Her Dream

Deric watched me with disapproving eyes. I could see the gears in his head turning; he was already thinking of the worst-case scenario.

"If this is your way of telling me that you’re going back to Silas, then I really don’t want to hear it."

"That’s not it at all. I had a dream."

"Yeah, I heard humans do have those from time to time."

Deric smiled at me when he saw the frustrated look on my face. I knew he was riling me up on purpose. His hands came to hold my waist.

"What happened? What did you dream about?"

"The Forbidden Tree. You’ve heard about it, right?"

I saw the moment Deric’s body tensed up when he heard my words. His hands, which had been tracing invisible lines on my hips, froze.

"You have lost your mind."

"Deric, listen to me—"

"No, Kerry, that’s enough."

He pushed me off and got to his feet. I stayed on the bed and watched Deric as he looked absently outside the window.

"You should be smarter than that."

"I know that it’s supposed to be dangerous. Mom told me about it. It might not even work at all. But we can give it a try at least."

"You want to go on a scavenger hunt for a f***ing tree that might not even exist? Just because you had a dream about it? Are you kidding me right now?"

"Just listen to me for one minute. Let me explain. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it could work. I’m sure of it. However, I need your help. I can’t do this on my own. I think this dream was a sign. If it doesn’t work out, then we have nothing to lose. Unless the Forbidden Tree isn’t real in the first place. Is it real?"

"It’s real, but you’re going to wish it’s not. Even high-ranking vampires don’t know where the hell it is. Plus, it’s guarded by the craziest person in existence. It’s a death wish, Kerry. How the f*** do you even know about the tree in the first place?"

"I already told you—Mom mentioned something about it."

"I’m sure she must have also told you that all the humans who tried to get to it in the past are dead. I expected better of you, but then again, you never seemed like the smart type of girl."

"So, is this you telling me that you’re not going to help?"

I asked, feeling a bit irritated by the insult. At one point, I had truly believed that Deric wanted to help me. He had told me on countless occasions that he would, but now it felt like he had given up hope completely. Or maybe he had only said those things in the past to get me to trust him, and now that I did, he wasn’t even willing to play along anymore.

"Believe it or not, I don’t wish to spend the rest of my life as a f****** feeder!"

"What the hell are you even complaining about? I’ve never fed on you."

"Yes, maybe you haven’t, but everyone else thinks you’re going to. Eventually, they’ll grow suspicious of our relationship, and then you’ll have to feed on me—or get someone else to do it to clear the rumors."

Deric raised a questioning brow at me. Confusion was evident on his face as he processed my words. A smirk found its way across his handsome face. I figured he must have pieced together the meaning behind my sentence. Of course, the asshole was going to find it amusing. He was probably going to gloat about how he had warned me not to go with Silas, but I hadn’t listened.

"So that’s why you asked me to come get you. That’s very sad indeed."

"Get out of here!"

I grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him. It wouldn’t cause him any damage, but I was hoping to wipe that smug expression off his face. Deric caught the pillow and tossed it aside.

"This is my room."

I rolled my eyes at him and got to my feet. It was a wasted effort coming here. If I had known that Deric wouldn’t be of much help to me, I wouldn’t even have told him. Yes, I knew how ridiculous it sounded. It could all just be a dream—a figment of my imagination. But I still felt like it was a lot more than that.

I had seen Terry. Maybe he was trying to tell me something through supernatural means. He was a ghost, after all. I don’t think even vampires were capable of wiping the memories of ghosts.

As I tried to walk past Deric and go out of the room, he held my arm and pulled me toward him so my back was snug against his front. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in the crook of my neck, probably basking in my scent. So far, every vampire I had met had said one or two things about how wonderful and delicious I smelled. I didn’t know whether to take it as a compliment or not. It was kind of creepy, considering these guys could possibly drain every drop of blood from my body.

This was the shit my life had turned into.

It was strange. When I was younger, I would always tell my mom that there was a possibility the vampires might lose control one day and enslave humanity. That her husband and my stepbrother could kill us. Mom would always laugh at me and tell me not to be so paranoid. But guess what? It ended up happening.

And I couldn’t even be smug about predicting the future.

"Don’t blank out."

Deric’s fingers were back to tracing invisible lines on my hips. Only this time, his hand had somehow found its way under my shirt. His skin was cold and lacked even the slightest warmth a human body possessed. Apart from the fangs—which vampires hid very well—the cold skin was the only other way to tell vampires and humans apart. Maybe the pale complexion as well.

"I’m not blanking out."

"Of course. Now, why don’t you tell me what this dream was about?"

"It was… well, I found myself back home. The house in Elthon. I was asleep on my bed, and everything was back to normal. I almost thought all this was a nightmare. I was hoping it was. I wanted to go down and check up on my mom to see if she still recognized me, but then Terry came..."

"Terry? Another boy in your harem?"

"I don’t have a harem."

Deric scoffed. For some reason, his touch felt a lot colder now. Was he manipulating his body temperature or something? I wanted to ask about it. In all those years I’d been living with my stepfamily, I never really knew a lot about vampires—only the important things, like their need to drink blood and their discomfort in the sun.

Deric spoke up before I could ask my question.

"Who is Terry? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him around you before. Or maybe I just never noticed. Is it a secret affair? Does poor Silas know?"

"If you keep acting like an asshole, I’m not going to tell you anything."

"Forgive me, love. Go on with your story. Who is he?"

"Terry is the ghost that has haunted my neighbor’s house for as long as I can remember."

"A ghost? Is this a joke?"

"No, I’m being serious. So stop interrupting me and let me continue the story, please."

Deric made a motion as if zipping his lips and nodded for me to proceed.

"Terry came, and then he took me to this really big tree. I’ve never seen anything like it before. And the surprising thing is, it’s in Elthon Forest—or at least what appears to be Elthon Forest."

"Kerry…"

"I know it sounds crazy, but I’m telling the truth. I think Terry was trying to show me something. Though I still don’t know where he is now, I just hope the vampires didn’t get to him as well."

"Um, I hardly think the Elders would care about a ghost. I didn’t even think there were ghosts until now."

"We have incubi, ghouls, and witches. Is it so hard to believe that ghosts exist?"

"Hm. That does make sense, I suppose. But it’s still not enough reason to put your life in danger."

"This could be our last chance at fixing things."

"Do you want to fix things so badly because you want to get back together with him? Or is it because you genuinely care about your people and want to save them from a life of enslavement?"

What’s his deal exactly? Why does he care about Silas so much?

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Deric was jealous of my stepbrother.

"I want to make things better. And if in the process I get to save the people I care about, then it’s an added benefit. Will you help me?"

Deric sighed as he let go of me.

"Elthon isn’t that far away. We can go check it out to see if that tree is there. But I have to warn you not to hope too much—it’s very unlikely that you’ll find what you’re looking for."

"I understand. Thank you so much, Deric. I really don’t know how to repay you."

Deric didn’t respond. He gave me a soft smile and told me to get ready for breakfast. Then he walked out of the room, leaving me behind, feeling giddy and hopeful.

I made my way out of Deric’s room and headed to mine. But before I could lock my door, I was alerted by the loud sound of something shattering. I also heard panicked yelling from the female workers. Some of them ran past me, heading downstairs. I followed behind them, wanting to see what all the commotion was about.

I saw shattered glass, broken walls, and dust in the air. In the living room, there was a huge hole in the wall that looked like a car had driven right through it.

When I saw the familiar red car in the middle of the room, I didn’t need to be told what had happened. Deric was standing next to the sofa, watching the car with a blank expression.

Only when Silas stepped out of the car—rather graciously—did Deric’s face darken.

"You drove your car through my wall," Deric said, glancing at the fallen wall, now reduced to shattered bricks.

"I was hoping you’d be standing by the wall," Silas said matter-of-factly.

Everyone in the room was tense. I think we all knew what was coming.

When Silas mouthed another insult, Deric charged at him, knocking him off his feet. The maids ran off in a panic.

Only I was left standing there, speechless.

What the hell?!