Talia's pov

"Did you think you could escape your destiny? What was meant for you?"

A mysterious voice was speaking to me right next to my ear. But it was neither Darcia nor Nicoli. My eyes were glued; I couldn't even blink. A sharp object scratched my forearm, causing goosebumps to appear on my sensitive skin.

"Can't move, right? Talia, how does it feel to be unable to control your body? "How does it make you feel on the inside?" A whisper in my other ear.

A strong push on my shoulders made me drown my head in the bathtub. I tried to reach my hands out to the person who was doing so, but I felt nothing. I was only holding on to air.

Until I finally could open my eyes and see a dark shadow hovering on the surface of the water. Something inside me awakened, and that made me shift my hand under me and pull myself from the drowning.

Then a stab into my throat.

Scream

My eyes went blind for a moment, not knowing what was reality and what was not. My whole body was light as a feather. Not feeling any part of it.

Those cold hands and sharp nails that were surrounding my cheeks made my eyes focus clearly again.

"Talia, fucking answer me!" Darcia shouted at me with darkened eyes.

Water streamed from my body onto the floor as she clutched me in her arms as tightly as she could. Her hand was trapped between my thighs, and the other one gripped my face.

"He wanted to finish what he intended to do fourteen years ago. He was here." I mumbled.

"Who Talia? Who was here?" Darcia kept wondering, but I couldn't bring myself to mention him. All of my nightmares he caused. Painful nights, which only Stacey could help me with. She never asked me why I am the way I am. We both have our own traumas that we wish to never talk about. Those nightmares are painful reminders of the cruel reality I once relived.

14 years ago...

My mother and father were always often fighting. I was three years old back then, so I don't remember it so vividly. Their fights were unusual, now that I thought about them.

My mother was the quiet type. Always forgave my father. For everything he yelled at her, she just let go and moved on. Until one day, there was this dead silence wandering in the air.

No fights. No yelling. Just nothing.

I was curious where they were and why they were not talking or fighting as per usual. It was early in the morning. Beautiful summer day. You would never have thought something bad could happen, right?

Well, I thought so too, until I opened the bedroom door and found my mother being stabbed by my father over and over again.

I was three years old. Just a little baby who wanted to be loved by her dear parents. Have a family like everyone else.

The constant stabbing with our kitchen knife into her chest graved deeply into my mind, and I can still see a vivid image of it to this day.

My mother's motionless body. Her eyes were wide open, looking at the door. Blood all over her. And my father's maniacal peering eyes as I was standing between the doorsteps in my pink nightgown.

I was chased through the stairway until I got to my room. His terrifying laughter behind me made me run even faster. I had little legs; I had zero chance against him.

I ran into my room, and in that exact second, I could hear my father's cruel, twisted laugh turn into crying for help.

What happened to him that night is a mystery to me. I was too terrified to look into that hallway, so I stayed in my bed, hysterically crying as a little kid would.

Some days passed, and I woke up in a hospital. I don't remember anything at all. Who brought me there, or what happened to my father?

When I asked Mr. Elwood, he didn't give me an answer due to my age at the time. He said when I turn eighteen, he will tell me everything I need to know about my family.

I will turn eighteen next month, but I can't find the information about my past when I'm still stuck here. Darcia would never take me back. But I deeply wish to discover what happened that night.

***

Being in her arms made my breathing slow down with my heartbeat. Sitting in her lap was more than comforting; she felt like home to me. Like when you are outside during cold seasons and you return inside. The warmth will hug you, and you can't wait to slip inside the bed, covering yourself with a fluffy blanket. That's how I feel inside when I'm close to her.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I rose my head to her chest, my ear placed where the heart is. But there was no heartbeat. The only person who feels like home to me is not even alive. How come her ice-cold skin and pale complexion are making me the most comfortable ever?

"You won't hear what you badly hoped you could," Darcia whispered. Her eyes turned sad as if I cared about that. She doesn't understand what her existence does to me.

I grabbed her chin and moved it to face me. "I want you, not your heartbeat or warm skin. Just look at us. I'm sitting in your lap as you comfort me. You changed, Darcia. You are not ice-cold anymore. You are my warmth." A smile curled on her face. Her crimson-red eyes were shining with joy.

Her hand moved down to my thigh, and she gently squeezed it. She owned me, even legally. I belonged to her. I finally belonged to someone who loved and cared for me.

"Everything is good now?" She suddenly asked with her hand on my cheek, rubbing her thumb against the left tear that I hadn't wiped off. I nodded in agreement, and her cherry lips connected to mine in a second.

"Now I understand why you often had such vivid nightmares." She broke our kiss and added.

"I should have told you sooner about them, but I don't like to speak of it or remember it. I hope you understand..."

"Yes, sweetheart. I do." Her lips pressed against my forehead. I grabbed her hand once again and intertwined our fingers.

"What happened to him then?" Darcia asked herself. I looked away and thought about it again, but nothing came to mind. I was very young back then, and they would never tell me what actually happened to him.

"It happened fourteen years ago, Darcia. The only person who can know this information is Mr. Elwood; no one else." I said in frustration.

"Do you want to know everything? No matter how horrid it is?" She peered into my eyes. Is there a possibility she would go back to the orphanage? Just because of me.

"Yes." I instantly agreed.

She gave me a quick smile and took me into her arms, to which I let out a soft gasp. She placed me gently on the bed and took the towel off of me. The violet long-sleeved shirt she grabbed from my room in the next second came back at the speed of light. I moved my panties back up as I felt heat form on my cheeks. I pulled the robe sheets over my bare legs as I was getting cold. Darcia clung to me from behind, and her ice-cold lips traveled over my neck.

"I will visit Mr. Elwood and ask him about your past." She suddenly announced. I turned around to face her in excitement. A big smile formed on my face as I was genuinely so grateful she would go back just for my sake. To finally reveal the biggest mystery of my life.

Darcia's pov

I guess I wasn't expecting such a brutal story about her childhood. I knew something wasn't exactly right with her, but I couldn't get a hold of it. Now that I know what's happened, I have to dig deeper. Get to the very bottom of it.

I held her in my arms for quite some time until she fell asleep. I dragged another fuzzy blanket over her so the warmth underneath it wouldn't escape.

I carefully left the room and closed the door behind me. Walking down the stairs made me think that a big chunk of the story was missing. I would say the most important part.

Of course, her father was a total maniac—no question about that—but how did he die right in that hall?

I doubt he had a heart attack or just died because he killed his wife. He planned it beforehand. He knew what would happen. As a killer who drinks human blood, I know how to kill them well, and he knew it too.

What was his motive, though? Why did you kill the mother of your child and even go after her?

I never had the urge to kill other than for blood. Why else would I do so? I couldn't care less about humans. With some exceptions, of course.

If Talia's story is one hundred percent correct, it means that something killed him before he could kill her. It was a quick death. It happened several seconds after she shut the door.

I took the last step on the stairs and noticed Nicoli in the living room, so I shifted there. The fireplace was burning well. Those flames are escaping in every direction. I felt his gaze on me as he studied my look.

"I apologize for that fight," I added under my breath.

"Apology accepted." He said and smiled. A glass of red wine was in his hand.

"Since when do you prefer wine over whiskey?" I wondered and took a seat on the couch.

"Well, due to some events, I need to think more clearly. Whiskey makes me — wild." He answered and chuckled.

A giggle escaped my mouth. "You don't have to worry about Elvira anymore. She thinks Talia's dead, and because you're with us, she won't come again. Her partner in crime is dead. By the way, thank you for killing him."

"No problem, darling. It was a pleasure ending him." He smirked.

Nicoli took a sip of his wine, and I stared back into the orange flames. The heat was incredible. Feeling the warmth.

"I accidentally heard your conversation and was very shocked by it." He suddenly went on, and my stare shifted to him.

"Believe me, I am too." I paused. "I was thinking about it on my way downstairs, but I can't figure it out," I said frustrated.

"Never thought about another vampire entering inside?" Nicoli questioned.

Oh fuck.

Fourteen years ago, I was living here in this town, and I never smelled another vampire nearby.

"But Nicoli, the only vampire who lived here was me. I don't recall anybody else." I claimed.

"Well, maybe it was you who killed him, Darcia. You were hungry and didn't care about other things other than your hunger. He was the easiest option and the quickest death." He concluded.

I was out of control back then. I was living alone and had no one beside me. It was hard to stay sane. After living for decades, you're losing your sanity. You don't think as you would when you were alive for just a few years.

If I killed her father, I would have saved Talia's life without knowing it. Without knowing it, I saved one human life that would be so precious to me now.

Nonetheless, it's time to visit the orphanage once again.