Chapter 31

The burning sensation in my throat woke me up in the middle of darkness. I pulled the blanket covering my body and got out of bed. Even though there was almost no light illuminating this place, I could still see clearly.

Nick was not beside me. A slight panic interrupted this burning sensation. I swallowed my saliva and walked towards the door; maybe Nick was in the living room. Would I drink his blood again? My memory of his blood filling my throat a few hours ago intensified this burning sensation, but a moment later, a feeling of disgust followed that memory.

Nick's blood... didn't feel like blood at all. It tasted like the most enjoyable thing that had ever touched my tongue. Hearing his heartbeat as his thick, warm blood saturated my throat, I had never felt such a good feeling before.

But after I finished, Nick seemed to keep his distance from me. He even tried to get away from me as quickly as possible. Was he angry because I took too much of his blood? I swallowed my saliva again before opening the door knob in front of me. The living room in this hotel suite was combined with a small pantry in the corner of the room; this burning sensation made my instincts move towards the pantry first. I took a new glass and filled it with water, but when I drank it, it felt like drinking a mouthful of sand instead of water. I spat out all the water I had drunk in the sink and wiped my mouth in disgust.

"Ah, Nick said you wouldn't wake up for a few more hours."

I turned my body back to the source of the voice behind me very quickly, my breath almost caught when I saw who was standing in front of me now. His smile made his dimple on his right cheek clearly visible, his blue eyes similar to Nick's met my surprised gaze.

"Greg?" my voice, which was hoarse, almost sounded strange to me.

"Eleanor?" he replied with his annoyingly similar voice as before. I stared at him for a full minute until he laughed. "I'm not a ghost, okay?"

I walked towards him and raised my heels to wrap both my arms around his neck, "I thought... I thought you—"

Greg returned my hug just as tightly, "Dead? You think I'm that weak?"

The sound of his pulse in his neck made the question that was about to come out of my mouth disappear. Without realizing it, my fangs had elongated again, a few centimeters away from his neck.

"Whoa! Eleanor, wait a minute." Greg released my hands from his neck and pushed me away, "Nick will push me off this hotel balcony if he knows you've drunk my blood!" He furrowed his eyebrows seriously as he looked at me.

My right hand moved to cover my mouth, and with panic, I stepped back until my waist hit the pantry counter.

"I know you're thirsty; Nick told me." He walked towards one of the pantry cabinets and opened it, "And as a good brother to you, I brought the best Wine."

"Brother?" I murmured still with my right hand covering my mouth. Wine?

"Well, yeah. Technically, you're much younger than me, Eleanor. 200 years younger, to be exact." He answered while pouring the red liquid into a wine glass. The pleasant smell filled the room quickly, but I tried to suppress this hunger and burning sensation.

Greg's words still echoed in my head. "You're not my brother."

Greg closed the wine bottle and looked at me with one of his eyebrows raised, "Yeah, now I'm your brother." He paused for a moment to sniff something in the air and then looked at me again, "Your scent has mixed with Nick's."

"What?" my question was slightly muffled by my hand covering my mouth. I still didn't move from my spot.

"There are only two ways for your scents to mix..." Greg looked awkward as he looked at me again, "Sleep with him or share blood with him."

"I didn't sleep with Nick." I replied quickly; I felt my face starting to get hot, and for a split second, I forgot about my thirst. I looked at Greg angrily and then grabbed the wine glass in front of him, the first sip felt like heaven to me. I closed my eyes as I finished the full glass of wine in two seconds. Although it didn't taste as good as Nick's blood, this wine mixed with blood wasn't too bad. When I looked up again, Greg was staring at me with an incredulous expression.

"Nick let you drink his blood?" his voice sounded as surprised as the expression on his face. "Nick...?"

I sensed from Greg's current expression that what Nick did for me was not normal for the Volders.

"Nick let you drink his blood..." Greg repeated, this time with a pout on his face.

"Is... that not normal?"

"Well, if he only gave you a little blood to heal your wound, that's normal. But letting someone drink his blood directly... that's not normal, Eleanor." He glanced at my empty wine glass and then filled it again. "No wonder he drank cold blood earlier." He muttered as he handed me my glass.

I finished the contents of my glass quickly, and Greg refilled it. The burning sensation in my throat had disappeared, but I couldn't refuse one more glass, this time I sipped it slowly.

"Hey... Greg, what happened after the accident?" This question had been bothering me the most, "And how come no one remembers it?"

Greg sighed and muttered to himself, "I knew you would ask about that."

"I don't remember much, Eleanor. What I know is when I was injured, someone helped me and then contacted Sebastian and Ludmilla, after that, Nick asked for the help of some other Volders to erase the memory of everyone who witnessed the accident. They needed two full days." Greg pulled the corners of his mouth down and took his vibrating phone from his jeans pocket.

"But you—" I swallowed my saliva before continuing, "I thought you were dead." I remembered Greg's blank gaze at that time, and the piece of iron that pierced his neck...

"Yeah, but I only lost consciousness at that time. Then someone gave me blood before my condition got worse."

I looked at him puzzled, "Blood?"

"Volder blood. You know our blood is very effective for healing. When I woke up two hours after the accident, I asked who gave me their blood to thank them, but no one felt like they gave their blood to me. And you know, with such a serious injury, I needed quite a bit of Volder blood to heal that quickly."

"When I woke up, I could still feel their blood flowing in my body. I could detect familiar blood, like Nick's, Eric's, or Sebastian's blood... but this blood felt older than Nick's or the others. And as far as I remember... Alastair is older than Nick."

I placed my half-empty glass on the counter. "What do you mean?"

"Nick would hate me if I told you, but you deserve to know." Greg seemed hesitant for a moment before continuing, "I don't think Alastair meant to kill us in that accident, or when he kidnapped you."

"Wait... so the accident was his doing?"

Greg shrugged. "I don't have proof, but I know he was the one who gave me his blood. He didn't kill you but transformed you, and then the video..."

A cold feeling ran down my spine as my mind went back to that moment. "Did Nick watch it?" I asked, my voice catching. A mixture of shame and disgust filled me as Greg nodded slightly. Maybe that's why Nick left me so quickly after giving me his blood...

"You know, Volders live longer than other creatures, some of us for centuries. Living that long can drive you mad, Eleanor. That's why many Volders choose to end their lives when living becomes... unbearable. I investigated Alastair's background after he sent that video. No one knows how old he is, but I think he's over four centuries old."

Over four hundred years old? I remembered his empty gaze when we first met that afternoon. His ashen eyes seemed hollow to me. Maybe that was the effect of living for four hundred years? But why did he attack me?

"Alastair lost his wife just fifty years ago," Greg continued, looking at me with a grim expression. "That's why I believe he attacked you."

"But why Nick?" And if he wanted to die, why didn't he do it himself?

"Because Alastair is part of the clan." Greg sighed as he saw me about to ask another question. "There's a lot you need to know about Volders. We used to live in clans, but after our numbers dwindled, many chose to live among humans, like Nick and me. While some remained in the clan, they still consider the Volder race superior in this world and maintain the ancient Volder way of life. Like drinking blood directly from the source."

I couldn't hide the disgust on my face as I heard this. Greg only responded with a faint smile. "Why Nick?" I repeated.

"Those within the clan have a strong bond. And if one part of the clan is killed... the other members will seek revenge," Greg explained, his tone serious as he looked at me. "Now you know why I'm telling you all this."

"If Nick kills Alastair, his clan will kill him..." I murmured. And only I could stop Nick now. "But why—"

"I don't know." Greg interrupted. "But I have some guesses. Nick is not the strongest Volder right now, but he's one of the more well-known. We call him Jack The Ripper."

Jack The Ripper? I wasn't sure I wanted to hear this.

"Listen, Eleanor, I didn't want to tell you this. I think it's better if Nick tells you himself. But—"

"I want to hear it." I cut him off. I knew little about Nick's past. "Tell me, Greg."

Greg looked hesitant again, so I pressed him, "What did you do to Lana, Greg?" I placed my hand on his collar, feeling the tension in his muscles.

"Hey, I didn't do anything..." His voice was calm, but his eyes showed a hint of worry. "I was just trying to protect her."

"If you hurt her, even a little, I will kill you, Greg."

"I know." Greg avoided my gaze as he said it. He was hiding something from me.

"Greg, what are you going to do to Lana?" I repeated, folding my arms across my chest. He combed his black hair with one hand before looking at me again. He seemed nervous and a bit... ashamed?

"I'm going to propose to her." For the first time today, my mind went back to Lana. "Oh, damn." I muttered as I walked to the phone next to the TV. I didn't know where my cellphone was right now.

"I've taken care of it."

My fingers hovered in the air as I turned to Greg. "Taken care of it?"

"I made her think you're on a business trip."

Even though Greg's voice sounded calm, his expression was anything but calm. "And?" I dialed Lana's number, which I knew by heart.

"I'll tell her after—"

"You can't." I interrupted, trying to contain my anger before saying the next sentence, "You can't propose to Lana." If Lana married Greg, he would force her to become a Leech like me. And I still vividly remembered the pain I felt when I transformed. I wouldn't let Lana get hurt.

Greg's expression turned cold. "You don't have the right to decide, Eleanor."

"You. Can't. Propose. To her." I hissed, clenching my fists. I could feel my fangs starting to emerge again. "No."

"I will do it." He raised his voice. "You have no say in this."

My hands seemed to move on their own to grab his collar, "I will kill you if you do it, Greg."

Greg grabbed my wrist tightly, "You don't even know what's happening to Lana. I just want to help her."

"What do you mean?"

Greg's blue eyes stared at me coldly. "You'll find out soon enough."

My fangs were fully emerged between my lips. "Hey." Nick's voice made me open my eyes again. His lips kissed my right temple before resting there. For a few seconds, I forgot my anger. "I have to go home." I murmured as he pulled his lips away from my skin.

"Not now, Eleanor."

"Nick—"

"You're not used to being among humans. Greg will take care of Miss Morrel for now, so you don't have to worry."

Oh, that's what worried me. "What about the phone?" I asked, looking up at his handsome face.

"Yeah, it's okay." He smiled gently at me, his normally expressionless and cold blue eyes looking different as they gazed at me. A warm feeling filled me as I saw him like this.

Jack The Ripper? It couldn't be. This man was Nicholas Shaw. He might be a bit cold, arrogant, and annoying, but he wasn't that cold-blooded killer. It couldn't be.

But deep down, I knew. I was wrong.