After school isn't the blessing in disguise he wanted. Kota hangs out down the hall at Kayla's locker, away from his targeted locker. Dozens of girls broadcast their courage to ask him out. He turns away so his face isn't seen. "You're better off running." Kay jabs.

"I don't run like a normal guy."

"How fast are you?"

"Faster than the speed of light." He swaggers. "23 blocks in the span of one minute."

"One minute!!" She holds her face and drop her mouth.

"Yep."

"That sounds fun...but horrifying."

"It's not...it's better than a rollercoaster."

Kayla unlocks her unit and load her books inside. "I love rollercoasters, I feel like I'm flying."

"Hmm...I haven't tested out flying yet."

Kay scans the area before saying, "you can fly? Like Dracula?"

"I have no clue."

"Let me know when you find out...I need to know." She puts away an Italian language textbook.

"I've been meaning to ask if you know French. I'm not doing so hot in class."

Kay shuts her locker and flicks her hair back like a badass. "Tu paries! Je le connais depuis l'âge de 8 ans." (You bet! I've known it since I was 8 years old)."

"You're a lifesaver! Please, I need help."

"Puisque tu as dit le mot magique, je vais t'assister." (Since you said the magic word, I'll assist you)."

"Huh??"

"Ugh... amateur." She mocks him. "I said I learned it at eight years old...and yes, I'll help you."

"Eight years old?!" He's rocked by this.

"I could live in Paris without an issue."

"I had a feeling you'd know it, since the country is related to ballet."

"France and Italy...although Italy created the dance form. That's why I'm taking the class." She flings her bag across one shoulder, copying Kota. He admires this. Kay's wearing her bookbag like me now... "We can walk and talk. Do you need anything from your locker?" Her words seethe with sarcasm.

"Ha, ha very funny....and no I don't."

The two walk around the corner, away from the rush of the end of the day mob. "So...what else do you want to talk about?"

Kota tries rewording what he's about to say. Should I be blunt and say, I know about her gran dropping notes about my foe? Before he can decide, a piece of pencil shaving bugs him. It's in Kayla's hair. Kota reaches a hand to remove it from her bushy hair. His motion is slow...cautious. He doesn't want to alarm her with his vamp speed.

Kayla trace his hand as it grazes through her hair. Her breathing slows, her doe eyes intoxicate. Her pupils dilate. Kay physically weakens for his touch, going dizzy with infatuation. Kota lets his fingers graze her cheek to her pointed chin.

I didn't expect this...

Kota shares a drunken stare...his eyes droop tenderly, displaying fondness. Kay deliberately trail her palm atop his hand to press it to her face. The warmness of her skin is comforting. Yes! She's holding my hand again. The zigzag splits rage from her palm radiating flashing volts through his flesh where she touches. I want this to last forever! His flat heart bursts like an ocean, drowning with blood. He chokes on the oxygen again, dying little by little.

"Kayla....??" 

She drops her hand fast, breaking out of the dreamy daze. Her eyes increase two times their size. "Oh...no!" She gulps. Kota is quicker than her with looking, her mortal pace is slower than his. But she knows the voice well...he doesn't. He has to look to witness who it is.

Darius. It's her boyfriend. He saw...us.

Darius's injured eyes are smashed beyond repair. His lip quiver. His soul drops to the bottom of his gut. Crashing. His twisted anguish corrupts his brows...his forehead. "Darius...I can explain!" Darius gives her an angry look, his dark eyes all glossy, ready to swell out tears. "Please..." Her boyfriend marches off, turning away and pounding his shoes down the empty hall. "Wait!" Kayla chases after him, leaving Kota by himself.

KAYLA

Her knees grow weak and shake. Her hands vibrate. Her palms sweat. A lump in her throat builds bigger by the second. She chokes on sobs. The waterworks begin. As she runs after Darius, her mind replays their precious moments. His lips brushing her forehead. "I love you." Darius caressing her hair. Kayla, being too afraid to say it back, deciding to mouth the words when he's turned away. "Je vous aime," Kay saying the three words in fluid French.

"Huh?" Darius is clueless. She kisses him swiftly. "What does that mean?"

On Halloween night when she and him were given alone time on the street. How Kay peered up at her darling with eyes of burning desire. "I love you."

"And I love you..." He returns the entranced look.

The two cuddling on the couch. Kayla arms around his waist. Darius slowly kissing her. How she got lost in his music on the rooftop of the school. How close their bodies touched at the Halloween party. Her crying in bed from being apart from him. Kay's eyes are just as red, just as full of regret and pain.

The whirlpool of the past blinds her...along with her falling tears. She blinks it away, running after Darius, who's a blurry blob in the distance. "DARIUS, PLEASE!" Kayla shouts woundedly, all the desperation in the world, all the aching and turmoil of the heart consumes her. She blinks hard until her sight is clear.

Her boyfriend is by the exit, holding the handle, paused in place. "How could you do this to me!" Darius spins around and yells. "You said you loved me!"

"I DO!!! Please, let me explain!"

"I don't need your excuses! I know what I saw!"

"It's not what you think. We're just friends."

"Don't give me that line, Kay!" Darius marches to her. "You're cheating on me!" He jabs a finger at her.

"I'm not! I love you...you know this!"

"I don't have time for your lies!"

Kayla place both hands on her forehead, hyperventilating. "I'm not lying!"

Darius stares off, allowing a few tear drops to fall. "Only I can look at you like that...I wouldn't be so pissed if you denied his look. But you didn't...that makes you a cold bitch!" His eyes are violent, scorned, and full of hell. Her boyfriend storms off to the exit door, whamming it open so hard that it bangs against the outside wall. Cracking.

Kayla lose her balance, her knees buckle. He just called me a cold bitch! How could he say that to me? How could he speak to me that way? Darius never treated me this way. I thought we had a picture-perfect relationship. There was never any arguing or name calling. Not until now. I guess we are like Scarlet and Rhett after all. Our love is gone with the wind. He hates me. Despises me. He cursed at me...called me something I'm not! Why didn't he listen to what I said??! Kota is a friend.

Is he, though...? The little voice in her head opposes. I looked at him with the same imprisoned soul...the same spiritual worshiping. Our gaze was a tango of passion. A dance of tenderness.

Kay walks to a locker to sit done against it, her body slides down like a defeated snake. Slowly and gloomily. She cover her eyes and wails. Do I want Kota? Do I long for him because of his vampiric appeal? Would I want him if not for that?

Kota's touch was an electrostatic shock. As if a fully charged defibrillator plunged my chest to jolt me back to life. I think I know how my touch makes him feel...just from that small taste. I want more. I need his heavenly escape. Kota feels...right. Faith had to send him to me. Darius was right...I am cheating...not physically, but mentally. I should know better! I'm not single...but I'm acting as if I am. Why?? What's wrong with me??!!

I just ruined a perfect relationship. Darius and I was an epic couple. He encouraged me...waited for me...gave his love to me. Hopefully, I can fight this...hopefully this isn't a breakup. It can't be. I love him...and the music he creates for me. The mixtapes...his devotion....his craving...and patience. I can't lose him...nor can I lose Kota. I am being cold...maybe I am a bitch for being so selfish...for wanting them both.

She hears faint walking from down the hall, realizing the building is abandoned. Everyone has gone home. It's just her and whoever's walking her way. Kay doesn't care to lower her hands to see who. If it's Kota...I honestly don't want to talk. I hope it isn't him...I need to be alone.

"Firefly..." Gloria stoops beside her. "Are you okay?"

"No." She whimpers emotionally.

"Tell me what it is."

"I just want to go home!" She howls out drastic cries.

"Okay...okay, let's get you off this floor and go." Granny helps her stand. Kayla lays against her as limp as a ragdoll.

At least it's the weekend....I can escape this for a few days. I need to forget. Maybe that'll make this better. At home, as soon as she exit the elevator, she slinks to her room. Before she can close the door, Gloria holds a firm hand to it. "Don't let this pain define you...use it...focus it. Emotion is raw energy...you can transform it to power."

"I don't think I can!" Kay sniffles and crosses her arms into a miserable body hug.

"You can....it'll help you forget...like last time. Trust me."

I would like to forget again. Last time was nice. Although the last time I used magic to distract myself, it wasn't as serious as this. My stomach is stabbing itself. The sharpness is raw and deep. Crippling and constant. If I don't stop it...I may bleed from the gut from the brutal agony. I might die of a broken heart. It's worth trying to fool my mind from the chaos within. "What are we practicing?" Kay collects herself, trying to be brave through the heartache.

"Go to the window." Kay and her grandma both near the elongated window. Gloria unclips the bottom, her granddaughter aids her with lifting the flat glass upward until it hits a stopper. It's mounted above their heads, allowing chilly fall weather to whoosh in. "Watch the clouds and their motion, concentrate on their stream. Tell me what you find there."

She does so silently. The white fluffy mist sways in dense streaks, fading with each breeze stroke. It's almost like a river...but slower moving. The motion is somewhat self-conscious. The clouds move inch by inch with tolerance, while the trees and grass are exasperated. The clouds have its own stream...separate from the rest of nature. Why is that? "The motion is controlled." Kay says, studying how a puff of wind swells out the cloud formation same as a chest rises up. "It breathes like a spell bender."

"Yes...and it sees like we do. Close your eyes...and let it connect to you. Speak the words Wina coum five times." Gloria recite ancient Amharic, an Ethiopian language.

Kayla shut her lids to see all darkness. She repeats the word. "Wina coum." The first time nothing happens, there's nothing out of the ordinary, just blackness. "Wina coum." Little by little, the ruckus of the city noise decreases....yet her vision is still dormant. "Wina coum." The surrounding sounds disappear completely. "Wina coum." The thud of what is believed to be a tornado crashes around her. Kayla doesn't jump, this has happened before. She's not afraid. "Wina coum." Her dark eyelids blaze. A rolling tidal wave of wind tumbles in the distance.

The city looks the same, only the color is off., inverted neon white and black. The clouds are dark as space, same as the buildings, while the sky is blinding white. The thrashing wave of white rages her way. The humming chant from her dream is easily understood now, unlike before. It states "wina coum" in a distorted voice. Kay is a little shaken by the demented tone, but doesn't have time to express concern.

Immediately, the wave engulfs her. Its touch is cold and refreshing, and light as it wraps around her body. The air god gifts her its sight of the vast world. She sees from a birdseye view...close to the ozone of space. The countries are laid out below her in black neon. All of nature and oceans burn white. Kay hovers above the planet without a body...as an entity. She has no human form. Kayla is the essence of nature. A variant of mother earth.

KOTA

FLASHBACK

                I should go after her...but I'll only make it worse. Kota shoes hop between going after Kayla or staying put. He does an awkward leg dance, struggling to find a solution. I already caused enough trouble. I should leave her alone. I didn't mean for Darius to see us being intimate. I should have been vigilant...I should've been careful. But when she connects her fingers to my flesh, I go numb of all my senses. I temporarily lose my powers. I couldn't hear him...not his breathing...or his steps. I should've but...but Kay renders me useless.

That's a good and bad thing. I can't lose my alertness...but I loved that I felt mortal. Being human was dulled down compared to a vampire. The sensations I felt as a mortal were so shallow...so suppressed. I enjoyed feeling normal again.

Kota stares at the end of the hall, its empty, but he hears Kayla's screams to her boyfriend, hears her terror...her sorrow. He decides to occupy his time by collecting the fan mail from his locker, trying his best to block out the couple's heated argument. But his ears irritatingly transport him to the private spat. "How could you do this to me!" Darius shouts. "You said you loved me!"

"I DO!!! Please, let me explain!"

"I don't need your excuses! I know what I saw!"

"It's not what you think. We're just friends."

"Don't give me that line, Kay!" Darius marches to her. "You're cheating on me!"

"I'm not! I love you...you know this!"

"I don't have time for your lies!"

He collects the heaps of paper, stuffing them into his bag so he can leave to give them privacy. I hate that I can't turn off sound. I hate hearing her hurt. Kota use his vampiric speed to quickly load up the notes and blasts away. In one minute, he's at a dumpster, which he smelt his way too. The rotten, dead rodent, sewer scent makes him queasy. He pours the letters in, then zooms off home.

            His family  is in the backyard garden, which is plowed neatly into dirt hills full of raked lines. Elu gently pats the soil to saturate it. Dyani and Matto use watering jugs, walking alongside the tiny, plowed field. Dyani sets up solar panel screens to retract sun to the plant life. She stabs the mount beams into the grass and tilt the screen to angel the sunlight. Kota goes to assist her. "How was school?"

"It was okay..."

"Just, okay?" Dy is skeptical.

"What happened?"

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  "Come on...is it about Kayla?"

"Dyani, let your brother be!" Their mother intervenes. "He doesn't want to talk about it."

"Fine." She huffs. "I'll change the subject. So...mom and dad want another meeting."

            Kota knows about this from his eavesdropping, but he plays dumb. "Oh really, when?"

            "We'll have to wait for Gloria, she's tied up training Kayla. Possibly Monday morning...before school." Matto explains.

            "Did something happen?" He goes on playing clueless. 

            His mother and father share a hasty glance. "We think we can tell you the truth." Odina frowns. "But we don't want you going evil on us."

"I won't...I promised dad that I let it go. I meant it." He convinces them with a gentle tone.

His mother believes his lie...so does his father. "Very well." She stops sprinkling the garden with water to direct her eyes on his. "The vampire is here in the city."

            Kota fakes to be stunned, knowing he can't let it slip that he already stole this information from Kayla. "In the city?!" He raise his voice and his brows.

            "Yes."

            "Where exactly?" He truly isn't acting this time...he wants to know where. Kota was going to ask Kayla this same question before Darius showed.

            "According to Gloria, his movements are too erratic, that's why she's increasing Kayla's training. The attack on the beach goers wasn't a cougar."

            "Did Kayla have a vision of this?"

            "No...Gloria did. We all want this thing dealt with before more innocents die."