….."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 woke up covered in tears again. I was filled with the feeling of abandonment. He left me. He went away and left me. The memories were getting back to me one by one. I was like a puzzle – each piece getting carefully laid in place. My head hurt, and my heart, despite being filled with forgotten emotions, felt like shattering. Then I wondered whether it was really what I wanted. For seventeen years, our lives were great. It was filled with love, happiness and contentment. Back at that small town, all we worried about was what we wanted for dinner or how to get rid of the weeds in the garden. I never imagined my life was connected to something vile and complicated.
Someone knocked on the door. It was Christian. He was holding a tray of food. "Here's your breakfast. Kai prepared them himself. You slept without eating dinner last night so he prepared a lot."
"Can I ask you something?" I said calmly.
"Of course. You can ask me anything." He answered.
"What happened between us?" I asked. "A little while ago I recalled something. I think it was the night I left. In my memory, Kai told me that it was wrong to be together. He told me friendship between humans and vampires is impossible, that we're enemies. And before I woke up today, I saw another memory. I saw myself asking him to stay. I saw him promising me he'd come back. Will you tell me what happened?"
He let out a deep sigh. He stood up and walked to the window. Then he slowly turned to face me and spoke. "That memory of him telling you he'd come back was probably the night before we went to the Vampire Convention. It's an annual gathering where the top vampire clans meet and talk about plans for the future and all."
"And you all went there." I stated so surely. I stared into his eyes and spoke with sadness; even I was surprised of my tone. "Then when you came back later, we were no longer friends?"
"Don't hate him." He sighed again. "I shouldn't be telling you this. But, I don't think I can keep it anymore."
"What is it? Tell me." I urged.
"It was Kai's father, the Council leader. He knew all along that you and Kai had been sneaking out at night to go on dates. A relationship between a human and a vampire is the worst crime possible. He tried to fight for you. He tried to reason with his father. But the Council leader was agitated. He already had suspicions that the Church was planning something against the vampires, and that they might just be using you to spy on the Council. Kai did everything he can to persuade his father but he wouldn't believe that your love was genuine. He was scared Kai would run away and go back to you, so he put him under house arrest and had Elites guarding him. He tried to escape a couple times. In the end, the Council leader told him he'd have you killed if he doesn't cut ties with you. He told the five of us to stop hanging out with you or things will end badly."
I was dumbfounded. Christian's story was too much for me to handle. My mind was starting to go insane. "Are you telling the truth?"
"Of course I am. I will never lie to you." He said. "We didn't want you to get hurt. You are our dearest friend, our only human friend."
My tears started to fall. I didn't remember the feelings I had for Kai, but for some reason, the explanation I just heard pulled a thorn from my heart. I was feeling overwhelmed.
"When you left, he almost went crazy. We went looking for you. But your trace ended in a motel a few miles from here. When we got there, it was surrounded by Knights from the Church. Everything was in disarray and there was blood on the ground. It was the first time I saw Kai break down. He had always been calm and composed. But that night, he snapped. He went missing for days and when he came back, he seemed different. He was never the same again."
"Enough. I've heard enough." I said. "I don't feel good. I'll go back to sleep." I dismissed him. I heard the door opened and closed. My mind went blank. I didn't know how to feel. My emotions were all over the place. I closed my eyes and let my mind rest.
….."Ahm, I was looking for the...clinic. And I got lost." "Do you think I'm a fool? You're the church leader's daughter. You must know the school's layout by now." "Then why'd you even ask who I was? Anyway, since you know that, then you can probably understand why I'm late. Again." "No. I don't understand. You might want to think about waking up earlier and manage your time more properly." Then he walked away…..
"How did you find me? Why did you come to save me?" "Don't assume things. I was passing by and heard your voice. It seemed strange to me how the princess of the Church would be hanging around here." "What were you doing around here then? This doesn't look like a place anybody would be wandering around in." "I was on my way home. It's not far from here."…..
"My name is Amelia." "You have a lovely name. You are from the orphanage, correct?" "How did you get here? Why did come here?" "I escaped. I just ran and ran. I didn't know where I was going, until I came here." "You ran here?" "Why did you escape from the orphanage? Don't you like it there?" "No. They hurt us."….
"I just hated how you were so close with him." "Who? Philip? He's my childhood friend. Just because I've been spending time with him doesn't mean we're not friends anymore. It's okay to be friends with more than one person, right?" "I wasn't jealous as a friend. I was jealous as a man."…..
"But they did. They're doing it now." "What? That's impossible. I just visited the Church yesterday and things seemed normal." "Well, they've become pretty good liars." "Doctor, who exactly proposed this research?" "It was your father."…..
"Be honest with me." "It's already obvious you're in love with him." "What are you talking about?" "Don't try to deny it. You and Kai obviously have feelings for each other but my question is whether you two are together." "Don't even try to lie." "Yes." "Are you out of your mind? If anybody finds out--" "But you won't tell anybody. Will you?" "Of course not. You're my cousin and my best friend. I will never do anything to put you in danger." "But there's something else." "What is it?" "The past week you've been looking pale. You've been feverish and feeling dizzy. You've been vomiting a lot too." "Are you pregnant?"…..
"Know what? What's going on, Krista? Is something wrong?" "Nothing. Everything's fine. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I'll treasure the memories we shared." "Why do say it like that? Are you leaving?" "Just extend my thanks to the others." "No, we're not leaving until you tell that guy. Where's that jerk? I'm going to teach him a lesson!" "What is the meaning of this? I thought I already told you to leave?" "You're all disrupting our party. Leave now or we'll resort to violence." "Don't worry. We're leaving. But there's one last thing I forgot." "What is it?" I slowly walked to him and very gently kissed him on the lips. I heard the other vampires gasped. When I pulled away, he was frozen in place and was staring intently at me. "Goodbye."…..
"Anita! Let's go!" I called out to her. She stopped shooting at them, and I realized she was out of bullets. Then she ran towards the truck. She was even smiling as she ran. Anita had always been the quiet, reserved type. The excitement must be overwhelming her and for the first time, she felt a thrill in her life. She was almost at the truck, but… "Nooooo!" I screamed. She stopped running a few feet from us and we watched in horror as a patch of blood started forming on her chest. She looked at us and opened her mouth. Go. That was the only thing she said, then she fell to the ground…..
I opened my eyes so abruptly. I rubbed them lightly. I looked around the room with a heavy heart. Just like that, I woke up from a seventeen-year long dream.