Stained By Sin

TWENTY-FIVE

Elara could tell that her suggestion was a surprise to Nero. He looked at her with a blank expression. Elara marveled a little at the look on his face. She was used to seeing him expressionless. It was his standard mask whenever he was outside. That, and a high-and-mighty look, which makes sense given that he was the current king of the vampire race. She knew those masks very well. Not only did she use the same expressions back at her clan, those were also the same masks that her brother Cairo used back when he was a king. But this time, the blankness in Nero’s face was genuine. It was as if it was the first time that her suggestion was brought up to him. She smiled at him before turning around to walk towards where the book was.

She heard Nero’s footsteps behind her. He seemed to have followed her. She didn’t even glance at him. She just continued walking to where the book was. As soon as she reached the shelf, she stretched out her hand and gently touched the book. It was rough under her fingertips. The dust had already accumulated heavily that when she slid it out of the shelf, she coughed at the sudden dust smoke that greeted her.

“That’s an old book,” she heard Nero spoke behind her. There was humor in his voice, which Elara appreciated. It seemed like the distraction was working. Still not looking at him, she dusted the cover gently with her hand, revealing the title on the hardbound cover.

Vampires: The History

Elara read the tile softly, a wave of nostalgia washing over her. This book was really a favorite of hers. It had always fascinated her how their race had come to be. It had been a long time since the vampires had first appeared that all the very first purebloods were already dead. Because of that, the origin story that was recorded in this book was treated by the current vampires as a myth.

But not Elara. She believed every single word that this book said, and she also believed that since their race was born through a curse, they could also remove the curse to everyone. How? She had no idea.

Elara walked to the nearest table and sat on a chair. Nero followed suit and sat closely beside her. Elara wasn’t sure though which one Nero was watching: her or the book. She’d like to believe it’s the book, but somehow, she could feel his eyes on her.

Ignoring the weird feeling that she was being stared at, Elara broke the silence.

“You know, this is one of my favorite books. Have you ever read this?” she asked, this time, finally looking at Nero.

Nero shook his head with a shy smile. “It’s a shame to say that I haven’t.”

“A real shame,” Elara replied. “But this book aside, have you ever heard of any origin stories of our race?”

“I did, but only the general idea. Just that we were once human cursed to become this bloodsucking race that would burn when the sun touches us.”

Elara nodded and opened the book. She flipped through the pages, looking for beginning of the story.

“What you heard is true. That really was how we came into existence,” she declared in a matter-of-fact tone.

“How do you know, though? Are you an original pureblood?” Nero asked, genuinely curious.

“No, but this book said so. And this was written by the original pureblood of my clan, so I’m sure this is real.”

Elara looked at Nero again, gauging his reaction to the book. He seemed suspicious of it, as if it wasn’t possible that whatever was inside the book was real.

“This book is one of my clan’s greatest treasure. This is the only copy of the book. I don’t know if the other clan have records of our origin as well, but my clan has one,” Elara said, feeling as if she needed to defend that she was holding.

“I know that we don’t have one. And now that I think about it, I wonder why. Our clan is supposed to be the smart one,” Nero replied with a grin.

“Proved you wrong, huh,” Elara winked.

Out of nowhere, Nero coughed uncontrollably. Elara chuckled at his reaction. She would always wink at Aki when it was only the two of them, but even though he would always be flustered by it, he had never reacted this flustered. Elara felt victorious that her charm still worked.

“You okay?” Elara asked as soon as he stopped coughing. She was grinning, teasing him, showing him that she knew perfectly well what just happened.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nero answered, averting his gaze and turning a bit red.

Elara decided to spare the poor man and just move on to the story.

“Look here,” she said, pointing at the line that explains their origin.

They proceeded to read silently together, discussing the likelihood of the events written in the book, and debating how real the book was.

Time passed quickly. Elara didn’t realize that it was almost morning. Not until she felt her skin tingle as the sunlight began to stream from the open window.

“s**t,” she muttered.

Before Elara could even stand, Nero had already moved. He was already closing the curtains in one swift move, carefully avoiding the streaks of light that was already entering the room. Elara watched Nero in awe. The way he moved; it was as if they he had done it multiple times.

“Wow,” Elara said in amazement. “Do you normally leave your curtains open in your room?” she blurted out without thinking.

Nero smiled at her proudly, as if being burned to death on a regular basis was something to be proud of.

“Uh-huh.”

“Wow,” Elara said again.

“Well, I love the scenery. I love watching the forest, and I love the cool wind. It’s a shame, blocking all those out with a curtain when the sun wouldn’t even be up for hours.”

Elara nodded. “You have a point. The forest does look lovely at night. I wonder how it looks like when bathed under the sunlight.”

They were both quiet for a moment, imagining the beautiful forest, but instead of being softly illuminated by the moonlight, its colors would be intensified by the bright sunlight.

Elara closed her eyes, dreaming of being able to run through the forest, the warmth of the sun heating up her skin. She tilted her head up towards the sky, wanting to feel the sunlight in her face. Back when she was still living in this mansion with her brothers, she would often dream of this. Of being free, out in the open, exploring the woods without relying to the sharp vision of their race. When she left the mansion to rebuild her clan, there wasn’t any more time to daydream. All she could focus on was keeping his men in line and keeping a tough front so that they would follow her. She was just glad that now, at least, she had already gained their respect. At least she didn’t need to rely on fear anymore.

Her daydream intensifying, she could feel as if her skin was really warming up. She took a deep breath, wanting to breathe in the fresh, warm of the forest, parting her lips as she did. But instead of the warm, fresh air, she felt the warmth of someone’s lips on hers instead. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she saw Nero pulling back from her. His eyes were also wide with surprise.

“Uhm…uh…” he said, stuttering. “I’m… I’m sorry. I didn’t…. I wasn’t thinking…” he continued.

Elara didn’t respond. She just stared at him, shocked and confused. What just happened?

Nero didn’t move or talk as well. He just stood there, looking apologetic, as if he was a kid that was caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. He was fidgeting, but he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Elara?” he finally said when the silence became too uncomfortable for him.

“I… uh…” Elara began but didn’t continue. She was still confused as f**k.

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

Elara shook her head. “I’m going back to my room.”

Nero just nodded. Elara left without a word, and Nero didn’t follow. Elara just walked, not giving a damn at the vampires that stared at her. She just wanted to get into her room as fast as she could.

When she finally reached her room, she gently closed the door before slowly sliding down the floor. The reality of what just happened crashing down on her. That wasn’t her first kiss. No, not at all. She wasn’t a virgin or anything, but that kiss shook her entire world. It wasn’t her first kiss, but that was the first time she was kissed as softly as that and she wasn’t prepared for it.