Immortal Heart

Chapter 5

I opened my eyes and found Hunter’s sleeping face in front of me. I was surprised that I almost push him if not for his arm holding me. This is the first time that I have woken up with him beside me. Ever since I came here, he never slept in this room that I almost thought he already gave it to me.

I smiled as I reached for his face. I gently caress it as I stare at him with admiration. He looked so peaceful and calm when he’s sleeping. I like this look of him better than his composed face. I flinched when a hand grabbed mine. He opened his eyes and smiled at me. My heart almost skipped a beat, but I immediately composed myself and smiled back at him.

“I’m sorry. I was just trying to fix your hair.” I said as I pulled my hand away from him.

“Is there some hair on my face too?” he said with a teasing smile.

“There are a few strands.” I replied calmly before I stood up.

“Seems like you had a good sleep. You didn’t have any nightmares?” he asked me.

Now that he mentioned it, I actually didn’t have a nightmare last night. I don’t actually remember when I fell asleep. Is it because he’s here?

“You fell asleep while I was hugging you. I was planning to sleep in the guest room, but you were holding onto me, so I figure you don’t want to be alone.” He said as he sat up from the bed while rubbing his eyes.

“Thanks. Anyway, this is your room, so why aren’t you sleeping here?” I asked him.

“Because you were using this room.” He sarcastically replied. I just rolled my eyes to heavenward on him.

“You can sleep here, you know.” I said before I went to the closet to look for something that I could wear.

“Are you sure? We’re not dating so I thought sleeping beside you would offend you.” He said with his teasing smile again.

“T-That’s not what I mean! What I’m trying to say is, you can sleep here and I will use the guest room instead.” I immediately replied, almost panicking.

“I’m just kidding. You can stay here in my room. I’m letting you use it, so use it.” He said with a smile before he gets off of the bed.

“Do you still want to attend your classes today? You can rest if you want to. I’m sure what happened yesterday was a bit of a shock for you.” He said while he was holding the door knob.

“Yesterday was indeed a bit of a shock but I’m fine now, so I’ll go.” I replied. He just nods at me before he left the room.

Now that I remember it. I did something that I never expected that I am capable of. I looked at my hand. It is already healed. There’s no sign of the wound anymore, not even a scar.

I took a breath and went to the bathroom. As I let the water flow down to my body, I still can’t shake this chill that I have. I feel like something’s being poured into me. The sound of the trickling water always sounded like steps of people that’s walking towards me.

Why am I feeling like this? Does this have any connection to my dreams?

I sighed before I turned off the shower, put on my clothes, and fix myself. I looked at my hand again. It still feels like I’m holding that sharp thing on it. I didn’t even flinch when I grabbed it, as if I was used to having wounds from it. Learning that was a bit terrifying for me. The fact that I might be someone that I didn’t expect me to be when I was a human.

I took a deep breath before I decided to go down stairs. I immediately find hunter sitting on the couch with Hannah. They were talking, so they didn’t notice me. I was about to walk towards them when I felt something was flying in my direction. Base on how sharp it sounded as it passed through the air, it was a small sharp thing, more like a baby knife that was thrown a few feet away from me. It was heading towards me at full speed, so I can assume that it was thrown to me with fair strength.

My hand immediately moved and caught it before it can reach my skin. I caught it with my fingers, and I’m not even looking at it. My assumptions were correct. It was a baby knife that has leather handle with a crown symbol on it.

“What is it, Raine?” asked Hunter when he noticed me as he stood up and walk towards me.

I looked at the knife that I was holding, and I raised an eyebrow when I noticed that it made a scratch on my finger. Unlike the wound that I had yesterday, this stings.

“Just as I thought.” I heard dad’s voice as he came out of the kitchen while holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Is this yours, dad?” I asked him as I show the knife.

“Yes. I’m very sorry, dear. Did I scare you?” he asked me as he took the knife from me.

“Not really, I was just surprise.” I replied.

“Why would you throw a knife to Raine, dad?” asked Hannah.

“I was just trying to check something.” He answered before he took a sip of his coffee.

“Check something? What is it?’ Hunter asked.

“You told us last night what happened to you when you were heading home. I was surprised so I just want to check it for myself.” He said as he walked towards the couch and sat on it.

“What do you want to check, dad?” I asked him as I looked at him.

“I want to check if you can really control your strengths and abilities even if you hadn’t undergone some proper training.” He said.

“How things go yesterday at the university, sweetheart?” I heard mom asked while she walked down the stairs.

“F-Fine mom. Surprisingly, I didn’t go insane when even if there were humans around me. Hunter immediately calms me down.” I replied.

“That as well.” Dad said. I looked at him. He’s having a serious look on his face that I cannot understand.

“I was planning to train you before I let you go outside, but hiding for too long would make other people close to you suspect that something might had happen, so I have no choice but to trust you in Hunter’s hand.” Dad said as he looked at me. What dad’s stating is true. If it weren’t for Hunter, I might lose to my desire.

“But I was utterly surprised that you know how to show yourself properly, and even control your strength and know how to fight.” Dad added.

I looked away. I was also surprised by the things that I could do. I hate to admit it, but I might be someone dangerous when I was a human.

“But let’s not dwell on this too much, okay? I’m sure it doesn’t mean any harm for us.” Mom said as she gently patted my back to assure me that I was doing just fine.

“I’m sure it does.” Dad replied while nodding his head.

“Now go, you’ll going to be late to your classes.” Mom said as she pushed us out of the house.

She just waved us good bye before she went back inside. Hannah immediately left with her car, so I get on Hunter’s car.

I look at the window only to notice that the house was actually built in the middle of a secluded area. I was too busy listening to Hannah yesterday that I didn’t even notice that it took us almost twenty minutes before we were on the main road.

“I just noticed it now, but we live very far away from the city.” I told Hunter as I watch the trees that we passed by.

“It’s actually an old, abandoned village that my grandfather possessed. Dad decided to use it since it’s still named after him even after few decades have passed.” Hunter answered. I immediately look at him with a surprised expression.

“Few d-decades?” I asked him.

“Yes. We’re vampires, remember?” he said while laughing at my expression.

“But why does it look more like a forest than a village?” I asked him again.

“Well, when I was around twelve years old, nimrods found us. We have to leave the village and escape.” He said while his eyes were still on the road. I was intrigued when he said that he was twelve years old that time. Does that mean that he used to be human?

 “My dad actually thought that everyone in the village manage to escape, but unfortunately, after five years of hiding and living among mortals, dad found out that the entire village was annihilated.” He continued. If he used to be a human, then why would an entire village be annihilated by nimrods? I’m confused.

“There were few survivors, but they were caught and killed by nimrods. We are the only one left in that village.” He added.

“Does that mean there are only the five of us vampires that exist?” I asked him.

“Of course not. Vampires live in territories, just like wolves. Wolves call it pack, we call it a family. There are a lot of families out there, but we are one of the oldest family. Some families came from being sired.” He said with a smile.

“What about your family? You told me you were twelve when that happened. Does that mean you used to be human like us?” I asked him. He reached out his hand and messed my hair while his eyes were still fixed on the road.

“No, I was born as a vampire.” He answered, which confused me even more.

I looked at the window and we’re still in the forest. I checked my watch to see that it’s still early. I guess asking him a few more questions is fine. I want to know more about the world I lived in.

“You were born?” I asked him.

“We are like mortals, but unlike them we have these powers, and we heal thousand times faster than them. That’s why we never got sick, and never die out of natural causes. Haven’t you noticed that we’re doing just fine under the sun?” he asked me.

Now that he mentioned it, I was surprised by the thought that vampires would burn under the sun. I can’t remember a thing, but I definitely remember reading it somewhere before. Does that imply that what was written in the book that I read was wrong? I feel pretty normal under the sun.

“Do vampires supposed to burn under the sun?” I asked him.

“Well, that’s what humans believed. At least, normal mortals believed in something like that, which makes it easier for us to hide our identity.” He answered.

“So you mean, all the vampires are born like humans? Then how did you sired me?” I asked.

“You sure have a lot of questions today, Raine.” He said, while laughing.

“There are two breeds of vampires. The ones that are born were actually the royals, but nimrods call us pure bloods. In terms of power, we are superior to the sired ones.” He said before he turned left. I can see the high way already, meaning we’re leaving the old village’s premises.

“We call them corpse, since they were raised from dead by performing a ritual and offering a vampire’s blood. So, since they were originally dead. Their reproductive system is also dead, that’s why they don’t multiply by giving birth.” He explained to me.

“Wait, you offer a blood?” I asked him.

“Yeah, I basically gave you my blood, so my blood’s running through your veins.” He answered.

“I’m confused. If you were born as a vampire, then why do you classified yourself as a Leal instead of Royals?” I asked him again.

“As I told you, Royals feast blood on their donors. Even if my family was a pure blood, we don’t like the idea of keeping humans close to us, so we pretended to be one of Leals.” He explained. I just nod at him. Keeping a human means danger to both parties.

“Also, do vampires eat? I saw dad having a coffee earlier.” I asked him again.

“Well, we do, but only for the sake of its taste, but it doesn’t really fill us. As for dad’s coffee, that was a coffee that he made out of animal blood. He sells it to other vampires too.” He explained.

“Wow.” The only word that came out of my mouth. He just laughed and messed my hair. After that, we were quiet the entire ride.

When we reached the university, I already saw Hannah’s car, but she already left. When I looked at my watch, I immediately got out of the car.

“I have to go. I’m almost late for my first class.” I told Hunter before running off.

I felt a certain familiarity with this scenario. Me running as fast as I can because I’m almost late for my first class. For some reason, I felt like this happens a lot. When I was about to go inside the room, I saw Hannah come out of the door with her bag on her shoulders.

“Where are you going?” I asked her.

“You’re almost late!” she said when she noticed me.

“I know. So where are you going?” I asked her again when she was in front of me.

“Our prof had an emergency, so he had to leave the university before he can even start checking our attendance.” She said as she started walking, so I followed her.

“We’re free?” I asked her again.

“Yup! I’m going to our club. You want to come?” she asked me. I thought about it for a few minutes.

“No, I think I’ll go to the library.” I replied. She looked at me with a smile.

“Looks like old habits are coming back to you, Raine!” she exclaimed, looking so excited.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“I always saw you at the library whenever you had spare time. Anyway, I’ll see you to our next class,” she said while waving at me as she walked away.

I used to go to the library? Come to think of it, I don’t remember where the library is, so why did I think of going there?

I just shook my head and just let my feet bring me to where I wanted to go, and to my surprise, I unconsciously remember where the library was.

I went inside and look around. I was fascinated by how many the books are neatly placed on the shelves. I smiled as I walk to the left side corner of the library, near the window.

“This must be my favorite spot.” I told myself as I sat on the chair.

“It is indeed your favorite spot.” I flinched when I heard a familiar voice. I turn to look at the owner of the voice and was surprised when I saw him standing behind me.

“Here.” He said and placed a cup of Frappuccino in front of me.

“That’s your favorite coffee too.” He said with a smile before sitting on the chair across from me.

I looked at it before I grabbed the cup and took a sip. My eyes widen as I felt a very familiar taste run through my taste buds. I can feel them dancing in delight, as if they had missed this taste.

“What do you think?” he asked me with a smile.

“It’s good.” I answered him as I took another sip.

“I know you’d like it.” He said, while laughing quietly. I looked at him as he watched me enjoy the Frappuccino in my hand.

“I’m sorry if this might offend you, but may I know your name?” I asked him awkwardly. He just smiled at me and rested his chin on his left hand.

“I’m Tristan.” He replied.

“And.. You’re my boyfriend?” I asked him. I heard him sigh before he looked at me with a serious expression.

“I don’t know what happened to you, or what kind of accident you have been, but it looks like you really can’t remember anything at all. I’m not going to push our relationship to you, if that’s the case.” He replied.

I looked down while I was fidgeting with my fingers. I honestly don’t have any idea how I should react in front of him, or what I should say to him.

“But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to give you up, Raine.” He added. I looked up at him and he was just smiling at me.

“You might not remember me, but I’m sure that your heart will. So let’s start from the very beginning again.” He added before he reached for my hand and held it tight.

“Would you let me?” he asked me while looking at me directly into my eyes.

He’s eyes are telling me to say yes. But I honestly don’t know if I should. I might put this human in danger.

I was about to give him my answer when a hand snatched mine away from Tristan. I immediately looked at the owner of the hand when I recognized his presence.

“Hunter?” I called him.

“Hannah told me that your class was cancelled, so I came.” He said while his eyes were still glaring at Tristan. I immediately stood up and pulled Hunter away.

“Is that so? Then thank you for picking me up.” I said as we walk away from where Tristan was sitting.

I looked back at him and he just mouthed ‘I can wait’ before he waved at me.

I looked at Hunter, and I can obviously see that he’s pissed. I looked back at Tristan again, and he just smiled at me. What should I do? I’m not naïve for me not to understand why Hunter is acting this way. He’s obviously jealous, and I can’t blame him, but Tristan seems to be a very nice guy.

He knows some things that I didn’t know about myself, but I might put him in danger.

I just closed my eyes tightly for a moment to erase the thought and held Hunter’s hand tightly to calm me down.

I’ll just leave everything to how fate would lead me.