My Ice Prince

As I approached the vampire, I was displeased to find that he was removing the «super-secure» lock from my bike, as Mary and I had been assured by the police.

Haraldson raised a cold stare at me.

– Don't get hysterical. I just want to compensate you for yesterday's damage» he said sternly.

His words hurt me: what made him think I would scream?

– I wasn't. – The resentment was eating at me. – Let me ask you what you're doing with my bike`?

***

Misha gave me a frown.

– I bought you a new one» I answered, unlocking the bike, standing up and looking down at the girl: she was tall enough, but her top barely reached my shoulders. Misha 's left shoulder was slightly raised.

«There she goes again, combing her hair like that. Doesn't she hate walking around like this?» – I thought, glancing at her ugly hair.

– But I didn't ask you to do anything» she said absently. – And I certainly didn't ask you to take the lock off my bike. The police gave it to me because it's very secure.

– Even a first-grader could open that lock» I gri

I wanted to switch bikes while the owner was at college, but I guess I didn't have the time. Thankfully, the weather was nice. For me.

– I'll fix this bike, but I bought you a new one anyway» I said, looking at Misha 's frowning but handsome face.

– And where is it? – She asked. Her eyebrows went up.

– There. – I pointed to my car, where her new bicycle was leaned against it.

The young vampire glanced at it, and her face took on a mocking expression.

– Pink? Are you laughing? – She asked mockingly, but then her voice filled with resentment. – I'm already considered to be a dumb blonde, and you bought me a pink bike?

– I didn't think you'd feel that way about it. Honestly. There were only pink, green, and black colors in the store» I tried to explain my choice honestly.

– «You should have taken the black one. Even it's better than…this one. – Her voice trembled.

Misha looked longingly at the pink bike. The girl's face was as sour as if she had eaten a whole basket of lemons.

– What difference does it make what color the bike is? – I was sincerely surprised: Misha 's reaction was incomprehensible to me.

I told the truth: I had chosen the pink two-wheeled horse without any mockery or backward thought, but I just thought that since Misha was still very young (for a vampire's age), the pink color would be to her liking. After all, she had blue colored nails.

– Big. I don't like pink: it's frivolous» the girl replied sullenly.

– Put your shoulder down» I said.

– What?» She gave me a surprised look.

– You always lift your left shoulder. – I touched her raised shoulder and pressed it gently; it returned to its normal position.

– I didn't realize I was doing that» Misha said thoughtfully.

I was surprised by her calmness: it turned out that she still knew how to talk normally, without hysterics and without raising her voice, but before her behavior claimed the opposite.

– I know why: I like to lie on my left side when I surf the Internet» she said suddenly, and then looked at the pink bicycle again. – If that's the case, I'll take this disgusting pink thing to match your opinion and the opinion of others, but I won't ride it, I'll give it to Mary. You'll fix up my blue one for me. Deal?

I gri

– Okay, then wait for him tonight» I said, pleasantly surprised by her calm demeanor. – You lifted your shoulder again. Keep an eye on it. You know, you're not like yourself today: too calm.

The girl looked at me resentfully.

– You think I can only yell? Well keep thinking, I don't care at all.

Misha came to the pink bicycle, rolled it to the side of the road, sat down and left, and I looked at her with surprise: she rode slowly, very smoothly, beautifully, and her hair tied in a long ponytail fluttered in the wind. At that moment she seemed to me very fragile.

«I should have known how old she was» I realized.

After watching the girl disappear around the nearest corner, I tied the blue bicycle to the roof of my Mustang with a rope and drove home to get it repaired. I kept my promise: I smoothed out the warped iron, replaced the bent wheel with a new one, tightened all the bolts, which were already considerably loose, and wondered how Misha could ride this half-decayed piece of iron. In the evening I brought the bike to her house, but it wasn't Misha who took it, but her girlfriend, who was once again in homemade clothes, and now I was finally convinced that this mortal lived with the young vampire under the same roof. Misha herself not only didn't come out to me, she didn't say a word.

After that day, we didn't see each other for over a month.

I didn't want to impose my society on Misha, because I understood perfectly well that she was determined against me and communication with me. Well, one problem less.

***

An exciting, painful October had passed, and a surprisingly mild, su

I had been living with Mary for over a month now, away from my parents: in the intervening time I had received a few more «humanitarian aid» from them, still eating the same meals at night, in the darkness of the kitchen, while Mary slept. One time she took me by surprise, but fortunately not for another blood draw: I was bored in the middle of the night and went into the kitchen to read Chateaubriand, when a sleepy Mary appeared before me. She was very surprised that I was reading in the dark, but I found myself saying that I had terrible insomnia and that the lantern light was good for reading. Mary yawned and went to bed.

As for the tomatoes and cucumbers, I would buy them and, under the guise of eating them, give them to the homeless shelter while Mary was at work. This system of i

The big man with the slicked-back hair kept pestering me with vanilla phrases and florid compliments, boasting of his family lineage (he said he was a distant relative of the royal family), but I only pushed him away with a sneer: he a

Everything was smooth in my studies: having met the tutors, I found strong support, and I was interested in doing their assignments. I enjoyed studying. I even enrolled in a theology class, but it didn't go any further than that. I was offered to join a sports team, but I wasn't ready for that, and I couldn't risk people's lives: the first time I played squash with Ellie, I almost broke her nose because I hit the ball so hard, and when Mary and I played badminton in the park, she kept complaining that I hit it too far, like a man. But I couldn't do it any other way: I didn't know how to control my physical strength.

It was a bright, su