Starry Night

Faye is sitting in one of the chairs in the old house where she and Kalen lived.

She watched the flames of the fire while she drank the rest of the wine from the decorative glass she clutched in her left hand. She couldn't believe another witch had gotten in her way again. She couldn't stand that feeling.

At that moment, the main door open, she turns her head slightly and notices Kalen approaching her, who is wiping his hands on his dark shirt.

"Welcome home, how is our princess?" she says with an annoyed tone in her voice.

Kalen sits down in the chair next to her and watches Faye swirl around her glass of wine.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to leave bodies on the streets like that? I won't clean up after you next time Faye."

This amused Faye a little. "I thought Miss Witch would clean up for me."

"And another thing, showing up to Nova covered in blood was a pretty stupid idea. Did you even think how it would affect her at all?"

Faye rolls her eyes and places the glass beside her on the tattered carpet next to the bottle that still had wine in it. She had no idea what she is doing wrong, this is what makes a vampire a vampire. Why should she care about the feelings of someone she doesn't know at all?

She isn't interested in this town, she isn't interested in Nova, she isn't interested in being a good girl. She only wanted to help an old friend.

She stands up from her chair and heads away from the fire.

"You should think about who you are. Last time I checked, vampires don't care who their actions affect."

"You better get this straight in your head Kalen, or you'll be the one who gets hurt." she adds.

Faye then disappears around the corner. Kalen hears her footsteps heading upstairs where Faye has her room. He didn't answer her. He didn't know how.

He just sits in front of the fireplace and sighs. He knew very well that his emotions would never be the same again, he is jealous of both Faye and Nova. He was younger than her and yet he still couldn't accept this life. Alone with his own thoughts. Nova had her whole life ahead of her. A life full of laughter, sadness, and all those emotions that Kalen could no longer experience.

He wondered why he felt that warm feeling every time he got close to Nova. He could feel it when they were together on her porch. He felt his throat tightening and how much he didn't want the girl in front of him to experience something that could ruin her life forever.

He reached for the bottle of wine Faye had left there. He takes a few sips from it and follows Faye upstairs to his own room, which is right across from hers.

The sound of the alarm echoes throughout the house. With an angry tone in her voice, Nova reaches over and stops the alarm. She slowly pulls off the blanket and looks around at the scattered things on the floor. Lately, she's been refusing to clean, so half of her closet is lying on the floor.

Nova gets off the bed and heads over to a pile of things, pulling out a red tank top and jeans.

In a few minutes, she is finally dressed. She didn't want everything that happened to affect her. Someone killed her grandparents, her friend is acting weird for a few days now, and yesterday she learned that vampires are roaming the town.

She just wanted to live a normal life right now. Going to school, hanging out with friends, and walking home without feeling like someone is breathing down her neck.

She runs down the stairs with a quick step and heads to the kitchen where she greets her parents and little sisters.

Her parents are still dealing with the loss of her grandparents. Her mother is still grieving and her father was doing everything to help her.

After a small meal, Nova says goodbye and runs out the front door. There is a pleasant, refreshing breeze outside, which carries a few leaves from the trees. The rays of the sun that fall on Nova's face are warm and pleasant.

When she finally gets to the school grounds, she notices Rosalie walking through the glass doors into the school building. Nova hadn't seen her since yesterday and wanted to make sure she was okay. That's why she picks up her pace and runs to her.

"Rosalie," Nova called.

Rosalie turns to her and sighs. "Good morning."

"I'm sorry I ran away like that yesterday, I didn't want to leave you there."

"You don't have to apologize, she couldn't hurt me even if she wanted to." Rosalie heads to the metal lockers and opens them. She puts several school books in her bag and closes it again.

"How is that even possible? Last night, that body-" Nova asks.

However, Rosalie puts her hand over her mouth and whispers. "Shh, never in public. Especially not here."

Nova nods and looks around to make sure no one is listening.

"Sorry," she whispers.

At that moment, the school bell rings, indicating the beginning of the first lesson.

History of art.

Nova says goodbye to Rosalie, who is heading to another class upstairs. Nova turns around and enters the classroom where several students are already waiting for the professor to come.

She heads to her desk which is right behind Winnie who is already glued to her phone. Nova waves to her and then turns to her left to wave to Kai, who is currently drooling on his desk, he never was a morning person.

Seconds after Nova, professor Carney enters the classroom. A tall man in a white shirt and black tie. He has shorter, light brown hair and stubble. An expensive watch shines on his hand and he carefully observes the whole class. His eyes drift to Nova for a moment.

"So, ladies and gentlemen. Today we're going to discuss Vincent van Gogh, who I think was one of the most gifted painters of his time. So, who can name at least one of his paintings for me?" Professor Carney looks at his students.

He notices a few of them raise their hand up, others pretend they aren't there, and others like Kai who didn't even know that the class already started.

The professor ignores everyone else. "Nova, can you please answer my question?"

Nova stops supporting her chin with her palm and straightens her back. She looks at Professor Carney and thinks. It's not a hard question, she knows the answer, but something makes her think for a bit. She feels a little strange, maybe it's his eyes that are looking at her.

"I have no idea, sir." She answers.

With a slight pause, the professor moves again and stops watching Nova.

"No problem. For example, Starry Night, 1889 is one of his most popular paintings. It captures the view from the window of his asylum room in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The use of darker colors expresses his depression and the painting was one of Van Gogh's late works because the following year he sadly committed suicide. If you're interested which I hope you are, this phenomenal painting hangs on the walls of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City."

The lecture is slowly coming to an end, the professor is walking around the classroom talking about other famous paintings that he finds fascinating before the bell finally rings.

Students begin to rise from their seats, excited to have their first class over.

"Don't forget, next week we will write a test from pages 4-10!" shouts the professor, sitting in a chair behind his desk, which is in the corner of the classroom on a raised step in front of the blackboard.

"And Nova, please come see me after school. I'd like to talk to you about your grades from the last few days."

Nova looks at him in surprise, and before she can say anything, Winnie is already holding her shoulders and pushing her out of the classroom. Kai follows tiredly.

Professor Carney turns behind them subtly and raises his eyebrows.

Every day is the same, the same subjects, the same teachers, the same students, and the same disgusting food from the school canteen. On any other day, Nova would be annoyed and tired already but she is happy, this is exactly what she wanted. A boring day.

The day is slowly coming to an end and Nova is standing next to Kai and Winnie.

"Don't forget about the celebration okay?" shouts Winnie, before she leaves together with Kai.

"Yes yes, I got it!" chuckles Nova.

She then walks slowly down the hall to Professor Carney's classroom.

Several students who are already heading home run past her, it was clear because she noticed the smiles on their faces.

She was afraid of what he would say to her, she didn't want to have any problems at school and that's why she prayed that this is just a misunderstanding.

Nova peeks out from around the corner and notices her teacher writing something down.

He must have been going through their work from today's class. Nova knocks on the open door to get his attention.

"Is it already the end of the day?" asks the professor with a surprised smile on his face.

"I only taught two classes today and then spent the whole day grading papers. No wonder I didn't notice it was getting late." he laughs, stuffing the papers into the leather bag that sat on the ground next to him.

"Did you want to talk to me?" Nova asks nervously.

"I'm so sorry about your grandparents. It must have been a shock to you and your family."

Nova hears his voice, which sounds almost caring to her. She didn't know that professor Carney cared about his students like this. He is usually pretty tired and never makes small talk.

She listened to him carefully.

"I know it must be hard for you right now, but it shows in your grades. I had to give you an F yesterday because you forgot to hand in the essay. I've also noticed that it's not just in my classes. I want to help you Nova and I'll give you time to fix it, I just hope the other teachers will do the same."

Nova nods her head. "I'm sorry, there's indeed a lot going on right now, but I'll try to make it better."

"I'm glad we understand each other. That is all. You may go." Professor Carney turns back to his desk and stops looking at her.

Nova thanks him and heads out of his classroom.

The hallway is now empty and dark, the only light she sees is coming from several classrooms around her.

A chill runs down her back until she shivers. She walks a little faster when she hears something behind her, footsteps. She hears heavy footsteps behind her.

She told herself that she wants at least one day of peace when nothing happens.

That's why she ignores the sounds and doesn't turn. Even if she did turn around and there was something there. There's a good chance it's Kalen, it wouldn't be the first time.

However, this is not only in her head, the footsteps are getting louder and louder. The noise echoes down the hall and Nova, though she tells herself it's only in her head, takes a breath and turns.

She's ready to yell at Kalen, knowing full well that he's just making fun of her, but this is getting no longer funny. She was angry. But this is not Kalen.

When Nova looks into the eyes of the one behind her, her throat tightens and her mouth opens. Before she can do anything, fight back or scream, she feels the pressure around her neck.

The person lifts her up and throws her against the metal lockers and laughs like a crazy person. Nova falls to the ground clutching her head. She gasps for air. The unknown person slowly walks toward her, chuckling to himself.

Nova raises her head and looks confusedly into the eyes of the mad person that just attacked her.

"Professor?"