Johan was on the sidewalk. Raindrops were in the air; it was very hot outside. Luckily he only wore a white T-shirt and shorts. He and his family were in Barcelona, in Spain. He and his family; and travelling with people close to you was sometimes, well, too close. Even though he loved spending time with all of them, he sometimes walked off, on trips like this, just to get some air. To be alone and let the air help him think.
Right now he thought happy thoughts, he couldn’t be happier. All yesterday evening he and his family had walked around. They were all very proud to be here; in Spain, even! They had asked a stranger to take a picture of them, with a Barcelona sign in the background. He planned for that one to be posted on Facebook, so everybody could see where they were. It was still in his camera, he hadn’t brought it on this walk.
It was very dark, but the streetlights were on, and made every shimmer on the road orange. Johan looked up, as dark-haired people passed him by, never looking him in the eye. When he came to a big space, where no cars were allowed to drive, there weren’t many people around, no-one actually. This was just the place he wanted, calm and quiet, where no one was to be seen. He saw only the fragments of stone in the road surface, and a fountain straight ahead.
There were some blue lights in the fountain, he could tell that. He walked closer, imagined it to be very pretty, and it was; massive, round and very, very pretty indeed. With two big women in long dresses, their fingers and hands and feet sticking out everywhere. Water dashed into the fountain from their fingertips and eyes and mouths. The blue lights from under the water at the bottom made their faces look very interesting, even a bit scary.
Then he heard a child crying. Johan looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. He walked around the fountain, to the other side. Sure enough, a child sat by the edge of it, curled up in a ball. He saw a blond head bent down over the knees, and two hands holding it. The crying was more like a quiet sobbing, but this child was crying, for sure. Johan couldn’t help comparing his sobbing to his own kids'. One of them, Lydia, might even be the same age as this one. About twelve years old.
“Hey”, Johan said gently, and the kid’s head rose. Johan could tell it was a boy, with short blond hair. He looked frightened and worried, Johan could make out his tears in the weak blue light from behind him. He wiped off his tears, was probably a bit shy and embarrassed. Johan would be like that too, if he was twelve. Or something. He wasn’t too sure about his age, now that he looked up, his face seemed much thinner. Maybe a homeless kid; then he would have good reason to cry.
“Do you speak English?”, he said, with a perfect American accent. He had lived two years in California before he moved back to Sweden, and met his wife.
“Yes.” The boy said quickly, and then he looked around, warily.
“Can I join you?” Johan asked, the boy nodded, and so Johan sat down beside him. He took another look at this sad boy, he seemed somewhat familiar. Someone he might have seen before.
“Why are you all alone? It can be dangerous, you know.”
The boy nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah I know, but I am waiting for my soul mate, right here.” Johan felt a little happier; at least he was waiting for something.
“Then why are you crying? Pardon me for asking.”
“Because I have no idea if he will come or not.”
“Ahh, I thought you meant your girlfriend or something.”
“I did.” The boy looked Johan in the eye. “Only he’s a boy.”
Johan nodded, he didn’t have anything against it. Remembered calling kids at school fags and all that, but he had never really meant it. I was just trying to be tough.
“OK", he said, "I don’t mind it at all.” The boy nodded, looked away. “You want to tell me what happened?”
“I don’t think I can”, the boy answered, still looking away.
“What’s your name?” Johan asked, in a happier tone. Maybe some small talk can get him in a better mood. It might help.
“I’m Oskar, what about you?” That name...
“Johan here, hi.” They shook hands, and the boy, Oskar, looked Johan in the eye again, with a puzzled expression.
“Did you grow up in Blackeberg?”, he asked. Johan was very surprised. What the…?
“Yes?”
“How old are you?” The boy asked again, still with that look on his face.
“Forty-two, and you?” The boy jumped back, looked very frightened.
“Oh my God!” he yelled in Swedish. Johan jumped too, both from the suddenness and the Swedish words.
“You’re Swedish too? And what’s the problem?” Johan spoke in Swedish too, now.
“I just...” Oskar calmed himself down, looked at Johan again. “You don’t recognize me? I was your friend.”
“What? I have never seen you before.” I think...
“Did I die that fast?” The boy started crying again, and he sat down beside Johan, bent over.
“I have no one, and no one remembers me either.”
Johan was very confused.“What do you mean?”
Oskar looked up at him again.
“Squeal like a pig!” he said, with wide eyes. “You’re staying under the water for five minutes. Or else I’ll poke your eye out! Remember?” Johan remembered, and now he was scared. Oskar, the bullied kid in class, the one who lived nearby, the one who got taken away by a dark-haired angel. He had long blond hair, was chubby, he can’t be a kid, still? But this Oskar knew about all of it, even those words, that only he and Micke were left alive to know of. Vampires. His mind was about to explode.
“Oh my God!” Johan said, as Oskar began to laugh. “How I’ve... I... I am so sorry for what we did to you, or rather what I didn’t do, about it. I...”
“Calm down Johan, it’s okay. It’s a while ago you know, forgive and forget, right?”
Johan was very relieved. “So...why are you still a kid?”
“I got infected by my soul mate, the one who saved me at the pool house. I am immortal.”
“Oh.” He didn’t know what to think. “I thought it was a girl who saved you.”
“I know, he looks like one. But...how are you? I am stuck like this, but look at you, all grown up; wife, kids?” Johan began to smile, Oskar seemed to be in a better mood too.
“Yes, we’re on vacation, in a hotel close by. One wife and two wonderful kids.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to have two wives.” Oskar commented. They both laughed. Then they became quiet, and Oskar seemed very sad again.
“Can you tell me what happened to your soul mate?” Oskar tilted his head in a half nod.
“I don’t know, really. It’s pretty serious, you can’t tell anyone, okay? Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Well... The two of us just arrived here, and decided that if we got lost before we got a proper resting place, we would come here, and wait. Wait until the other one showed up, that’s why I am here.”
Johan nodded. “I see...”
“Good.” Oskar said, half smiling, then he became very serious again.
"But then a very bad vampire, who my soul mate met before, long ago...a real bad and dangerous man, well, he tried to take him.”
“Take your soul mate?”
Oskar nodded. “Yes.. and I fought really hard, we both did. He shoved me into a metal fence, and I got badly hurt. Some sharp edges hit me in the back, and I wasn’t able to keep up, and... He... I... I can’t live without him.”
“Oh.” Johan was speechless.
“Last time I saw him, I could see he thought I was going to die, I was bleeding a lot, and that monster just grabbed him and flew away. If he's still alive, he might think I am dead too. That thought is so awful! And all I can do is to sit here, and fucking wait!”
Oskar started crying again. Not sobbing, crying, really loud. Johan touched his shoulder, stroked it gently. “There, there. I am sure he’ll show up.”
“I have been waiting here all night for a week, it’s unbearable. If he’s alive, if he’s captured, being tortured.” He cried even louder, and Johan became sad as well.
“You.. You can come with me, and say hi to my family, you know... I’ve got a... daughter at your age... I...”
“I only want Eli!” Oskar looked away and cried some more.
“You said it was a boy?” Oskar stopped crying, looked at Johan again.
“It’s short for Elias, but he prefers Eli. I have no idea why.” Oskar curled up again, and looked down at the ground.
“Have you ever felt like I am feeling?” He asked carefully. Johan didn’t even have to think before he answered: “No, I haven’t.”
They both sighed and lowered their heads. After a long and very calming silence for them both, Johan asked, “Is there anything I can do for you? Anything at all?”
Oskar shook his head as he continued looking down at his feet.
“Do you have a phone, so I can call you or something?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter anyway, if he doesn’t come in two months, my life will be over.”
“You’ll sit here for two months?” Oskar nodded, looked at Johan.
“He’s my love, we’re been together for thirty years. I can’t live without him, not for a single day.”
Oskar looked down again, he was like a dark cloud. It really hurt to see a child like this. He had seen Oskar sad many times when he was a kid. For example when he was the last pick at gymnastics. Or when he came out from the boy’s room after Jonny and the others had beaten him up. But this was different, this Oskar was as broken as anyone could possibly be. If his whole family died, at once, he would be like that, Johan figured.
“If you want me to, I can come back tomorrow and we can talk some more, when you’re in a better mood, perhaps?”
Oskar frowned. “I won’t be in a better mood.” Then he looked over at Johan with a weak smile. “But I would like that, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Johan responded with a smile. Then he walked away, and Oskar looked down at his feet again. After a few steps Johan looked back, seeing him curled up again. He felt sorry for Oskar, but knew he couldn’t do anything about it. He hoped this... Eli, would show up very soon.
Johan went to a kiosk he randomly found, he needed a smoke. All this had made a big impact on him. He needed to relax. He sat down somewhere, on a bench. Breathed slowly as he pulled one cigarette out of the tiny box. Lit it up and smoked it. His body relaxed as the smoke went out of his mouth again, and he looked around. In a park, he assumed. Some orange streetlights lit up the small line of cement he just had walked on. It was still very dark, but very orange because of the lights.
He got another shock when he saw someone lying there, by the bushes. He stepped forward and saw a small body lying on its back, wearing only brown shorts. The rest of its body was covered with bruises and blood, dried blood. He could see that the child had dark hair, but nothing more than that.
“Hello?” He shook the child’s shoulder. The child stirred a little, moved its head.
“Hello? You need help, you want me to call for help, or stay with you?”
Johan now remembered he didn’t have his iPhone with him. No phone at all. How stupid of him.
“No...” The child said weakly. “Take me to the fountain.”
Johan was startled. “What? Why?”
“I’ll be okay, I just.. Take me to...the fountain, please?” The child closed its eyes and lost consciousness again.
Johan sat there for maybe ten minutes. Deciding what to do. The child was completely gone. Whether this kid was 'Eli', he really wasn’t too sure. There might be other reasons for him to want to be where Oskar was. If not, he’d call an ambulance. But he wanted to give the statement a chance. He decided to do it, take him to the fountain. If Oskar didn’t recognize the child, the ambulance was next.
The child, he wasn’t sure if it was a boy or a girl, awoke as Johan carried him. He opened his eyes and looked up at Johan. “Please don’t hurt me”, he said, almost as a whisper.
“I won’t. I saw a boy sitting by the fountain, I am guessing that’s why you want to go there?” The child’s eyes widened, and he smiled as he nodded, weakly. After that he stayed awake, and smiled all the rest of the way, to where he could see the shape of Oskar’s body, still curled up. The child raised his voice and said, not so very loud: “Oskar.”
Oskar turned his head, when he saw what was going on he stood up quickly. This was Eli, then; he had said Oskar’s name. Only he knew, Johan guessed. Oskar ran to him and took Eli in his arms, crying “Oh my God, Eli!” He looked up at Johan. “Thank you so much!” Eli lifted his arms around Oskar’s shoulders as they gently started kissing. They whispered to each other, something Johan couldn't quite hear, but it didn’t matter; they were together now and Johan had done something really good today. Not for the human race...he smiled...but for them.
Then Eli said, loud enough for him to hear: “I killed him! While he slept, and then I escaped!”
“Really!? That’s great!!” Oskar responded, and they hugged tightly, for many seconds.
“I wish I had been there”, Oskar said with an angry look on his face. Then he started crying again. “I love you so much!” Eli responded with the same thing, and they kissed and hugged each other. Johan had never seen such love between two kids. But then again, he knew they weren’t regular kids...
After a while Eli looked up at Johan, then he looked at Oskar.
“I know he helped us, but... I am so hungry I can’t even stand on my legs.”
A chill broke loose in Johan’s body. He felt like running away, he had a family. How would they manage without him? Oskar hugged Eli tighter as he said,“He understands Swedish, you know. He was in my class in Blackeberg; Johan. He was even at the pool house when you... rescued me.” Eli looked at Johan again, this time with a look of amazement. “Really?”
Oskar nodded. “Yes, we chatted not too long ago, earlier this evening. He saw me completely shattered by my great loss.”
Eli kissed him on the cheek very fast, then he said in a more joyful tone:
“Then you must help me hunt somewhere else.” He looked up at Johan and smiled.
“Thank you so much for helping us, we are forever grateful. Please don’t tell anybody of our existence.” Johan was happy; he got to live!
“Of course not! This is between us only!” He knelt down beside them. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
The kids smiled. “No, you have done more than enough”, Oskar answered.
Johan nodded as he stood up. “Well, it was nice seeing you again Oskar, and that through all these years you have been happily in love.”
Oskar laughed. “Yes”, he said. “Thank you again.”
Johan turned to leave, and as he walked away he called, “You’re welcome!”
He heard Oskar telling Eli to bite him, just a little, so he would get some of his energy back. Johan turned around just as Eli bit Oskar’s wrist. He heard Oskar sigh in pain. Now Johan walked on really fast. They are kids, they have love and kindness in their hearts; but they are still accursed. Murderers. The biting made Johan think about what he had just done.
It was right, but was it also wrong? He was worried. He knew that maybe, on the news in the morning, someone would be missing. Or killed in a very strange way. All because of him. Johan almost felt like crying, what had he done? His guilt grew in his stomach as he came to the hotel entrance. The sight of what he had gotten used to calmed him down. He looked at himself in the mirror as he took the elevator. No blood anywhere, he was relieved to note.
When he entered the hotel room it was all dark, his family was asleep. He didn’t feel like sleeping, he wanted to think more about this...but he also wanted to rest his brain a bit. He sat down on a chair by the one small table, beside the window. His laptop was already there, and he opened it. Went directly to the picture folder, the newest pictures. Lots of them, of him and his wife and two kids.
Then the picture came, and it didn’t help at all. His iPhone held in the air, the Barcelona sign in the background. His family; but in the background he could now also see... Oh my God, what a good shot...he and his family had been here a little over a week, and there they were. Running along behind them, as if his family were the next meal. Oskar and Eli. A side of them he never wanted to see, caught on camera.
He closed the laptop and leaned over it, thought about what he could do, to make himself feel better. He thought of Karin. The police officer in Sweden who was still very much hooked on Oskar’s disappearance. She asked around every now and then, and the rumor had spread. He knew what to do now. Not tell as much as he wanted to. But there’s the proof. He might as well send the picture to her.
In two days they would be leaving Spain. Then he would send it.