Susan was surprised. This boy didn't look like the type to comfort people, not to talk of giving an hanky to someone who was in tears.
"Don't get me wrong, I just..." He looked away. "... I just hate the fact that you're making the ground salty." It was a really dumb excuse.
He knew it was dumb but didn't care. All that mattered was that she took his handkerchief.
"So, hurry up and get the sand out of your eye." He sneaked a peak at her. She was staring at him still surprised but then smiled so warmly.
Even if he gave such a lame excuse, like she did, she understood his intentions clearly.
"Thank you!" She said while accepting the hanky.
'In the end, I can't ignore her' he thought and sighed.
Susan wiped her tears and clutched onto the hanky, wondering if to return it and eventually decided to keep it and wash it later.
"I never got your name." She said
"That's because you never asked and I never told you." He said with an uninterested expression.
"Then, what is your name?" She asked. "I'll forgive you for speaking rudely if you tell me." She said and he scoffed.
"Then don't forgive me, it's not like I care." He put his hands in his pocket and started walking away. In that same manner, he started retreating his steps. "Aren't you going to ask me to stay?" She looked at him confused.
"No, not really?" She shook her head. "You look like you..."
"Fine!" He interrupted "I'll stay since you insist." He sat on the grass right beside her. "And since you insist on knowing my name, I'll tell you. It's Dante!" Susan chuckled. He had a really perculiar character. "What's so funny?"
"You! You're really cute!"
"What?!" He was shocked. Never in his life had he been described as cute. He was a cold-blooded vampire who took delight in drinking human blood, what part of that was cute?
It was clear that she saw him as cute simply because she was still oblivious as to what he really was, but still, how was he cute?
"I'm not cute!" He declared seriously.
"Sure!" She smiled, indicating she didn't believe his words. "You really remind me of my little sister. And from the looks of it, you two should be the same age."
"Uh? Is she a hundred years old?" He asked and she looked at him with a puzzled expression. Was that supposed to be a joke? "You may not know it but, I'm a lot older than I look." He claimed and she nodded with eyes that screamed out; 'thats a lie!'
"And you may not know it but, I've heard that line a lot from my little sis." She said with a smile but the smile fell. "And although we only parted yesterday, the thought of not seeing her as often as I used to, makes me sad to the point of tears." She sniffed. "I guess that's how life works, and one day ...one day, I'll grow really old and die." She cleaned her eyes and looked at Dante, who was lost in thoughts. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about stuff like this with you."
Susan felt really emotional but she didn't want to show her worst side to a kid she just met. It made her feel pathetic. She cleaned her eyes with the hanky.
"Why do humans have so much worries in their short lifespan?" He asked and that surprised her. "You humans worry about too many things and end up falling sick. You eventually die from there. Most of you don't live as long as your original lifespan because of these worries. It's weird thinking about it." He shook his head and lay down on the grass.
Susan caught on to it. That thing that felt weird. It was the word they all commonly used.
That term 'human' was used whenever they were talking to her. They used it so often that she started to wonder if they weren't also humans.
Why was that? Was it some sort of language training?
"Why do you always say 'human'?" She finally asked and Dante froze. He sat up and saw a serious yet curious expression on her face.
"What do you mean?" Dante tried to avoid her eyes. 'I think I messed up' he thought. "I just like the term, that's all."
"That can't be true. You all say it and, you make it sound like you aren't one. Are you? Everyone keeps saying 'human' when I'm around, whether directly or indirectly. Aren't you guys also humans?" She asked.
Dante didn't know how to explain it. He couldn't muddle himself through with a lie either.
There was just one thing left to do. He leaned closer to her and met eye to eye.
"What...?" His eyes turned red but she didn't even have time to react before he compelled her
"Forget that anyone ever used the word 'human' in this mansion and..." He paused and clicked his tongue "...forget you ever saw me." He snapped his fingers and disappeared.
Susan blinked her eyes with no recollection of what just happened. She looked round and wondered how she spaced out.
She reached for her laptop but then, the handkerchief fell from her dress. She looked at it strangely and looked round. There was no one.
"How did this get here?" She picked it and decided to give it to one of the maids to find the owner.
She picked her laptop and got up. The wind blew gently, allowing her long black hair to dance freely.
"Hmm, I feel like I'm forgetting something." She said.
Once Susan got back to the mansion, she went straight to her room and just as she lay on her bed, she fell asleep immediately.
Dante stood on the rail of her balcony and watched her sleep. He sighed.
He didn't want to compel her in the first place but, he had no choice. She had to stay oblivious of the fact that vampires exist.
It wouldn't be good if she found out that every single person she was living with in the mansion, were vampires. Not only that, she was getting engaged to one soon.
"I shouldn't have compelled her into forgetting me but," the thought of wanting to leave a good first impression, got the best of him. He sighed. That wasn't the main issue though. "I need to speak with Carlson." He disappeared and appeared at the study, where Carlson was getting some work done on the lord's behalf.
"What is it, young master?" Carlson asked.
"We need to talk about the human!"