Chapter 4. Look No Further

Seeing that he had almost drained the life out of her, he quickly removed his fangs. Like magic, his desiccated appearance changed, returning to its normal state of a charming, handsome young man who appeared to be 29, with darker hair cascading over his shoulders and a charming, pale face.

He held Mary in his arms and whispered her name, “Mary?” He was scared of losing her. This wasn’t the way he wanted the night to turn out. He could feel her pulse fading slowly. “Please, open your eyes!” he cried out in frustration.

He was pissed at himself. In his fit of rage, he kicked the casket off the table rock and hastily lowered Mary onto the table rock.

“Please, forgive me for doing this,” he said, bringing his wrist closer to his mouth, fangs out, and bit himself, targeting his radial arteries. With beads of blood streaming down his wrist, he opened Mary’s mouth, bringing his wrist closer to her mouth.

He let his blood drip into Mary’s mouth and down her throat, which immediately ran down her entire system, reviving her.

She opened her eyes and smiled at Clinton. His charming look, as he had told her, was back. His look had her for a while until she tasted blood on her lips.

“Is that my blood?” she quickly sat up and wiped her lips with her hand to have a look at the blood.

Before another question could escape her lips, Clinton answered with haste, “It’s not your blood,” he said. “It’s mine.”

“What?” her heart skipped with fear. She feared that she would end up being a vampire or even a hybrid. “Will I…”

“Turn?” he finished the sentence for her. “No, you won’t turn. Vampires are not made that way.”

“Then why did you feed me your blood?” A look of puzzlement crossed her face as she tilted her head quizzically.

“I feared I was losing you, so I gave you my blood to revive you.”

“What?” she gaped at him with surprise. “Vampires can do this?”

“No, only hybrids,” he answered.

Hybrids are very special supernatural entities. With their blood, they can heal sicknesses no medicine can cure. Their blood alone serves as an antidote to a werewolf bite for vampires who were bitten by werewolves. Instead of dying from a werewolf bite, the blood will heal the vampire completely.

“And how did you know my name?” Mary fired up with a question. “I never told you my name.” Her mind was still accurate, and she recalled him whispering her name when she was almost losing her breath.

“I have slept for 20 years inside this casket,” he said, pointing at the casket he threw to the ground a while ago with a kick. “In my deep sleep of trance, I felt your heartbeat closer and decided to reach out to you. The power you possess revealed a lot to me in my deep sleep of trance, including how many years I have slept.”

“What do you mean by ‘deep sleep of trance’ and the power I possess?” The mystery she always seeks is being unfolded slowly and has become real to her.

Clinton picked up the daemon dagger and waved it at Mary, saying: “You see this dagger? It can’t kill a hybrid like me and will only put me into a deep sleep. In that sleep, I will be trapped in my mind and will continue to have a trance of torments and sometimes of good memories. You happened to come closer to this underground tomb, making it possible for me to feel your heartbeat. So, I took the opportunity and entered your mind to communicate with you. That’s how I reached out to you and know your name.”

His explanations were just a mystery of tales to her. She clearly did not understand all he had said but couldn’t help but continue with another question.

“So, you know my name. Do you know how old I am?”

Clinton giggled. “You are 20.”

“What?” She gaped with surprise. “How did you know that?” She had just turned 20 three months ago.

“Just like I knew your name,” he said. “Come. We must leave before my siblings notice I am awake and free.”

Before she could get the chance to dispute and fire more questions, he threw his arm around her waist, gripping her closer to himself. Beyond the theoretical maximum of human speed, he moved one and a half times faster than human speed. He moved faster than the eye could see, carrying Mary with him.

***

They finally came to a stop in front of a gothic gate with the shape of a naked woman as its knocker. He unclasped his arm from Mary and smiled at her. “Are you alright?” he inquired.

“I feel like throwing…” Before she could finish the sentence, she threw up on Clinton. She had never experienced such an accelerated speed. It was like riding on the roof of the fastest train. Realizing what she had done, she cried out. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” she gagged automatically. “I am sorry for the mess.” She widened her lips, exposing her white, shiny teeth.

Clinton froze like he was frozen in time. He couldn’t utter a word. No one had ever thrown up on him, lest they would be maimed by his fury. He slowly narrowed his eyes on the mess on his black jacket. The mess ran down to his black jeans.

“Please, I am sorry,” Mary spoke once more, expressing her guilt.

“It’s alright,” he said, flashing a fake smile.

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” she muttered. “I thought you would kill me.”

“I was thinking about that, but…” He paused and wrapped the iron knocker of a naked woman in his hand and gave a loud knock at the gate with the knocker.

“But what?” She stared as her eyes widened with curiosity.

He glanced over his shoulder and peered at her. “Nothing.”

They stood patiently at the gate, waiting for the gate to be answered. They didn’t wait long. The gate was immediately answered by a man with a long beard tied into a knot.

He stared at Clinton as if he had seen a ghost. Before he could utter a word, Clinton gripped him by the throat, wanting to strangle him.