The Search

When Silas mouthed another insult that made Deric charge at him and knock him off his feet, the maids ran off in a panic, leaving only me standing there speechlessly. What the hell!!?

They were going at each other like they wanted to kill. At one point, Deric had his hands wrapped around Silas's neck, then Silas kicked him and threw a punch at him. They threw themselves around the room wildly, causing furniture to fall to the ground in the process. I was stunned for a long time because I hadn't expected something like this to happen. But the moment I regained control of myself, I hurried toward them. The last thing I wanted was for either of them to end up hurt, and with the way things were going, they might even end up with broken bones. It would heal fast, of course, but sometimes it's better to avoid trouble.

"Stop it, both of you!" I yelled at them. However, neither of them paid any attention to me and continued trading blows and scratches. It was becoming a rather bloody scene. I felt like I was watching something out of a Sparta movie. Hesitantly, I took another step toward them. I was afraid I might get hit accidentally. They weren't even paying attention to the mess they were making of the once-luxurious living room. Both were focused on killing each other. "Guys!"

As I moved forward, I happened to step on a broken china plate, which made me lose my footing and come tumbling to the ground. The sound I made as I fell was loud enough to get their attention. Silas was pressing Deric to the ground with his fist raised mid-air, prepared to deliver a painful blow. His movements paused as he and Deric looked over at me.

"Hey, are you alright?" Deric asked as he looked at me with worry. It was odd seeing this emotion from him since he was the one sporting a bleeding nose and bruises on his face. It would heal very fast, but still, it looked very painful.

"I’m fine," I quickly pushed myself to my feet, my face red with embarrassment.

"No broken bones? No cuts?" Deric asked. His eyes raked over my body, searching for any injury I might have sustained.

I rolled my eyes at their worry. Seriously, I wasn't the one covered in bruises. It was just one fall; it’s not like I fell down a flight of stairs or anything. "I'm fine, really." Deric nodded, and before I knew what was happening, he and Silas were back to throwing each other around the room. I felt very annoyed by their behavior. What the hell was wrong with these guys anyway??! "That's enough! Stop fighting!!"

"Why are you defending him?!" Deric punched Silas hard enough that the other vampire ended up flung halfway across the room. I quickly rushed forward and stepped between them. I knew I wasn't really much of a barrier—both of them could throw me aside without even trying. But neither of them would do that, because they cared about me very much. Deric glared at me, the anger making his eyes change to a burning red color. "After all this time, you’re still on that bastard’s side?!"

"I’m not on his side; there are no sides. Come on, Deric, it’s not worth fighting over a... a fucking broken wall. Silas has enough cash to fix the damages he caused, I’m sure. So you don’t need to fight him for it."

"I’m not paying for shit!" Silas rose to his feet and wiped the blood from his face. His mouth was bleeding, but it didn't look as bad as it would have if he were human. "I intended to run over him with that car. He should be fucking lucky that only the wall suffered damage!"

"Are you crazy?! You can’t just go around threatening people like that!"

"I wouldn’t have to threaten him if you hadn’t left with him. I wouldn’t have to even fucking be here!"

My mouth fell open. Was he blaming me right now? After all the harsh things he had said to me, he still had the nerve to get angry about it? "I don’t see any rule that said I couldn’t leave you. Just like you didn’t see any rule that said you had to love me because I loved you." Silas must have read my mind; he knew what I was thinking.

He sighed, and all the tension seemed to leave his body. He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, you should have known I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t even know why I said it. I was just mad and frustrated. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. It means the world to me that you care about me so much."

"You had to lose it before you realized how much you fucking craved it, huh?" Deric was by my side in seconds. His eyes were still burning with anger, and there was a smile on his face that was both mocking and threatening. His expression was scary enough to make any man back down, but Silas wasn’t just any man. He glared back at Deric and even took a step forward, probably to show him that he wasn’t intimidated by him. "Too bad she’s not going back with you. Never will."

"And what right do you have to make that decision for her? I see—you must be scared that she’d go with me, so you didn’t want me to see her. You prevented me from coming in here because you were afraid of losing her to me. I’m the one she loves, and you can’t do much to change that. Though it’s not for lack of trying, is it?"

"For someone who’s hurt her as much as you did, you have a lot of guts!"

"I realize my mistakes, and I want to make things better. I want to take her away."

"Dream on, fucker! I won’t let you lay a single finger on—"

"GUYS!!" They both turned to look at me once more. "I am standing right here. Stop talking about me like I’m not!"

"Well, what do you say then? I know I was wrong for treating you the way I did. I was an asshole, and I was also terrified of what might happen if I accepted my feelings. I was raised to think humans were good for feeding and pleasure. My entire circle revolves around people who have that mindset. I... I didn’t want to love you, but I know now that I do. I don’t know when or why I started loving you, but my feelings are genuine, and I can’t let you go no matter how hard I try. I would really like it if you gave me a chance. I promise I’ll take good care of you this time." Silas made eye contact with me, and the sincerity in his eyes melted my heart.

I was about to step forward to tell him how much I loved him as well. Because even though I still wasn’t sure whether or not his confession was 100% genuine, he still came back to get me, and that was enough to remind me that all was not lost. But I felt Deric tense by my side. When I looked at him, he had a blank expression on his face. He was watching Silas, but it didn’t look like he was seeing him completely. I sighed as I reached out to hold his hand, which was clenched by his side. This wouldn’t do; this wasn’t the best time to make this kind of decision. I didn’t want to be that heartless. Silas looked at our joined hands, and his expression soured.

"I can’t go with you, Silas," I told him. "Not because I don’t want to, but because there’s something important I need to do first. I already told you that we knew each other before. We used to be... close."

"She means you used to have an incestuous relationship," Deric said. He smirked when he saw me glaring at him.

I ignored him and continued, "But something happened. Some bad vampires decided that they didn’t want humans living in freedom anymore and decided to enslave us, wiping the memories of every vampire who might stand against the idea. I know it’s hard to believe, but..."

"I believe you."

"Wait, you do?"

"Yes. I’ve noticed it for some time now. I get flashes of events that I don’t remember taking place. I see people, but I can never make out their faces clearly. If I try, I end up in severe pain. Plus, my father had said that the Elders were planning something, but they refused to tell him what it was. And he says that the reason why he liked the human was because she looked familiar to him. He felt like he had lived a very happy life with her—a life he can’t remember. The Elders didn’t wipe our memories; they just blocked them so that we only remember what life used to be like in the Dark Ages."

"Yeah, I’m so happy you figured it out."

"But what I don’t understand is why that bastard still has his fucking memories!!" Silas said, glaring at Deric. I felt like another fight might break out again.

" But what I don't understand is why that bastard still has his fucking memories!! " Silas said glaring at Deric. I felt like another fight might break out again.

" I have a higher IQ than you, I'm not easily bitched around like you "

" Damn Fucker!!"