--Chapter 4: The Roommates--
Artemis vigorously stirred the whisk around in the bowl she was holding. She glanced up at Luke; he lightly held onto his tea cup, lifting it up to take a sip as he stared back at her.
“Do you think Ellie is ok?” Artemis asked Luke, her voice full of concern.
“Well, she has seemed a bit down the last few days, maybe it’s just the city life getting to her? Dawn is not for everyone.” Luke remarked, taking another sip of his tea.
Artemis firmly put the whisk down and she picked up a frying pan with a determined look on her face.
“I don’t know.” She said, turning on the gas stove way too high before she panicked and turned it back down.
“Phew… I think we should talk to her. See if there’s anything we can help her out with. It’s not easy being on your own.” She smiled, smacking the frying pan down on the stove.
Luke watched with a mixture of amazement and disgust.
“Maybe Dawn is not for her.” Luke coldly added, staring at the frying pan oozing with butter.
“I… want me to make the pancakes?” He asked Artemis, her cooking frightened him; he was never sure how it would end up.
She stared at Luke for a while. “Ok, fine, but only because I want Ellie to like them.” She replied, annoyed at her brother for always butting in. Luke grabbed an apron and jumped into action.
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
Ellie grunted as her alarm resounded through the room. She sluggishly sat up, and stared at Skully.
“Are you here Skully?” She muttered, her eyes full of gloom.
Everything seemed a bit duller than usual; she got up and dragged her feet over to the window.
“Ugh, another day of work. I wish I could talk to you.” She whispered, her voice trembling. Ellie sighed deeply, it had been five days since Skully last spoke; she was still waiting to hear his grumpy voice again. It was agony, she didn’t know what had happened. Was it her fault? Ellie looked in the mirror, every morning was the same. Maybe I should get a haircut? She thought as she changed into her work clothes; they were a dull shade of midnight blue. Skully had made everything more amusing, she had someone to converse with all the time. Ellie opened her room door, not at all ready to make breakfast for herself.
“Ellie! Good morning!” Artemis chimed with a hearty smile on her face.
“Good morning.” Ellie mumbled, she didn’t expect to see Artemis so early in the morning.
“We made breakfast, more than enough for everyone, so why don’t you join us?” Artemis announced, taking Ellie’s hand and leading her to the dining table. Artemis always had a full face of makeup, but it never seemed over the top, and a different nail colour every day. Ellie never wore makeup; she never saw the point, but she admired Artemis, she reminded her of her mother.
Ellie placed herself on the chair, taking notice of the big plate of perfectly rounded pancakes.
Luke glanced at Ellie. “How are you feeling?” He asked coldly, leaning back into the chair.
Ellie slowly picked up her fork and knife, before cutting into the pancakes.
“Oh, I’m fine.” She lied, eyes on the pancakes. Artemis looked at Luke while pouring some coffee for Ellie.
“You like it with milk, right?” Artemis asked Ellie, still smiling.
Ellie nodded her head. “These pancakes are amazing.” Ellie remarked.
“Oh, Luke and I made them together. Or, well, I whisked the batter. He did everything else.” Artemis laughed while fetching the milk in the fridge. Luke didn’t say anything; he glanced at Ellie again.
“You know, if you have any trouble with anything, you can always come to me or Luke.” Artemis insisted; she took a seat in front of Ellie, her face full of warmth, like she really meant what she had just said.
“Why are you wearing your uniform anyway?” Luke asked Ellie suddenly.
“For work…” Ellie answered, puzzled by his question.
“I thought you didn’t work on Sundays.” Luke remarked stoically as he got up, carrying his plate to the kitchen.
Ellie’s face was bewildered.
“Sunday?” She asked. “Today is Sunday? I was so sure it was Saturday.” Ellie exclaimed with a desperate undertone. She had been so preoccupied with Skully, she had gotten the days all mixed up.
Artemis stretched out her hand across the table, grasping Ellie’s hand tenderly.
“Don’t worry about it. We all make mistakes. It kinda seems like there’s something troubling you….” Artemis consoled her, she genuinely thought Ellie seemed like a nice person; she didn’t like seeing her sad one bit.
Ellie stared at her with teary eyes, and the tears just started flowing, dripping down onto the table. Luke noticed from the kitchen, he shifted his eyes to the dishes.
“Anything you wanna talk about?” Artemis asked Ellie, her voice full of concern.
“Maybe you miss home? Or feeling a bit lonely? It’s not easy moving to a new place.” Artemis continued, reaching for the tissue paper at the centre of the table. She gave Ellie the box.
“Thanks, I don’t know why I’m crying so much. I never really do.” Ellie muttered, her lips quivering. “I just… I lost something the other day, and I can’t find it again.” Ellie sobbed while wiping her tears with the tissue.
“What did you lose?” Luke suddenly asked from the kitchen. It was the first time Ellie had heard some kind of feeling in his voice; he was always cold and stoic in his manners and his speech.
Ellie thought he actually sounded a bit concerned.
“I don’t know if I should tell you guys, you might just think I’m crazy.” Ellie stammered, wondering if she should actually tell them about Skully.
“There’s always a chance we won’t think you’re crazy.” Artemis smiled while leaning in. “Does this have anything to do with the skull?” She whispered.
Ellie stared at her.
Did she know anything about Skully? She thought to herself. Ellie took a deep breath; maybe she could trust Artemis.
“Yes.” Ellie whispered. “The skull, he has a name, Skully. He can talk, I mean, only I can hear him, but he talks to me. I’m sounding a bit crazy now, I know.” Ellie sighed, she was really not sure how Artemis would take it.
Artemis stared at Ellie. “I believe you. I heard him too, the other day when I was vacuuming your room.” She said under her breath. Ellie’s eyes opened wide.
“What! You can hear him too!” Ellie exclaimed, her head becoming increasingly filled with more questions about Skully. Luke glanced over at them from his pile of dishes.
Artemis laughed quietly. “Yeah, I accidentally poked my finger on his fang, and BAM, I could hear him. I freaked out a bit, thinking there was an intruder or something.” Artemis giggled a bit louder. Ellie actually smiled, for the first time in five days.
Luke soundlessly sat down at the table again.
“What am I missing out on?” He asked, taking notice of Ellie’s smile; he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Talking skulls.” Artemis noted. Ellie smiled nervously.
Why did Artemis tell him? She thought to herself.
“It’s cool, you can tell him. My brother is an expert in all things vampire.” Artemis explained, holding Ellie’s hand again. Ellie glanced at Luke, to her surprise, he smiled at her, not a big smile, more like a small smirk. Ellie felt a bit flustered; she stared down at the table, putting both her hands into her lap.
“The skull.” She started. “His name is Skully, and he can talk, at least to me and Artemis. He is a vampire, and he wants to find his body. I’m helping him.” Ellie explained before she continued. “He… We went to look for clues in a crypt, and some weird demon with dark vines attacked us. After that Skully has not talked. It’s like he’s not even there anymore…” Ellie started sobbing again. Artemis swiftly got up, moved to the other side of the table, where she hugged Ellie.
“I don’t even know what to say.” Artemis whispered to Ellie.
Luke gazed out the window; his face looked thoughtful.
“So it’s a vampire skull?” He asked, his eyes shifted to Ellie.
“Yes” She replied, her eyes ready to cry again.
“That seems a bit unusual. Vampires don’t really leave behind skulls, or anything. They turn to dust when they die.” Luke stated a bit coldly.
“Well… He’s not dead… or at least that’s what he thinks, he doesn’t have any memories.” Ellie answered, glancing at Luke; she was surprised, he sounded like he was quite knowledgeable.
“Dawn has a lot of vampires…” Luke commented, before continuing.
“Vampires kill people; vampires destroy lives, they…” He stopped and glanced at Artemis. He pushed the chair back as he stood up. There was a long pause.
“Everything needs balance, vampires create imbalance. That’s why there are vampire hunters.” He remarked, staring out the window, the sun touching his legs.
Ellie took notice of Luke’s left hand for some reason, wearing a sleek black glove only on that side; she had noticed that he was never without it.
So cool, city people always make these kinda daring fashion choices. Ellie thought, before she remembered that he said something about vampires.
“Vampire hunters?” She asked, raising one eyebrow.
“Vampire hunters.” Luke replied, staring at Ellie.
“I think what Luke is trying to say is that he’s a vampire hunter.” Artemis quickly remarked, slapping her hands together. They both glanced at Artemis.
Luke clicked his tongue.
“Artemis was not supposed to tell you that.” He grunted while staring at Artemis.
Ellie smiled again. “So there are vampire hunters too? That’s awesome!” She exclaimed, jumping out of her chair and leaping over to Luke.
“So you’re really a vampire hunter? Like you hunt vampires? What’s that like?” She asked excitedly, standing right in front of Luke. He clicked his tongue again; his eyes shifted to Ellie.
“You ask a lot of questions and no, I’m not gonna answer any. But I have to admit, I am curious about this vampire skull of yours.” He replied.
“I’ll go get the skull, you can take a look.” Ellie shouted happily as she ran to her room.
“I’m going to take a bath, make sure you help out Ellie.” Artemis told Luke as she pranced to her bedroom.
Ellie brought Skully, and she carefully placed him in front of Luke.
“Here he is. He’s not said a word in five days. He usually talks a lot.” She remarked with a gloomy face.
Luke stared at the skull, carrying it up; he could see the look on Ellie’s face as he glanced at her for a moment.
“I’ve never seen a vampire’s skull before actually.” He stated, investigating the teeth, the eye sockets, and the back of the skull. “This is very irregular.” He added.
Ellie stared at Luke with hopeful eyes. She just wanted to talk to Skully again.
“He must be really strong, and possibly really old.” Luke mentioned, still investigating the skull.
“It would probably be better to just destroy the skull altogether.” He suddenly remarked coldly, his eyes darkening.
“No!” Ellie shouted. “There will be no destroying Skully! He’s my best friend.” She insisted, snatching Skully back from Luke.
She held the skull very tightly, narrowing her eyes.
Luke was surprised to see her anger. “I’m sorry. I can see that you are very fond of him. Maybe I was a bit hasty in my remarks.” He apologised, sounding less cold again.
Ellie breathed out. “Ok then.” She muttered.
“Maybe instead I can help you find out more about him.” Luke asked, glancing at her.
Ellie smiled. “That would be awesome, because I don’t really have much.” She exclaimed, her eyes found Luke’s for a brief moment; Ellie quickly looked down at Skully, her cheeks glowing pink.
“Tonight, let’s see what you’ve got, and where to go from there. I know quite a bit about the vampires in this town.” Luke said confidently, she felt less alone now.
Ellie went back to her room; she wanted to change out of her uniform. She bounced down on her bed, staring at Skully.
“I will find you, I promise.” She whispered, her hope had been restored, and more questions had been added.
She sighed, holding the skull close to her. Her eyes closed slowly.
“Ellie?”
“Where are you?”
Ellie’s eyes opened wide, her gaze shifted around the room, did she just hear something?
Was that Skully? She wasn’t sure. Her eyes drifted off to sleep again.
She saw a pitch black space. Different from the one five days ago. Her eyes danced around. Nothing there, a void.
Ellie stopped. She saw a crow; it was black like the void itself, but when it opened its eyes she could see it.
“Ellie?” The crow asked, hopping closer.
“That’s me.” She answered, watching the curious crow.
"Leave me. Please.” The crow cawed, still hopping closer.
She reached her hand out, letting the crow hop into her hand. Ellie stared at it, so beautiful, she thought as she brought it high up above her head.
The crow flapped its wings, flying up, circling Ellie, before flying off out of the void.
She watched in awe, the crows wings were the most wonderful thing she had ever seen.
“Skully?” She called out, so loudly her voice echoed across the whole void. “Leave me.” A familiar voice mumbled.
She walked towards the voice.
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