Love

Lavelle was dumbfounded as she was led into a majestic room filled with thousands of shelves that soared to the ceiling, thousands of shelves filled with countless thick books. Meanwhile, there is a sofa and a fireplace designed from the Victorian era in the center of the magnificent room.





Lavelle was so shocked that she couldn’t say a word other than gawking in disbelief at the contents of the majestic room. Theophile smiled faintly as he guided Lavelle over to a shelf that contained a collection of thick and ancient-looking books. Slowly, Theophile took a book then brushed off the dust that covered the book. 





“You must read this book. This is the first collection of poems written by my parents.” Theophile handed the book to Lavelle.





Lavelle accepted it awkwardly, flipping through the book with a hint of curiosity about it as thick as a physics book. “I would be amazed if there was a writer who could write this much poetry.”





“I am also amazed, and sometimes I also feel very impressed with my late Mom and Dad. They both seem to have been born to be great writers at stringing words into clumps of beauty.”





“I can’t believe that there’s a library this wide either,” Lavelle said.





Theophile chuckled, then picked up a book with a vintage cover and carried it to the sofa in the majestic room. Lavelle was still looking so awkward that Theophile lightly patted the side of the empty sofa to her left, gesturing for Lavelle to sit next to him. 





“I don’t understand why vampires like to read books either,” Lavelle said before sitting down on Theophile’s left side.





Theophile responded to Lavelle’s words with a smile and then got busy with the book he was reading, not the case with Lavelle, who was still wondering why there were vampires who liked to read books in this world, even though she knew vampires were intelligent only once to see an object. 





However, what Lavelle saw now was the handsome vampire who had messed her up in a few days, a vampire who loved to read books and often acted like a child when caught doing something the smallest bad of a corn kernel.





A perfectionist vampire that Lavelle meets. After all, Lavelle couldn’t lie if she loved Theophile’s green eyes, eyes as sharp as an eagle’s, which occasionally presented an alternate universe for Lavelle.




“You’re always thinking about me subconsciously, aren’t you?” asked Theophile in a slight whisper in Lavelle’s right ear, suddenly making her so nervous, even her fingers trembled violently, causing the thick book she was holding to fall for no reason.




Lavelle was stunned and quickly tried to pick up the book. However, Theophile’s hand was also faster than stopping Lavelle’s hand. Their hands piled on each other, and it made Lavelle even more confused as strange images filled her brain at that moment.





“Take it slowly... umm....”





“I got it but, before that….”





Theophile took a deep breath at the scent of Lavelle, from her neck and shoulder blades to the solar plexus. Then, making a sign of possession there for an instant, Lavelle groaned to accommodate Theophile’s warm action. Her hands were busy squeezing the gold lotus patterned sheet until it was out of shape. While down there, an object that had hardened tried to force its way into Lavelle’s body.




“Gosh, I can’t breathe... please do that really fast.”




Quickly, Lavelle brushed Theophile’s hand away, turned her face away, trying to hide her blushing cheeks, which were clearly blushing from the shadow she saw. Theophile was stunned, then picked up the book, placing it on the small table set on the sofa. A moment later, he refocused to glance at Lavelle, who was still reluctant to look at him. 





“Is there something wrong?” Theophile asked.





Lavelle awkwardly replied, “I’m fine… I’ll see Daniela soon.”





“But I haven’t told you about the poem,” Theophile interrupted.





“We can talk about it later, and I’m swamped. See you later.”





Theophile grabbed Lavelle’s hand, causing her to fall into his warm and intense embrace. “What do you see?”





“No, I just need Daniela right now,” Lavelle said quickly.




+++





Lavelle was so shocked when she accidentally bumped into Mark, who was walking hand in hand with Shotaro, who didn’t know where to go. Meanwhile, Lavelle began to experience a severe delusion caused by the trauma. Her full lips trembled with fear while her thin hands reached for the railing on the edge of the balcony on that floor.





“Hey, what’s going on? Why are you in such a hurry, Lavelle?” Mark, who accidentally collided with Lavelle, asked the girl. 





Lavelle was silent, leaving Mark to wonder why Lavelle was running in such a hurry and looking so absent-minded from their family library. A few seconds later, Mark grabbed Lavelle’s arm, slowly trying to calm the girl with silver hair.





It seems that Mark and Shotaro noticed that Lavelle was hysterical about something like something was chasing her. Mark gripped Lavelle’s hand tightly.





“What happened to you?” Mark asked, “What happened? Why do you look so weird like that, Lavelle?”





“Yes, that’s right. What happened to you? Did Theophile do something to make you rush like that?” added Shotaro quickly. 





However, Lavelle, unfortunately, returns to sing Beethoven’s song, which is very boring to hear on such a day. Mark asked Lavel again, “I’m seriously asking. You don’t have to sing that song for me.”





“Mark….”





“Calm down first. Tell me everything slowly,” replied Mark.





“Mark… explain to me…”





“What do you want me to explain? Why do you look like someone being chased by a ghost like that?” asked Mark.





“Mark… I truly hate that guy,” said Lavelle.





“Lavelle, take your breath first. Don’t panic like that,” said Mark later.





Lavelle sucked in her breath but was still shaking uncontrollably from feeling so anxious. “I was afraid of something….”





“Afraid of what?” Mark asked for the umpteenth time. 





Lavelle shrugged her shoulders, finding it very inappropriate to tell him what she had just seen even though it had really bothered her from the first image that appeared to her, an image that scared her to death. Lavelle really can’t get rid of all the anxiety quickly. Lavelle feels that something is chasing her and will soon eat her.




“If it’s about Theophile, just tell me, maybe I can discuss this matter with him,” Mark said, “You don’t have to be afraid to tell me, since we’ve been friends for a long time.”





Lavelle seemed to take a deep breath, then rubbed her face roughly with both palms. “Explain to me, Mark. What is love? Is love dangerous? Why can love make a person so crazy and out of control?”





“You mean, is this about your relationship with Theophile?” Mark asked awkwardly.





“I didn’t say it. Why are you guessing like that? I’m just tired of thinking about all this. It’s really driving me crazy, Mark!” said Lavelle, then sat down on the last step and cupped her face with both hands. 




“What’s wrong with love? Love is pure sincerity.”





“But why is love so annoying? Why does it like to drive everyone crazy? I hate it so much!”





“Just tell me, what happened to you? Did Theophile do something obscene to you?” Mark pressured Lavelle to tell her story immediately. 





Lavelle didn’t answer Mark’s question at the time, but she was busy hurting herself until her skin looked red, grabbed her beautiful hair so tightly, then cried hysterically. Mark looked panicked and immediately grabbed Lavelle’s shoulder to make her stand up, slightly trying to wake up the unstable Lavelle.





Lavelle was still hysterical and was trying to get away from Mark. Mark and Shotaro looked so panicked to see Lavelle back like someone who had lost control of herself, a little afraid that Lavelle would hurt her wrist like a few years ago. Mark’s gaze at Lavelle made the girl immediately sag without warning. Lavelle slumped down and was unconscious.





“What did you do to her, Mark?” asked Daniela with a worried face and half-running up the stairs.





“I just asked her to calm down. I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Mark replied awkwardly but still trying to stay calm when Daniela came from behind, also surprised to see Lavelle, who was already unconscious.





“What happened, Mark?! Why did she faint?” asked Daniela hysterically when she saw her best friend was unconscious.





“I don’t know what happened either. I’ll explain later. The rest we will take Lavelle to go to the room first,” Mark answered, then tried to lift Lavelle’s body.





“But explain to me first,” Daniela pressed, “Did Theophile hurt her?”





Shotaro held Daniela for a while, then made the girl immediately hug him with a bit of annoyance and hysterics. “Calm down first, Daniela. Come on, let’s go there now.”





“He hurt my Lavelle,” said Daniela in tears.





“Don’t jump to conclusions without knowing clear facts,” Shotaro interrupted, “We’d better catch up with them.”