The Smell of Old Books and Blood

Chapter 3: Friend

"M-my name... is Kaveh..."

"Hi Kaveh! My name is Eleni!" Giggled the little girl in front of him, "Would you like to buy some cookies?"

"Cook... ies? What are those?" Kaveh asked with a small tilt of his head. His question received a gasp from the little girl, her eyes opening wide in shock. "You've never had a cookie before?!" The little girl scrounged through her bag, pulling out a small box and ripping it open. Her chubby fingers dug through the box and handed him one. Kaveh hesitated, looking back and forth at the item in the little girl's... Eleni's... hand before slowly taking it. He brought the unknown object to his nose, taking a small sniff of it. Oh... it was... human food?

"I... don't eat things like this..." Kaveh said with a small frown, going to hand it back to her. Eleni, a pretty little girl with long grey hair grown to her hips and turquoise eyes, frowned and took the cookie back, taking a bite of it herself. "My mommy doesn't let me eat too many sweets either. She says I go crazy!" Kaveh shook his head at that, his frown remaining on his face, "My mommy only lets me drink juice... sometimes it's really tasty. Other times it's bitter."

"You only drink juice?" Said Eleni with curious tilt of her head, receiving a nod from Kaveh. "Would you like some? Mommy got really tasty juice this week. I'm not allowed to share it... but she's not home right now."

The two looked mischievously between each other before Kaveh cracked the door open a bit, the little girl entering the house without thinking twice. Kaveh reached out, taking Eleni's hand in his own and bringing her to the kitchen. This was his first time making physical contact with anyone other than his parents... were humans always this warm? For the first time in his life, Kaveh could feel the cold on his skin. Like a permanent shield of ice over him. Kaveh reached up, opening a tiny, old looking fridge. It was mostly empty except for about ten packets of a crimson red liquid encased in a clear plastic. He took only one, biting the top off with his teeth and taking a small sip from it. Yes, this was a good one.

Kaveh handed the clear container over to Eleni, who took it and held it up to her nose, sniffing it much like Kaveh did to the cookie, "Kaveh... what.. kind of juice is this?" Her words were a bit shaky as her eyebrows furrowed, taking another sniff of it. "Are you sure this is juice? It smells funny." Smells funny? Kaveh thought this one smelled quite sweet.

"Mhm. Mommy said it's red juice... and that it's really hard to get. That's probably why it's so good!" A small, innocent giggle left Kaveh. Did he ever giggle like this? Eleni seemed to get excited by the thought of that, bringing the bag to her lips and starting to take a small sip-

"KAVEH!" A scream had stopped their action as the girl yelped and dropped the bag onto the floor, the crimson liquid leaking out. His mother had returned. But instead of worrying about that, dread set into Kaveh's mind, "N-no no no! That's lunch- we only have so much!" The boy had fallen to his knees, getting ready to consume the liquid straight off the floor before his mother grabbed him. Her look seemed more panicked than angry.

"What have I told you about opening that door when I'm not home?!" She scolded before looking at Eleni who was crying in fear. She looked at the bag on the floor and then back at Kaveh, "How much have you told her?"

Kaveh hiccuped, using his free hand to wipe away pink tears running down his cheeks, "W-we dropped the juice you got. I'm sorry Mommy!" His mother bit the inside of her cheek before reaching out and wiping away his tears herself this time. "If you dropped it, you dropped it. That's not the issue. We have enough." Seeing as she wouldn't get any answers from her son, she turned to the little girl. Her eyes narrowed. "Did you drink that?" Eleni shook her head in response. "Good. What are you doing in my home? Kaveh let you in? Why? Where are your parents?"