Game of Destiny [English]

The sky was dark, and the little raindrops were falling. It continues to enter the navel of the dark forest, where the cave I live in is. Every drop of it gently kisses the branches of the tree and the leaves that have lost their hope of surviving. It will be dawned in the world where I am right now. I took a deep breath. Adjusted the hat that I was wearing on my head that almost fell to the ground—tried hard to hide my body behind the lifeless tree. I squeezed myself even harder when my cane gave a little sound. I accidentally hit it in the sharp protruding rock that I didn’t see. Again, I glanced at the tiny home standing at the foot of the forest. Silently, I watched the delicate movement of a woman outside in it. She was wearing a blue pair of pajamas and an orange t-shirt. In my distance from her, I could hear her tiny voice humming and singing as she scooped water from the well located at the back of their house. “In this world, she hasn’t changed anything,” I whispered with a small smile plastered on my face. “She is still singing even though her small and thin voice was not that good.” Her eyes twinkled with joy at her peaceful face. I don’t think she had a problem here, like when I first met her in my kingdom. In this world, we are still in a different state. I am still a vampire, and she remains mortal. It has not changed at all. I saw her again seven hundred years later. And I immediately recognized her because of her familiar fragrant smell. When our eyes meet for a moment, I already knew that she was my woman. I didn’t know how and why I came across this small town of Racama. I just woke up in the middle of a dark forest after less than three hundred years. Outside the small cave, near the banks of the quiet stream. The blood that wrapped around my body was gone. It has been washed away by the rain. My wounds are also healed, but they left painful traces on my skin. I am alone. I smiled wider when I heard the loud voice of her beloved Mother. Here and in my world, she only has one Mother. I looked at her again. Now, she is holding a bucket of water and about to enter their back door. Turning around, I looked up at the pale sky. It’s still raining. I glanced at their home again. “Gee, let’s eat!” “Yes, Mom.” When she finally entered the house, I leaned my body against the tree. I looked up at the crying sky again as I continued to smile. This day is just one of the days I’ve been watching her, from afar from a distance that she would never notice. I started to walk away, going back into the middle of the forest. Back in my home for almost three hundred years. Flashback of our memories from the past came across my mind while I was walking. There, her fate was miserable. Although I filled her with love, in the end, it did not protect her. That is why in this world, I have quietly promised in this forest that I will watch over her even from afar. I will not allow the tragedy that happened to her to happen again. “Prince Asamael!” Ulysses shouted as he entered my room, a bullet of tears covering his face. “Prince Asamael!” he is one of the guardians of our kingdom, also my friend and my right hand. The discomfort is already evident in my eyes. Curious and scared, I’d turned to him. I just finished taking a bath and just getting ready for a date with my woman. Tonight, the moon is red and round, and I want to watch it with her. We will meet at the small stream inside the vast forest. We talked about that yesterday because today is our fifth anniversary. “I have bad news for you.” the fear in his voice is loud enough to stop me from what I’m doing. I was about to wear my black coat. “Your woman... Geselle,” he paused with a heavy breath. I stared at him blankly. “What happened to her?” “Prince Asa--” “Where is she, Ulysses?!” Early this evening, I send him to escort her to the place we are bound to meet. He is the only one who knows our relationship and the only vampire I’ve trusted the most. I was able to hide my relationship with her from everyone, especially my parents. “I found her body on the plains before I reached their home.” my eyes stay on his pale and trembling lips, “Lifeless...” a look of terror grew on his face. I felt numb. I lost my strength. Shock is written all over my face. “What did you say?” I felt my black coat fell into my shoes. “A dagger was stuck in her chest.” he continued with sorrowful eyes. Both hands are now trembling too. “Her eyes are widened. Forgive me, Prince Asa. I couldn’t save her.” He immediately knelt in front of me. He began to cry and weep as if he were the perpetrator and the real culprit. I can’t blame him. Gee and Ulysses became friends too through the years of our relationship. “F-Forgive me, Prince Asamael, forgive me,” he cried. Full of fear and anger, I left him without a single word. I headed to the plains where the body of my woman was found. The torch of the people of the town is on and bright. Many villagers are there and curious about what happened. I hid behind a big tree, tightly watching them one by one. “Gee, who did this to you? Who?!” her Mother cried louder as she hugged her pale and lifeless body. I want to hug her too. Her lifeless body felt not real. It feels like I was in a dream, in one of my worst nightmares. “Please wake up! Don’t make fun of me like this!” she begged, “Geselle, please wake up. Don’t leave me. Uh, my poor baby!” she continued to weep. “It could be a vampire.” I heard someone’s said in the crowd, “Look, she has a fang bite on her neck!” Everyone looked so shocked. I took a long and deep sigh. I clenched my fist! Even though I do not have a beating heart, I know how hard and painful it could be of losing your loved ones. She is my woman, my love. “They can’t do that. There is an agreement between our race and the vampire king that they are not allowed to kill and drink the human blood.” the man replied. “Yes, you are right. There is such an agreement, but how do you explain the paleness of her corpse?” the woman asked, “The fang bite on her neck is the evidence.” “Baby, wake up! Please don’t leave me! Geselle!” The cries of the people who love her grew louder. Geselle is a simple lady that comes from a good family, and she has a good heart that is why she has so many friends. Old and young in their village. “The king and queen of the vampires should know this incident.” said the girl in a white shirt, “Wouldn’t death also be a punishment for the culprit?” I clenched my fist tightly; my eyes are burning with anger. I can’t help but change the color of my eyes into a bright red. I couldn’t stop my fangs and sharp nails from being visible. I became even angrier, as if I am going crazy, when I recognized whose dagger was stuck in the chest of my beloved woman. “Prince Asamael--” I did not finish what he was going to say. With greeted teeth, I grabbed him by his shoulder and threw him hard. The wall of my room shook as he hit his body. I heard his faint moan. He started to vomit blood from his mouth. Fresh blood is coming out continuously from his wounded forehead. “Prince Asa--” “I trusted you, Ulysses! I consider you as my friend and my brother!” my voice echoed in the four corners of my room. Full of anger, full of regrets. “Ulysses, your dagger killed her! The dagger that I gave you as a present on your recent birthday. How can you explain that to me?! Why did you kill her?!” my voice is like roaring thunder. I paused for a moment. I was ignoring his sad stares. His fear is more evident in his face now. I glared at him. I threw him the table that I grabbed inside my room. There were no exact words for the anger and hatred that I felt right at this moment. I glared at him for the second time. It pained me big time. He is my friend, like my brother, yet he killed my woman! “I will kill you, Ulysses. You are so ungrateful!” I rushed at him with blazing angry eyes. “You’re going to die too!” At that time, I did not know what I could be done to him. I’m very mad, furious. At any time, I can kill him. I cannot calm down. I could not feel sorry for him and listen to what he had to say. My blood continued to boil in anger. I can still see the picture of her lifeless body. Her body that I owned once. I recklessly buried my sharp nails into his body. He did not fight back. He quietly catches the punch of my wrath. “I did not kill her, Prince Asa.” He shook his head, “I can’t do that to her. She is also my friend. That woman is critical to you, and she is the only woman you love. Why would I do that? I can’t even touch the tip of her fingernails because I respect you so much.” I grabbed his neck impatiently. I was even more irritated by what he said. He coughed blood. His begging eyes stared at me intently. “My only fault was that I was not able to protect her.” He coughed blood even more, “That was my only mistake P-Prince Asamael. Believe me, and I did not stab her.” I violently let go of him, he immediately fell to the floor. He got up and knelt again. His whole face was swollen. His fresh blood mixes with his unceasing tears. I turned to him; my eyes are angrier. “Do not lie to me, Ulysses!” He shook his head repeatedly. “Please hear me out--” “Admit the crime you’ve committed, Ulysses!” He did not answer—deafening silence stretch. “This morning, your mother borrowed it from me,” he whispered in a low voice. “She told me that she had something to do using that dagger. She promised me that she would return it tomorrow morning.” He kept his head down and sobbing, “I did not know--” The door opened fast before he could finish what he was about to say. Then Father and Mother entered the room with a curious and innocent face. It was as if someone had suddenly punched me in the chest. My eyes went back and forth to Ulysses and my parents. I can’t believe in the revelation that I’ve heard. Their eyes widened when they saw the condition of Ulysses, who was also their favorite guard. “What are you doing to him, Prince Asa?!” My father approached him quickly. He helps him stand. I did not answer. My eyes were still full of anger staring while staring at Ulysses. My brain could not process all of what he said and confessed. They are also like him, so they are worried about my anger towards him. They know we are best friends. “Please, calm down, Prince Asa!” Mother tried to approach me, “Why are you so angry? Did he do something wrong to you?” As she came to me, I could smell the familiar scent of my woman lingering on her body. Her scent is gradually fading following her bitter and unjust death. “Answer me, why are you mad?!” A few moments later, Father approached us, trying to calm my Mother down. And again, I could smell the familiar scent of my woman’s blood on his body. It was screaming, demanding justice to her bitter, unjust, and unexpected death. “Son, you don’t have to hurt Ulysses.” The tears I had been holding back for too long will begin to fall. I cannot believe that the parents that I idolize and admire the most will commit heinous crimes. I can’t think that they are the real culprit to my woman’s death. “He killed a mortal Father!” I said weakly. I know he is not, but I do not want to say that my parents are the ones to blame. They both fell silent and were stunned by what I said. Their eyes spoke quietly. “He has to pay for the crime he committed, Father,” I added. I looked at Ulysses with pity. “Doesn’t your agreement with mortals state that we vampires are not allowed to killed humans? And we are not allowed to taste their blood. When that happens, death will be punishment.” I quickly stepped backward when I saw my Mother’s attempt to hug me. Her eyes were begging me to stop immediately. I shook my head furiously. I was mad, I was angry, I feel like I was going to kill someone too in this instance. They stabbed me at my back. “Why does she have to die?” I shouted as I was about to sob, “Why? She did nothing wrong. She is just a poor lady who wants to live happily with her family.” my tears flowed like a torrential downpour outside our kingdom, “Someone blasphemes her blood! Why?!” I asked them in a hysterical tone. “And why are you acting like that, Asamael?” Father said, who looked at me in dismay. “What is your relationship with that woman, and why are you weeping over her sudden death?” “It’s not sudden death, Father! She has been killed!” I shout as if I will win when I do that. “She was mercilessly stabbed--” “I am asking you, what is your relationship with her, Asamael?” he repeated the question. “Father, she is my--” “Get yourself together, Prince Asa. Are you crazy?” My Mother cut me off, “She is a mortal!” I turned to her. “Yes, she is a mortal, so you were able to kill her mercilessly. Right?” “That’s enough, Asamael!” my father told me with a harsh voice. I turned to him. “You’ve killed her, don’t you?” I accuse him directly, “To cover up the fact that your only son falls in--” Mother slapped me hard. My tears flowed even more. I was unable to explain the weight of my pain. “We already told you that’s enough, Asamael!” They were both hate me now. They will call me by my name when they are furious, and their anger towards me is overflowing. “Is that how we raised you? To be this disrespectful and rebellious to us because of a low-key human being?” I clenched my fist, my jaw tightened. They have never seen me cry like this since I was a child. They never saw me mourn someone’s death as if it was also my death. I turned my back on them. I ran out of the room before they could speak again. My eyes are kept getting wet as I recalled our memories that I could never forget. I took a deep breath before I went to the left side of the stream. I washed my face using my trembling hands. I glanced at my reflection in the water that had never changed. The sadness, the loneliness, and the longing that is evident in my eyes are never left. It stays longer as I continue to live. I smiled in pain as I entered the cave door. Everything is still fresh, as well as the extreme pain it brings me. It seems like everything just happened yesterday; the pain is still indescribable even though I saw her again in a different universe after so many centuries.