Blood Secrets

Two In A Night

Sebastian didn't have a good feeling about what Lorcan was planning. Waking up his brothers is a desperate move. Saksi siya sa kayang gawin ng mga ito. Grey and August were left to desiccate for a reason. And that reason is something he would not want to see again.

Lorcan vowed not to wake them up and yet he was the first one to run towards Whitburry Isle to do it. Some part of him wished Annabeth wouldn't allow Lorcan to do it, but a part of him agrees with what Lorcan is planning. Waking their brothers up could be something they could use against the witches. Ngunit para magawa nila ang bagay na iyon, Grey and August will have to succumb to the darkness. Once this happens, witchcraft will have little chance of winning against them. He just hated the idea that his brothers will be monsters in order for this to happen.

The graveyard was quiet as usual. Alam niyang hindi magandang ideya ang magpunta siya doon ngunit nakatanggap siya ng liham kanina sa kanyang silid. The letter specifically said that he go to the graveyard. Hindi siya sigurado kung kanino nanggaling ang liham ngunit alam niyang isa sa mga witches ang may gawa niyon.

His hands were coolly stuffed inside his pockets as he stood in the middle of the graveyard. Pinakiramdaman niya ang kanyang paligid. He might be walking straight into a trap but he could have brought Leila with him to make sure but the note specifically said he should come alone.

Ilang minuto siyang nakatayo doon, naghihintay sa kung sino man ang nagpadala ng liham sa kanya. He took his hand out from his pocket and glanced at his watch. He had been standing there for ten minutes. He's starting to lose his patience.

"Whoever you are, you better come out. I don't easily lose my patience but I am not particularly in the mood for some games today," he said. He didn't need to raise his voice dahil tahimik naman ang paligid. Whoever called for him here would have heard what he said. Or perhaps, they're already around, just watching him what he would do.

Maya-maya pa ay narinig niya ang mga tunog ng paa na naglalakad papunta sa direksyon niya. He fixed the cuff on his coat before he turned to face who called him. Napataas ang kilay niya nang makilala ito.

"You don't strike me as someone who writes notes, Isabela," he said.

"You're too confident to say those words, Sebastian when you don't know me at all." Isabela walked forward and there was something different about her. The air around her seemed to shift. It was almost as if the woman...changed.

"I could say the same to you," she said. "You don't strike me as someone who would come here just because of a note."

He really doesn't have time for this. "Whatever it is that you are going to tell me, out with it. Your coven and some other coven you acquired are planning our demise so I still have to go home and find a way to kill all of you."

Isabela let out a wide grin. Almost feline. She stepped forward and it was then that he noticed what was different about her. She has an air of confidence in her now. Perhaps it was because she had become the coven leader. Meanwhile, the opposite has happened to Esmeralda.

"You can't kill them, Sebastian and I think your long history and course of your miserable lives proves how strong these witches are. There's just three of them but I think you have already figured out they are not just an ordinary trio."

"I know they're the descendants of the witch who made the first-ever family of vampires by cursing me and my siblings." The thought could still send shivers down his spine because how could he not? It all happened a thousand years ago and yet he could still remember everything that happened vividly. He once refused to acknowledge the fact that he had become a creature that looked like a human but acts like a monster. He was done from the phase. It took him a long time but he has learned to come to terms with it and he found the best way to overcome the madness was to embrace it. So he did. His siblings did the same.

"They created monsters, Isabela. They created the Sylvaine family of vampires. They're the reason why there are vampires walking along with you. However, I don't think my siblings and I are particularly on terms with what they want."

"It doesn't matter what you want, Sebastian. It doesn't matter what your siblings want. What matters is what this coven wants and you can't do anything about it."

His eyes narrowed to Isabela's direction. There was indeed something different about her. And now that he's heard what she wanted to say, he found out what it was. A small smile of triumph tugged his lips.

"Ah. Esme was right," he said. Nakita naman niyang kumunot ang noo ni Isabela sa sinabi niya. "She said you strongly believe in a witch's mission. And that when you set your sight on something you strongly believe, it would be hard to convince you otherwise." Mas along lumapad ang ngiti niya nang makita ang pagdadalawang-isip ng babae.

"You don't need to fear me, Isabela."

"I've seen what you can do, Sebastian. It's quite hard to believe that."

"And I've seen what you're capable of. You can easily snap my neck right now but you didn't."

"Yet," Isabela smirked.

"You sent me that note, met me here, and talked to me about my dark history, which I would say is a rather a lousy way to provoke me. One thing I realized from this, Isabela, is that you are not one to hesitate. So tell me, why am I here?"

He could now almost taste Isabela's doubt in the air and he knew he hit the right nerve. At sa tingin niya ay hindi kayang sabihin ng babae ang nais nitong sabihin kaya naman inunahan na niya ito.

"You don't agree with he coven of three," he said and Isabela's eyes met his. Hindi pa rin ito nagsasalita.

"And you not confirming nor denying it means I am right." He looked around. He is well aware of witches and their ancestors. Bumalik ang tingin niya kay Isabela. "You asked to meet here, in the place where your ancestors are watching. Which means it's not only you. Some of your ancestors agree with you."

He could have sworn the air got colder around them and right then, he knew he was right.

"The coven---" she cut herself right before he could say more and then took a deep breath. "They are dangerous," she said, her voice dark.

"And as for Nadia, I think she's hiding something from you."

***

The world seemed to be spinning. Nalaman ni Nadia ang lahat ng mga maaaring mangyari kung magtatagumpay man ang mga witches sa gusto nilang gawin. She doesn't know what to feel because she doesn't particularly care. Ngunit naalala niya ang sinabi ni Lorcan sa kanya kagabi. He was trying to protect her. A part of her wanted to appreciate it and a part of her also screams not to believe it.

"Do you feel alright?" tanong ni Kai sa kanya habang naglalakad ito papalapit. She was curled on the sofa in the Sylvaine mansion's living room. Katatapos lang nitong gatungan ang apoy sa harapan nila. The fireplace had been burning low and it was starting to get cold as dawn approaches.

She should be sleeping but she couldn't. Kai knew this and decided to stay up with her. Tumabi ito sa kanya sa sofa and she leaned to rest her head on his chest.

"I feel fine. Just thinking about many things," she said, and then silence wrapped around them. She stared at the flames dancing on top of the wood, making embers from them. She would have never thought there will ever come a time when she will be lounging comfortably in a vampire's home. She has said it before but she just couldn't seem to believe it.

The moment she learned that her parents died because of vampires, she vowed to hate them. Ngunit noong mga nakaraang araw ay unti-unti na niyang nalalaman ang totoo sa kanyang mga magulang. Her mother was the only one who died while her father could be alive somewhere. Malaki ang tsansa na patay na rin ang kanyang ama ngunit may tsansa rin na buhay pa ito kung isa itong lobo. Lorcan had suggested that her mother could be the one with the wolf's blood dahil matapos patayin ni Vancel Kimber ang kanyang ina ay namatay din ito. It would have been possible that he died of a wolf's venom but it was hard to tell when Lorcan saw Vancel Kimber's body decapitated.

She doesn't want to get her hopes too high but she couldn't help it.

Sinabi na niya kay Kai ang lahat. She promised not to keep anything from him so she told him. Marami siyang iniisip and perhaps it was the stillness and the quietness of the dawn that made her ponder more about it. And when she felt like she couldn't take it, she turned to look at Kai who was looking at the fireplace in front of them. Hindi niya matukoy kung anong iniisip nito but one thing is for sure in her mind: she would do anything to protect Kaiden. And that he deserves to know everything about her just as how he'd laid himself bare.

"I'm scared," she said, her voice almost a whisper. Napatingin naman si Kai sa gawi niya. She rarely tells him about how she feels especially when they are on the job. Alam niyang mag-aalala lang ang lalaki and the last thing she would ever want is for him to get distracted. Although he notices it quickly, she has also made herself good at hiding it. But today, she wanted to let it out.

Naramdaman niya ang marahang paghaplos ng kamay ni Kai sa kanyang balikat na kinakalma siya. He didn't say anything and it was clear he was waiting for her to continue what she was trying to say. Huminga siya nang malalim at saka nagpatuloy.

"Everything is scary, Kai. I discovered I am a half-wolf. But I don't know what that would mean. And then there is a possibility that my father would be alive and it was hope for me, Kai. It was a sliver of hope, another purpose for me. But then I receive news that I am to be used as a sacrifice for whatever these witches intended to do. Hindi ko lubos akalain na madadamay ako sa ganitong klaseng gulo at nadamay na rin kita. I'm scared of what would happen to me. I'm scared of what would happen to you."

"Shh." Kai gently squeezed her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "I'm here. Nothing's going to happen to you and nothing's going to happen to me. Hindi ako papayag na mangyayari iyon. Kaya kahit labag sa kalooban ko na manatili tayo dito, the only people who could help us with this one are the Sylvaines. They are our best chance. We'll get through this, I promise you."

She closed her eyes as she felt him kiss the top of her head once again. "I love you, Kai." She looked up to meet his gaze. Bahagyang ngumiti si Kai bago ito yumuko at hinalikan siya sa kanyang mga labi.

The kiss was sweet. Almost a whisper. Almost a ghost. And it was like Kai felt it too that he leaned again to capture her lips. This time, it was sweeter. She kissed him back with the same intensity. When Kai pulled back, he kissed her forehead before saying, "I love you too."

She went back to leaning against his shoulder and let the comfortable silence wrap them. Maya-maya pa ay biglang bumukas ang pinto dahilan para mapalingon sila sa kung sino ang bagong dating. But before she could even stand, she felt her back agains the hard wall. Pakiramdam niya ay mas lalo siyang nahila nang maramdamang pati ang ulo niya ay nabagok.

Someone came and attacked them. Napatingin siya sa lalaking nasa harapan niya and he was unfamiliar. Napatingin siya kung saan naroon si Kai. Another man was on top of him too, choking him. Gusto niyang sumigaw ngunit mahigpit na nakahawak sa kanyang leeg ang lalaki, stopping every noise she tries to make.

And then she saw how the man's eyes turned bloodshot and how he opened his mouth to show his fangs. She couldn't scream and before the vampire could even bury its fangs on her neck, she heard a snap, and the vampire's hand loosened around her neck before it collapsed to the ground. She was breathing hard and when she looked in front of her, she saw Lorcan, standing there. His eyes were wild as he searched his face at kitang-kita niyang nanginginig ang mga kamay nito. But she couldn't care less about him and about the fact that he just snapped another vampire's neck who was about to feed on her. Agad na dumapo ang mga mata niya sa gawi ni Kaiden. Kai lie on the floor at katabi nito ang isang lalaking umatake din dito kanina.

Mabilis siyang naupo sa tabi ni Kai at nanginginig ang kamay na tiningnan ang pulso nito. She could see blood on his neck which means the vampire bit him. He's losing too much blood.

Hindi niya namalayang umiiyak na pala siya. Napatingin siya kay Lorcan na nakatayo hindi kalayuan sa kanya. He was also looking at her. His eyes were inscrutable and that's when she knew what she needed to do.

"Lorcan please," she said. "Please heal him with your blood."

She expected Lorcan to refuse. To tell her that he doesn't care about whether Kai lives or dies. But to her surprise, Lorcan walked over towards her, crouched down, bit his wrist, and made Kaiden drink his blood.