I took my notes, folded them in half, and put them back in my trouser pocket. Melody didn't say anything and I guessed she hated it - that she thought it was a stupid story.
Unable to bear the silence any longer, I peeked at her and said, "It was dreadful, wasn't it?"
Holding out her hand, she said, "Give me your notes."
I took them from my pocket, as the leaves surrounding our camp rustled in the wind. Not knowing why she wanted them, I handed her the crinkled scraps of paper.
Melody took them, and placing them into the pocket of her apron, she looked at me and said, "Isidor, that was wonderful."
"Get out of here," I said, feeling embarrassed, "You're just saying that."
"The ending was magical," she said. "Just imagine if you could go someplace else - to a place where you could be happy. That would be magical, right?"
"I guess," I said thoughtfully.
"You know it would be magical or you wouldn't have written that story," she said. Melody sat quietly for a moment, then added, "I was Michael, wasn't I?"
"Yes," I said, slowly nodding my head.
"The only difference is that I don't have anyone to take me someplace else," she whispered.
To hear her say this made me want to take her back to The Hollows with me, but could I? Would she really want to live beneath ground for the rest of her life? What would the Vampyrus think? We were meant to live in secret. Humans weren't meant to know about us. I'd also heard the stories about the Vampyrus who were unable to fight their cravings for human blood. It could be dangerous for her. Pushing away the thoughts of taking her home with me, I changed the subject and said, "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," she said.
"Some days you don't show up at the lake at all. Where do you go and what do you do?" I asked her.
"It doesn't matter," she said, looking away.
"Why won't you tell me?" I pushed gently.
"You know you said that just for today, we should be us," she reminded me.
"Yes," I smiled.
"Today I can't be me," Melody said, and pulled the hem of her dress down. "But one day soon."
"Why not today?"
But before she had a chance to answer me, there was a noise from just outside our camp. Looking at each other, we got up and made our way out. With my wings hidden again, I clambered from the bushes and stumbled straight into the path of Ray Baines. Barry, the bucktooth donkey and Lucy were with him.
"For God's sake," I moaned to myself, hoping that I would never have had to see Ray and his friends again.
"You got me in the shit good and proper the other day with that cop!" Ray scowled at me, and gone was the scared-looking kid I had seen cowering in front of his father. "It was you who stole that book, and you weren't even man enough to own up to it."
"You shouldn't have stolen my coat," I said back.
Donkey-boy sniggered and Ray glared at him. Lucy was staring at my arms again. What freaks.
Then, Melody stumbled from the bushes behind me.
"Whoa! Who have we got here?" Ray said upon seeing Melody.
"They've been getting it on in the bushes!" donkey-boy screeched excitedly.
"With her?" Lucy said in disbelief. "But she's, like, some kinda nun or something."
"It's the quiet ones you have to watch," Ray said, reaching forward, trying to lift up the hem of Melody's dress. Melody slapped his hand away. "I just want to see your titties."
"Fuck off!" Melody hissed.
"Whoo-hoo!" donkey-boy laughed and clapped his hands feverishly together. "The nun swears!"
"What will your freak mother say about that?" Lucy asked.
I positioned myself in front of Melody. "Why don't you three just go away?" I said, trying to stay calm.
"Why should you get all the fun?" Ray glared at me. "How about the nun gives me and my friend Barry over here a hand job each and we won't tell her mum what she's been up to in the bushes with you."
"That's not going to happen," I said, staring back at him.
"What? She's not going to give us a hand job, or we're not going to tell her mum that she's been screwing you?" Ray said, taking a step closer towards me.
"Neither is gonna happen," I told him as I stood in front of Melody.
"And you're gonna stop me, I guess?" Ray said, raising his fists.
I had no intention of fighting Ray. So I stepped forward and said, "What are you gonna do, Ray, whoop my arse? Beat me? Shoot me with one of your dad's big fuck-off guns? Then what are ya gonna do? Get Melody to whack you off? Then what? Beat her, too?" I taunted him.
He narrowed the gap even more, shoving his shirtsleeves up his forearms.
Melody tugged at my arm and whispered, "C'mon, Isidor, let's just get outer here."
"What, and spend the rest of our lives running from bullies like him?" I said, staring into Ray's eyes.
"You should listen to your girlfriend and run while you still can," Ray threatened.
Even though my heart was slamming against my chest plate, I stood my ground. "Do what you have to do then. Beat me, kill me! But I promise you, even if I have to crawl on my hands and fucking knees, I'm gonna tell every last motherfucker in this town that really, you're just a scared little boy." I looked in the direction of donkey-boy and Lucy, who were standing just a few feet behind Ray. They looked at each other as if not knowing what I was talking about.
Ray looked momentarily shocked by what I had said, and sensing this, I continued. "Would daddy be proud of his son if he knew that he bullied girls, tried to get them to whack him off? I reckon he'll be bursting with so much pride, he'll award you the 'Jerk-off of the year award'!"
As soon as I mentioned Ray's father, he physically flinched backwards away from me. It was then that it finally dawned on me what Ray's true weakness was.
"I get it, I get it! So who's scared of their daddy then?" I taunted him.
"Shut your fucking mouth!" he groaned.
Once I knew his weakness, I said, "So daddy doesn't love you? Is that it?"
"Shut-up!" Ray screeched.
"Or is it that daddy loves you too much? The bad kinda love that he says is perfectly okay, but just don't tell your momma about it!"
"Shut-up! Shut-up! Shut-up!" he wailed, placing his hands over his ears.
I felt awful and spiteful all at the same time, but I knew I had him and this was my chance to lay down a few of my own ground rules before I went back to The Hollows and left Melody above ground on her own.
"I'll shut-up if you promise you'll leave Melody alone, and that goes for donkey-boy and Lucy."
"I promise," he whispered.
"I can't hear you!" I shouted.
"I promise!" he cried.
"I think at last we've come to an understanding, and we got there without the use of any violence. A first for you, I suspect," I said dryly. "Now get out of here!"
Ray turned and fled up the shore, donkey-boy and Lucy following him.
"Isidor, you did it," Melody said in amazement. "You've got him off my back."
"I hope so," I replied wistfully. "I'm not sure, though."
"How come?"
"Ray has problems, serious problems with his dad. I just hope I haven't gone and made them a whole lot worse," I said, as I stood and watched him and his friends disappear into the distance.
Melody collected her bonnet from where it lay in the sand. She tucked her hair beneath it and retied the strings. Taking her in my arms, I released my wings and carried her up into the sky. It was getting dark as we raced silently through the clouds together.
We hovered momentarily above her home, then I swooped her down out of the sky. I helped Melody back through her bedroom window.
"When will I see you again?" she asked me. But before I'd the chance to answer, she placed a finger against my lips and said, "Just be at the town swimming pool, in three days' time."
"Why?" I asked with a frown, floating just outside her window.
"There is going to be a swimming tournament," she explained. "It's to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of my school and they are throwing this big swimming gala for the town. I'm doing something special. I doubt I'll be very good."
"So why do you want me to be there?" I asked.
"Just be there," she said and closed the window.