"Another rough night, eh?"

"Yeah, it's not about a bug tho", don't say vampire!, "...it's uh, have you ever go to bed and tried to not think about something and then all you do is think about not thinking about it, until you actually let your brain think about 'it' and the you stay up late because you can't stop thinking about it"

"Uh, I guess…", she pauses and fixes her hair to continue in a lower volume, "sometimes I dream about the lights and when i wake up, I'm crying."

Her eyes have gotten watery, she is going to make me cry as well, she always does.

"Your mother still refuses to go to the Flying Lights ceremony on Corona?"

"She keeps on making excuses, some days is 'we have no money to do a trip like that', and some others is 'Corona is filled with ruffians and criminals'. At least she watched a youtube live with me the last time."

I wish I could help, but it's a family matter, all I can do is support her, "How about this: When we turn eighteen next year, I will take you to Corona myself, no buts"

Her arms around me tightly, tears wetting my shoulder.

The Flying lights ceremony is a yearly event in chich people of Corona go to the Grand Lake and light up flying japanese lanterns. They started doing so more than a decade ago, the first time it was only a group of parents who children went missing, they did so in an effort to communicate their hopes of their children return, some others to mourn…

Rapz has always being fixated with the lights, maybe because it happens during her birthday. She even has a notebook filled with different drawings and sketches of the flying lanterns over the Grand lake.

"Feeling better?"

"I should be asking you that, Anna, you are the one who was falling asleep on class!"

And there it was, she was smiling again. she has a very volatile temper, she can be jumping bare feet on the school grounds and then, feel sad and cry about nothing, or so she says.

"Anyway, what are you writing, is that the science essay?"

Oh, crap! I was writing a list of questions for the vampire's third visit, quick, just do something brain.

I close the notebook as fast as I can, like an idiot.

"Oh, new boyfriend. Yes, finally, I told you you could leave ice boy behind, he just doesn't deserve you-"

"It's not, it's a, uh, a game I'm playing with a friend from the internet"

"A Vampire MMO?"

"Yeah…"

"But you won't play Kingdoms of Magic with me"

"I didn't get the item system, and the armors were not cute at all"

"They are functional, were you expecting a bikini armor?"

"Maybe a pleated skirt, or something like a magic girl but with armor", I hope this distracts her for a bit.

"...Anyway, what his name?"

"Uh, I don't know her name, only her player name, it's uh, Sweetwater"

"Her, oh, I see. She is a girlfriend then, I see"

"Yeah, she is a girl and a friend, but that's it"

"Well, remember that people from the internet always lie, maybe you think she wants to just be friends but, who knows what she really wants, or if its a woman, there are some creeps out there"

Oh here she goes again.

The Flynn Ryder story…

"...he stole my Legendary sword, it only spawns in a zero point eighty one percent chance, and his name was not even Flynn, it was Eugene, or something, can you believe it!?"

The talk with Rapz was taxing but, she had a point, I should be still cautious with the vampire. Even if she was like, well, in love with me, that doesn't mean...well I'm not, and that should be uh, no, what I mean is that she could still be dangerous, she is still a predator, and I'm still a prey. That has not changed, the same in the wild, cattle is cattle and tigers have fangs, big sharped and deadly fangs.

I added more questions to the list, I was intrigued, never in my life I met a migrant, or royalty, or a rocket scientist. This was the first time I ever encounter someone...this is interesting. I'm a weird for being...not terrified. I want to see her tonight, I want to learn about this ritual, I want to end this bland existence, I want to be unique, to feel different for once. Books and films always make vampires lives seem tragic, they are constantly reminded of the length of their immortal lives, but, this woman, she doesn't seem to be branded by the burden of immortality. She doesn't seem to have regrets, all she offers is knowledge and, yes, she might be have feeling for me, but, it's fine, I'm as straight as a ruler. No matter how beautiful her blue iridescent eyes or how she make black leather pants look so good...but that is besides the point, I am straight.

Okay, I did practice kissing with my best friend Rapunzel, but that doesn't count, right, and it was only a few times, like five or seven, those aren't enough to qualify as a lesbian...are they?

My train of thought was stopped by the judging gaze of my mom, it didn't help that apparently I had just stand there in the kitchen holding a dirty plate in one hand and the soapy sponge in the other for a minute or so, vacant look in the eyes.

After supper and the sun setting by the hills, mom went to sleep, early as her shift tomorrow was at five in the morning, just minutes before the sunrise.

I went to the kitchen and search on the cupboards for salt, but there just wasn't enough for two new circles for us to sit on. The mini vacuum machine was still in my room and the bag still had the salt from last night, maybe I could recycle that, I wonder if a bit of dust would be enough for the protection circle to lose all power, or enough power for her to reach into it.

But, the hypnosis, how did she move me yesterday? Did I move on my own, or was the circle not working?

I walk up the stairs, my door is closed, unusual. I like to keep my door open when I'm not in the room as a sign of trust towards my mom and she doesn't raid it in my absence since we trust each other.

I can hear something moving inside, the street lights casting the shadow under the wooden door. It must be her, the vampire.

I grab the door knob, but I release it immediately, it was cold as ice.

My heart is pounding beyond control, yet, my hand grabs the door knob again, I need to see, even if its not her but something worse, I have to know what is inside.

I hold my breath as I open push the door open, the cold wind hits my face, even if the windows are closed. My eyes must be deceiving me, frozen spikes hanging on the ceiling, snow on the floor, a cube of solid clear ice engulfing my bed.

And sitting on the floor, the same figure that had visited my twice before, sitting with her eyes closed, her legs crossed, her right feet bouncing. Was she suffering the cold, or was she anxious?

Her eyes open, she seems surprised to see me.

Yes, even if this is my house and my room, she seemed to be surprised to see me.

"A-apologies, uh, the cold, sometimes I lose control of it when I'm nervous", so she is capable of anxiety and social anxiety, that, that is interesting, "I will make it go away, I know humans don't do well with it"

She moves her hands in front of her face, quickly, forming vortexes on each of her hands, blue particles of what I can only describe as 'magic', flew from every frozen corner of the room into the revolving swirls. And as her right hand made the traced a triangle in the air, the blistering cold was gone.

"How does that work, creating ice?"

"I learned to control my body temperature at a very young age, and as my master teachings about magic, the ice control came very natural to me", she flairs out by creating an enormous snowflake made out of clear ice with her power and then vanishing it with a swift move of her finger.

"..."

"You have more questions, right?, That is why you wanted to see me tonight"

I did have more questions, a list really, a list I organized throughout the day, but, right now, what was intriguing me was the white circle on the floor. A magic circle, a few steps in front of her, it was drawn with chalk, with very complicated designs and symbols. I can recognize a few of them, those being the one that represent planets and constellations, the rest, I have never seen before.

"You can see it?, that is good. The white circle is a Sun circle, is a protection against vampires, it wouldn't kill me, but it would drain my strength if I violate its boundaries".

"So its more efficient than a salt circle?"

"A salt circle would create pain, lacerate my skin, but trust me, I could bear that pain with ease if I need to"

My cheeks started to burn, why, was it her tone of voice, the fact that she was on her knees, the couple of loose buttons of her shirt...no, it must be hypnosis, I need to look in a different direction, I can't be her prey.

"I-I left my notebook down stairs, I'll b-be back in a minu-"

"The one with the questions you've prepared for me," the notebook was in her left hand, I'm not sure how fast she can move, or if she can stop time, or can move objects using portals… all I know is that she had my notebook in her possession, along with my excuses to leave the room.