It was so overwhelming to discover that the creatures whom I thought only existed in fantasy books and movies were actually real. And they were living with us. I felt like the world suddenly got bigger.
I was also petrified to know that there were creatures who were a hundred times stronger, quicker, and more resilient than average people like me. It was horrifying. Not to mention that those creatures fed on human blood to live. And one of them was the man who I treated as my ally, the same man who made love to me over and over.
I’d longed to uncover the mystery behind Ingram Wilson. But what I had discovered was more than I anticipated. In an instant, my whole world flipped.
When I woke up after I passed out, Ingram began telling me everything. After I heard his story, I asked him to bring me back to my apartment. I asked for some space and time to think things over. He understood and told me that he would be around if ever I’d need him. All I had to do was call his name and he would show up.
But I haven’t called him yet. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“How can I tell if you’re really in love with me? You just said you’re a Vampire,” I remembered asking afterwards. “Can you really feel anything at all? In a novel that I once read, the Vampires there had no heartbeat. And in Twilight, Edward Cullen sparkle-“
“For crying out loud, this is real life, Brianna!” Ingram pressed his temples and looked at me as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing from me. Well, I feel the same. Now, we’re even. “Why are you comparing me to Edward Cullen? I don't sparkle! And of course, I still have a heart like you. That’s not a design in my body. It still beats. A Vampire’s heart beats in order to move the blood through our body. That's why staking us through the heart is an effective way of killing us. And we could still feel human emotions. How could you doubt that?” he added in a frustrated voice. “One more thing, I don’t hurt others to feed. We have Vessels, they’re also humans, who offer us their blood in exchange of money. We couldn’t digest human food that’s why we’ve been trading with the Vessels for years. We help them and they help us in return. That’s how life works for us.”
“WHAT should I do now?” I sat on the bed and leaned on the headboard. Ingram and I haven’t seen each other for days. And despite the negative feelings I was having, I couldn’t deny that I was missing him.
“I’m not asking that you take me, Brianna. I want you so much to be mine but I won’t ask you to be mine. Just like what I said, it would be risky for us to be together. Because the moment we chose to stay together, we’d be cursed,” Ingram said the night we separated. “Our days as doppelgangers would be numbered.”
“You’re scaring me.”
He shook his head. “I’m not. I’m just giving you a choice. A choice whether to stay or run away. I’ll accept your decision, whatever that may be. But I will still always guard you, Brianna. I won’t leave this country. I will protect you with my life because aside from that, I don’t know what else to do. Even if you end up not seeing me anymore, I will still make sure that you get to live your life the way you want to.”
“I still don’t understand. If you knew about the curse, then why are you here? You should have saved yourself. We could have never met at all. Why did you risk coming here when you had the chance to avoid me from the get-go?”
He looked deep into my eyes. “Because I love you. When I came here, all I really wanted was to see you. I didn’t know I’d end up falling in love with you.”
Geez. I got up and paced back and forth inside my room. Ingram said that he had been cursed even before he was born. The curse had been going on and on from a certain clan of Vampires. He said that I was also cursed. Every three hundred years, doppelgangers like Ingram and I were born because we happened to be the unlucky ones who were bearers of the curse which Acantha and Xenos started.
“What do I want to do with my life?”
I looked around my room. There was big shelf in one corner which was filled with my favorite books. Beside it was my writing table. Every single day of my life, my laptop and my books were the only ones with me. I’m already twenty-eight and I’m still alone. For a human like me who was supposed to live shorter lives compared to the creatures Ingram talked about, I should be making every minute worth it. But am I doing that? Have I been living my life well?
I’d suffered almost my whole life. My happy days ended when Papa died. I was just able to experience happiness when Kristoff came into the picture. But it was short-lived. When I found out that he got Stella pregnant, my world collapsed again. Looking back, I wasn’t able to live life to the fullest. But when Ingram came, every day felt different. I felt like my heart had been revived.
And when he left, I felt lost like a little girl. It was like my home had been taken away from me. And I couldn’t return. I didn’t know where to go. Because…
“Damn it,” I muttered in disbelief. My heart raced upon the realization. “I’ve fallen for him. I’ve fallen for Ingram.”
“Admit it, Brianna. You are drawn to me just as I am drawn to you. There’s this dark side of you who wanted to explore things with me.”
Ingram was right. He made me feel things I’ve never felt before. With him, there was thrill and excitement. I feel the most alive when we’re together. And without him now, I feel the opposite. If Kristoff was like a gentle wind in my life, Ingram was the storm. He was that dangerous and complicated. But I was happy with him.