A Peculiar Porcelain Doll
Les Chroniques d'un Vampire le Minuit Sérénades
Winter. The season I dreaded the most. The chills of the frosted air always bit my body through my layers of clothes. It prickles and nibbles on my pale skin like bloody leaches the life out of me. I felt cold. I’ve always felt cold. Snow made things even worse. It always blanketed the Earth making everything dull and white. To me, snow made everything boring. All I could see was white. Just white. My life was always dull and white as well. I’ve always seen things in black and white, never in any other color. I wonder how many times I have walked up and down these familiar streets. It hasn’t changed at all, only the people. I saw little children playing in the snow and their parents beckoning them to get inside the house for something warm to drink. I wanted to smile at the sight, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I don’t smile. Ever. I just don’t. End of story.
I gazed into the display windows of the little shops I passed by. Everything inside there was so bright and colorful compared to out here. As I walked, I accidently bumped into this little girl. She looked up at me and stared up with wonder in her little brown eyes. I opened my mouth to talk, but her eyes widen in terror and ran to her parents. What came out of was exactly something I’ve heard exactly one billion times.
Vampire.
She quickly disappeared with her parents. I noticed that the town’s people disappeared too. Every store I could see in town was pitch black as well. There was only me, myself, and I alone in town. This happens every time I get the courage to come out of my home, which is a rare sight for the people here. As soon as they see my expressionless pale face and my piercing crimson eyes, they gather up all of the children into their houses and then bolt up every door and every window they can find.
They do that every single time. I don’t mind. In the end, I’m just a bloodlust monster.
I kept on walking through this vacated, lonely town. Just me, myself, and I walking casually down this old street with not a care in the world. I noticed this particular store that was completely different from the others. Its light was still on, shining warmly to me, begging me to come in from this winter nightmare. It was an antique store. Little trinkets were displayed all over the redwood case by the window. Each of them had their own special history behind every micro-sized dent, scratch, and chip that only my eyes could see. Behind those flaws, they were still beautiful in their own magnificent way. Peering into the window, I saw an old lady possibly in her early-seventies reading a book. Her face was decorated with wrinkles. Wisdom was clearly shown through those lines. Her hair was white as the snow-covered ground that swallowed the whole entire town. The old lady suddenly looked up at me and gave me a tiny smile. Out of whim, I shuffled inside the little shop.
I heard little bells rang as I walked into the antique shop. Its warmth soon engrossed my frozen body. My still face began to add a little more color, but it’s still pale as ever. I looked around at the wonder of the old items that some foolish humans threw away. There were old clocks, necklaces, furniture, books, and all sorts of old treasures here. What caught my eye was this peculiar porcelain doll that stood behind the old lady in a glass case. The doll wore a wine colored lacey Lolita dress that was up to its knees and matching shoes that glistened beneath the lights. Its face was fair like a human’s. Its hair was the darkest of ebonies. Its lips were beautiful magenta, pretty unusual for a porcelain doll. All of the dolls’ lips I’ve seen were a pale or a soft pink, but this… This doll was special. Its eyes were a deep, icy blue with a hint of amber and green around the iris. It was another special thing about the doll. While looking into its eyes, I felt like the doll was piercing into my soul, reading me like a book, reading my past and my darkest secrets. I swiftly looked away from its penetrating glare. I didn’t want some doll to look into my soul!
“I see you’re interested in this doll, Mr. Cho.” The old woman’s mouth curved up into a grin which made the skin around her eyes crinkle with joy.
“Uhh, I guess you could say that.” I murmured, still looking away from the doll’s eyes. Wait! How did she know my name?
“How do you know my name?” I questioned.
The little old lady chuckled with glee. “Of course, I know your name! I know every resident’s name in this little old town! Old and young. I know it all!
Even the ones that live forever…
But HOW do I know everyone’s name? It’s for me to know, and for you to wonder.”
I stayed silent. What is she? A witch? Is she a vampire like me? This old lady… is she a stalker?
“I’m not a stalker.”
“…”
“I’m not a witch either.”
“…”
“And no, I’m not a vampire.”
“…”
“You have a ridiculous mind, Mr. Cho.”
I felt like blushing, but I couldn’t. I remained emotionless, as well as expressionless.
“Come over here and have seat, Kyuhyun.”
I slowly walked over to the wooden chair the lady motioned me to and sat down. She had that same tiny smile on her face and was staring at me intently. I just stared back at her with the very same blank expression on my face.
She opened to talk, “Kyuhyun, you have never been in love, right?”
“And?” My throat went dry.
“Do you want to be in love?” She continued.
“No.” My fingers unconsciously dung onto my jacket.
“I see.” The old lady replied as she eyed my clutched fingers with an amused expression on her face.
“Why are you asking questions about my love life?” I mumbled.
She ignored me and said, “For being the first customer to my new shop today, I shall give you an item in this shop for free. How about that porcelain doll you were… admiring earlier?”
The old lady walked over to the glass case where the doll was held and opened it. She gently lifted up the doll and brought it over to me. This peculiar porcelain doll was standing right in front of me, staring me down once again with its piercing icy blue eyes. It’s reading my soul again. I thought. I didn’t want this thing in my house! Just as I was about to open my mouth to kindly refuse the gift...
“Oh, look at the time! It’s time to close the shop. Well, I hope you enjoy your gift, Mr. Cho. Goodbye!” She pulled a box out from a nearby cupboard and quickly, yet carefully put the doll inside and skillfully tied its gold embroiled red velvet ribbon into a fancy bow. She handed the box to me and pushed me off the chair towards the door.
“Wait! If this is your new shop, then you must be new here. If you’re new here, then how can you know all of our names?” I asked.
“Just because I have a new shop, it doesn’t mean I’m new to this town, silly boy! Now, go! I need to close the shop!” She finally pushed me out the door, letting me back into the winter nightmare. I wonder why she was in such a hurry… I looked up at the sky. Hmph, no wonder.
It was already night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hello! ^^ This is the first chapter to the story as you can see. xD I hope you all like it! <3
Comments