CHAPTER EIGHT : FEELINGS
1061 Words
A full week had passed since the party, the strange night when she had followed the mysterious stranger into the shadows only for him to finally reveal himself. Jael. Even his name sounded ancient and mysterious. Dream kept replaying that moment over and over in her mind. His deep voice, the way he looked at her as if he knew every hidden part of her, and most of all, the parchment he had handed her before disappearing.
She had unfolded the parchment as soon as she got back to her dorm room. In neat, ancient-style handwriting, it read: Meet me in two weeks. Noon. Old Blackwood Graveyard.
She was dumbfounded by the entire experience. None of it made any logical sense. Vampires? Djinn? Her father? Still, the pieces were falling into place, and every new bit of information felt like a brick on her chest.
Her father had been digging into something he never should have. Something deadly.
Digging through her father’s university files, newspaper clippings, and the journal he left behind, Dream found a disturbing pattern. The former folklore professor before him had been found dead in an abandoned warehouse. Another had died from an apparent suicide. A third, in a supposed car accident. In total, four folklore professors all at the same university had died under strange circumstances. Her father made the fifth.
It wasn’t random.
According to her father’s notes, he had already figured out what no one else dared to believe: these weren’t just people. They were vampires.
And Jael, the vampire who had been following her wasn’t trying to hurt her. He had been warning her father to stop investigating. Her father hadn’t listened.
“Does that mean he killed him?” Dream asked herself in the quiet dark of her room. “No. If he did, he wouldn’t have saved me. He wouldn’t have protected me.”
She hadn’t told anyone about Jael yet. Not even Francisca. But she trusted Jeremy.
She told him everything, the party, the parchment, the photos of vampires in her father’s files, Jael’s warning.
Jeremy, as always, listened with gentle eyes and a calm expression. “Dream, whatever this is… please be careful. I mean it. This is bigger than you. Don’t end up like your dad.”
His words hit hard. But she couldn’t let go. Not when she was so close.
Another week passed. Each day dragged like a lifetime. And then, the time came.
It was noon. The sun was bright, but the air around Old Blackwood Graveyard felt colder than the rest of the world. Dream stood still, breath held, heart thrumming with anticipation. The graveyard was eerie but calm—lined with weathered gravestones, cracked angels, and tall grass that whispered with the wind.
She waited.
Then she felt it a sudden rush of wind, unnatural and swift, swirling the dead leaves around her feet. Her curls brushed against her face.
She turned.
There he was.
Jael.
Tall, impossibly elegant, and breathtaking in his dark, fitted coat. His features were sharp, timeless. His pale skin contrasted with the dark shadows around him. But it was his eyes, deep, stormy, and unreadable that caught her breath.
Her heart skipped. He looked like a ghost carved from history, too beautiful to be real.
“Jael,” she breathed.
He smirked faintly. “I see you dug deeper than you should have.”
She nodded slowly. “I had to. I needed to understand.”
He took a step closer, his presence consuming the space between them. “You’re brave. But curiosity can be dangerous.”
“I’m not afraid,” she whispered. “I just want to know what’s going on.”
His gaze softened, just slightly. “Then I’ll tell you what I can. But first, you need to be very careful with Jessica.”
Dream stiffened. “Jessica?”
“She’s not who she says she is,” Jael said. “She’s part of an ancient and malevolent vampire society. A group that’s been manipulating human institutions and erasing threats for centuries. They kill to stay hidden.”
Dream’s lips parted, stunned. “So she’s... she’s one of them?”
“Yes,” he confirmed. “And very dangerous. I don’t know who killed your father. But it might be connected to them.”
A tear rolled down Dream’s cheek, but she didn’t look away. “Why would she get close to me?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But you need to be cautious. Watch her. Don’t confront her. Not yet.”
Dream swallowed hard. “You saved me. Why?”
He paused. “Because I had to. Because there’s something about you... your scent, your aura. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt in over two thousand years.”
Dream blinked, stunned by the weight of his words.
“How is that even possible? You’re... a djinn and a vampire?”
“Yes,” Jael said with a faint nod. “My father was a djinn. My mother... a hybrid. A rare one. It’s complicated. My kind doesn’t usually reproduce. But she could. And so I exist.”
Dream stared at him like he was a living myth.
“And you’ve lived for two thousand years?”
“Longer,” he murmured. “But you’re the first person in centuries to make me feel human again.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “That’s... a lot to process.”
“I know,” he said. “But you need to continue your life. Act like nothing has changed. Don’t dig deeper, not unless you’re prepared for what you might find.”
“I want to know everything,” she said boldly.
“You’re strong,” he said, a slight grin lifting one corner of his mouth. “But strength won’t save you if you make enemies in their world.”
“So what do I do now?” she asked.
“Live. Watch. Wait. And if anything feels wrong, you’ll know. I’m watching you, Dream. I’ll protect you.”
He stepped closer, just inches away. She could feel the cold from his skin, but his presence felt like fire.
She looked into his eyes and wondered "was a two thousand year old djinn vampire falling for an eighteen year old girl?"
And scarier still... was she falling for him too?
- Writer
