The carved wooden double doors creaked as a servant pushed them open. Through the slowly widening gap, Lev could see the four members of The Elders had gathered. He was the last to arrive, and he knew one of them would surely comment on his lateness.“Lev,” greeted Lewin Fraunces, head of the Fraunces family and the oldest member of The Elders. “You’re late.”“You came too early,” Lev replied as he walked towards the only empty iron chair around a crystal-topped round table.The servant who had opened the door followed Lev and dragged the chair, allowing Lev to sit. As soon as Lev sat down, the servant left the room where The Elders began their meeting.They were in a birdcage-shaped greenhouse with a golden frame and crystal-clear glass. This place was more suitable for romantic events or stargazing at night than for old vampires who enjoyed discussing what other rules they should apply to keep Duradel humans obedient to them.“You—” Lewin’s tone rose. The wrinkles on his face were c
Sant pressed his finger to Vero’s lips and then placed his other finger on his lips. “Shh,” he whispered. “Follow me.”Vero didn’t understand why Sant wanted her to follow him, but she could only nod and submit as Sant dragged her into a nearby room, which turned out to be a storage room for cleaning supplies.They squeezed into the small space, and Vero almost toppled a pile of brooms in the corner when her foot accidentally bumped into them. Fortunately, Sant quickly caught them and carefully returned the brooms to their place.They stood facing the door, with her back leaning against his chest, and she could faintly feel his steady heartbeat. Vero didn’t dare speak or ask questions. She felt the tension in Sant’s grip on her hand and his other hand still covering her mouth, as if he was afraid she would scream.After a short while, Vero saw black shadows passing through the gap under the door. There was no sound, only darkness that temporarily obscured the light in the cramped room
Moonlight beams penetrated through the gap between the curtains. Vero tried to close her eyes repeatedly, but her mind couldn’t shut down for a moment to fall asleep. It was still vividly imprinted in her memory how serious and worried Lev and Sant’s faces were.What actually happened? Why did Lev bring up the topic of blood tests? Did her blood hide a dangerous secret for both vampires and herself? And there was another thing that bothered her. Who was Castellar? Why were his servants looking for her?Vero shifted from one side to another. Her eyes were open, and her gaze fell on the veranda door. Suddenly, the air in the room felt so hot and stuffy. Though she had never felt swelter since arriving in Duradel.She pulled back the blanket that covered her legs, then hugged a pillow, trying to find comfort. But her anxiety continued to haunt her tonight.After a futile struggle for several hours, she finally succumbed to her mind full of questions. She sat on the edge of the bed, stari
Vero felt uncomfortable when she has to talk about who she was. She has never told anyone about her past trauma, her life before being adopted by the Windward couple.It is a chapter of her life that she wanted to bury deep and forget. She turned and walked toward the collapsed wall. Her hand touched the wall while her eyes explore the peaceful night view.She heard Lev’s footsteps approaching her. He stopped right behind her and whispered, “I won’t judge.”His voice sounds as gentle as the wind in her ear and sent a shiver throughout her body. Vero closed her eyes for a moment, swallowed, and took a deep breath. “I am... an adopted child.”Lev said nothing, so Vero continued her story.*The children at The Holy Mary orphanage always said that Verona was the nuns’ favorite child. But she never felt like it. The nuns who took care of them were indeed good people, and not just toward her.Although that was the reality, those children always used that as a reason to bully her, and Veron
Lev took her home that night after they saw the motorcade heading towards Noblebranch. Besides saying that his sibling was in one of the cars, Lev didn’t say anything else. Even when they arrived at Vero’s room balcony and Vero bid him goodnight, Lev only nodded and brushed his finger against the back of her hand before leaving.Once again, their conversation had failed. None of Vero’s questions were answered, but at least she got a little clue. Lev wanted to know who she really was, and her origin. And given that she was a discarded child, it might have something to do with her biological family.With that thought, Vero fell asleep.It was six in the morning when someone knocked on her door, calling her name.“Verona Windward!”Vero groaned and pushed aside the pillow covering her head. Rubbing her eyes, she got up from bed and walked towards the door. When she opened it, Ms. Caroline’s angry face greeted her.“Ms. Windward,” called Ms. Caroline in an icy voice. “Are you planning to
“You can go,” said the health worker.Vero half-jumped from her seat and exited right as the hunched man opened the curtains of her booth from the other side. She hurried to the back of the booth to find the door that Jia had mentioned. As her hand touched the door handle, she couldn’t resist the temptation to look back. For a moment, she caught a glimpse of the hunched man’s figure, and before either Vero or he could clearly see each other, she opened the door and ran out of the hall.*Henry swept his fingertips over the oak wood desk. The wood was hundreds of years old, but not as old as him. As he raised his hand and looked at his clean fingertips, Raphael walked in with a trolley.“The servants clean your workspace every day, Mr. Deammone,” said Raphael. He pushed the trolley to the coffee table near the long window and began arranging teacups and snacks.“Good,” said Henry with a smirk. He walked up to Raphael and observed his movements. Raphael seemed nervous, and Henry was ple
Henry suspects something.Lev has to be careful in answering his questions because he could twist anything Lev says. “They stick to me all the time.” Lev stretched his hand and placed it on the table, then tapped his fingers there. For a moment, he looked at the surface of the table, covered with a white tablecloth, and thought about how conspicuous it would be if a drop of blood fell there. Then he glanced at Henry. “I have a lot of fans.”For a few seconds, Henry was silent. Then he laughed. A loud, infectious laugh filled the entire room.“You realize how disgusting your statement sounded, don’t you?” scoffed Henry, with a residue of laughter coating his words. “Are they that obsessed with you?”“I’m sure if I told them I was a vampire, they would willingly give me their blood.”Henry laughed again. This time not as hard as the first, but his sparkling eyes showed that the laughter was genuine.“You should try it sometimes,” Henry suggested after his laughter subsided.“No, thank y
A piece of paper that Elijah gave was neatly tucked in Vero’s pants pocket, and it felt like she was carrying a pistol. Vero tried to act normal amidst the big question mark that now haunted her mind.Elijah didn’t say anything else after handing over the paper. He bid farewell and advised Vero to take care of herself. When Vero pushed him to open up about the whereabouts of her parents, he simply said, “They’re fine.”With a heavy heart, Vero walked back to her room to grab her bag. At this moment, she needed a distraction, and attending lectures seemed like an escape for her burdened mind.“Verona!” someone exclaimed while patting her shoulder. Vero jumped and screamed, then turned around to find Jia staring wide-eyed at her. Her face showed a mix of surprise and curiosity. “Why did you scream?”For a moment, Vero was frozen. She stared at Jia as if it were the first time she had seen the girl. Then she blinked, and the daze that had momentarily overwhelmed her vanished. “Nothing,”
He was proposing.“Lev...” She was at a loss for words.The water enveloped them like a cold blanket, but all Vero could feel was the warmth in her chest. Her heart swelled with happiness as she gazed into his eyes, half-thinking that it was just another one of his prank routines.But no. The laughter that had formed on his lips earlier now shifted to seriousness. His gaze locked onto hers.“So... yes or yes?” he said softly.Her mouth cracked open. She was about to laugh, but when she saw the beautiful lips of his, she leaned closer and crushed her lips against his.Dim stars emerged as the sun slowly set. Vero’s body trembled from the cold air and the water that pierced her skin. But she didn’t want this kiss to end. She was reluctant to let go of his embrace.“You’re cold,” Lev whispered against her lips. “Let’s go up.”Vero protested as Lev ended their kiss and led her to the edge of the lake. He lifted her onto land first before climbing up.“That was a su—such an unusual proposa
Her heart spread doubt throughout her body as Lev’s fangs slowly pierced and tore through her skin. Vero wrapped her hands around his waist, her fingers digging into his back, suppressing the pain and fear.Not fear for herself, but for him.In the next moment, she could smell and feel the blood saturating her shoulder and neck. Her eyes tightly shut, forgetting even to breathe as her mind was consumed by something else.What if the drug failed? What if her blood became more toxic and killed Lev right now? What if—“Verona.”Her eyes snapped open. Lev was staring at her, no longer sucking her blood. Red stained his lips and chin, and her mouth cracked open, but no sound came out. Only a tremor remained.Slowly, Vero withdrew her hand from his back, moving it to his cheek as her worried eyes explored his face.“How?” she asked.“I—” Lev licked his lips. “I’m not sure. Can I taste it again? Just to make sure.”“Okay.”Vero wanted to embrace him, but he grabbed her hand and held onto it.
The last thing she remembered was how sadness had drained the color from Lev’s face, leaving him as pale as a winter morning in Duradel.Consciousness slowly faded away from her, and Vero knew this was the end of her life. Celsi had unintentionally, with sincere intention, plunged her into death.Or so she thought.“Verona.”She heard Lev’s voice in the distance, calling her name with hope, even a hint of force, and faintly, she felt something caressing her face.“Verona, you know I can’t go on a day without you. How dare you close your eyes and not react to my calling?”Sometimes she forgets how arrogant Lev is.Verona opened her eyes as she formed a weak smile on her lips. “What a crafty vampire you are,” she muttered under her breath.She looked into his widened eyes, catching a sliver of shock and relief in his irises. He was about to bend down and sweep her into a hug when someone shouted from the other side of the room.“Lev, what did I tell you before? No touching until I exami
Lev said he will be coming to her room tonight. So, when someone knocked on her door, Vero immediately open it with a grin split on her mouth.“Hi, Le—“ She stepped back, surprised to see Celsi standing behind the door instead of Lev.It was not that she was scared of her or anything. It was just because her appearance that made her looked like a little creepy ghost.“Celsi?” Vero crouched down so she could have a better vision of Celsi’s face. “What are you doing here? You wanna play, sweetie?”Celsi returned her smile. “Can I come inside? I want to play tea party with you.” Then she stepped aside so Vero could see the little trolley that she brought with a bunch of dolls inside.Vero stood and opened the door wide to let Celsi in. “Sure!”Celsi paused in the doorway and examined Vero’s room. “How can you live in this cramped space? It’s even smaller than my closet.”Vero’s temple twitched at hearing those words, but she could only laugh. “Not everyone has the privilege of having a p
If you knew you had forever, what would you do?For some people, they would go to various places, accumulate wealth, have fun...But there’s only one thing Vero wants if she has forever: to spend as much time as possible with Lev.“Are you sure?”Daire observed the small tube containing a black liquid that Vero handed to him. He held it up to the light and gently shook its contents. The liquid resembled black mercury, with fine particles emitting light.Vero sat in front of him, with Lev standing behind her. His hand stretched across the back of the sofa, as if protecting her from something. Although Vero couldn’t see his face now, she could sense the unease radiating from him.Although Lev didn’t immediately agree with Vero’s idea about the potion and her desire to become a vampire, he eventually relented.And here they were now, in one of the Deammone pavilions that served as a temporary residence for the Thancred family.Daire held the bottle and carefully placed it in his jacket p
Lev felt guilty for venting his frustration about The Elders to Verona. They had just met after being apart for two weeks, and he cursed himself for wasting their first meeting in so long.He acted that way for a reason. Something he couldn’t tell her because it wasn’t his nature to express his feelings to anyone.Perhaps he should start practicing that now, so their relationship could go smoothly. Besides, he had planned something for his long-term future, and Verona was a part of it.After placing a bouquet in the middle of the forest, where Henry’s body was found, Lev headed towards Dormitory B. There were no residents here for the time being, so he could come and go freely at night to visit Verona.Upon reaching her room’s door, Lev knocked and waited. No response. He knocked again. Silence followed.Lev reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He dialed Verona’s number, and the call connected on the third ring.“Where are you?” he asked, his tone slightly annoyed and impat
“What did you say?”Vero, who was previously on the phone lying down, immediately sat up in bed. Her heart pounded as she heard her father’s words. “Say it again. Does the bottle contain a liquid that can neutralize my blood?”“Yes, darling.”“But where did Elijah get it from?”Her father cleared his throat. “He stole it from Etana’s storage room after hearing about her plan to sacrifice you to the vampires. Etana had conducted some experiments to create a drug that would make human blood toxic to vampires. However, she ended up finding a substance that could neutralize the toxins in her blood.”Vero was stunned. “Why did Elijah give it to me?”“He thought that if you drank it, your blood would return to normal, and the vampires wouldn’t recognize you as a vampire hunter.” She could hear the buzz of a hairdryer in the background. It seemed like her mother had finished showering. “But looks like you don’t need it anymore. Because—well—your lover, and others... already know about you.”
Since the Thancred Residence is still under construction after it was destroyed, the meeting of The Elders was moved to Castellar’s place. And there was nothing about Castellar that Vero likes, from the house, the servants, and Castellar himself.Raphael informed Vero about some important things regarding The Elders because he thought that Vero would have a lot to do with them in the future. Well, that couldn’t be denied. Especially after all the vampires in Duradel found out that she was Lev’s lover.Vero and Lev walked side by side, following Daire Thancred as they entered Cristoval Castellar’s residence. He was the only Elder who didn’t have a family. No wife and children, and it seemed that he greatly enjoyed his solitude.Although his house wasn’t as big as Deammone’s or Thancred’s, everything here looked more expensive and luxurious. From the furniture to the decorations on the walls. There was no doubt that Cristoval was a cunning vampire who enjoyed collecting luxurious items.
The rain was pouring nonstop in the past week.Every drop of water is evidence that nature was working hard to help Duradel recover from the devastating fire three months ago.Many houses were burned to ashes, and several residents lost their lives. The once lush and green forests surrounding the city now turned into a bleak expanse of black charcoal that was distressing to behold.It was there that Lev and Raphael discovered the bodies of Henry and Etana after the fire had consumed them both for several hours.Once again, Lev had to lose a family member to the fire. And because of Etana.Raphael had told everything, the story of Henry and Etana, to Lev and Verona. Besides Raphael, no one else knew the true story between the two of them, and he swore to keep that secret until his dying day.All of that answered the big question in Vero’s mind about why Henry decided to take Etana with him to his death. Perhaps it was because Henry knew that Etana would never stop due to the pain she h