For the first time since he left the confines of his home, No?l was happy. He is tired in a physical and emotional sense, but…there is a strange aura of cheer to this situation. Sure, his joy was misplaced, but there was an underlying satisfaction to finally having some semblance of normality in his life. This stranger was a curious one, but No?l just knew he was the key to his desired end.


    No?l did not remember how his journey began, but he was determined to make his death memorable.


    And, so……


    “End me.”


    “Excuse me!!?” He takes a few steps back in shock as No?l stares at him expectantly. The tall stranger’s breath hitches and his one lone eye widens as he takes the time to ponder No?l’s wish. He is unnerved and terrified, but still. He cannot leave.


    The stranger literally cannot leave as No?l had his wrist in an iron grip.


    “I want to die. Is that so much to ask for?” No?l stated once more in a monotone, frown deepening. Finally, the death that had eluded him for so long was within his reach.


    Fear and concern was painted upon the stranger’s face, but still…he remains silent.


    No?l’s request lingers in the air.


    “You want me to what—”


    His grip on the stranger’s wrist slackened as the meaning of the young vampire’s words slowly dawned on him. The realization was spine chilling and bone numbing—it was as if a bucket of cold water had been doused over him. In surprise [albeit a heavily delayed reaction], the older teen pushed himself away from No?l. Stumbling backwards, he fell directly onto a shelf with an indignant shriek. For his efforts, he managed to topple over a few shelves in the process as broken plates and dolls clattered noisily to the floor.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    No?l boredly watched as a rusted tin of buttons rolled towards him.


    Sighing, the vampire’s gaze gradually shifts towards the all-encompassing wreckage that has consumed the already chaotic store. Disinterestedly, he nudged the decapitated head of a grinning, button-eyed doll.


    Shooting the fallen stranger a final unimpressed glance, No?l spinned on his heels and…walked out of the building.


    Some help he was, No?l muttered to himself, irate with the anticlimactic turn of events. Though, the fault is with me. I shouldn’t rely on others to fulfill my wishes. He tries to not let disappointment cloud his judgment lest it cause bigger problems, but alas…at most, all he can do is leave—


    And to hopefully never meet this golden-eyed stranger ever again.


    ---


    No?l heaves a long-suffering sigh for what felt like the fiftieth time that very hour.


    Once again, he was traversing through large, lonely woods that enveloped the strange landscape he found himself in, only this time…


    He was not traveling with Annabelle, but with the stranger he had met in the antiquated toy store.


    Unfortunately, it was becoming increasingly apparent to the young vampire that they were completely and utterly lost. They had walked through the vast, colorful woods for longer than he’d care to admit, but wherever their destination may be, nothing noteworthy was in sight. Neither buildings nor animals could be seen for miles. It…was almost concerning with how odd and surreal their surroundings were, but—


    Nothing about this ‘life’ of his felt right, for lack of a better word.


    He sighs, once again.


    No?l’s intended destination of ‘wherever’ was meant to be the grotto, but, well…those plans of his were quickly trampled.


    Now, his only goal in life was to make it out of these woods safe and sane. Well, at most, with a modicum of his sanity intact.


    Though, as he was currently fighting the urge to faceplant onto the ground out of boredom, those plans were not looking so good.


    If only the world were simple, he thinks to himself as he steps over yet another moss eaten log. No?l is tired and completely done with his life as he glares daggers at the tall stranger. The vampire gripped his leather-bound journal in annoyance as he followed, eyes unwavering from the back of the teenager’s head.


    “Rue, was it?” He tilted his eyes up, thinly veiled disinterest and irritation marring his voice.


    “Yeah, that’s what I’m called,” the stranger, Rue, cheerfully responds. He keeps his one eye focused on the expanse of crimson, orange, and yellow trees that surround them. The sharp crunch of brittle autumn leaves follows the duo as they continue their descent into the woods.


    With how far they had traveled, their experiences in that sad little store seemed so long ago. The faceless girl with the sorrowful gait was now nonexistent in this endless expanse of oak trees.


    Emerett’s shop was now nothing but a distant memory.


    Time seemed to have stopped as soon as they both left the dilapidated store. The unlikely pair had been walking silently for quite some time, but there was a certain unease that came to long droughts of silence with those you are not acquainted with.