“Miraya, please eat something,” Cassius said, and something brushed against my lips. “It has been an entire day since you put anything in your mouth.”
I turned my head away, hoping that he would leave me alone, but he didn’t. He kept coaxing me. In the end, I blurted out in an annoyed voice, “I don’t really have any appetite, Cassius. Why won’t you just leave me alone?”
He sat beside me and cupped my face; forcing me to look at him. “I am worried about you, Miraya. It hurts me to see you like this.”
The frown on my forehead deepened, and I gulped. “Go back to your home, Cassius. Haven’t I already told you that I don’t love you? Why do you keep coming back like a pathetic dog?”
His expression hardened and his jaws clenched. “This attitude is the reason you are alone, Miraya. Your parents must have been fed up with your attitude and that is why….”
He got to his feet and stormed out of the room. The sound of receding footsteps echoed in the room and slam! The door was banged shut.
Cassius was gone, too. Silent tears rolled down my cheeks. This was exactly what I deserved; to shrivel with loneliness and grief.
Thud! Moments later, the door slammed open and Cassius walked back inside. He shut the door with another bang and glared at me. “You know what? I don’t care! I don’t care what you say or what you do. I am not going to leave!”
“Cassius, I….” The rest of the words remained unspoken as Cassius pulled me to my feet and started kissing me like crazy; letting all the frustration, all his agony, speak through his desperate movements.
He pushed me against the wall and continued kissing me until we both were breathless. His face flushed as he finally pulled away. Massaging the back of his neck, he stuttered, “Sorry about that. I… ummm… I guess I got carried…”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, muffling the rest of the words. Tears welled in my eyes and I begged, “Please Cassius, make me forget everything.”
He froze and pulled away, conflicting emotions flitting through his features. He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes momentarily. His fingers brushed my jawlines. “It is not that I don’t want to. But you are not in the right state of mind. I don’t want you to do something that you will regret later.”
He led me back to the couch and made me sit in his lap, wrapping his arms around me. “Your parents loved you a lot, Miraya. They will be sad if they see you depressed. So, you have to find a way to heal.” He buried his head in the crook of my neck. “I will stay right next to you until you have healed. If you say harsh words to me, I will sweeten them with a kiss. If you push me away, I will come back again and again. You aren’t getting rid of me any time soon.”
“Cassius… I….”
“Shhh….” His arms wrapped tighter around me. “Don’t say anything. Just let yourself go, Miarya.”
I found myself relaxing to the sound of his rhythmic heartbeat and, at some point, I just drifted off to sleep.
Three days later, my parent’s body was sent back after autopsy. True to his words, Cassius stayed next to me the entire time.
He was the one who made all the arrangements for the funeral and attended to the guests.
My parents were quite popular in their respective fields, and support flowed in the form of visits, flowers, and condolences.
Everyone treated me with kindness, but none of their soothing words were enough to fill the hollow that had been carved into my heart.
I busied myself with futile chores in an attempt to distract myself. I was going through the cards mechanically when my gaze landed on a red card with a golden border. It seemed to be crafted in a flashy manner; hardly suitable for the occasion. This prompted me to open it and check for the sender.
There were no other details apart from a clumsy note scrawled across the surface. ‘If you want to find out what happened to your parents, meet me in the Wilkins Groove tonight.’
Needless to say that I went to the assigned place. If there was any chance to find out more about my parent’s death, I was taking it; no matter what the consequences were.
When I entered the groove, I noticed some changes in me. Everything around me seemed magnified; the voices were louder and clearer. The winds were howling, but I didn’t feel cold. Despite the darkness; everything was visible to me. It was as if someone had plunged me into an HD version of the world.
I also became aware of the tingling sensation in my mouth and the strange ache that had developed at the base of my throat. My hand flew to my throat reflexively. Why did I feel so thirsty?
There was a rustle, and a silhouette emerged from the shadows.
“Do you hate yourself enough?” A familiar voice sounded, making me jump. My eyes widened in horror and I scurried backward. “Andres?”
He snorted and his lips curved in a coquettish sneer, “Were you expecting someone else?”
I shook my head and clasped the card tighter; silently hoping that the sender of the card wouldn’t show up in the grove.
Andres walked over and whisked it out of my hands. “Still wondering whether your parents committed suicide?”
“My parents would never do something like that…” I snapped; my jaws clenching tightly. A sudden wave of anger coursed through me, giving me the courage to glare at him.
Unbothered by the change in my expression, he continued to talk with his usual nonchalance, “Your parents were unlike meek and cowardly humans. That is something I have to agree on. They didn’t cower even after seeing my powers.”
“You met them?”
“Umm.. hmmm… It was fun, you know. They didn’t beg or plead as the other humans do. Your father even tried to kill me.” He burst into a peal of mocking laughter. “Too bad that he was no match for me.”
Andres started walking around me in a slow circle. “I told them everything in detail; how I met you; how you were forced to dump Cassius and how I planned on turning you into a blood-sucking monster.”
Everything became clear to me as his words rang in my ears; the image of him compelling the guard flashed in my mind. My parents would never take their own lives, but they could be compelled. A gasp left my lips, and I staggered. “Why, Andres? Why?”
I clenched the fabric of my shirt as an intense wave of pain seared through me. “You had already gotten what you wanted. Why did you harm them?”
“I guess I was bored.”
I shook my head incredulously as I shouted in a hysterical voice, “How can you kill someone just because you are bored?”
His lips pursed with indignance as he shrugged off the question with nonchalance.
My blood boiled, and I lunged at him. Grabbing him by his collar, I cried out, “I am going to kill you, Andres.”
“I am afraid that is not a possibility,” he taunted with a proud smirk. Gathering both my wrists in his palms, he leaned closer. “Stop crying, my sweet honeycomb. Let us do something fun.”
His eyes took on a redder tinge as his piercing gaze bore through mine. “Walk along this path till you reach the large oak tree. You will find a young man pacing under it. I want you to suck him dry.”
When I heard those words, a strange urge built within me; pushing me to follow his command. I lost my ability to think and found myself walking along the path with steady, even steps. It was more or less like sleepwalking. The only difference was that I was driven by the power of command and not my subconscious.
A boy was pacing under the tree, just as Andres had said. Before I could realize what I was doing, I had him pinned against the trunk of the tree. My canines elongated and sank into his soft flesh.
The taste of blood blinded me. All thoughts; all emotions faded into oblivion and I turned into a primal creature who knows only one thing; bloodlust.
His body went limp, but I didn’t stop. I kept drinking like a crazed monster till I had sucked every ounce of blood from him.
Only when I had fulfilled Andres’s command did the gravity of what I had done hit me. The moment I saw his lifeless eyes, I knew that there was no going back. I had lost my soul and nothing I ever did could help me regain it.