7. You Are Now A Burden

Triana

Her body went rigid, as if every inch of her body had rusted and her muscles had frozen. Her heart raced, and her breath came out heavy. She wanted to flee, but even her fingers wouldn't budge as fear chained her soul.

Vlador lowered one foot to step onto the bed where Triana lay, followed by both hands. He began to crawl over Triana's body until their faces met.

"Hh..." Triana whimpered. Her tongue was numb as Vlador brought his pale face close to her throbbing neck, causing her to turn her face to the side with tightly shut eyes.

Triana's jaw tightened, and she clenched the bedsheets as she felt Vlador's lips press against the bite mark she believed was still open, sending a pang of ache and sting through her once more. But instead of a bite, Triana heard a long, strong exhale, causing her to peek slightly. Her brow furrowed as she realized Vlador was pulling his face away.

Then a large hand with long nails gripped Triana's jaw, forcing her to look forward at the fierce face of the vampire.

"I long to drink your blood to the last drop. I want to tear into your muscles and swallow every strand of your veins until your thin body dries up. But why must I be the one to let you drink my blood, human girl?"

Staring at Vlador, Triana blinked the tears from her eyes. What was he saying?

"Remove that fearful face of yours because I cannot bring myself to kill you," Vlador growled, then continued with a mutter, "At least, not for now."

Feeling the grip on her jaw tighten, Triana winced, but Vlador finally released the grip and left her body.

Blinking again, Triana tried to regulate her labored breathing. If she had to stand at the edge of a cliff facing a rocky sea, it might feel like this. But compared to her heart, which felt like it was about to explode, Triana was more concerned about the meaning behind Vlador's words just now.

She thought her life would end minutes ago, but wasn't that a thought that had crossed her mind before—when she was being eaten by Vlador in the middle of the forest?

So where was she now? She was in a room, and she was alive! And that vampire... did he just say that he wouldn't kill her?

"Och..." Triana winced again as she touched her neck, feeling the waves of pain approaching the vampire bite.

She touched her wound with her fingers. It was so painful and somewhat damp. When she pulled her hand back and looked at her fingers, there were spots of blood.

Scanning her surroundings, Triana found Vlador standing behind a window. His long arms were raised to lean on both sides of the window frame. His head was slightly bowed, as if he were experiencing depression.

The threat of being killed, which was no longer in front of her, was giving Triana the strength to sit up. "Wh-where am I? What happened?"

"I've been cursed, and so have you. We ... have been cursed." Vlador said without looking at Triana.

Triana's eyes widened. Ignoring the soreness in her neck and her weak body, she jumped off the bed and ran around the large, dimly lit room.

"Mirror! Where's the mirror?!" She cried out.

Vlador turned his back, and then his brown eyes followed where Triana was running. His brow furrowed, and he muttered, "What is that fool doing?"

Looking back at Vlador, Triana asked again, "Don't you have a mirror here? Please... I need it."

"I don't have one," Vlador replied. Then his gaze turned sharp. "Your face... It looks like a monster."

"What?" Tears welled up in Triana's trembling eyes. Then she fell to her knees with hands still exploring her face. "No! Haven't I fulfilled the conditions? Then why do I still receive the curse of ugliness? I didn't do anything wrong!"

Triana couldn't believe she had turned ugly. Although she couldn't see what her face looked like yet and didn't feel any difference when she touched it, a terrifying image of a hideous monster haunted her mind.

A pair of black shoes stepped forward and halted in front of Triana. Then a large, pale hand with long, sharp nails lifted her chin.

With warm tears filling her eyes, Triana looked at Vlador, who was smiling crookedly at her. She should have been afraid of the blood-drinking, fanged man. But somehow, the bleak future her parents always warned her about since she was little was even more terrifying.

Wouldn't it be better to die than to live in misery as the ugly one?

"So it's true. You made me drink that potion of suffering just for your beauty. The future you meant was that beauty, wasn't it? You're such a pitiful woman." Vlador uttered.

Ignoring the insult, Triana continued to sob, "How can I go home like this? I came here to save my future, but now my life is a mess. My future is ruined! What will people say when they see my face? What will happen to my parents... to my family?"

With a short laugh, Vlador released his grip. "That's the risk you have to accept when dealing with witches. If you weren't foolish, you should’ve known they're more cunning than serpents."

"If I have to live like this, I'd rather die," Triana murmured, hanging down her face until her tears fell directly onto the wooden floor.

But that statement was met with Vlador’s narrowed eyes, who soon stared sharply at Triana. "You cannot die. You should not. I won't allow it."

Raising her face, Triana looked at Vlador with furrowed brows. "Wh-what do you mean? Didn't you almost kill me?" She asked, then paused for a moment to realize that the fact that she was alive now was a big anomaly.

"Weren't you... going to kill me? Why am I still alive now? What is actually..."

Triana's string of questions halted again as vague memories began to surface in her mind.

Previously, she was captured by the bloodstained-mouthed vampire. Then she felt an immense pain in her neck as the vampire attacked her. At that moment, her body went limp, and her vision blurred. She was dying, but...

"The witch..." Triana muttered, her eyes widening. She lifted her gaze to meet the pale face with a pair of golden brown eyes above her.

"It seems your memories are just returning," Vlador said.

Triana nodded. "But I can't clearly remember what the witch said because I was dying at that time. Shouldn't... shouldn't I be dead by now? I thought you killed me at that time."

"I hoped I did. Unfortunately, you've become a burden to me now. You're a parasite." Vlador hissed.