Rita and Martin walked along the road one calm evening. They hadn't done much all day, watching TV and drinking coffee. Then Rita said that they could take a night out, eat dinner, drink nice wine. And so they did, and because of that they walked home. It was such nice weather, the full moon was up. A round and glowing ball of mystery, Rita thought as always . They held hands as they walked, calm and close together. Laughed and talked about the little girl at the neighbouring table, who said that they were old. Like her grand parents. How cute.
They walked beneath the underpass, which was a brief moment of darkness. It was restful to their eyes, even though the night wasn't that exotic. They walked further, without talking; it felt good. Then they heard giggling, from children. Rita began to smile, she and Martin had kids who are grown up, and grand children. Sadly, they didn't live in Stockholm.
Rita and Martin searched for the source of the sound, the laughter. They looked around, and only a few meters away they saw it. Two children playing, one on top of the other, tickling. The dark-haired one beneath laughed so hard she [or he?] could barely breathe. "No nooo!", she, he groaned.
"Hey you there!" Martin yelled. "It's kinda late for you to be out, isn't it?"
The kids jumped, and got up quickly, the dark one still giggling a bit.
"No." The blond boy said. Martin crossed his arms and answered with a playful tone:
"Oh yes it is." The dark one giggled a bit more, and then they all became quiet and awkward.
Rita was still observing them, and wondered about the dark one's gender. Was it rude to ask? The boy broke the silence:
"How long have you been together?"
Both Rita and Martin started smiling.
"Well." Rita said. But Martin answered:
"For about thirty years, I think." He looked at Rita and smiled. "Ain't that right sweetie?" Rita pushed him gently with her elbow.
"It is indeed. Hon.." They looked over at the kids, they were holding each other and smiling at them.
"What about you?" Rita asked. The dark one spoke:
"What?" Rita still couldn't make out the child's gender from the voice.
"Yeah, you're a couple too right? For how long?" Rita continued. The dark one looked down and smiled while the boy answered:
"If we told you, you wouldn't believe us."
Martin, still with his arms crossed, responded with a challenge: "Try us." Rita smiled.
"Well," The dark one looked at them closely, "for about the same time as you, thirty years." Rita and Martin started laughing a bit. The boy twined his fingers into the dark one's while he said: "Told you." They stopped laughing, and looked at each other. Really? How come?
"Then you would have to be...immortal?" Martin said. The kids nodded with a smile.
The couple sat down with the children on the bench, it was a long one, and it had room for all four of them.
"So, how did you meet then?" Rita asked. The dark one did not reply, but rather asked them a question:
"You first? How did you meet?" Rita sighed, and Martin started to smile. Now this was going to be interesting.
"We had a common friend, and we met when paying her a visit at the same time."
"How did you fall in love?" The dark one asked once again.
"Well." Rita looked at Martin. It was his turn to answer.
"I walked her home, we had been together for some months I think. And yeah." Rita laughed and commented on what Martin answered:
"Same here." She said. Martin put his arm around Rita's shoulder and they looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Then both of them looked over at the kids. They were smiling, and staring in amazement.
"You two are so sweet together", The boy said. They were a bit blown away that a boy said that. Most boys wouldn't say such things. That kid must at least be open for other types of love than the one he and this darkhead share.
"Now, your turn." Rita said. The kids started laughing. But only moments later they got very serious, and looked at each other.
"I want someone to know", The blond boy said.
"Me too." The dark one responded. They nodded at each other and turned towards Rita and Martin again.
"It was in 1981." The dark one said. "He was lonely and bullied at school..."
"Hey!" The boy said.
"Sorry..." The dark one said with a sneaky smile, but continued quickly, "I was planning to eat him..."
"Wait!!" The boy said. "You were what!?" The dark one bent over and hugged him tightly as he...She...said:
"Yes, I was hungry and weak, and you were willing to come close. But then.." Darkhead released the embrace and looked the boy in the eye.
"Then you stroked my cheek and then...I...it was so moving, no one had stroked me in that way ever since...I had a family." The boy got hold of Darkhead's face, and stroked his or her cheeks gently; he nodded, and whispered: "Okay..."
Rita and Martin observed with great interest. Was all of this true? It was so... out of here. But they didn't seem to lie, not to each other. Maybe it was a game they played? "Let's trick random old people on the street"?
"We met at the courtyard." The boy said suddenly. " I was stabbing a three because I hated my bullies. And Eli was there, looking at me. From the jungle-gym behind me."
Eli? Is it a girl then? Eli giggled.
"I told him that we couldn't be friends, and then walked off." The boy laughed too.
"If only you knew who I would become at the end of the day."
"When did you fall in love?" Rita asked. The kids looked at each other.
"I thought you were cute from day one." The boy said, "but when I fell in love with you - " the boy looked at Rita. "With him..."
It was a boy? Two boys? Martin's eyes got a bit wider for a moment, and the kids started to giggle a bit before the boy spoke again.
"I was when you saved me, at the pool. I was helpless without you, on the inside too. I missed you so much. And when I saw you again, even though I was very weak...I have never been so happy. I.." Eli jumped on him and hugged him.
"I loved you first! When I got to hold you in your bed, and knew you wanted nothing more than to just be with me. I was so happy just to hold you." The boy hugged Eli tighter in return.
Rita had to interrupt them, even though what she and Martin saw was the cutest and the most interesting thing they had ever seen.
"Is all of this true!!??" The children looked at her.
"Why would we lie? We want someone to know our story, and nobody does. If we died, no one would know. And if you told anyone, who would believe you?" Eli responded. He has some good points.
They were silent for a while, Eli and the boy looking at each other while Rita and Martin were deep in thought. Then Martin realised something and asked quickly:
"Are you two vampires?" The kids shook their heads.
"No, we do live off blood, but we aren't vampires."
"What is a vampire like in your eyes then?" Rita asked. Eli answered:
"A cruel person who thinks it's fun to kill, a monster. A vampire." The boy nodded in agreement.
"Have you ever met such a person?" Martin asked. The boy shook his head, Eli nodded and replied:
"The one who turned me, and a woman, many years later. They both enjoyed killing and torture."
Rita and Martin didn't know what to believe. It was beyond their logic.
"But we have to tell you our story!" Eli said suddenly. "You know who that is?" She pointed at the boy, he seemed to understand what was ahead.
"He's the missing boy from Blackeberg. The pool massacre?" Rita couldn't believe it, she remembered the case. The boy who was kidnapped by a madman who thought he was a vampire. Her eyes got wider, and she looked over at Martin. It appeared that he too remembered.
"You're Oskar Eriksson?" Martin asked. Rita was surprised by how Martin remembered his name. The blond boy nodded. Oskar and Eli...
"You have to go home? We can join you, if you don't mind?" Eli asked politely. Rita nodded, and all of them stood up, got hold of their partner's hand and began to walk slowly.
Rita and Martin walked first in line, Eli and Oskar were behind them, whispering. Rita turned to look at them, wanted to ask them some more questions. She was surprised when they weren't there.
"Martin", she said, and he turned around too.
"They're gone", Martin said.
"But how? I didn't even notice?"
"Me neither." They walked along for some moments before they looked at each other again.
"You heard what I heard, right?" Martin nodded.
"That's right."
"So maybe they told us the truth?"
"Maybe."
We'll never know..