ALL NOVEL Chapter 89. Apologies
I hopped off my desk, and grabbed my red jacket hanging beside the door. “I could go for a midnight snack. You want a drink?” Camula stared at me in confusion, her deep red eyes glinting off the moonlight reflecting through the window. I opened the door, and motioned with my head, sticking my arms through the sleeves of my jacket. “There’s a vending machine not far from here, it’s my treat.” The cold night air flew past me, swirling around the room, Blair shimmied further under the covers with a mumble, subconsciously not wanting the warmth to leave her.
Camula slowly got up, and walked outside, soon followed by me. As I locked the door behind me, she finally spoke up. “Don’t humans sleep at this time?” I scoffed with a shrug, leading the way down the stairs. “I’ve always been more of a night owl.” We continued to walk in silence, the only noise was the gravel road crunching beneath our feet, and the crashing of waves against the shore just over the hill.
Just off the road under a dim lamp post sat a single bench with a vending machine just beside it. Its continuous humming matched the lamp’s electronic buzz. I pressed a couple buttons, and waved my PDA in front of the machine, the sound of two drinks crashing down made Camula jump with slight reversion. I held back a grin, grabbing both drinks. “Since I’m guessing you have no idea what kind of soda you might light, I just grabbed the old faithful.”
She stared at the soda in my hand for a few seconds, squinting trying to read the words on the aluminium can. “Pep… Pep-sia?” (Long I instead of short) I shrugged, glancing away to not laugh at her. “Close enough.” She angrily grabbed at it, and quickly popped open the tab. “Oh, so you have seen cans before.” I observed, taking a seat on the bench, cracking open my own bottle of root beer, subtilly wishing it was the real stuff. “There have been others awake this late at night, many eating things before shambling back to their dwelling.” She explained, taking a swig of her drink before immediately spitting it out.
“What foulness are you trying to get me to ingest!?” She yelled, continuously spitting the flavour from her tongue. Finally not able to hold it any longer, I covered my mouth as I smiled wickedly. Her dismay was funny to see. However, her spiteful gaze filled me with worry as she primed her drink, ready to soak me with it. “Wait! Wait! Wait! Here, try mine, this one’s different. I’ll switch ya.” She raised a brow, still ready to soak me in soda. “Drink some of it first…” She ordered, still not trusting me.
I rolled my eyes, and drank some for myself, enjoying the flavour and carbonation. “On second thought, maybe I’ll just keep-” “Give me that!” Before I could finish my sentence, she snatched the can in my hand, quickly replacing it with her own. She sniffed the can, her eyes squinting in confusion. “This is medicine.” She muttered, finally taking a tiny sip, before shivering at the sudden blast of carbonation. “Why do you all add foam to your drinks? Even medicine has it.”
I frowned in thought. ‘I think I heard somewhere that Root Beer used to be hailed as a cure all when first concocted, but I have no idea what the time-line is in Yugioh universe…’ I shook my head, just letting the logic of this world get filed away in my mind, with a usual ‘not my problem’ sticker attached. “Well, people like the feeling.” I muttered, drinking her soda instead. She watched me, finally taking small sips of her own, trying to get used to the strange feeling of the drink foaming in her mouth.
“So vampires eat and drink normal stuff?” I asked, confused what the rules were in this universe. Camula scowled at me, finally answering after looking outwards towards the ocean. “We can eat and drink things in times of famine, but blood is what our bodies can absorb most nutrients from. If we are left without, starvation sets in even with all the human food one could eat.” I hummed in understanding, another question popping up inside my mind. “How often do you get hungry?”
“Usually, I ate once a week.” I paused at her answer, something again wasn’t adding up. I sighed, misreading her for what she was actually wanting from me. I dipped my jacket, revealing my neck, frowning at both my own stupidity and her stubbornness. “You could have just asked me.” Her red eyes darted to my exposed skin, an audible gulp emitted from her as she salivated just at the sight. She slowly opened her mouth as she absentmindedly approached. Just as her canine’s reached my skin, she suddenly darted back, gasping for air and glaring at me with sharp glowing eyes.
“That! That wasn’t what I was here for!” She yelled, downing more of her drink to quell any sort of ‘hunger’ she was feeling at the moment. I steadied my jacket, frowning in complete confusion at her bipolar attitude. “Then what? Why have you been wanting to see me?” Camula’s eyes leered onto her lap, not able to so much as glance in my direction as she forced the words from her lips. “I wanted to apologize… I’m sorry.”
I stared at Camula, tilting her can back and forth in her hands, watching it intently, finding solace in such a tedious action. It seemed like a real apology, no hint of deception from her words. I let out a long drawn out sigh, wishing to have just let our first meeting bury itself. “If you don’t talk about it anymore than I’ll be happy to do the same.” I offered, not wanting to hear another word about it. Camula jerked in her seat, not another word coming from her, but her nimble fingers fidgeting about got on my nerves all the same.
“Would you stop that?” I asked, glaring at her. She paused, finally sparing me a glance. “Apologies…” I took in another deep breath, forcing myself to clear the air, even if I didn’t want to say another word on this topic. “Look, I know you haven’t told Alexis about… What I said that night.” I nodded a few times, the words becoming easier to say the more I spoke. “Thank you for that. She doesn’t need that on her shoulders right now.” Alexis had her father breathing down her neck for dating someone like me, and I didn’t want to add to her troubles.
I saw Camula’s difficult expression, still not having said what she wanted to discuss yet. “If you are apologizing about forcing that out of me, don’t. I don’t hold it against you so much, It was me who actually explained more than I needed to, so just drop it. If you don’t, then I will hold that against you.” She looked at me as I finished my soda, judging my words for the truth. I stood up, uncaring of her judgemental gaze, throwing away my empty can as I spoke. “We’re even because you kept quiet. You tell anybody what you heard, and we won't be anymore.”
I squinted my eyes down at her, watching as she slowly nodded her head in agreement. I gave a nod back, and began walking back to my dorm room, leaving her alone at the bench. Camula wasn’t anyone inherently bad, just someone in a bad situation trying to understand things. I knew I shouldn’t hold it against her for forcing those memories to resurface, but she signified a loose end, ready to ruin things for me by opening her big mouth. My anxiety rose when I thought of her, so just trying to ignore her was my first course of action.
However, I paused a few paces away from the bench, the sinking feeling in my stomach growing. ‘You’re just repeating yourself…’ The thought jolted in my mind, this is exactly what I had done after my dad died. I left home and never looked back, until it was too late. I could ignore Camula, and have the nagging feeling of guilt permeate all of my moments alone with my thoughts, or acknowledge her, and face head on problems I didn’t want to think of. It was hell if I stayed or went.
A sudden hand resting on my shoulder, focused my attention towards Dark Witch, hovering just beside me with a comforting smile adorning her face. Without a word she disappeared, the weight of her hand still permeating my shoulder. I never brought my deck, yet she somehow just appeared even after all that distance, pushing me with the strength she must have received from the rest of the spirits. “But… If you need blood, or just wanna talk about random things… I wouldn’t hate to have company for this time of night.” I mumbled back to Camula, never looking back as I continued my quickened pace to my room.