Bleeding Tears, Crying Blood

White stirred with irritation. He didn't like this at all and I knew he didn't. This was not his idea of lying low. But the young man I had briefly encountered the night before had raised my interest. He was human but he held something of the Old World in his aura. It was odd.
While I had told White this he still didn't agree. Currently he was silently brooding on my shoulder as I wandered into town, wearing a flamboyant dress I was certain Wolfram would've told me to get rid of if he had known I was wearing it outside. My parasol twirled above my head, keeping most of the sun off of my skin so it wouldn't itch. While the sun didn't harm me as it should, it did cause my skin to itch uncomfortably when in contact with strong rays for a period of time and the sun was quite strong today. The shade was something I was going to need.

The streets were relatively quiet. Most people I found were in the main street where the small shops stood. Most were town shops instead the huge market chains that seemed to have spread over the country like wild fire. It was a pleasant thing to see.

At first I didn’t know where to go. I checked the house but found it empty. He wasn’t there. I ignored White’s suggestion to return to the house and continued onwards deeper into the tiny town. People gave me odd glances which I ignored without thought and continued on my hunt for this single person. It took a while to find him. He was up a ladder outside an old antiques shop, re-painting the old peeling wooden walls.

I stared up at him and kept myself out of his immediate vision. He didn't appear to be paying much attention. White remained perfectly still but he failed to smother his aura of irritation. After a while, the stranger seemed to freeze slowly with realisation. Sharply, he turned and his pale eyes landed on my face threateningly. I didn't move and held his gaze easily. It seemed to irritate him.

"What?" He demanded.I remained silent. He climbed down the ladder and face me, wiping his hands on his painted stained jeans. "What do you want?"

"I don't know." I replied honestly. "You just interest me." His eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head in irritation. "Just leave me alone. I'm working."

"What is your name?"

Jabbed a finger at the road. "Go." He snapped.

I blinked slowly but did as I was told. White stirred.

"He doesn't seem to be in the best of moods." He murmured.

"I would say he is like that all the time." I replied softly as I turned down the street.

As soon as I was out of sight, I snapped my parasol shut. I glanced about the road, double-checking no one was there, then leapt up the tall wall. I landed lightly on the slanted roof and, for a moment, struggled to get my footing right. I knelt down, breathing thickly, when I nearly slid from my perch.

"Be careful please. I won't be happy if you hurt yourself." White growled softly in my ear.

For a moment, my breath got caught in the my throat. I couldn't move. I could feel his presence. It was powerful, thick and dominating, but it wasn't just that. The sensation of his powerful aura smothered my body in a strange tingling warmth and filled my nose with the addict able scent of winter and roses. The sensation of soft lips brushing my pale cheek and fingers circling my neck possessively sent shivers down my spine. But it was the smooth velvet voice that my memory conjured to my ears that sped my heart and caused my mind to falter.

"Alma?" White murmured, trying to coax out a response to his demand.

"Yes, White. I'll be careful." I managed to choke out.

The aura fizzled away and White's tiny body relaxed, leaving me slightly shaken. I always seemed to forget about the real him unless he let his essence seep out. It scared me, his power, but his ability to make me so weak so easily scared me the most. White's true self was always someone I feared encountering.
Holding my parasol above my head, I battered the bright red glow from my face and forced my breathing to settle as I made my way over the rooftop to where the stranger worked. I crouched down and looked down at the top of his head that was covered by his chaotic hair. I remained perfectly silent, just watching as I did before, while the stranger continued to work.
He was of the Old World, I was certain now. I had to focus my senses very hard and even then it was like trying to catch tendrils of smoke but it was there. He was a vampire and he had absolutely no clue that he was. I had to assume that his blood was weak. He was too old to be un-matured and able to run around in the sun without difficulty. I titled my head as I came to a conclusion about what to do. I couldn't leave him like this. He had a place in my hidden world and I would help him realise it. If Lady Eva was right then there is someone out there who can help him regain his lost heritage, someone who can make the vampire in him strong again.

Absentmindedly, and without realising, I began to hum the lullaby my mother always sang to me when I was small. My voice caught his attention and his face was suddenly visible and shock spread over his young features. He cried out when he nearly fell from the ladder and clung to it dearly before scowling up at me in confusion.

"What are you doing up there?" He demanded. "And how'd you get there?"

"Alma." I said.

"Alma?" He echoed in confusion.

"My name. It is Alma."
"I didn't ask for your name."

"I know."

The stranger glared up at me, scanning my blank expression with hard eyes. Slowly something began to give in.

"Leroy." He said heavily in defeat.

"Good afternoon Leroy.”

He smiled thinly. “Now what did you want?”

“I told you.” I said and fiddled with White’s tattered ears.

“You told me I interested you.” Leroy stated.

“You do.”

Bewilderment formed on his stern features. "You take flirting to an extreme.”

For a moment I just stared before I realised what he meant. “No.” I said firmly and quite loudly for me. “It is not like that.”

“Then what?”

I remained silent and blinked slowly. Leroy sighed heavily then mumbled something under his breath. “Look, come down from there. It isn’t safe.”

“I am safe.”

He narrowed his eyes then continued with his work. As he painted, I continued to hum. It was some time later, after a few people had stopped to say hello to Leroy and give me confused glances, that he spoke again.

“I've never even seen you in town before."

“I only arrived yesterday.”

He paused. “Did I see you in the evening?”

“You did. I was on my way to some relatives.”

He nodded then glanced up at the sky as a thin darkness descended on us. A rain cloud was approaching fast.

“Better get inside.” He muttered and turned to face me. “I’ll see you around.” He said and began to clamber down the ladder.

I shrugged then strode back to where I had come from. I landed softly on my feet in the shadows of the house. I glanced up at the sky and decided it was about time I returned back to Wolfram. As much as I was tempted to, I wasn't going to irritate Wolfram today.

"He won't listen." White said and snuggled up close to my neck.

"I will try. Father always says we should help those who can't remember what they are. I'll help Leroy if he wants the Old World. If not, I'll leave him alone."

"Doesn't mean he'll listen. He's human per say. Human's believe the Old World is nothing but a myth; a story."

"I will still try." I said adamantly.

White sighed softly and shrugged his tiny shoulders. "I'll help you then."

I smiled gently and let my fingers caress his head. "Thank you."

“What do you plan to do?”

“Get to know him first and gain his trust. Once I have that he just might be willing to listen to me.”
He grunted in response and fell silent. I felt his mind rest, as if he was trying to sleep, as I took us back towards Wolfram's house. Rain began to fall thinly and by the time I reached the courtyard it had turned into a thick curtain of heavy droplets. I didn’t hurry. My parasol kept most of the rain away and the wind remained still but I was quite wet by the time I got inside.

I removed my boots and hung up my parasol by the coat stand. At first I went to the study. The door was still shut. Wolfram was still working obviously. I went upstairs to my tower room and went into the bathroom. The copper bathtub stood alone in the small room and I twisted the silver taps. Hot water sputtered out and began to fill up the bath. Steam swirled in the room. I put White, who was currently sleeping, on the table that stood beside the tub. I stripped off the wet clothes, turned the taps off and slipped into the hot water.

I sat there with my knees pressed against my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs. My hair swirled about in the water and steam filled the room. My eyes remained latched on White as he remained unmoving. The twitch of his small arms was the only thing that told me he was still there.

I watched him for a moment longer before I slid under the water, blowing water out of my nostrils as I needlessly warmed my chilled body.