catch me for once), and the movie night with my best friends where we spend more time choosing what movie to watch than screaming at the frightening scenes because they fall asleep in the middle of the story. I just know that it will be entirely different when we move to the southeastern part of the country because based on the images depicting the prefectures on the edges of the country, mostly were less populated, and when it was less populated, less jobs, less advancements. I was not sure if I can adapt to the new surrounding. The only hope I can cling onto is the fact that I can go everywhere with my mates and interact with strange people, adapting to their behavior, and laugh with them acting like we’re long comrades even when we actually have only been together for less than an hour. I’ve been to different places, too, to participate in competitions, and somehow, I socialized with students from the rural area. In my mind, I concluded that the gap between us is not that big. I can still live a normal life, I hope so. 

“Is everything ready?” mom asked, peeking through her shoulders as I put the last box of my belongings at the trunk. It is just half of what I own because she told me that I can have a vacation here, so some of my clothes can stay here when I decided to visit this home again. “I can buy you your new pieces of stuff there, so you don’t have to bring unnecessary things.”

I bit the insides of my cheeks, contemplating whether I should follow her advice, but as far as I can remember, I only packed up what is important. 

“Can I go to the girls now?” I inquired. I looked at my wristwatch. 

She nodded, twitching her lips to put up a genuine smile showing a hint of sadness. I immediately ran outside to go to the convenience store where they were waiting. My friends seemed unbothered at my departure. I assumed they will not miss me that much, and that thought made my heart ached. I hid the truth that I cried last night and imagined how would I be able to live without them. I mean, they were like my life source, my oxygen. They were the reason why I smile and laugh, cry, and feel pain.

“Someone’s crying,” Rose teased before wiping the tears off my cheeks with her handkerchief. “Let’s just pretend that you chopped onions before heading here.”

Andy stood and locked me in her arms. I wrapped my arms around her waist and felt her bare skin on her back, the uncovered part of her cropped top. My tears were like a child who got permission from his parents to go outside that it flowed nonstop. “Stop crying. We will still go somewhere, right?”

I pouted. They caressed my cheeks, a little bit embarrassed from causing a scene in the public. I followed them go outside where Andy’s car awaits for us. 

The travel was fast. It was directed to the town center where the city lights can be seen effortlessly. It was a fleeting glimpse, a flash of my entire adolescence drive towards maturity.

“Think that I’ll be having a vacation there,” I said while chewing the snack they bought for me, “and I will only be there to search for a boyfriend.”

Andy rolled her eyes. I laughed. She didn’t really like the idea of me settling finally. Rose was the opposite of her but the same as me. We loved looking for gorgeous boys. They satisfied my eyes. My boy classmates hated the fact that we’re rating them based on their physical appearance and that we only cared about how they look. It is called appreciation. Not all people are a work of art. 

“I’ll flirt with a captain,” I added.

“What if you like someone who has a girlfriend?”

I sipped from my juice. “Then I’ll steal him from his girlfriend,” I said, shrugging, earning a frown from one of my best friends. “I love the thrill, you know that.”

“You’ll leave this place scratched and almost bald before that happens,” Andy commented. She flaunted me with her long nails and blew it like a gun.

“I was just kidding.” I roamed my eyes around to see cute boys and giggled when I found one. Ah, the spectacles. I love nerd, but I love badass more, and I love a guy who shows no emotion the most. Ah, I love the thrill. “But seriously”―I glanced at the two of them―”think that I’ll be spending my vacation there, and I’d return here one of these days―”

“―which is the exact opposite of what will happen because here is where you will spend your vacation, and you’ll be there for the rest of your college life,” uttered Rose, finishing my sentence. 

It was a sad day. A fast transition of our friendship history. A flash of my entire adolescence drive towards maturity.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

My eyes fixated on the road, I turned for a second to look at my mother. Her arm was placed on the car window. I smiled, paying my attention back to the way before we get into an accident. 

“Why are we leaving the city, mom?”

“Again?” She hummed. “You know I was getting older, and the more I stay there, the more unhealthy I could get. I am starting to dislike every little thing there.”

I nodded. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel, dancing with the tune playing on my head as the silence ensued us. Deafening but calming.

We crossed the borders. I followed the directions given and arrived in no time at the place my mom chose.

“Marcadel Village,” announced by the big arch standing by the entrance. Each letter was carved intricately. The golden design screamed sophistication. Both poles were covered by flowers sculpted perfectly. It was a bright, sunny day for a new start of life in this place.

When I saw the guardhouse of the village, I rolled down the window to greet them. One of the guards accompanied us to our house, and I was surprised to see what was waiting for us. We dropped off the car. They pulled the party popper. Its loud noise startled me. Mom and I exchanged glances, and we laughed later on. 

“Welcome to Marcadel Village!”

Their smiles were contagious. I can’t help but share the same happiness with them.

“You don’t have to do this,” my mom said. I can feel her joy inside. We never had this warm welcome before. It was overwhelming to be treated like we were some sort of celebrity who visited this place , and they knew it beforehand. “Still, I appreciate this.”

“Don’t mention it.” The elders hugged my mother. My eyes drifted to the children. They gave me a wide grin, and I returned the same gesture. Some younger boys and girls seemed irritated. I inwardly giggled because I knew where they were coming from.

After a minute of pleasantries and they led us to the clubhouse. I was wowed. I’ve never felt so touched by the actions of strangers. The fact that they exerted this much effort for our arrival melted my heart.

I talked to a few of them. They told me some stories about this village. They were surprisingly talkative. Those teenagers I met earlier―not that I am not a teenager but they were younger than me―who were frowning earlier started gathering around me and urged me to say something about my city life. Excitement was etched across their face as they said, “I’ve never been to city before. Our life revolves to the boundary of this place.”

I liked them very much. It reminded me of my youth, back when I was fourteen or fifteen, playing with other girls with the same age of mine. I remembered wondering once how would it feel like to move in a province.

“How do you like it so far?”

“Hmm?” I turned to see who it was, but I was abruptly taken aback. Our closeness consumed the remaining air I could breathe. He was too close. The step I took wasn’t helping me at all. Our distance helped me see how red his lips are, and my mind immediately wandered somewhere far-thinking how delicious his lips might be if I kiss it. When he raised his chin a little, his jawline fascinated me. I caught a glimpse of his slender white neck. I felt giddy. I unconsciously licked my lower lip, and the blush instantly covered my face that I had to divert my gaze away. I fanned myself. Feeling calm after the unexpected happening, I looked at him. “It was fine.”

“Do you mind dancing?”

“Oh,” I breathed out. I shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t dance.”

“It’s okay. Do you want to have chitchat, then?”

I stared at him, admiring his persistence. “About what?”

“About your hometown?” 

I stared longer, examining his features. His brow shot up. His lips were in a teasing smile. His eyes were the definition of cheerful, and the black color of his hair did a wonderful job in highlighting the other parts of his face including his nose and jaw. It was also perfectly complimenting his pale skin. Cute.

“Are you a brunette?” I questioned when I knew that I can’t get the answer I needed. I surveyed the entire place and noticed how outstanding his hair color was. There was no single human here who has the same color as his.

“Ah.” He touched some strands and brushed his hair to the back. “I dyed my hair―”

Someone cut him off. He had to excuse himself. I told him it’s fine, he told me to enjoy the party with others.

I walked outside, kicking every stone I passed by until I reached the back part of our village. A beach. I sat at the rocks and stared at the setting sun. 

I will miss the air’s hotness, but I prefer more now this salty smell of somehow hot, somehow cold air hugging my skin. The smell of smoke in the city might not have the same effect… again. I bowed down to pick up the piece of paper folded into an airplane that landed on my foot. Slowly, I opened it.

‘You should have not go to this place, Elysea.’

I gulped.

‘This place is not for you.’

I started looking around. What does this mean?

‘This place will be your grave.’

‘You grow up here. You die here.’

Every inch of my body shivered in fear. I got a piece of paper from my pocket and read its content. I got it last night when I was with my best friends and I went to the washroom for a moment.

‘This is my first warning. Don’t go, Elysea.’

Smoke. 

I smelled smoke when I got the threat yesterday, and now, it once again invaded my nose. A feeling of being looked at. I harshly moved to the direction where I felt it. A pair of sharp eyes met mine. I dared to act fierce.

Smoke.

The smell of smoke. I ran, sniffing the air from where it was coming. Carefully, I climbed down the stone rocks. I almost slipped, but the adrenaline rush inside my body reigned me for once. From the distance, I saw him holding a stick of cigarette. Like a feather dancing in the air, I stepped my feet silently. 

“Was that yours?”

Smoke.

The smell of smoke was very familiar from yesterday.

He held his chest. He let out a breath and showed me what he was holding. The light at the end finally died down, but the smell lingered. I sniffed his manly scent. “This one?” The breeze combed his black hair. I tucked some strands beneath my ear. “No, this is not mine.”

“But why are you holding it?”

He pointed at something. No littering on the sand.

If not him, then who?

What on earth is happening?

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