eli’s random stuff

It was during one particularly difficult day, when he was around eleven years old, that Kimi found out the reason for his classmates’ disdain towards him.

They had been ignoring him as they always did for most of the day, hiding their words between muffled whispers and sloppily written, as is to be expected from children of that age, notes that were secretly exchanged across the room in such a way that they strategically avoided hitting his desk.

What changed, though, was their actions at recess.

Kimi had taken himself to his usual corner by the big tree that overlooked the courtyard, sitting alone with his water bottle and a small bouncy ball that his parents had packed in his bag for him that day. He still remembers that ball. In fact, he’s pretty sure that he still has it somewhere, the small object in the exact hues of il tricolore of his home country.

He had been sitting under the shade that the tree’s large leaves provided during breaks since he had first started at that school, with the other children filling the rest of the space with laughter and joy that he knew he wasn’t welcome to be a part of. The others tended to avoid bothering him for whatever reason, leaving a wide berth so as to not get too close. He learned not to mind it after a while, finding solace in his own company rather than constantly yearning for someone else to take the time to get to know him.

This day, though, was different, because somebody approached him.

“Hey, Andrea,” his classmate Rafael said as he got closer to the other boy, eyes darting around as if he was trying to avoid being seen talking to Kimi. All of his classmates called him Andrea because he didn’t want his middle name - the name that he preferred people to refer to him by - to be used by those that hated him and whom he was largely indifferent to. Rafael was no different; in fact, he was one of the biggest offenders when it came to Kimi-related vitriol.

“Hi, Rafael,” he responded after taking a moment to observe the situation. There was a group of kids watching from a bench that Rafael hadn’t noticed, but other than that, they were completely alone.

Being alone with someone who hated him. Great.

Rafael pushed a stone around in the grass with his feet, clearly having expected a different reaction from the other boy, despite the fact that Kimi had never reacted to the abuse that his classmates hurled at him and never would.

After a few moments, Kimi spoke up again.

“What did you want, Rafael?”

The other boy jumped slightly at that, likely as a result of not anticipating any further response. He swallowed before saying anything.

“Um. Okay. Your eyes… they’re red. A little bit, anyway. Your teeth are sharp… um… sharper than they should be, really. You’re paler than anyone I’ve ever met before, and I’ve met people from Scotland.” Rafael was rambling a little by now, tripping over every couple of words. “And I hate it.”

Kimi looked at him in disbelief, laughing incredulously under his breath. Was all of the tormenting just because people didn’t like his appearance?

“Congratulations, Rafa. You know what I look like,” the curly-haired boy quipped.

In a split second, Rafael was launching himself at Kimi, fists trembling with anger as he then realised where they were and stopped, putting his arms down to his sides with his hands still clenched.

“Do you seriously not know what all of that put together means, Andrea? Are you that dumb?” The rage in Rafael’s voice was clear, with him seemingly having to force every word out of himself. “And don’t call me Rafa. Only people who aren’t like you get to call me that.” His hands still shook, but then the anger was very quickly replaced by fear as Kimi’s eyes flashed a brighter shade of red to the usual slight tint of it.

“Sorry. Anyway, what were you trying to tell me?”

It was Rafael’s turn to look surprised then, with him taking a moment to shake his head before replying.

“Do you seriously not…? It doesn’t matter. I’m telling you.”

Kimi was confused as to what on earth the other boy could tell him about himself that he didn’t know, given that, well. He was himself, after all, and thus he knew himself better than most people had ever even tried to.

It was the next words that came out of Rafael’s mouth that made everything click into place.

“You’re a vampire, Andrea. That’s why none of us speak to you. That’s why everyone acts like they’re scared to sit next to you in class, or to come and play with you during recess. I don’t know how you didn’t know.”

Something deep in Kimi’s stomach twisted. Surely he would know if he was a vampire, right? His parents would’ve told him.

But no. Everything made sense. The crimson hue in his eyes that had been put down to a rare, recessive genetic disorder, the fangs in his mouth that he had never seen anyone else in his family with but he somehow had, the pale skin despite being an Italian and having lived in Italy for his whole life. Not to mention how easily he burned under the sun.

He took a moment to compose himself, then snapped.

Rafael screamed as Kimi launched himself at him, using his whole body weight to pin the slightly larger boy to the grass as he pushed his head back to get better access to his neck. The students who were sitting on the bench didn’t even try to react, all of them frozen into place with horror as they watched Kimi sink his teeth into their classmate’s jugular vein with vicious force.

Kimi had no control over what he was doing as he sucked the blood out of Rafael’s body, not drawing his fangs out until a few members of staff noticed what was happening and pulled him off of the other boy.

When they finally managed to restrain him, Kimi took a moment to look at the casualty of his actions. Rafael was lying motionless on the floor, skin pale and one side of his neck slick with his own blood, which was still coming out of the bite wound that Kimi had left in tiny pinpricks. He felt no remorse as his eyes tracked the droplet that slid down his classmate’s neck and stained another blade of grass crimson.

The teachers who were holding him back looked terrified.

Within a matter of seconds, the school nurse was at the base of the tree too, immediately kneeling down and pressing gauze against Rafael’s wound to try and stop the bleeding coming from it. Kimi watched that, too, not feeling any guilt whatsoever as he stood calmly despite each of his arms being gripped by teachers. The other students had been sent inside by then, the situation being deemed too dangerous for them to get too close to it, and Kimi wished that they were still outside to watch what he had done to the first person who tried to cross him.

It wasn’t long before an ambulance arrived and paramedics took over from the school nurse, loading Rafael’s limp body onto a gurney to take him to hospital for further treatment.

“Is that the one who did it?” one of the paramedics asked the teacher holding Kimi’s left arm, gesturing towards the boy as he spoke. “Actually, no need to answer. I can tell. Anyway, you want to get that one into a room by himself that can be locked from the outside until one of his parents gets here, then the police will want him at the station for questioning. They take attacks like this very seriously.”

The school staff all nodded, then began to march Kimi inside, not letting go of him for even a second.

“Can you please hold on a little looser? You’re hurting me,” the boy pleaded as his right arm twisted slightly with every step, and the teacher must have taken a little pity on him, because she loosened her grip almost imperceptibly, allowing him to walk without any pain as they guided him towards a deserted office.

One of the teachers spoke to him as they sat him down on the chair by the desk, with him rubbing his arm where the hold on it had made it slightly sore. “There’s a toilet through that door if you need to use it. The windows are all locked, so don’t even bother trying anything; you won’t get very far. Someone will be here to escort you out when your parents arrive. For now, you’re going to be locked in here. Is there anything you might need while you wait?”

Kimi pondered that question for a moment before giving his answer.

“Actually, there is,” he began tentatively. “Could I maybe have some of my school work? I don’t want to fall behind.”

The teacher who had been kind enough to loosen her grip sighed, mumbling something about how ridiculous kids could be sometimes under her breath before giving her real response to his request. “I’m sure that will be fine. Wait here, please.”

Kimi did as he was told as she left, and was still completely still when she returned with a few worksheets and a pen.

“There you go. You can hand it in to the main office when you get collected by your parents, and your class teacher will be made aware of where you’ve left it so that they can collect it from there to make sure that you’ve completed it. If you haven’t completed it by the time you leave, it will be sent to your house for you to complete in your own time.”

“Thank you,” Kimi replied as he took the paper from her hands and immediately got to work, not even looking up as he heard footsteps retreating and the telltale click of a door locking.