LIRA: Book I

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Vampirology and Vampirism

As if on cue, a fuming Yumi sat beside her, her fiery bright red hair matched her reddened face. She then stabbed her fork several times to the poor meat on her plate before forcefully slicing it with the knife and popped a piece on her mouth, grinding the meat with her teeth until it was pulverized.

"Do you want to tell me what happened or would you rather keep on murdering your dinner?" Lira asked Yumi.

"Poor thing, really, that meat; double dead with your stabbing," Mari added.

Yumi pouted, slumped on her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, that creature from another species accused me of witchery!"

Both Lira and Mari gasped. Accusing someone of witchery was a grave insult. Not to mention it was a very sensitive topic. A witch was viewed as evil; an associate of the devil.

"It's not about him calling me a witch that made me angry," Yumi said softly. "It was how he said it, as if witches were disgusting creatures—as if I was a disgusting creature, a low life. It would have been better if he made fun of me being poor. I wouldn't be offended with that."

Lira wrapped her arms around Yumi's shoulders. "Oh Yumi, you are absolutely the most adorable 'creature' I have ever encountered; a wonderful friend. Don't mind what he said."

"I know what will make you happy Yumi," Mari said as she extracted something from her purse. "I was saving this for dessert to share with you guys."

"Ooooh! Chocolates!" Yumi said, suddenly brightening up.

"What made Stephan say those things to you anyway?" Mari asked.

"He said that I 'ensorcelled' him. He said something about me casting a spell over him or something; though he wouldn't say exactly what I supposedly did to him. But really, I didn't do anything."

"We know you didn't do anything," Mari reassured Yumi. "Besides, witches do not exist anymore."

"Why would Stephan even think it was you?" Lira asked.

"I really don't know. He said he heard me say it. But I never talk about those stuff, really," Yumi explained.

Lira pondered on that for a moment. Then a thought occurred to her. "Yumi, I have recently found out that vampires can hear our thoughts. Maybe witchery crossed your mind or something?"

"Hmmm..." Yumi looked as if she was trying to rummage her memories. Her face suddenly fell. "That time when we had our first class with them, well, I found Stephan looking cute and all, you know? I sort of wished I was good in mixing love potions like how good I was in mixing hair colors. But he looked so cute that time! It made me think of stupid things."

"So maybe he thought you were practicing witchcraft," Lira surmised.

"Well, let's not give them a thought. As we speak now, they're probably eavesdropping—or mind reading. Spooky creatures," Mari said.

Several days had passed and still Lira wasn't able to speak with Mari about her plans of making a confession to Matt. Knowing Mari, she would not settle for a mere love letter. No. She would probably bend on one knee with bouquet of roses on her hand and asking Matt to be her boyfriend. Mari was a good kid, really. She just happened to have a different view on love and courtship. This troubled Lira for she had no idea how to talk Mari out of her plans without offending or hurting their friend.

Lira also had not visited the library lately. She wanted to avoid running into Nicholas. Not that Nicholas looked like a guy who hangs out at libraries. Now that's a laughable notion. But just to be sure, she decided to avoid the library for now.