“We’re telling you Yvonne, his smell is getting stronger! Can’t you smell it?” argued Emilia.
“And why did he disobey us? You ought to give him a lesson!” Jocelyn added.
Yvonne did nothing but smiled. She was actually proud of him for standing up against her sisters.
“Why should I?” Yvonne questioned.
“Because he is a mere servant! A slave he is!” said Emilia.
“I had made him mine. He does not belong to anyone else. He might be a servant but he is mine, not yours.”
“This is a disgrace to the family’s name!”
Yvonne ignored the insult. It didn’t affect her in any way possible.
“Does he know the true meaning of the Enchantment Spell? Tell us!”
Yvonne shook his head.
“He doesn’t. And I want it to stay that way.”
***
Gina started spending more time with Chase lately. While he didn’t mind some company, some rumours were spreading about them. As they walked together from school, people started whispering and looking at them.
“You can’t let them get into your nerves,” said Gina.
He was still nervous whenever they were together but they became friends and that fact eased him up a bit.
“How do I know you’re not hanging out with me just to gain popularity?” he joked.
“But I do! I’m only making Theresa jealous,” she claimed.
Then they passed by Theresa and her gangs who were just getting into her car. They watched him with eagle eyes.
“Ha-Ha, very funny,” said Chase.
Once she had managed to make him a little less shy, Gina started to see a side of Chase that no one thought existed.
“You don’t believe me?” she asked.
“Not a bit.”
“Okay, wait here!”
She went to Theresa’s pink Beetle and called out her name.
“What do you want?” Theresa asked.
“Just want to let you know that Chase and I are dating now.”
With a crooked smile, Gina walked away from Theresa, whose jaws dropped. Chase burst into a laugh. From far, Theresa cursed Gina in Spanish. Something that might have meant ‘whore’ or a ‘bitch’.
“I told you.”
Gina glanced back and gave a flying kiss to Theresa. She took Chase’s hand and held it tight. She pulled him to walk right beside her.
“We’re dating now?” Chase asked.
“Yes, we are!”
Chase was confused. As far as he knew, nothing had happened between them. Sure, they had gone to lunch, spent a lot of time with each other and been trading stories but he thought all of those things didn’t mean they were dating. Chase thought hard.
“Were you serious back there?”
“About what?”
First she said it out loud and now she didn’t know what he was talking about? Chase became more confused.
“You know-what you said to Theresa.”
They were sitting by a bench, near the library. It was a quiet afternoon. There were birds and trees around but other than that, they were completely alone. She stared into his eyes, making a serious face.
“What if I was? Would that be a problem?”
He didn’t know what to say.
“I like you, a lot. Do you have any feelings for me?”
Suddenly he was amazed with the birds on the trees. She rolled her eyes and scooted over to him. She turned his head so they would face each other and looked into his steel blue eyes. He was sweating like a pig. His words were lost but his shyness reappeared.
“Chase?”
He didn’t answer. He was about to die. Having a girlfriend to grief over him wouldn’t make it any easier for him. She took it as a no.
“I thought- I thought you were different from the other guys I’ve met. I thought at least you would tell me the truth.”
She took a deep breath and stood up.
“You’re a coward after all.”
She left him all alone by the sidewalk.
***
Gina was gathering books from her locker when she spotted Chase heading her way. After his silence, her heart fell apart real bad. But Chase screamed for her name in the high wave of people.
“Gina! Gina!”
She had to stop. The crowd was staring at her.
“What?”
He finally caught his breath after all that chasing.
“I need to explain something.”
“You don’t have to explain anything. It’s fine.”
She tried to turn around but he grasped her wrist and pulled her in. He kissed her. Everyone gasped and started to take pictures of them. Some were recording it with their phones.
“I do have feelings for you. You were right, I was scared but I’m not anymore. I want to go out with you.”
She was still overwhelmed by all of it.
“Come on, say something. You’re embarrassing me,” he pleaded.
“No.”
Chase thought his heart had stopped beating. He thought she had ripped his chest apart with that simple ‘NO’.
“Why should I go out with you?” she asked.
His face was red.
“Why should I go out with you when we’re already dating?” she paraphrased.
The crowd cheered. Chase finally took his breath. He was very relieved when she threw her arms at him.
***
Chase was pacing across the room and it annoyed the Vampiress. She snapped her fingers and he was thrown into the couch. It was weird seeing her during daylight. She usually slept like a baby in her bed. She was only awake because she had her sisters visiting but they were gone.
“Asking me to sit down would have been enough!” cried Chase.
“I believe actions speak louder than words,” said the Vampiress.
Chase was at dead end. He wanted to find out the truth. Before leaving, Jocelyn had warned him about living for too long. He didn’t understand what the warning was all about but he needed to know.
“I need to know something.”
She was silent.
“Excuse me?”
She didn’t move. She was too engulfed with the papers. He despised being ignored the most. Then he did something unexpected. He pulled the papers right from her hands.
“Human! No disturbing while I’m reading!” she yelled.
“Now you talk. I thought you were deaf.”
“What do you think I am? Disabled?”
“Could be...”
“No one threats the Vampiress and get away!”
“Watch me.”
He tore the papers into four and crumpled them as hard as he could. After that, he tossed the paper to the floor. One of the things that annoy the Vampiress the most was littering, especially in her own house. He took a split. He tried to reach for the door but was stopped by the Vampiress. She grabbed his collar.
“Wait! I only did it to get your attention!”
She didn’t believe him.
“I need to know why everybody keeps saying I’m in danger.”
She released him.
“Who told you?”
“Jocelyn.”
“That is none of your concern!”
“And what’s thing about my smell? What? Do I have a body odour or something?”
She came up to him and used her fingernails to cut his skin.
“This is your smell.”
She was referring to his blood.
“Other vampires who are uncivilised would do anything to get their hands on you; or should I say fangs!”
“Cause my blood is rare?”
“Because you are from the Verdict family!”
That wasn’t close enough to an explanation so he demanded for more.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It is everything! Your parents didn’t abandon you on purpose. They had to leave you to a safety. They knew what was coming?”
“What is coming?”
“Your ancestors have been hunting down vampires since the Middle Ages. But somehow, it had come to their attentions that vampires were good too in eliminating and decreasing the number of your population. Some humans are born evil and this ‘kind’ had to be killed. So your ancestors made a pact with our leader. We may live and hunt humans but only the ‘corrupted’ ones. When the number of bad people had come down to zero, some of us refused to go by the law. They attacked and killed whatever prey they came across with. It caused a great war and half of us ceased to extinction. Those of the resistance clans vowed take revenge upon your family. One by one had gone missing and the balance of the world fell apart. To make safety, my family had given our blood to you. It made you strong and invincible. It was my duty to search for you, to keep you safe. I didn’t recognise you the first time we’ve encountered but that night, when I took a plunge on your skin, I immediately knew who you are.”
“What?”
“Tara looked at your memories of the past and had confirmed about you. She saw what happened during the night when your parents had given you away to Miss Brat. That’s why she had to leave early. She had to report about your whereabouts to the Council.”
“What?”
“I know this is hard to believe but explain the odd events in your life. How did you survive my vomit? If you were a mere mortal, you would have died instantly! How did you think Tara and I are able to stand the sunlight? I’ve gained strength from your blood while Tara became more powerful when you-hmm-kissed.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry to say but your bloodline has perished. Although you are that’s left, there are still more out there.”
“What?”
“Your family isn’t the only one that received the blood transaction, there were few others. Jocelyn and Emilia haven’t found any other yet. But there is something that’s bothering me.”
“What?”
“Your smell is getting stronger by day. I don’t have an explanation for that.”
“Whoa, back off! What are you saying now? That I’m involved in some kind of conflict between humans and vampires?”
She slapped him hard.
“Wake up Chase! Why did you think you are always standing up for the weaklings? How did you assume you had the ‘sudden’ courage and strength to stand up to the bullies? And how do you presume your wounds healed so fast?”
He didn’t know how to explain the questions.
“Those are the characteristics of your family Chase. Sure, you’re a bit different from your ancestors but those good qualities on which you possessed, are because you are a Verdict.”
“It’s true Chase,” said a familiar voice.
They turned around and saw they were visited by unexpected guests.
***
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