"Wow. That is a beautiful painting. You are so talented." The little girl smiled with my compliment. It must be the first time anybody complimented her skills.
Anita, Philip and I started volunteering at the orphanage. Kai was against it at first, but we had to at least find something, a lead that could help us move forward. Anita signed up as an assistant nurse. My uncle, her father, was glad after she made lies of wanting to experience the world outside of their hospital. When she said she'd be volunteering at the orphanage to help take care of the children, her father was pleased – thinking his daughter had matured into someone as amazing as her mother. Anita was laughing while she was describing uncle's expression after believing her stories. Philip volunteered to do errands for the orphanage. His father was mad after hearing it but didn't say more. Philip said his father, Dr. Caesar, wasn't the type to engage in arguments. Besides, the doctor knew his son wouldn't listen anyway. He said it's not like he could tie him up and lock him in his room. My father was thrilled after hearing I wanted to start volunteering at the orphanage again. He said the children would be happy to see a lot of adults, besides the nuns, wanting to spend time with them. Father said they need it most to erase the painful memories they had of being abandoned. I found volunteering at the orphanage fun, and the satisfaction I was feeling was beyond words.
Kai and Ethan were on babysitting duty. Kai said it would be dangerous to spend time with Amelia because of her violent tendencies so we agreed that they take care of her. They visit her almost every night. More than looking out for her, it was important we observe her intently in case of any signs of changes in her behavior as well as physically and emotionally. Marcus, Jeremy and Christian were out following those in our list of suspicious people. The list included staff, nuns and volunteers at the orphanage as well as high-ranking officials from both the orphanage and the school. Jeremy was very happy with the task given to him. He said he always wanted to be a detective. We all knew the risks but we all were determined to find answers.
Days passed and there still wasn't any improvement, aside from the fact that my relationship with Kai had become deeper and stronger. It was wrong. We both knew that. But the thrill of a forbidden love was very exciting. We kept it secret from our friends, of course. We knew we could trust them but we wanted to find the right time for it, and the situation was obviously not it. We agreed to tell them after everything had been settled. We acted normally at school. I found out I had great acting skills and considered making a career out of it in the future. At night, when Kai and Ethan weren't at the cabin, Kai and I were together. When everyone's asleep, I would sneak out of the house and run to his car parked just across the street from the western fence. I was beginning to get the hang of climbing walls. Sometimes, we went for midnight strolls in the mountains, away from the possibility of getting seen. Other times, we went star gazing by secluded beaches. The night sky was always beautiful every time I was with him. So this is how it feels to be in love? The thought keep coming to me. I never thought I'd fall in love, especially with a vampire.
Those moments, I wanted them to last forever. But I guess it was too much to ask…
"You're leaving?" I asked, perplexed.
"We have to. It's an annual event. All the powerful vampire clans will be there and we'll have to go. No excuses." Christian explained.
I looked at Kai. "How long will you be gone?"
"It depends. Two weeks, at least. But once or twice before, it went on for a month or two." Kai said sadly.
"Hey! You'll be fine. Anita and Philip will be here with you. You won't be alone. You don't have to miss me that much." Jeremy said jokingly.
"What about Amelia though? Who'd take care of her while we're away?" Ethan raised the most important question.
"She has been well-behaved lately. I believe it'll be alright as long as all three of you visit her together. That way, you can help each other out in case of emergency." Christian said.
"Maybe I can talk to my father and find an excuse not to go." Kai said.
"No. Christian's right. It'll be fine as long as the three of us go together. Don't worry." I assured him. "Besides, if anything happens Philip will protect us. Right, Phil?" I teased him.
"Of course, I will. Don't worry about it."
I couldn't sleep that night. I could feel something at the pit of my stomach… something bad. I couldn't put my finger on it. Then there was a tap on my window, and the shadow of a man on my balcony. It was a familiar figure that immediately erased the negative thoughts starting to form on my head. I opened the door and let him in. We sat on the bed and gazed at each other for a long time.
"I don't want you to go." I finally said how I was feeling.
"I know. I don't want to go either. But I have to. I'll only be gone for a while. I'll be back soon. I promise."
I couldn't stop myself. I embraced him. "Just take care of yourself." I said in between sobs.
"You too." He said while caressing my hair. "Don't you dare flirt with another man, especially Philip." He said teasingly. I laughed.
"Yes, sir. You should go and get some rest. You'll be leaving early tomorrow."
"It's fine. I can manage a few sleepless nights." Then he flashed that dazzling smile of his. "Now close your eyes. I'll leave after you've fallen asleep."
I hugged him tight, and felt his lips lightly brush against mine before I drifted off to my dreams.
When I woke up, he was gone. I didn't know, why but there was this feeling of being abandoned. I shook of the thought and took a nice warm bath. The school seemed a little more uninteresting than usual. I ate lunch alone. It dawned on me that I didn't even give any effort to make friends with other students, even with my classmates. It was mainly because our circle felt complete. I didn't feel like I needed other people around me, not one bit. At least the volunteering hours at the orphanage was a little more exciting. For the past days, we were able to locate all the cameras inside the building and figured out the possible blind spots. Philip was good with the computer and had been trying ways to hack into the system. Anita had been talking casually with the nuns and other staff in case one of them might slip into sharing important information. I had been spending time with the children and taking notes of their behavior and mentality. The children seemed fine. One thing was bothering me though. More kids had been 'getting adopted' the past few days. What's more strange was they had been getting adopted and supposedly had been sent to their new families at night, when volunteering hours was over. I tried asking for details about the adoptions but the personnel wouldn't share as much information as they deemed needed. The nun said that even though I was my father's daughter, there were some things the orphanage just couldn't share to volunteers and outsiders.
We visited Amelia on weekends and she seemed calmer than before. Like what Christian said, she had been well-behaved. Philip and Anita took a liking to her. They said she reminded them of when we were little. Anita was older than us and was always tasked to babysitting us when were kids. Philip and I were the mischievous kind and had caused her trouble more than once. She always complained but she always laughed loudly when we did silly things. Anita was more than a cousin, she felt like a big sister – even like a mother sometimes. Philip was like a twin brother who always made me feel complete. We were like peas in a pod. I was heartbroken when his family decided to leave years ago.
I was on my way to the bathroom when I saw one of the nuns walking down the hallway, carrying two boxes and a bunch of folders. My instincts were telling me to get my hands on them. It felt like some kind of a trigger I couldn't quite explain. I decided to follow my instincts. I walked towards the nun who was too busy to look ahead, and deliberately bumped into her. Everything scattered on the floor and the contents of the boxes spilled. I apologized to her and helped her pick them up. I turned my back to her and grabbed a handful of documents from each of the folders within reach. I folded them and hid them inside my jacket.
"I'm really sorry. Do you need help carrying them?" I offered politely.
"It's alright. I was on my way to put them in storage." Then, she left.
Philip came walking towards me after the nun left. I immediately took the documents out and skimmed through them. Then I saw a familiar name.
"Phil? Why is your father's name in these documents?"