….."Why?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" He finally turned to meet my eyes.
"Why are you doing this to me? What happened between us?" Tears started forming in my eyes.
"Nothing. I just came to realize it was wrong to be together. Nothing good will come out of it. It's better this way for both of us." He said without emotion.
"I understand breaking the relationship, but what about our friendship? What did I do to the five of you? How can you all abandon me like this?"
"You're overreacting. You're clearly not alone. Don't you have Anita and Philip?"
"So, what is this? Mere jealousy?"
"I'm not that shallow. Neither are the others. Let's face it. Friendship between humans and vampires is impossible from the beginning. Despite living in harmony, our kinds are still enemies. Especially you. You are the Church leader's daughter. We can't have any connection with you."
"Then why did we even become friends in the first place?!" I couldn't control myself and finally raised my voice.
"It was a mistake. And that's why we corrected it."
"You are so selfish and cruel." My voice cracked at the end and I realized I was already crying.
"Well, we are monsters after all."…..
I woke up with tears flowing from my eyes. I had a nightmare. But I knew it was something more. It was a memory, a heartbreaking one. At least I was able to figure something out. Those five vampires were my friends, but they abandoned me in the end for being human. Kai. He was someone I once loved. He was someone who broke my heart. Then, a slight sense of fear struck me. Impossible. I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to. The door suddenly opened and Kilian came in.
"Mom, are you alright?" He said with that worried look I've never seen before. The situation had become so bad. We were miles away from our home with no one to turn to, and surrounded by people I once called friends.
"I'm fine now. How about you?" I checked and was surprised to find that his wounds have healed so easily,
"Guess it's one of the perks of being part-vampire." He said with a grin.
"Since when have you figured it out?" I asked.
"A long time ago. I've always known I wasn't normal." He said calmly. "Well, you never said anything so I didn't pry."
"I'm sorry. Even if I wanted to say something, I didn't know what to say. I had suspicions but I wasn't sure of it. I was waiting for your father to say something, but he never did."
"Yeah. He lied to us both." He said in a sad tone. "But I forgive him. He took care of us and treated me like his own son. He protected us. We'll always be a family."
"We should leave now. He must be worried about us."
"Leave? Why?" I was startled to see the vampires in the room. They came in without making a sound. "Are you really leaving again?" The honey-voiced vampire asked.
"Even if I wanted to, will you let us go just like that?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.
"We would have. But I found this." The vampire named Kai said. He walked slowly toward us and gently placed the necklace on the bedside table. It was the necklace from Maria. "This is yours. Right, Krista?"
I stared at him. I stared at his eyes and got lost this deep sense of familiarity. I averted my eyes and didn't utter a word.
"Let's stop playing games. Why did you come back?" He began. "We looked everywhere for you. How can you not even send a hint that you were alive for the past seventeen years?" His voice cracked at that last word. I very quickly turned to face him again. The sadness was evident in his eyes.
"It's not my mother's fault." Kilian said. "She got in an accident seventeen years ago and lost her memories."
"Really? What happened?" The vampire named Jeremy said. "What about Philip and Anita?"
"It was a car accident. I don't know anything about a Philip and Anita." Kilian answered.
The names were familiar to me. Then something clicked in my head. "Adam is most probably Philip. And my new name, Annie, must be short for Anita. That means she must have died."
"Wait, so dad's name isn't Adam but Philip?" Kilian asked.
"Dad?" The vampire named Christian sounded surprised. "You married him?" He asked me.
"When mom and dad came to town, mom was already pregnan—" I grabbed his hand to stop him from talking.
Kai stared at me. His intense gaze was hypnotizing. "How can you not tell about my own son?"
His question stunned me. He was very direct. The confidence he had about Kilian being his son was making me feel annoyed. "How can you be so sure he's your son?" I asked him.
"Because you loved only me." He said in a tone that was in between giving a statement and asking a question.
"And in the end, you broke my heart and pushed me away." I said, tears forming in my eyes. He looked at me with desperate eyes. "I remembered something before waking up. It was a bad memory. You said it was wrong to be together and that even our friendship was a mistake."
The other vampires were silent. They avoided looking at my eyes. Guilt was clear in their faces. "I'm sorry. I regretted it the moment you walked away." Then he took my hand and held it between his. "Will you forgive me?"
I looked at him. He looked so vulnerable. "I can't answer that. Not right now. I don't even remember you. I don't remember my feelings for you. I don't remember the pain I felt. So, how can I forgive you?"
"You don't have to forgive me right away. I'll make it up to you. I'll protect you, if you let me." He was pleading.
"No." Kilian said in a tone as cold as Kai's. "We don't need your protection." He grabbed Kai's hand and pushed them away.
"Son. Give me a chance. Please."
"We've been doing fine without you. For seventeen years, we were happy without you." He told him flatly. "We'll survive without you for a couple more years."
"Kilian, don't be rude to your own father." Christian said. "We really tried to find Krista after she left. But everything was in total chaos. The orphanage was burned to the ground and your mother and Philip and Anita were suddenly accused of treason against the Church." He explained. Then he faced me. "We heard you three were the ones who set fire to the orphanage. Do you have any recollection of it? Can you remember why?"
"No, I can't." I said. "But I came here with a woman named Maria. She said she was one of the children at the orphanage at that time. She said she needed my help. I don't know where she is now though."
"I think you need to stay here for the time being." The vampire with the glasses said. "It must have been something important. There's no way you did what you did without a good reason. You'll have to regain your memories."
"Great." Christian smiled. "We'll help you."