For English we have to read short stories, and most of them are rubbish. So, instead of doing my homework, I decided to write the story 'Leela's Friend' using a dhampir and setting it in the future...far more worthwhile than analysing the original, methinks. R&R please!
Another town. Another small population to scorn and avoid him like a plague. D was used to this. They would never accept him no matter how many of the Nobility he killed to keep them safe, barred as they were by his parentage. Nobody stopped him as he made his way to through the town square to water his horse in the fountain. At least the cybernetic beast liked him.
The sun, barely above the horizon for two hours, burned the back of D's neck like it was the middle of the day, but he pushed away the discomfort. The sooner the horse was watered, the sooner he could be out of the town and hunting. He despised being amongst humans almost as much as they did, but for very different reasons.
'I wan' go, mama!' a child begged from the veranda of a nearby house. 'I wan' pet his horse!'
'No child,' the mother chastised sternly. 'He's a dhampir. He's dangerous.'
'But-'
'No buts! Come inside at once.' The mother turned, expecting the small girl to follow, but she just stood there stubbornly, her arms folded in imitation of her impatient parent.
'He doesn't look dangerous to me, Mama,' she said haughtily. 'I wan' go pet his horse!' And she stuck her tongue out and ran out into the sunlight, blinking as it bounced off her long blonde lashes. Golden hair streamed behind her in a banner as she pelted to the fountain. Her mother would scold her later, but it couldn't quell the feeling of rebellion and freedom now bubbling inside her like a well.
The stranger, the dhampir, she remembered the name Mama gave him, glanced round as she came up to him, his face blank of expression. The little girl almost gasped before she realised it was rude to stare and dropped her eyes. This man's face was like those of angels she had seen painted on walls in Church. It was beautiful, unscarred, unlike other vampire hunters who had come through the town. They had been very frightening indeed. How could this man who looked like an angel and killed vampires be dangerous? Mama's words sounded very silly to her as she looked at the dhampir now.
She felt his eyes on her and her cheeks flamed crimson. But it wasn't a malevolent stare; not like the ones vampires were supposed to give you before they bit you.
'Um, sorry, mister,' she mumbled. The man remained silent, so she continued. 'Mama said I wasn't allowed to but I wanted to anyway so I came over here to ask if I could. . .if I could. . .pet your horse?' she finished hopefully, looking over at the huge beast that seemed to reach the sky from this close up.
At first she was afraid he wasn't going to answer her, that he would dismiss her like what happened when she asked other adults questions, but he didn't. An amused emotion flickered through his eyes, though the rest of his face remained like marble. 'I'm sure he would love a bit of pampering. He doesn't get it often,' he said.
With a squeal of delight the small girl clambered onto the rim of the fountain to better reach the black horse's sinewy neck. She wobbled slightly but a pale hand came out of nowhere to clasp hers. It was cool and slender, and the dhampir steadied her as she reached out to pet the massive animal.
The horse watched her carefully, not used to a child's clumsy touch. Soon though it relaxed and closed its eyes in lazy enjoyment, and even blew soft wind through its nostrils in contentment.
'He likes it,' she informed the dhampir proudly. D still said nothing, though his expression was soft. 'What's his name?'
'He doesn't have one,' the stranger informed her slowly.
'That's silly. What do you call him if he doesn't have a name?' To the simple and infallible logic of a child, an animal without a name was inconceivable. 'I think he should be called Thunder,' she told him decisively, using a name she had found in a book.
'And so he will, then,' D said, and turning to the horse, he informed it that its name was now Thunder. Thunder blew through his nostrils again.
'He likes his name,' she giggled. D smiled very slightly – a miniscule curl of his lips that was probably the largest show of emotion that had ever appeared on his face. Here was one person who hadn't yet learned to shun him.
'What's your name?' he asked her quietly, steadying her as she wobbled again.
'Leela. Leela Smith,' she replied. 'What's yours?'
'D.'
'Just D?'
'Just D.'
'That's silly,' she informed him.
'Well, it's the only name I have,' D said in mock hurt, becoming slightly more animated with this trusting child who probably didn't even know what a dhampir was. She apologised sincerely for calling his name silly, her cheeks blushing with heat again. He found her presence soothing. It had been so long since a human had ever had a willing conversation with him that didn't involve vampires in some way.
'Why are his legs metal?' Leela asked suddenly.
'Because it lets him run faster, and for longer,' D explained simply, not wanting to overburden her with the bio-mechanics of the animal.
'Doesn't he rust?'
'No.'
'Oh.'
A woman stormed out from under the protective eaves of her house, marching up to D and her daughter who was being held precariously on the wall of the town fountain. Horrific images of the half-breed drowning the child or worse, biting her neck and drinking her blood, raced through the mother's mind.
'Take your hands off her!' she cried. D glanced round and set Leela on terra firma once again. Leela seemed very excited to introduce her mother to her new friend.
'Mama!' she exclaimed. 'Mama, this is D, he let me pat his horse! And he said he would name him Thunder 'cos I said so and – what's wrong mother?'
'I told you,' her mother muttered darkly, 'that you weren't to go outside. Come in now.' The woman had hold of her daughter's arm and was pulling her back to the safety of the veranda, away from the dhampir who stood motionless by the fountain.
'But I haven't said bye-bye to D Mama!' Leela protested. 'You said it's rude not to say bye-bye to someone. I wan' say bye-bye to D!'
'Never mind what I said. Come inside,' her mother said.
'Why should I?'
'Because he's dangerous, child! He's a dhampir,' her mother offered as explanation.
'I don't care!' Leela wailed. 'He's my friend and he hasn't done anything!'
Leela tried to pull away, but her mother held firmly and was stronger than the little girl. She was in tears by the time they reached the shade of the porch. With one final surge of desperation, Leela
twisted around to cry a farewell to her new friend, but D was already gone, swept away from her sight as if he had disappeared into the wind itself.
'I think you hurt his feelings, Mama,' Leela informed her mother heatedly. 'That's why he left.'
The mother shook her head in incredulity. The child would learn, one way or another. As far as she was concerned, wherever that dhampir was, it wasn't far enough away.
It was just another town, the same as the last. One child might not stare at him with fear, but it made no difference in the end. D was still cursed wherever he went – cursed by his face and the Noble blood that coursed through his veins – and he always would be, no matter how hard he tried to convince them otherwise.