You Will Soon Forget The Color Of My Eyes

’Raven, what a beautiful name…’ I thought to myself as I watched the new girl introduce herself in front of the class.  Her long, black hair cascaded down her back in the most wild, luscious waves I’d ever seen. Her grey eyes scanned the room, taking in our classmates, before landing on me. She seemed to smirk ever so slightly before the professor let her sit down. I watched as she passed by me, leaving a scent of misty forests in her wake.

I just knew, this girl will be the death of me.

She was beautiful, horrible, macabre; she wrote the most disturbing poetry. She listened to songs about death, but there was something so alluring about her, the way she seemingly didn't notice or care about anyone. Everyone was beneath her, and when she did notice you, it was so addicting- you never wanted her to forget you existed. Even just the scent of her perfume was intoxicating, drawing you in, but then she would shut you out. I was obsessed.

My obsession with this beautifully horrible woman only got worse as time moved on. She seemed to enjoy my obsession, sometimes actually acknowledging my existence only to pretend she didn't notice me the next day. Some days she would even talk to me, only small talk like the homework and the weather, but still. Other days, I didn't exist at all.

So often I asked her to be mine, but she would turn me down every single time, with a weirder excuse than the last, “oh, no, I couldn’t bare to put you through that” became “That would be a fate worse than death for you” and sometimes it was, “you don’t know what you are asking for”. Nevertheless, I persisted. It was so hard to know what she was thinking, but I knew I needed her to be mine.

When she’d read her poetry in class, others would look so disturbed. I was fascinated by her mind, how she seemed to love death and the process of dying. One of her beautifully haunting poems was simply titled, “Death is in love with us” and was about the concept that death was kind, loving even. I think I was the only one who truly appreciated her poetry, even as she denied my advances.

When she finally agreed to go on a date, I was floating. I was so high on the ecstasy that I almost didn’t notice that her subtle smirk had returned. I happily started to plan out our first date- a trip to the movies, as a new horror movie had just come out. Raven seemed excited enough, but grumbled something about how “those monsters don’t even act like that” and “humans don’t understand anything about true horror.” I just laughed it off, thinking nothing of it.

Our first date felt magical, holding her hand throughout the movie, the crappy movie theater popcorn with a soft drink we shared. She didn't seem scared at all, and at the end of the movie informed me that “real vampires can see themselves in modern mirrors, because they’re not backed by silver anymore.”  Again, I laughed it off. She loved monster movies after all, of course, she’d know that.

After the success of our first date, I thought I had her, but she made me work even harder to catch her attention after that. I went weeks without even a simple hello being returned. I thought I messed up when one day she came over to my desk after class and asked me if I wanted to join her at the park later that day. I practically jumped up from excitement. She didn’t hate me after all. I agreed and told her I had one more class that day, and then I’d meet her. She had a weird look on her face, which I chose to ignore at the time.

I was so happy to have a date planned, I almost missed my professor explaining that a student was missing, and to keep an eye out for them. They had vanished, no one knew what happened. I pushed this to the back of my mind, figuring it was just a mistake and they’d be found… Already forgetting their name.

At the park, Raven informed me that it was a very special day for her, so she was doing some simple meditation and wanted me to join her. We sat under some trees, and she closed her eyes, telling me to do so as well and to let my mind wander. She asked me what I was thinking, and I responded that I was thinking about how there was a missing student who vanished without a trace. I think I had known them? I can’t quite remember. I mentioned that I wondered if some monster had taken them, and how anyone could be a monster in disguise. She nodded solemnly, then asked me about how I liked our current class read. The missing student was forgotten.

She seemed to be happy with this small date, as she accepted when I asked her out to a local concert. The band was a metal band I’d seen her listening to, with their most famous song being about the Sentinel Island cannibals.

At the concert, she told me this was her favorite band. We even got to meet the band, who signed her battered copy of their album. All of their songs seemed to be about monsters, fictional and real. She loved every second of the concert and even kissed my cheek when I dropped her off at her home. The scent of a mysterious forest overwhelmed my senses when she got that close to me, and I was floating on cloud nine the whole way home.

The next day in class, she ignored me again, but suddenly was talking to another student. She had to have noticed my staring, since she looked right past me, as if I wasn’t even there before turning back to the other student, enthralled in conversation. I swore to myself that I’d never go out with her again; she was clearly toying with me.

If only I’d stayed true to that. She was too addicting. I was having withdrawals the longer I went without even attempting to talk to her. I had headaches, I couldn’t stop thinking of her, and all I wanted was to smell her forest-y perfume again.  Every time I tried to talk to her, it was like talking to a brick wall. It was driving me insane. Why wasn’t she talking to me? Why was that other student so much more interesting? What did they have that I didn’t?

The days turned into weeks, and I lost track of time. I became a shadow of myself, waiting for her to notice me again. Getting even a whiff of her perfume sent me spiraling, even as she walked away without noticing me. I spent my time at home in a haze, going over our last date obsessively, trying to see what I had done wrong, and why would she ignore me after I took her to meet her favorite band?

I couldn’t take it anymore, even after that student stopped attending classes, and she went back to not talking to anyone. I ran to her after class when I couldn’t take it anymore and begged her to tell me why she was ignoring me again. I thought we made so much progress. In response, she simply tilted her head at me and asked what I meant? I was so confused, but she told me that I had been ignoring her; she thought I needed space.

The room was spinning, and she looked so hurt, I believed it. All this time, I had been ignoring her? How could I not have realized? I fell to my knees, begging her forgiveness as my head kept going in circles, replaying the past month or so. I had been so distraught that I lost track of my days. She simply smiled at me and told me she forgave me, extended a beautifully manicured hand, her nails were sharp and pointy, I noted as I pricked myself on one of them. Her eyes went wide as she noticed I was bleeding, and she quickly looked away, backing up. “I’m sorry, I uh, can’t stand the sight of blood in person.” she told me as I pulled out a bandaid from my bag. I thought it was weird for a girl obsessed with gory horror movies to not be able to handle the sight of blood, but I quickly bandaged myself up and told her it was okay.

She asked me out on another date, and I was convinced she wanted me to be hers. I was determined to ask her to be my girlfriend, so I planned for us to go to this fancy restaurant that had a dance hall attached. I wanted to pull out all the stops to convince her to be my girlfriend.

I put on my Sunday best and my fancy shoes, even putting my hair in a fancy style. I bought a bouquet of black, dying roses as I knew those were her favorites, since she seemed so fascinated by the concept of death and dying things. When I rang her doorbell, I was breathless as she opened the door. She was wearing a long, red dress that hugged her curves and had a slit going up her thigh. She had a black lace shawl covering her shoulders, and her hair was falling in gorgeous waves down her back. Her makeup was elegant yet still distinctly her, with a light foundation, eyeliner, red and black eyeshadow, and her lips were red with a black outline.

I was in awe of her beauty, stammering something about how gorgeous she looked. She gave me a simple smile in return and asked if the flowers were for her. I had completely forgotten them and stuttered a yes as I handed them to her. She took them and admired them, saying how much she loved dying things as she put them on her coffee table, then said something about how she just wished they’d stay in that state longer.  I didn’t have time to ask what she meant since we had to get going.

Once we sat down to dinner, with beautiful music playing, I asked her about her dating life and who she was interested in. She was bisexual and always fell for those who were too full of life for her. She quickly changed the subject, though, and asked me why I was so persistent in chasing her. So, she had noticed! I had a slight blush as I told her she was so beautiful and fascinating, and I really was hoping she’d be my girlfriend. She had that weird look on her face again as she told me I had to convince her to say yes. I noticed they were starting to play a slow dance, so I stood up and reached for her hand, “Dance with me?” She stood up, and we walked to the dance floor, where other couples were slow dancing in each other’s arms.

Some people were staring, but I paid them no mind as we danced. It was late, and the ceiling was made of glass, with the full moon casting a beautiful light on Raven, highlighting her beautiful gray eyes. “Your eyes are stunning in the moonlight,” I said, dazzled by them. She had a look I couldn’t discern as she responded, “thank you, but I fear you won’t remember them” When I insisted I could never forget how beautiful her eyes are, she simply said, “You will soon forget the color of my eyes, and I’ll forget yours” As she said so, I couldn’t help but notice her canines seemed sharper than usual. I shrugged it off and asked what she meant, but she was suddenly distant again as the song ended.

I walked her home, and when I was about to leave after dropping her off, she asked if I wanted to come inside. I perked up, ignoring the screech of a nearby owl. Maybe this date was a success after all! I went inside with her and took it in. The house was a gorgeous Victorian-style, with Gothic charm. The furniture was black or cherry wood, and I noticed it seemed the house was in need of some repairs. It was creepy and felt older than it looked.

As we walked through the house, I noticed she seemed to really like crows, since there was about 13 crow statues around the house. Odd, but seems like something she’d enjoy. Still, the crows felt off, somehow.

I forgot all that as she led me to her bedroom, feeling so high as she told me that she had never let anyone in her room before, and no one had seen her true self. I was full of pride, wondering what made me so special that I got to see her as her true self, at home, not putting on a personality like we all do when we are out in public.

She asked me if I was a virgin, and I shyly responded yes, as she smiled and asked if I wanted to change that. The world stopped. She wanted to have sex… with me?! I nodded quickly as she gave me a shy smile. She started to undress, and I was so high I felt like Icarus, flying high above and so close to the sun.

Afterwards, while still riding out the high of climax, she gave me a toothy grin. Had her teeth gotten sharper? I shook the thought away and grinned back as she whispered that she had something to show me, getting up from the bed. I sat up, practically delirious as she asked me again, was I sure I’d remember the color of her eyes?

“Yes, they’ll haunt me for the rest of my life,” she only smirked, “what a shame, since I’ll soon forget yours.”

A blood-curdling scream was what the neighbors heard, prompting them to call the police. When they arrived however, all they found was an old, abandoned house, with no signs anyone had lived in it for decades. No one had ever seen anyone enter or leave that house, save for an old grandmother. At her 90-some odd years of age, all she remembered was a young girl with long dark hair, and teeth that were too sharp. She muttered something about how a young student had been seen there, all those years ago. No one knew what happened to them, they simply vanished without a trace, forgotten all too soon.

In the end, Raven was only half right. I would forget the color of her eyes, but I don’t think she ever forgot mine.