Stained Innocence (Severuz Vampires Saga Book 1)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Christel groaned when she heard the irritating sound of her phone echoed around the whole room. If only whoever it was calling her, was standing next to her bed, she swore she would’ve smacked it hard on its stomach for ruining her sleep. She barely had a decent rest in the last couple weeks. Now that she’s finally getting one, here came whoever this caller was, taking away her chance to gain her strength through a deep slumber.

She reached for her buzzing phone on the lamp table and pressed the accept button. Her hand fisted on her hair while her eyes remained shut as she flinched. God, her head was throbbing and she felt pain almost all over her body. This caller must have a good reason for interrupting her sweet dream, or else she’ll hunt it down and give it a hard kick between its legs, regardless if it’s a he nor a she. She doesn’t give a damn anyway.

“Who’s this?” Her voice still raspy.

“Christel…” A familiar man’s voice whispered.

It’s as if a bomb just got dropped on her bed that she almost jumped out of it when she recognized who it was. Her heart beat suddenly raised, and her sleepy eyes opened widely with just the sound of his soothing voice.

“K—Kurt?”

“It’s me.” She heard him cough a couple times. “Can I see you?”

Her lips parted for a moment, unable to think of anything to utter. Why would he even want to see her? Did he just hit his head and miraculously forgot what kind of past they both share? No matter how much she tried to find a rational explanation, every idea seemed gloomy and unreasonable in any sense.

“Christel,” he called for her name again. This time, with a hint of emotion she cannot put into words. All she knew was it still cuts her heart, deep and excruciating, and it just triggers an immense amount of memories she wished she could just erase from her mind. Both the painful and beautiful ones.

She resisted the impulse of giving in easily. The fabled feelings he can give her made her want to clutch the cloth on her chest. None of it was foreign, after all. She perfectly recognized its effect on her system, something she hates to admit to herself.

Years had passed…but he can still make her question herself whether she was really able to move on from him and his mistakes or not.

Maybe it’ll always be the latter.

She blinked a couple times before she finally released a shallow sigh. “Why?” Her tone was cold, like the night she had witnessed how cruel life could really be.

Kurt breathed hardly. “I’m dying, and I really need you…”

With a bag of groceries on both of her hands, Christel impatiently pressed the doorbell of her sister’s house. Her army boots kept tapping the ground, a mannerism she was showing when she’s getting bored or tensed although she really hates waiting. If only she could yell at Carla, she would’ve already done a few moments ago.

The door swung open and her older sister grabbed her immediately for a tight hug. Christel’s lips pressed with each other, yet she’s sure the sting feeling wasn’t because of her swollen lip, but because of her sister’s approach. She tried her best not to shed a single tear, making her chest feel more heavy as she prevented herself from letting the feeling of longing consume her.

She sniffed and pushed her sister back. Her head tilted towards a different direction, unable to take to stare at her sister’s teary eyes. “I, uh.” She cleared her throat, pushing away any hint of emotion from her voice. “I brought supplies.”

Carla reached for her cheek and raked it with empathy. “You can always come home, you know. Just come home.” Her voice almost sounded pleading. Her eyes stared at Christel’s bruised cheek and swollen lips.

Christel took a glimpse at her sister for a couple of seconds, but the emotion written on Carla’s face was something that could easily crumble down the walls around her heart. She’s always been her weakness, that’s why she hates seeing her this way.

She shook her head before releasing a sigh. “A cup of coffee would be great.” A fake smile made its way to her lips.

Her sister remained silent for a moment. Carla’s hand held her forearm and gave it a little squeeze before she invited her in. “I just made lunch. Wesley’s watching TV. It’s been a month since he last saw you and he’s been waiting for you every single day.”

She swallowed hard. That’s one of the reasons why she rarely visits. The sight of Wesley pains her the way his dad could…and now she’s about to get tortured again by the little boy’s effect.

“Carla.” Her hand grabbed hers that made them both stop. With her brows now furrowing with worry, another sigh escaped her lips. “Kurt called me. Did you give him my number?”

“No. Of course not.” Carla shook her head. “Why would I even do that? I thought he’s long gone before Wesley was even born? That’s what you’ve told me, right?”

Christel touched the side of her own neck. “That’s what I thought, too. What if he already knew about Wesley?”

Carla looked at her wearily with a hint of a little hope in her hazelnut pools. “Are you afraid he might take Wesley away from us?”

Her lips pressed against each other and her head bowed down in anticipation. “T—That’s, that’s not what I meant…”

Another sigh left Carla’s lips. “It’s not that bad to show you care for that child, Christel. He needs a mom.”

“And what do I know about being one?” Her voice raised a little. “I—I can’t even look at him straight in the eyes.”

A faint smile formed on Carla’s face. “That’s because you never tried because all you see in him was his father. You can never appreciate your present if you wouldn’t accept your past. Kurt is just a part of your past. Wesley isn’t him. That kiddo deserves to be loved more than anyone.”

Her vision went cloudy. She shut her eyes and tried to swallow hard to keep herself from crying. “I didn’t come here to talk about Wesley. I just want to bring some groceries. That’s all.”

“Which is something you rarely do unless you really want to see us. Him. Stop lying to yourself and please, Christel, I’m begging you. Stop whatever you are doing. Haven’t you ruined enough lives already?” Carla’s voice soften.

Christel opened her eyes and blinked her tears away. She gave her sister a cold stare and a dull façade. “My job pays our bills.”

Frustration flashed on Carla’s eyes. “We can work together in a decent way. We can raise that child in a noble manner. I don’t want him to come to me one day, barking me with terrible questions about you and what you do. This isn’t you at all.” She held her on her shoulders. “When was the last time you looked in the mirror and see how hard it is to recognize you anymore?”

Christel’s chest felt even heavier. Carla’s words struck her hard, but she’s not brave enough to surrender. Carla barely even know anything about what she’d really gone through. She never told a single soul, and she intended to keep things that way.

“Please.” She removed Carla’s hands from her shoulders and gently touched the back of her palms. A broken smile plastered on her lips. “I just want a cup of coffee…”

Realization hit Carla when she heard her sister’s response. No matter how hard she tried to help Christel knock some senses out of her head, her younger sister wouldn’t just cooperate. She breathed some air and wiped her tears with her index finger before she flashed a broken smile. “Promise me you wouldn’t come home one day lifeless. You have no idea how hard it is for me to sleep at night wondering how you’re doing.”

Christel patted her sister’s shoulder. No plans of answering her anymore. “Brewed coffee. No cream. Two cubes of sugar. Love it.” She yelped pretentiously.

Carla finally gave up. She walked towards the door with Christel on her tail but when Wesley titled his head towards them, Carla saw how Christel stiffened when the little boy in his The Flash overall ran towards them. His tiny arms encircled around Christel’s middle, his face buried on her stomach.

Christel felt a lump in her throat and her body suddenly felt numb with the little boy’s approach. He was hugging her as tight as his arms could, as if he’s too afraid she’d go too soon and all she could do was press her lips together as hard as she could to keep herself from showing any emotion. But Wesley really had a special effect on her. The little boy can easily make her feel all the emotions she’s been denying to herself every single day. Every bit of it she wished she could just be numbed about.

Wesley lifted his gaze to meet hers. A sweet smile formed on his pinkish lips while his eyes twinkle with tears of longing. “Mama, are you gonna stay with me now?” His smooth voice sounded hopeful.

Pain clawed Christel’s heart agaiin. Her gaze shifted to Carla whose eyes flash the same emotion Wesley’s have. This is why she hates to visit. Every time Wesley sees her, the little child asks her the same exact thing she can never answer with a simple yes. Her words remained unspoken, until her aching heart finally made her swallow it all back.

She gave Carla a pleading look to take Wesley’s arms off her. Her sister hopelessly breathed hard before she went towards Wesley. She stroke its dark hair before she kneel down on his side to cup his face. Her cloudy eyes stared at his, mirroring the same emotions. The same pain. The same disappointment.

“Sweetheart,” Her voice was shaky. “Mama can’t stay long but I promise you I’ll take you to the cinema to watch the movie you said you wanna see. What was that again?”

Wesley’s lips began quivering. He sniffed and tightened his hug on Christel’s waist, afraid to give her the chance to walk away from him again. “The Good Dinosaur…”

Carla tried to hide all her emotions with a faint smile. “I knew that’s the one. Was that about the boy and the green Dino? The one we’d seen last night on the ad?”

The little boy sniffed again, his nose and eyes were now as red as a ripe tomato. “The D—Dino who got separated from his mom because he didn’t listen when his Dad told him the river is dangerous.” He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Did I not listen before? Is that why Mama doesn’t want to be here? If I did, I’m sorry, Mama I promise to be good this time.” He buried his face on Christel’s stomach and began crying.

Carla was stiffened. Wesley’s indeed a smart kid, but this time, she cannot appreciate it much for his words just made her feel worse. Her head lifted to see Christel’s expression. Just as what she expected, Christel’s eyes now watered, and her lips are quivering while being pressed hard with each other.

Tears began trailing down Christel’s rosy cheeks. It’s naturally pale, but with all the bottled up emotions slowly resurfacing because of Wesley, it looked like it was slapped a hundred times to be that way.

She can’t take it anymore. Her body finally betrayed her as her tears became harder to control. She realized she was already sobbing, and her body was quaking violently. The pain Wesley could cause had always been unbearable. It drains her, until there’s no more enough strength left in her body to stay away. She cannot wait for that to happen.

With all the remaining strength she still had, she reached for the boy’s arms and removed it. He tried to resist and hugged her tighter while crying hardly, afraid to be left again. “Carla…” Her voice sounded raspy. Tears kept trailing down her cheeks. “Please…”

She can’t utter another word, but that was enough for Carla to understand what she’s trying to say. Carla hugged Wesley tightly from his back while Christel was removing his arms off her waist. The child screamed, begged, and cried his heart out while trying to reach her shirt. “Mama! Don’t leave me!”

Carla’s heart got torn into thousand pieces with Wesley’s plea. He tried his best to free himself from her hold but she just hugged her closer, putting his head on her shoulder while silently sobbing for the poor child.

Christel’s knees were trembling while she’s taking her steps backwards. Unable to bear Wesley’s sobs any longer, she turned her back on him and Carla to run towards the door. Her tears made her vision blurry, but she tried her best to get inside her car as fast as she could. Her hands were shaking, but if she won’t get out of there as soon as possible, she knew she wouldn’t have enough strength anymore to leave.

Her car tiers made a screeching sound as she drove it out of the village. Tears kept trailing down her cheeks that she wiped with the back of her hand every now and then to keep her vision clear. She can feel her heart exploding with the image of Wesley and his teary eyes. It made her grip on the stirring wheel tighter. The car went faster, until she finally reached the outskirt of the town. She halted, turned the engine off, and let her head rest on the back of her hands as painful sobs made her shoulders quake hard and violently.

Her eyes shut, but it wasn’t enough to stop herself from crying. In an hour, she’s going to meet Kurt, but here she was, sobbing hardly for a child whose existence shall remain a secret from his own father.