Miraculously, I survived. I dragged myself onto the narrow shore, hacking up water, every muscle burning with exhaustion. I didn't want to keep living, but death refused to claim me. A bitter laugh escaped me, sharp and hollow, before my tears returned, unstoppable.
"Why can't you let me die?" I cried, hoping death would come, but it still has not come for me. "I'm tired of this life. Let me die."
Alone, I let misery swallow me, sobbing until strange noises cut through my despair. I flinched, pain radiating from every bruise, as a swarm of bats descended. Terror gripped me, but I lay motionless, half-hoping they'd finish me off. Instead, impossibly, the bats nudged and guided me into a cave. I had no idea how, but the place felt hauntingly familiar.
"Do I know this cave?" I muttered weakly, and then some images from my repeated dreams flashed in my head, making me groan. "The fuck!"
Due to the piercing pain passing through my head, I slammed my hand on the ground, easing the pain without noticing how the vibration and cracks spread throughout the cave. Then a sudden glow from a pile of glowing worms illuminates the area, making the cave huge, catching my attention, and letting me forget the ache in my head. The glowing worms were like a crystal at the center, making me look in awe, stunned as it looked magically beautiful. But my eyes quickly narrowed, caught me off guard by the strange stone at the high spot of the mass of glowing worms.
Curiosity won over me, making me forget the broken bones and my open bleeding wounds, and I just crawled over the strange stone like it was calling me. Despite the exhaustion, the draining, and the cold body, I pushed through until I managed to reach it. At the eye, I realized it was a coffin and the cave was a tomb. I sighed and leaned on it for support, but the air had shifted, making me notice the carvings on the stone. It looked like Celtic runes, but different, Asian perhaps, making me touch it.
I tried to recall what I'd read from the old and dusty books before. And the more I touched it, the more it became clearer, making me say, "I remember…this is Baybayin, the old writings of the Philippines." By my fingertips, I traced the carvings, trying to read the secret message on the coffin. "Mag-ka-sing-ta-hang wa-lang hang-gan, which I think translates in English as Everlasting Lovers." Then, beneath the carvings, there was a symbol, and I think it was a Celtic symbol of the same message, "Serch Bythol."
Upon whispering all of it, the air didn't just shift; it became colder and more eerie. I shivered at the cold but jolted when I heard a clattering sound echoing in the cave. I looked frightened at my surroundings, but there was nothing, except for the eyes coming from the bats. They were like watching me die slowly.
"Is this what it feels like dying?" I wondered weakly, making me chuckle, thinking Death was already opening the door for me. Then a thought suddenly flickers in my head, making me stare at the coffin, whispering, "This is stupid, but…" I opened the coffin wider with my remaining strength and added weakly, saying, "If so, then this coffin will be a nice resting place."
Without thinking it's occupied, weakly, I crawled up, but in the process, I slipped. I fell inside due to my bleeding wounds. With eyes closed, I groaned, thinking about my stupidity, but something odd was invading my nostrils. I should be smelling decaying flesh instead of roses and a streak of metallic scent from blood. Puzzled by the fragrance, I opened my eyes carefully, only to realize I had fallen on top of a corpse, and worse, I'd stolen a kiss. I gasped, immediately pulling away, and in panic, I accidentally hit my head on the partially opened coffin's cover. I groaned at the contact but also realized I had kissed a corpse.
"I'm not stupid enough to kiss a corpse, but…" I mumbled under my breath, attempting to move away, but I had no strength left. My body feels tired and weak; however, the scent hits me again, making me study the corpse beneath me. I was captivated, and with a trembling hand, I carefully traced its face, mesmerized. It has decaying skin but still looks ethereal, whispering, "What a beauty…" Perhaps I'm losing my mind from complimenting a corpse, or maybe I'm also entering death, making me scoff, thinking, "Finally, death is coming to me, right?"
Exhaustion was taking a toll on me, weakening me and making me lean closer to the corpse. However, before I lost my consciousness, I noticed how the mysterious beauty began to change. Like a gravity shifting at a slow pace, its flesh began to return, replenishing what had been lost for a century, and colors made the corpse more alive. When it opened its eyes, my dark hazel ones met the reddish mauve eyes. Only there, I figured that this coffin belonged to a vampire lady beneath me.
I was lost in her eyes, which held familiarity. But I'm losing my consciousness. And then, I whispered a very stupid greeting, "Hi…"
Then I collapsed on her.
***
I'm not sure how long I was out, but I felt something strange. I felt movement. I heard wings, a flowing river, and droplets echoing in a cave, but what confused me was being carefully pulled and sharp fangs piercing my neck. I wanted to wiggle out from whoever the vampire was biting me without my permission, but I couldn't; my body was not responding. I felt my blood was being sucked away, making me groan, which almost sounded like a moan.
"Stupid, don't enjoy it," I argued in my head, but it stopped. I mean, it drank my blood, yes, but something was also passing inside my body. I feel heat rushing not just in my veins but through my entire body.
I don't know what was happening or what this vampire did to me, but somehow, my body was responding as it became less tense until I was being lifted. I wanted to say something, argue, but my body was still shut down; however, I could still feel my surroundings.
I could tell that this vampire was walking out of the cave because the silence in the cave suddenly filled with noise, and the cold air was no longer suffocating. It became more breathable and soothing. That's when I heard the very melodic, firm, but soft voice of a woman.
"Let's get you home."
It was odd to feel relaxed in a stranger's arms, but the security and protection that I was feeling from this vampire lady was something I didn't want to lose. I feel safe with her.
In just a few moments, I began to feel the air brushing my body, and her hold tightened before I suddenly felt harsh wind slapping against my skin. I could tell that she was running, and based on how harsh the wind was, she was the fastest vampire I had ever known.
"Well, she's the first vampire who got close to me, so how should I know the difference from the others?" I rolled my eyes, sarcastically arguing in my head as I continued sensing my surroundings. Then, I wondered, thinking, "Where are we going?"
The run was fast, but somehow, she slowed down like she was carefully sensing her surroundings because she was a vampire in a werewolf pack's perimeter. However, I found it strange that she hasn't been sensed. I could feel that she easily climbed a tree while still holding me close, and by the time she stopped, I sensed it. I felt some pack patrollers passing by, and oddly, I could not hear them as before.
"What's going on?" I wondered in panic, making my heart rate escalate, but this vampire lady pulled me closer.
"I've got you. You're safe."
I don't know why my heart listened to her soft and assuring whisper, but it did. When I'm calm, I can feel her weight shifting and jump to another tree nearby. I was horrified, but the way her arms held me with security, and I began enjoying the lift. The rush of the wind brushing against my skin and the fresh scent from nature were soothing until she stopped again. I wanted her to go on, but there I heard it.
The rage and worry of the Moon's Gypsys' Alpha.
"LOOK THOROUGHLY OR I'LL MAKE YOU ALL PAY FOR WHAT YOU ALL HAVE DONE TO HER!"
"But Alpha, it has been forty minutes…"
"I DON'T CARE! FIND HER AND BRING HER BACK HERE, WOUNDED OR NOT! SHE NEEDS TO BE FOUND!"
"Yes, Alpha!"
"Dad, something is not right…"
"I know. I could feel it, but stay here in case she comes back to you. You know you're the first person she always searches for in everything. So, stay. I'll join the search and notify you if she's here."
"I will."
I feel everything, their worries, Talia's cries, her rage, and guilt overlapping once again until their presence faded. I wanted to ease her worries, but I can't; my body was still out, and this vampire lady doesn't seem like she's going to hand me back to them easily. However, the vampire lady pulled me closer, tighter, like I was going to vanish if she didn't do that.
With an unsure feeling of easing her worry too, my hand reached out weakly, thinking of touching her face, until she grabbed mine. In that simple contact, I felt my blood rush through my veins, and my heartbeat felt like beating after a long slumber. I liked the warmth and the security she was giving me until she whispered again.
"Once you're fully awake, your life will take a turn and change."
I don't understand what she was saying or what she meant, but she made me feel something that I don't want to feel or remember again. I hate that feeling, but with her, if this vampire lady was created for me and is to be my eternal, then I don't mind being labeled as gay or whatever they call it. As long as it's her, I'm surely into her.
"Promise me to survive until you turn twenty and come to me."
Although I don't get what she was saying, her soft voice lingered and cradled me. I'd like to have it around me until she placed my hand against her chest, where I felt nothing until a faint heartbeat hammered against my palm. I loved how it felt against my hand, and then I felt a kiss placed on my temple, igniting warmth and showing my rose thorn mark. It felt like burning and bleeding, making my body tremble. I was not having my relapse, but it had something to do with what she was becoming to me. I knew it, but I don't dare name it. Not yet, at least.
My mark bled, and the heat was too much to bear, making me scream at the top of my lungs, alarming the pack.
"I'll be around you, my love."
One last whisper from the vampire lady, my savior, she carefully laid me down in a grassy and familiar area within the pack house, the small courtyard, and vanished, knowing I'm safe. The message she'd left was confusing, but being away from her touch, my body trembled, spreading warmth until my family came. Talia's presence was the first one to reach my spot, holding me in her arms, crying.
"I'm here, Bern. I'm sorry…I'm sorry, I let this happen to you."
That's the last thing I heard when my body went off.