Cooper's POV
It all went down.
After the accident, I never got to see her body because of what happened. The police told me that there was no one left in the car after it exploded because of the gas leaking inside. I'm still trying to digest the thought of it, as I'm also calming my father. He heard about what happened, and he's enraged about it. He's accusing Adi's family of staging the whole accident because they already knew about my true identity.
I'm now back here in the penthouse, trying to think about all the possibilities that could happen along the way. My head was still clouded with thoughts when I heard the main door open. I took the last sip of my wine and immediately walked towards the door when I saw my father. I was about to greet him, but then he punched me right in the stomach. I felt a searing pain that awakened my whole system.
"You should be out there finding some answers, but instead you're here isolating like you're really hurt from what happened," he said angrily.
"Let me rest," I replied shortly, but then I just received another punch.
"After all the hard work has been done, you'll just throw it all away just because that creature tried to bewitch you!" He shouted at me.
I just accepted all the harsh words from him, but then I faced him and glared at him.
"She's not just like that, Dad. I love her, and she matters the most to me too," I defended her.
Dad was a bit startled by the way I looked at him. I'm always by his side, but this time I wanted to defend her. Because that's one of the things I never did when she was still here with me.
…
After that night, Dad left with nothing to say. Instead, he told all of the helpers not to let me in the mansion, and so when I visited one time to say my apologies, I was pushed away by all of them, but then they immediately apologized as they had just been ordered by their master.
I tried to understand that and respect my father's ability to think on his own. I didn't bother him for a month, and when I came back to the mansion again, I spotted him outside, so I called him.
He stopped walking, but then he didn't face me.
I sighed because of what he did, but then I still spoke up.
"I know you're mad at me, but the thing about what we want to know about Mom is already in this envelope," I said as I put the envelope on the ground. "Mom's been on the bad side before, Dad. She was one of those creatures from the North, and she tolerated the torture that happened to Adi."
He didn't speak at all, and so I continued to talk about what I found out.
"Mom was a good mother to me, Dad. But there was still a time when she chose to be on the wrong side, and I will never forget that. I love Mom, but I also love my wife, Dad. I hope you can understand that in the future."
After my little explanation to my father, I didn't show up at the mansion for a couple of months. I stayed in my penthouse and drank all day while looking at our picture displayed in the living room. Sometimes, I will stay in her room and even sleep there just to smell or feel her presence. I tried everything to not forget about her until one day.
That very fine day...
When I finally gave myself a reason to stand up and go outside after almost a year of not going out, I saw her.
I saw her, but then she couldn't recognize me at all. It's like there's a new person inside her, and when I realized what happened, I was in shock.
How did a vampire lose their memories? That is a rare phenomenon to happen, and only science could tell what could possibly happen after the accident.
And so I was right.
She was confused for some time, but then, when she held my hand and trusted me to take her somewhere, I figured out that she wanted some answers, and so I offered her everything.
She means the world to me, and now that I've got another chance to be with her, I won't waste this time. We went to the rest house that my Dad offered. I was surprised at first, but then I knew that was his way of saying that we were already on good terms.
Adi was examined by my sister, and that became the wrong thing. My sister felt traumatized after what she saw in her vision. She saw her getting tortured like a lab rat, and that scene already stopped her from looking into her memories, so we just left the time to make its way to her to let her remember.
But part of me doesn't want that to happen.
I don't want her to know how we argued that night and how I didn't run as fast as I could just to explain my side.
I felt scared at that time, and when I had the chance to talk to them, I told them how I felt about the idea of making her remember.
"Don't rush her this time," I said.
"But she needs this; otherwise, we'll just let her be clueless, and it will be much harder for her to take it," Shaina explained her point, but I still declined.
"Just let her be," I said with finality.
"I'm not trying to intrude," Dad had already joined the conversation. "But letting her remember on her own will just make her feel more angry and aggressive because she's now curious about what happened, and all we did was watch her be clueless."
They both have a point, but I still declined the idea. Shaina kept looking at me, and I think she can finally get the whole thing, so she told me to have a private talk with her.
"This is unfair," she said, starting the conversation.
"Shai, just respect my decision this time," I begged her.
"For now, I will, but you still have to tell her what happened, even though it's very hard for you too. We both know that will help her in the long run," she explained, leaving me without letting me talk again.
…
We came back to the Maldives, but then I still didn't get the chance to talk with her alone. We just immediately ran off after the sudden attack of those creatures that we didn't recognize at all. In order to get her safe, we flew to the place where we had happy memories before.
Both my grandparents were worried about us when they heard about what happened, and so almost every day, they have people around the whole village watching and guarding us from the enemies.
Luke also came after a day when we rescued him from those bad guys that we still couldn't trace. Also that day, Luke told me something.
"I know you already figured out what happened to my sister," he said in a stern voice.
"What about it?" I asked.
"Promise me, you will not tell her anything, even if she bets on you," he said, like a warning.
"Why is that?" I asked again.
"No explanations; just do it," he said before he left me hanging with lots of thoughts in my mind.
…
At first, Adi and Luke were still okay, but one day they became distant from each other, and I have a feeling that I'm already involved in their conversation.
I confirmed it when I finally tried to tell Adi the truth, but then he stopped by grabbing me by my neck. He was totally mad at me at that time, up to the fact that he didn't speak to me for like three days.
He talked to me again when he informed me that he had secretly given her sister a serum that would help her remember little by little.
"Don't stop me from doing it because you broke the promise first, not me."
That was his statement when I tried to confront him.
I let it happen while I was also worried about her condition. She's having severe headaches from time to time, and even though she tried to endure them, all of us noticed them every time.
Her parents also visited her that time to get her away from me again, but this time she strongly refused the idea of it, and I even heard her talking back to her father. That day, I waited for them to walk back to their car. They saw me, but then only her mother approached me.
"You should have told me this idea," she said sadly.
"I didn't know you would agree to it," I said immediately in response.
"Just..." She looked in Adi's direction first. "Take care of her, okay?"
"Would you like to stay here just to look after her?" I asked to catch her attention and make her face me.
She shook her head and just smiled at me.
"Just take care of her."
Those were her mother's last words to me before she got in their car and stayed in the nearest hotel from here.
…
Eventually, when I realized that she was finally starting to remember what happened before the accident, I told her my whole explanation that she had needed to hear since last year.
I don't know what she felt about that, but one thing is for sure: she wanted distance, and I gave her what she wanted. Honestly, I don't even like the idea of it, but then that is the only way to think about all the things she's confused about.
So I gave her time.
One day, I heard from one of my men that there was an abandoned car that was only three kilometers away from here. The first thing that comes to mind is what if that car is used by someone not from our village, and so I went out to check.
When we got there, the car was closed and locked from the inside. I broke the window and looked for any suspicious things left, but there were none. All of a sudden, the radio in the car opened, and it played a voice recording.
As I listened to it, Adi's voice came in, so I already figured it out.
It's not a recording but a call.
I drove as quickly as I could back to the house, but then it was too late.
I saw a woman standing in front of the house, and I instantly saw Adi standing while looking at the girl. I parked just behind the girl and walked straight to Adi to calm her.
I'm trying to talk it out, but the girl was persistent enough to get Adi so pissed off.
When she's about to finish what she's taking about, Adi's move feels so swift, and she ends up strangling the girl. She held her up and was stunned for a moment.
Just then, I looked around and saw lots of creatures come out.
She got back up. One thing led to another, and she just said, "Welcome to the war."