[Mid-term] Farhan Syafiq - The Vampire and Roses (Short Story)

The Vampire and Roses

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Somewhere, on the realm of endless night, stood a large castle named Moonlight Castle. The castle was overflowing with elegance and a beautiful garden with roses in full bloom, and as the name suggest, the castle was always bathed under the moon light. The castle itself belonged to the Alucard family, a royal family of vampires. A young girl in a black and crimson dress was sitting in the middle of the garden enjoying her favorite teatime. Her eyes were red as the roses that surrounded her, and her skin was white and flawless. That young lady is none other than Rachel Alucard, the current head of Alucard family. Standing next to her was her loyal elderly butler, Valkenhayn, and her pet, Nago the cat and Gii the bat.

            “How is the tea today, Madam Rachel?” asked Valkenhayn politely.

            “It is fascinating as always, Valkenhayn, well done.” replied Rachel while sipping her tea.

            “Ah, you flatter me, Madam. It is an honor to be able to serve the best for you Madam Rachel. Shall I serve the scones right now, Madam?” asked Valkenhayn while looking at his antique pocket watch.

            “Not now, Valkenhayn. After this I want to go outside, go for a stroll perhaps. So the scones will have to wait.” replied Rachel.

            “Can you wait here for me and guard the castle until I return Valkenhayn?” asked Rachel

            “Very well Madam, to serve you is my only purpose. Please do be careful outside.” replied Valkenhayn with a polite smile.

            “I sure will, Valkenhayn,” said Rachel. “Gii, Nago, Let’s go.”

            “After you, princess.” said both Nago and Gii happily.

            Rachel then stood up from her garden chair; she walked a few steps, and vanished in a swirl of rose petal. Rachel was able to teleport long distance, and this was her only means of transportation to travel to earth realm.

            Not long after, she appeared on a park somewhere in Canada. She looked for her surroundings before strolling through the park. Without any order Nago suddenly transformed into an umbrella to protect his master from sunburn. After some good stroll, she sat on a bench, but someone in the distance caught her attention. She saw a young girl watering flowerless rose plants. Then, Rachel decided to approach the girl. After getting close to the girl Rachel stopped for a moment, she saw something special on the girl. The girl was not an ordinary human, she was a beastkin. Beastkin was a race of human-animal hybrid, usually seen as a human that had animal body parts, like ears, tail, or even wings.

That young girl suddenly smelled a scent of rose behind her, and then she turned back.

“Ah!! Who……who are you?” asked the young girl in shock.

“Oh my pardon me for surprising you, my name is Rachel Alucard, but please do call me Rachel. Your ears and tail look so cute. You are a beastkin are you not? May I know your name?” said Rachel slightly giggling.

“My…..my name is Zoe, Zoe Wesley. And yes I am a beastkin, ha….half weasel to be précised. I sense a powerful force coming from you, you are not here to kill me are you?” said Zoe nervously.

“Worry not my dear little beastkin,” she giggled. “I am here because I have an interest in you.” answered Rachel.

“These flowerless plants, these are rose am I correct?” asked Rachel.

“Yes, you are correct those are roses. How did you know that?” said Zoe.

“I like roses so much and I have a rose garden in my place, and I can tell that your rose is having a problem, yes?” answered Rachel.

“Yeah, I think so. It’s been a long time since this rose grew a flower. I really want to this rose grew a beautiful rose.” said Zoe.

“I see. Very well then, I shall assist you in growing these roses.” said Rachel with a smile.

Rachel then checked Zoe’s roses one by one. Her pets helped her to make this task easier and faster. After she saw the problem, she took a sit on Nago’s back and began her tutoring on how to grow a beautiful rose. She told Zoe everything she needed to know about roses. Zoe was paying attention on each word that Rachel said and noted it in a piece of paper. She also watched carefully on everything that Rachel did. They talked for a very long time, and without their notice, the sun began to set. Rachel then, bid farewell to Zoe and promised that tomorrow she will come again to help her fixed the roses until Zoe managed to grow some flowers. Rachel began to visit Zoe every day, nurturing roses, and having a chit-chat on afternoon teatime. Rachel did this for several months until Zoe’s roses grew some flowers. When the flower bloomed, both of them overjoyed with happiness, and they celebrated it with tea and pastries. The afternoon turn into evening, and it was the time for Rachel to go home.

“I think it is time for me to go home, congratulation on your mini garden of roses Zoe.” said Rachel with smile.

“Oh thank you so much Rachel, I couldn’t have done it without your help.” she hugged Rachel. “How could I repay you?” said Zoe.

“No need to Zoe, I am glad to be able to grow your roses.” said Rachel. “But before I go, please take this device. It enables you to go to my place, just say castel lumina lunii and you will be right there right away.” said Rachel while giving her device to Zoe.

“Oh thank you Rachel, I surely will visit you.” said Zoe with happy tone.

“I will wait for your presence, my dear friend. Let’s go, Nago, Gii” said Rachel.

“Right you are, princess” said Nago.

“I’m so proud you make a new friend.” said Gii.

“Shut up, Gii!” said Rachel while pinching him.

“Ouch, princess it hurts” screamed Gii in pain.

Then Rachel and her pets walked a few steps, and vanished with a swirl of rose petal surrounding her. She waved her hand to Zoe before vanished.

Few months had passed since Rachel and Zoe part each other, Zoe’s mini garden of roses grew larger and larger. Now her garden filled an entire field on the park, and the roses’ scent blew to the sky. Zoe looked so happy, because she finally had a rose garden of her own. She nurtured them every day, and not forgot to check each patch of roses. She remembered every word that Rachel had told her. While thinking about Rachel, Zoe suddenly remembered the device that Rachel gave to her. Then, she went to her garden, picked up some roses and wrapped them up. After that she dressed up, and prepared herself, and then, she picked up the device and shouted out the spell. A bright light gathered around her, and she vanished instantly.

She finally arrived on Moonlight Castle. She gazed in awe for the amazing scenery in front of her. Never in her life had she seen such a huge castle, and the moon was full and bright as if the moon itself was the sun. She had no idea that Rachel lived in such a huge castle. But, something caught her attention in the distance. She saw Rachel standing silently with Valkenhayn, Nago, and Gii behind her. In front of Rachel laid a field of destroyed and withered roses. Zoe was shocked with what she had just seen, because she was told that Rachel’s rose garden was beautiful. She then walked slowly towards them, until Valkenhayn realized her presence.

“Ah you must be Miss Zoe, is it not?” asked Valkenhayn politely.

“Yes I am, and you must be sir Valkenhayn.” answered Zoe.

“Please, just call me Valkenhayn, there is no need such formality.” said Valkenhayn humbly. “Madam Rachel told me a lot about you” said Valkenhayn.

“I’m so happy to hear that.” said Zoe with shy face. “What did she told you?” asked Zoe.

“Well, she told me that she finally able to meet good friend. She told me that you are so kind and cheerful, she also told me that you love flowers especially roses. She is so happy to finally make a friend with someone that has the same interest as her.” said Valkenhayn with happy tone. “But, as you can see…….She is having a tough time now.” said Valkenhayn now with sad tone.

“Oh yeah, I was going to asked you about that. What happened here? This place looks terrible.” asked Zoe with panic tone.

“Well, several hours ago, an evil spirit suddenly appeared here. The timing was not right, because Madam Rachel was having her teatime, and she didn’t like her teatime to be interrupted. Madam Rachel ordered us to stay put, and she fought the evil spirit. The battle was fierce and Madam Rachel eventually came out winning, but unfortunately at a cost of her rose garden. Now Madam Rachel has been like this for some time.” explained Valkenhayn.

“I see that was horrible. She loved her roses so much, but now this bad thing happened.” said Zoe in sad tone. “Valkenhayn, may I go talk to her?” asked Zoe.

“By all means Miss Zoe, this way please.” answered Valkenhayn politely.

Valkenhayn took Zoe to Rachel’s side. Rachel looked at the distance silently, her face showed no sadness, but some tears had fallen from her pretty eye. Deep inside she was devastated.

“Hi Rachel, it’s me Zoe. Valkenhayn told me what happened here, and I’m sorry about that.” said Zoe mourning.

“Oh, hi Zoe. Long time no see, are we? It seems that Valkenhayn had given you a background knowledge.” said Rachel sadly.

“Yes, it’s been a while, my dear friend. Look, I know your rose garden took severe damage, but let me help you to restore it. I want to repay you for helping me with my roses. I’m sure Valkenhayn, Nago, and Gii would be happy to help you too.” said Zoe cheering Rachel.

“Of course we will help, Madam Rachel. We are ready for your stead, Madam.” said Valkenhayn.

“Is that so? Well, I will be grateful if you really managed to restore my garden.” said Rachel wiping her tears.

“That’s how our princess says thank you.” said Nago.

 “Shut up, Nago!” said Rachel while pinching Nago.

“Ouch! Princess, that hurts!” screamed Nago in pain.

And then everyone burst into laugh.

For several months everyone helped Rachel fixed her garden, she even let Zoe to have a sleep over at her castle. Firstly they spread the fertilizer around the garden, and then everyone spread rose seeds from Zoe’s garden to the fertilized soil. Those seeds eventually grew into small flower plant. They water the flower every morning and evening, but sometimes they filled some of their time with tea time and jokes. Finally the roses grew back, and once again the garden was restored into its beauty once again. After seeing her newly restored garden, Rachel hugged Zoe firmly, this the first time Rachel felt so happy and also this is the first time she ever hugged someone.