I looked at him with my mouth wide open. When he stepped towards me, I immediately stepped back. My body went stiff. What on Earth was he spouting? And why did he look like that? He was just kidding, right? Then why did he seem so serious?
After a while, Ingram laughed. But that laughter didn’t reach his eyes.
“I was just fooling around. Those men escaped. It happened so fast and maybe that was the reason why you didn’t see them running away. Now, let’s get out of here before they return.”
Once more, he guided me towards the car. I didn’t refuse him this time for fear that they might come back. I tried to ignore the absurd things he said although I couldn’t forget the earnestness on his face when he told me he was a Vampire.
“Next time, don’t joke like that again, Ingram, not on situations like this.”
He didn’t respond. When we were both in the car and he was driving, I was shocked for the countless time tonight when I saw that the bleeding on his neck and arms were now gone. I leaned in to check it. “I swear I saw your neck and arms bleeding a while ago. How come they disappeared-“
“My body can heal quickly.”
I almost pulled out my hair out of growing frustration. “Do you even hear what you’re saying, Ingram? Do you know how crazy that sounds to me?”
“You’re right. I was being crazy when I insisted on saying those words. You’re just imagining things, Brianna. The blood on my shirt was not mine but theirs. Contrary to what you’re thinking, I was able to fight back somehow before they escaped. The wounds and the bleeding you’re talking about must be a product of your imagination.”
Ingram ended our conversation with that. I tried to bring it out these past few days but he refused to talk about it. I didn’t know what to believe in anymore. I was even beginning to doubt even the things I witnessed that night. How could an ordinary man like Ingram and those guys do those things? And how did his wounds heal quickly? Everything just seemed too impossible for me. Maybe Ingram was right. I just thought I saw something.
Just thinking about it makes me feel like I was losing my sanity.
“Brianna?”
I looked at Ingram when I heard him call out to me. That’s when I remembered what he said a while ago. “You’re a fan? Really?”
“While reading your novels, I felt like I was listening to your heart speaking. I saw and got to know your heart through your works, Brianna. And I saw your heart drowning. That was what you’ve been trying to say all along, wasn’t it? But nobody can see that. Nobody can hear your heart. But I can. I can save your heart, Brianna. That’s… the only thing I could say about me as of the moment.”
“How can you save my heart when you’re like that?” I asked bitterly. “I know I could trust you. But how can I keep trusting you if you keep refusing to show me who you really are? I’m scared, Ingram. I’ve been hurt too many times before. And if you’re just going to break my heart, too, then don’t let me get used to these things. We better stop now before I end up getting hurt. Because I don’t think I can survive another heartbreak.”
Ingram opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but he changed his mind at the last minute. Because it was dark, I couldn’t see what kind of emotion was playing in his eyes. A sad smile formed on my lips. I removed his hands on my face and turned my back on him.
Seconds later and I felt his warm arms around my waist. He embraced me from behind. He was still not saying anything. My eyes began to water. I closed my eyes when he softly kissed my hair only to open them quickly when I no longer felt Ingram’s embrace. When I turned towards him, he was no longer around.
“Ingram?”
I searched for him in every corner of my apartment but he was nowhere in sight. I stormed out and peeked on his apartment. The door was closed and the lights were off which meant that Ingram was not there. Where did he go? And how could he disappear without me noticing it?
I felt a soft wind around me, that was the same wind that I felt back when I still had dreams about a stranger who had made love to me. All the hair from my nape and arms rose as I hastily went back in my apartment. I don’t know what’s happening anymore.
Did you leave because you knew you’d end up breaking my heart, Ingram?

“ARE YOU a martyr or something? You should have learned your lesson from Kristoff already. That Ingram guy just made you fall for him. You gotta use your head when it comes to relationships, too, best friend.”
I took a deep breath and massaged my ears as Ellen continued to preach and insult the hell out of me. We saw each other in the publication today and decided to stroll around the mall. And since then, she’d been lecturing me until now that we were inside a pizza parlor. Ellen was like Papa’s female version. Even if I don’t talk, she could feel if something was bugging me. In the end, I told her about Ingram who had been missing in action for five days now.
I missed him. I was beginning to regret the things I told him the last time we were together. I thought that since we had only known each other for a short time, I wouldn’t be too affected if ever I’d lose him. But I was wrong.
I was never able to sleep properly at night thinking about Ingram.