Episode 2: The Bite of Memory
1408 Words
Chapter 6: When Shadows Speak
The moonlight that once comforted Steven now watched him like an eye in the sky—silent and unmoving.
He sat alone on the sea wall at Bayfront Mangagoy, head bowed over his phone. Michael hadn’t messaged again since last night. That, more than anything, unsettled him. It meant the silence was intentional.
And that meant Michael was either giving him space…
…or preparing to disappear.
Steven’s mind flashed back to his dream—the fire, the kiss, the arrow. He didn’t know what disturbed him more: the vividness of it, or how it felt… real.
He pulled out the silver necklace from under his shirt. It used to be his grandmother’s. “For protection,” she had said.
But from what?
The answer stepped out of the shadows behind him.
“You came,” Michael said quietly.
Steven didn’t turn around. “You’re lucky I’m curious.”
Michael stepped closer, his scent like old wood and cold wind.
“I meant it. I’ll stop if you want. But if you ask me to explain everything, I will.”
Steven stood and faced him. “Then tell me. Everything.”
They sat on a bench under the same broken lamppost.
Michael leaned back, gaze distant.
“I was born in 1924. A Spanish mestizo family living near Dumaguete. When I turned 19, I was turned… by someone I trusted.”
Steven listened, half-skeptical, half-spellbound.
“I spent decades hiding what I was. Watching people I loved age and die. Then… I met you.”
“Me?” Steven echoed.
“Not you now. But someone who looked like you. In 1952. You were a writer—rebellious, clever, brave. I was too scared to love you openly, but we met in secret. Then one night, we were found.”
Steven felt cold.
“We were hunted. You… you died protecting me.”
He stopped. Pain darkened his expression.
Steven swallowed hard. “And you think… I’m him?”
“I know you are.”
Steven didn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say.
But something flickered in him—like a candle in the wind.
Not belief.
But something close.
Chapter 7: Between Trust and Terror
The next day at school, Steven tried to act normal.
It didn’t work.
He kept staring at people too long, hearing heartbeats too clearly, and jumping at every shadow. He wasn’t sure if he was being watched—or if his own paranoia had sharpened since meeting Michael.
He avoided the canteen and ate bread in the library. Even Czarah noticed something was wrong.
“You look like you saw a ghost,” she whispered during class.
Steven gave her a hollow laugh. “Not a ghost. A vampire.”
Czarah blinked, then leaned closer. “Wait… you’re serious?”
Steven told her everything in hushed tones between lectures. When he was done, she stared at him wide-eyed.
“You’re either losing it—or you’re in the hottest, most dangerous love story I’ve ever heard.”
He chuckled weakly. “Both could be true.”
That night, Steven walked home late. The streets were quiet—too quiet.
As he turned onto his street, he felt it.
Someone watching.
He picked up his pace. The hairs on his arms stood up.
Then, behind him—a blur.
Something rushed past him, fast.
He froze.
A tall man in a black hoodie emerged from the shadows, eyes gleaming red.
“Steven Reyes?” the stranger asked.
Steven backed up. “Who are you?”
“Someone who wants what Michael Ruiz is hiding.”
Steven didn’t wait. He ran.
But the man was faster.
Until—flash—a blur of movement slammed into the attacker, knocking him into a tree.
Michael.
Fangs bared. Eyes glowing like twin moons.
“Stay away from him,” he growled.
Steven watched, horrified, as Michael roared—not like a man, but like something older, hungrier.
It was the first time Steven saw the monster behind the beauty.
And it shook him to his core.
Chapter 8: The Monster in the Mirror
Steven couldn’t sleep.
His heart beat too fast. His mind ran faster.
He had seen Michael’s real face. Not the calm, mysterious boy from the baywalk. But the predator.
The vampire.
Czarah called three times. He didn’t answer. What would he say? “Hey, turns out he really is a vampire and he beat up a demon in my front yard”?
He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, when his phone buzzed.
Michael: “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to see me like that.”
Steven’s hands trembled.
He typed: “I saw who you really are.”
Michael: “No. You saw what I have to become to protect you.”
Steven shut his eyes.
Part of him wanted to believe.
The other part wondered if he’d just fallen for a beautiful lie.
He met Michael the next day, not at Bayfront, but in a chapel garden near school.
Michael sat on a stone bench, eyes heavy.
“You hate me now,” he said.
Steven sat across from him. “I’m… scared of you.”
Michael nodded.
“But I’m also scared of how much I trust you,” Steven added quietly.
Michael looked up, surprised.
“I know what you are. And I know what I’ve seen. But I don’t think you’ll hurt me.”
Michael exhaled slowly. “I would rather die than hurt you.”
Their eyes locked.
Something passed between them—fear, love, longing.
A promise unspoken.
Chapter 9: Ties That Bleed
Trouble arrived in the form of a letter.
Steven found it taped to his door when he got home.
"We know what he is. If you don’t want to share his fate, stay away from Michael Ruiz."
There was no signature.
Just a red wax seal… with a fang insignia.
He ran to the café, desperate to find Michael.
But he wasn’t there.
Instead, Czarah was waiting with an anxious face.
“Steven,” she whispered, pulling him into a corner. “He’s in danger. There are others. Like him. But they want him dead.”
Steven’s blood ran cold.
Michael appeared just before sundown.
“I know who they are,” he told Steven and Czarah. “They’re called the Sangres—a vampire bloodline that hunts its own. I broke their rules when I fell in love with a human. Twice.”
Steven’s voice trembled. “Are they coming?”
Michael nodded. “They never stopped.”
Czarah glanced between them. “What do we do?”
Michael turned to Steven. “You have to choose. Stay with me, and you’ll be hunted. Or walk away… and be safe.”
Steven didn’t answer.
But he didn’t walk away either.
Chapter 10: Blood Between Us
The next day, Steven stood at Bayfront Mangagoy again.
The ocean whispered warnings he didn’t want to hear.
He knew what was coming.
Blood. War. Secrets. Pain.
But when Michael arrived, his eyes sad but hopeful, Steven didn’t hesitate.
He stepped forward, closed the space between them, and kissed him.
Not like before—not out of fear or confusion.
But with love.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Steven said. “If they want you, they’ll have to go through me.”
Michael smiled, but his eyes gleamed with sorrow.
“They might.”
That night, the Sangres came.
Three shadows cloaked in red approached the bayfront, silent as death.
Michael stood in front of Steven, ready.
Czarah arrived, holding a bottle of holy water and a kitchen knife. “No one hurts my bestie.”
What followed was chaos.
Fangs. Fire. Screams.
Steven watched as Michael fought for his life—and for love.
In the end, they stood bloodied, but alive.
The Sangres retreated—for now.
As the sun began to rise, Steven leaned on Michael’s shoulder, exhausted but safe.
“I remember more now,” Steven whispered. “Flashes. Moments. That kiss under the tree… the way you looked at me.”
Michael wrapped an arm around him. “You’re remembering our love.”
Steven smiled faintly. “Then let me remember everything. With you. One day at a time.”
Michael kissed his temple.
And under the bleeding sky of Bislig, two hearts—one mortal, one eternal—chose each other again.
- Writer
