Insatiable

Chapter 16

Eleanor Kytler:

Hey, dad. I'm sorry I didn't go home tonight. I'm at Lacuna Valley with Granny. I think I'll be staying here for a while.

The enchantress sent a photo of her with Wilnadette as a proof that she's not lying about her whereabouts.

Jude Kyteler:

Wasn't able to check in with you last night. Sorry, baby. Terrie is in labor. I'll see you soon.

He didn't even question why Eleanor is suddenly hanging out with his mother in law. It didn't matter anymore because right now, Jude's only priority is his new family.

This is actually the last phone conversation Eleanor had with her father before she died.

As of this moment, it's already been over a year since she saw her father. Now that she's inside his home after a long while, Ellie feels as though she's a stranger.

A stranger in an empty house.

Jude left Anemone City with Terrie and his newborn child three weeks after Eleanor died. He had no choice because just like what happened more than a decade ago, he's compelled again.

"Ellie, sweetheart?" She's welcomed by chaotic Jude. The man is holding a breast pump and a bottle of milk. There's a big, gross spit up in his t-shirt and the bug under his eyes makes him look like a zombie.

Eleanor sighs. The strong urge to attack her father is dancing in her head again. She then chants magical words to stop non-humans to enter his home before she makes the mistake of sucking his blood dry.

"I don't understand, Ellie." Jude creases his brow; the words his daughter is saying are foreign to him. He tries to extend his arms to reach for her face, but it's like he's trapped inside. His hand just bounces back.

"You and your family needs to leave." After saying this, she's back into chanting foreign words again. The spell she's currently performing will make the mortals in this house invisible and untraceable in the eyes of non-humans. Jude will be safe not just from all kinds of vampires, but also from grim reapers, ghosts, and wolves.

The spell will take effect in a few minutes, so Eleanor has to say whatever she needs to before Jude fades away.

"Move somewhere far. I need you to be thousands of miles away from Anemone City." 

Jude is under compulsion. He can't say no.

"And you will forget that you have a daughter named Eleanor Kyteler."

Jude scowls. He doesn't understand anything, yet his heart hurts. The compulsion works, so as of this moment, Eleanor is just a stranger to him.

"Terrie will forget anyone related to your first wife too." She murmurs another spell so that her compulsion can reach Terrie who is at the second floor of the house.

"Goodbye, Jude." Eleanor mimics what her mother said many years ago.

And just like that, Jude is left like nothing happened. He just shrugs his shoulders then went back in the arms of his wife and little boy.

"What are you doing here?" Eleanor snaps back to reality when she felt a presence behind her.

"I followed you," answers the intruder.

"Still doesn't answer my question." Eleanor looks back at Elijah.

Like what the very first untouchable just said, he followed Eleanor into going to Jude's house at Anemone City. It's an abandoned abode. Jude sold it to someone, but Ellie repurchased it through the use of compulsion. Yes, she changed, but a part of her still can't let go of the past. This home provided both comfort and nightmare to her.

"I didn't get to apologize for everything I've done to you..." Elijah speaks after a moment of awkward silence. They were just staring into each other blankly, but right now, the untouchable's eyes are full of sorrow and guilt.

"What did you do?" She asks. It's hard to assume things these days. Making herself believe that Elijah is apologizing for everything is hopeless. It will only hurt her to think that he feels remorse for taking Jimin away from her.

That's the most painful thing. Now that her heart is beating again, the bad stuff she did keep on haunting her. She didn't just see the disgust and fear in the hybrid's eyes. She also felt it.

"Coz I let you turn into a vampire." Elijah breathes out. One of the heavy stones in his heart is finally lifted. It really feels good to admit his mistakes.

Eleanor only brushes it off.

"You needed to do that to keep Jimin."

"But I stole Jimin's chance at a normal life." He insists that he's at fault. He even raises his voice a little.

"It was selfish." And his scowl deepens. "I am selfish."

Am as in present. He still is. Truthfully, he wouldn't hesitate to do the things he did back then. He's only apologizing now because of the guilt that's eating him up, plus the fact that there's still a big chance of him repeating this act again.

"We've all done selfish things to stop hurting." Eleanor smiles. She can feel it. His apology is sincere, but limited. He makes her feel like he would give up everything (including his life) if she tries to hurt the hybrid again.

But that's not happening anymore. It's a sudden change of heart, sure. But then again, it's because she has a heart now.

It doesn't mean that she'll stop killing, though. She might have a heart, but she is still insatiable.

"I'm just really sorry." Elijah says, his head is slow.

Eleanor switches her gaze at the picture frame at the table. It's a picture of her and her father. She briefly let herself think about the infamous what ifs.

What if she didn't go to Lacuna Forest with James that night? What if she resisted Sage's gullible act?

The answer is simple: James and Cassandra would still be alive, Jimin would experience being a human, Jude would never hurt in the first place, Wilnadette would be breathing too, and of course, Eleanor will still be a regular human who just wants to belong.

But if these what ifs happen, she wouldn't have met Sage.

She would never fall in love with him because he would be long gone—faded, just like Margaret, his first love.

Eleanor clenches her jaw. She lets herself think again of a life without Sage Alterio.

She stops immediately.

She wants to slap herself.

Just like Elijah, she's selfish.

She's selfish because even though there are a lot of good things that will happen if she didn't meet Sage, she still would've chose this current reality that she's experiencing.

Fuck.

It feels like the old times again.

Her heart still belongs to the ruthless vampire.

Her heart hurts.

"Red." Elijah suddenly speaks.

Eleanor furrows her brow.

The untouchable smiles warmly—like everything is alright.

It's not...

"Bring him red colored food." Another smile. "It's the first step to win Jimin's heart."

Or maybe, it will all be alright.

Eleanor finally returns the smile.

"Red it is."