The Lost Boy

“Sir! Sir!”
The girl rushes up behind the tall cloaked man.
“What is it, fledgling?”
The man spins around in his tracks, obviously annoyed with the girl. She has to sidestep the man in order not to run into him.
“I need permission to talk to the court today, sir.” She pants. Keeping up with his long strides required her to jog behind him.
“Don’t waste my time with such silly requests, child.” He dismisses. He turns to continue walking but she steps in front of him.
“Please, sir, this is really important.” She insists.
“Enlighten me. But make it quick.” He folds his arms impatiently.
“It’s about Harry.” Interest sparks in the old man’s eyes. He clears his throat, quickly extinguishing it.
“Has he finally drank from a human?”
“Yes, but there’s more to it than that.”
“I see.” He says slowly. “I will speak to the court on your behalf.”
The girl brightens.
“Thank you very much, sir!”
“Yes, well, be ready, child. You do not want to waste the court’s time, you hear?”
“Yes, of course, sir!”
The man turns and makes his way to the end of the corridor before disappearing around the corner. She fist pumps the air before hurrying after. She waits breathlessly at the floor to ceiling doors. Listening quietly, she crouches down into a comfortable stance but can’t hear any distinguishable words.
The door slowly begins to swing open, almost knocking the girl over. She leaps to her feet, blushing from embarrassment and hoping no one saw her.
“We hear you have something to tell us, young one. Speak.” The man in the center booms.
“Yes, sirs, thank you. I-”
“State your name before rambling any farther.” The man commands, his loud, authoritative voice echoing.
She steps into the room, her hands wringing nervously.
“My name is Nora.”
The man nods. “Continue, Nora.”
“Thank you, sir.” Nora halts her hand wringing and folds them in front of her instead, clearing her throat. “As you may or may not know, Harry has drank from a human.”
The aged vampires chatter amongst themselves.
“But,” she adds louder, “he has committed a crime as well.”
“And what would that be?” One of the men calls.
“I’m glad you asked.” She answers, pointing towards the man. “Zayn, a friend of both Harry and myself, went to congratulate Harry for drinking from a human.” Pause. “But when he returned, he was poisoned.”
“Poisoned how?”
“It was garlic.” Some of the men hiss at Nora in distaste. She shakes her head. “I am appalled as you all are. How could one of our own kind try to poison another?”
“How is your friend Zayn’s condition? Did he survive the attack?” A man asks.
“He has been recently stabilized. The infirmary doctors said he would be just fine in a few days.” Nora paces a few steps before stopping again. She looks up at the awaiting men. “Harry has tried to murder one of his own vampire kin. Shouldn’t he be punished for that?” Nora says loudly. The men murmur in agreement. “But there’s more to the story.” She pauses, waits as the men quiet themselves in interest. “Harry has… invested some time with a human girl.”
“Romantically?” A man interrupts.
She thinks for a moment. “I’m not certain.” She admits. “But he is very protective of her.”
“Then how do you know he’s not seeing her as just a romantic partner?” The men begin to murmur their opinions while Nora fumes. She grits her teeth.
“I know because he is using her as a food source and living in her apartment.” Nora clarifies, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.
“And how would you know this information?” Nora reddens in embarrassment as the man who asked the question raises an eyebrow.
“Because I’ve been keeping tabs on Harry.” She admits, but quickly adds, “We were really good friends before and- and I didn’t want to see him suffer, even on the outside. But I never directly communicated with him, I swear.”
“We’ll have to talk this over later. In the meantime you shall continue what you have to say to the court.” The head man says.
Nora takes a deep breath before continuing, feeling stupid for her loose lips.
“Okay, I’ll get straight to the point then. Harry showed the human girl, Monica, his vampire form.”
The men gasp and talk amongst themselves. It’s hard, though, to pick out a single comprehensive word because of all the overlapping conversation.
Nora clears her throat.
“So I come to the court to say both Harry and Monica need to die.” She projects loudly. All conversation comes to a halt and Nora nervously trades glimpses with the men. “She knows too much.” She adds, quieter now. The center man leans forward, folding his hands on the desk in front of him.
“And how exactly do you propose executing the two of them?”
“I-I”
“Don’t you think an extended punishment would be better suited for this situation?” Another man reasons.
Nora’s mouth falls open.
“He almost killed Zayn!” She cries out.
“Yes almost but he didn’t. And as for revealing his vampire form… well, the girl can die. Humans die all the time.”
“No!” Nora shouts. She shifts, trying to regain her composure. “No, he has to die. I- I tried to help him but he pushed me away. He can’t… he’ll just do it again. He will reveal his vampire form to more girls, I’m sure of it.” Nora begins to tear up, her heart longing for Harry.
“Didn’t you earlier say that you never directly communicated with Harry?” The center man asks. Nora freezes, caught.
“I- well I-”
“You know the rules.” The man interjects sternly.
“Yes, sir.” She bows her head.
“You cannot contact other vampires on the outside. Otherwise you get punished.”
“I am aware, sir.”
The man sighs, rubbing his face. “Your punishment is two week confinement.”
Her head snaps up.
“Sir?”
“I’m already giving you slack on how long you’ll be in there. And that’s only because you were good friends with Harry.” She bows her head again.
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you know the punishment for the next time you disobey the court?”
“Death, sir.” She answers meekly.
The man nods, humming. The men around him return to their murmuring once again. Once they’re finished the center man speaks again.
“The court has decided not to take any further action until Harry has returned. Only then will his punishment be decided and dealt and the girl will be taken care of.” He concludes.
Nora’s throat closes up.
No.
“But-”
“That is our final decision, fledgling!” The man booms.
Nodding once, Nora turns and leaves the courtroom.
It’s not fair that I am the only one punished and Harry and Monica get off free. They committed crimes.If I can’t have Harry, then no one can.

Notes