Chapter 5

 

Weird how fate works. 23 years ago, I was in the verge of dying. A woman pulled me into her arms. I held onto her tightly. “Please…” I begged. I knew she hit me. I was lying in my own pool of blood because of her. But I also knew she never meant to hurt me. I do not bare any hatred towards her. I only wanted to be saved.

 

But that was it. She ran and left me to die alone. In the end, I re-awaken as a vampire. A second-chance of life; it was supposed to be a blessing, yet for me, it felt like a curse. For a while, it made me think, was I so sinful as a human before that I received such karma?

 

23 years. I never knew who she was. I even believed there was no way I will cross paths with her ever again. But now, fate is suddenly siding on me. There she is; standing in front of me in cold-sweats and fear. Oh, how my rage cannot hold itself back anymore.

 

If I would to write my feelings in words, I’d say that I am a volcano, waiting to erupt. The hot lava mercilessly destroys those who gets in my way. Fiery destruction that you should fear and run away before it ends you.

 

“You’re alive?” Wendy heard Irene’s whisper. She can sense the fear in her voice. The anxiousness in those brown eyes. Wendy’s irises turned into bright blue-colors. Years of anger, bitterness and rage are emerging from deepest corners of her heart. She feels the excitement of wanting to torture and left Irene to die a slow-painful death.

 

The back door opens and the woman stepping out screams in horror upon seeing the band’s front-man laying unconsciously on the ground. Wendy got distracted by her sudden presence. By the time she turns back around, Irene has escaped. She growls inwardly in fury.

 

The night is darker than usual. The thick-black clouds covered almost the entire moon. Inside of a dim alleyway, there are sounds of panting and heavy breathing echoing within the greyish, cold walls. Irene tiredly bends down. She feels nauseous. When Wendy was distracted for a brief few seconds, she took the chance to sprint away with all her might.

 

She did not know where she was heading. She cannot go to any public places. She might endanger innocent civilians. So, her only choice was to go through the alley to hide. Warlocks can temporarily cover their scents with magic. So, no vampires can trail her for a while.

 

As her hands tremble, Irene tries to call Seulgi to warn her. She needs to meet up with her friend somewhere safe. She did not want Seulgi to be involved in any fights. It would lead to the already vampires-werewolves-natural-enemies bond becoming more complicated. In fact, she wanted to avoid fighting with Wendy entirely.

 

But her phone drops in just one-split second when her whole body is thrown against the wall. Irene manages to create a quick barrier to cover her back from the impact. However, it still hurts. Wendy grabs onto Irene’s neck; who cannot respond in time to avoid the attack. She did not “strangle” her, but merely using her vampiric strength made Irene gasping for air.

 

“23 years…I never thought I’ll find you again.” She spoke in such a deep, intimidating tone. “But funny how fate has reunited us.” Wendy tightens her grip on Irene’s neck as she slowly lifts her up. Her bright blue-eyes stare into Irene’s.

 

“Now, I’d like to return the favor. A torture for my suffering.” In full-on rage, Wendy throws Irene to the other side. A loud thud was heard as her body hits the wall. She coughs up blood instantly with teary eyes. Wendy approaches Irene; kneeling down on one knee and grabbing a handful of her blonde hair; forcefully lifting her head up. Irene did not cry. However, she is suffering from pain; judging from the expression and blood dripping down from her lower lip.

 

“Such a waste.” Wendy the blood off from Irene’s lip.

 

The warlock shivers as her eyes shut close. “You taste good.” Wendy burst into a maniacal laughter. She slams Irene’s upper body onto the wall with great force. “Hey, tell me, did you ever…feel guilty? Leaving me out there to die?” Wendy asked. When Irene still has her eyes close tight, she strongly pulls her hair that she winces in pain. “Look at me…when I’m talking!” She ragingly shouted.

 

Irene slowly opens her eyes again. She looks at Wendy whose face is just inches away from hers’. She can feel her icy-cold breath. “I asked, have you ever felt any guilt…letting me to die on my own?” Irene could not answer. How can she? Her emotions are all mixed up inside; fear, anxiousness and guilt. Her mind is running a thousand thoughts per second. Her own body would not stop shaking. She took a deep breath. slightly gaps but there was nothing said.

 

For a brief moment, Irene can see the pain in Wendy’s eyes. She saw what seems to be the vampire’s heart secretly not wanting to kill her. But it could be her imagination.

 

“I knew it. You had no regrets.” Wendy slapped Irene across the face.

 

The warlock hisses silently by the stinging pain on her bruised cheek. “For years, while you were living freely, I was miserable. I’ve lost everything because of you!” She spoke in a sad-angry-like tone. Irene knew that. She is completely aware of what she had done.

 

Truth be told, Irene feels pain too. She thought, she does not deserve to live. She has sinned when she caused an innocent human to live a miserable life as a vampire. She can only imagine how much Wendy had to sacrifice.

 

“I’m sorry.” Irene spoke lowly. But Wendy heard her. Instead of sympathizing, it made her angrier. She grabs Irene’s vest and pulls her close; glaring at her. “An apology doesn’t bring back the life you’ve stolen from me.” Wendy gritted her teeth.

 

“I know.” Irene sadly smiled. Her respond made Wendy to be taken aback. She did not realize she has loosened her grip on Irene’s vest. What comes next was not expected, at least for Wendy.

 

Irene saw the vines on the walls earlier. Using her magic, the vines grow rapidly, grabbing Wendy on the ankles and dragging her away. The vampire takes a second to notices she had been fooled. Irene easily uses the same vines to wrap around Wendy’s arms and legs tightly; completely trapping her against the wall.

 

Irene can hardly stand back up. Once she did, she looks at Wendy with her golden-colored eyes. Wendy feels infuriated, now that she knows that Irene is a warlock, an immortal being with magical powers. Powers that she could have used to save her back then.

 

“You’re dead. Dead! You hear me!” She yelled as she tried to rip herself away from the vines’ clutching on her arms and legs. She continuously screams and curses in rage. Irene can only watch her silently with a pain heart.

 

“I meant what I said earlier.” Wendy looks (or more likely glare) at her. There it is again, a sad smile on Irene’s face. She approaches Wendy while raising her hand up.

 

“I’m truly sorry.” She softly spoke as dusty-colored light surfaced out from the center of her palm. Wendy can feel drowsiness instantly hitting her. “I’ll…” Her head starts nodding downwards. “I’ll…find you…and kill you…” She managed to get to her last words before finally getting unconscious. Irene sighs heavily while putting her hand down. She grabs her cracked-screen phone that was laying on the ground and disappears into the night.

 

Of course, she gave one last glance at the unconscious Wendy before leaving.

 

**

 

The next morning…

 

Jessica awakes from the sunlight peaking through the blinders. As she stretches her aching body on bed, she looks at the digital clock sitting on the night-stand. It is already nine in the morning. She guesses the younger ones have already woken up by now. With a low groan, Jessica gets into a sitting position, moving her sore neck in a circular motion before standing up to do more stretches. Jessica lazily heads downstairs to see her sisters enjoying breakfast at the kitchen.

 

“Morning.” She tiredly greeted as she walks over to the kitchen’s counter to pour herself a cup of coffee. She cannot sleep well last night. Not after hearing the distressing news from Sunny yesterday. She could not stop thinking about the war that will sooner or later happens. She wonders; if she should just run away now with her sisters or join the others in the fight.

 

Jessica sighs heavily at the thought.

 

“Where’s Sunny and the others?” She asked while leaning her lower back on the counter. Sinb quickly swallows the food in to answer. “They left early this morning. Sunny cooked us breakfast before leaving.” Jessica simply nodded. Well, at least she does not need to thank the warlock for preparing breakfast. “Jess?” Krystal called in which the eldest just responded with a hum.

 

“Sunny and Taeyeon went home. But…Tiffany is still here.” She informed. Jessica lifts her brow. Why is she still here? “She’s at the front yard.” Krystal pointed at the door. Jessica presses her lips into a thin line. She takes her cup of coffee and heads to the porch. She stands outside; looking at Tiffany who is busy checking the truck’s engines. The werewolf immediately picks up her scent. She turns at Jessica’s direction and smiles.

 

“Morning, Jessica!” She greeted cheerfully.

 

“Why are you still here?” Jessica questioned, not even bothering to return the greet.

 

Tiffany clears to not feel awkward. “Well, my lil’ truck here won’t start. I’m not leaving her behind so I told the others to go back first.” She claimed. The vehicle has been around longer than she is. It is to be expected it would sometimes break-down after a trip. Jessica leans her side on the porch post. She sips the coffee silently, her eyes staring elsewhere. Tiffany nods quietly to herself, thinking it is her cue to resumes work.

 

There is a momentary silence. Although Jessica seems to be looking elsewhere, she notices Tiffany has been secretly glancing at her a few times. She took a deep breath. “Spill it out.” Her words made Tiffany to halt and slowly turns back to her. They stare at each other. “I know you have something to say.” Jessica said. Of course, she is spot on.

 

Tiffany, indeed, has something in her mind.

 

Tiffany awkwardly wipes her dirty hands with a rug while looking down. She has to admit. Jessica has these pair of eyes that intimidates even her inner wolf. It is icy cold. She gently puts the rug away before meeting with Jessica’s eyes again. “I kept thinking…since yesterday.” She hesitates to continue on but she did it anyways. “I wondered why I never knew about…you. The half-angels.”

 

When Jessica remains quiet, Tiffany keeps going. “My predecessors… they don’t talk much about the war. They just told us that it was truly devastating.” She her dry lips. “I was only a kid when it happened. I remembered…my parents hid me inside this warehouse with the others. They warned us to never step outside. Every day, I would hear people crying outside. I was curious but…I was too afraid to even peak. But hearing how painful and loud their cries were, I can only imagine how terrifying it was…out there.”

 

Tiffany leans her lower body onto the truck. She has never taken her eyes off from Jessica’s. “Before I became the alpha, I was taught about the war. The story about The Dark Witches and the Demons. How the warlocks, vampires and my kind united against them. But…I’ve never been told there were Hunters involved. Your people…the half-angels. It’s been bothering me. How can those who served at the front-line was never mentioned before.” She has the sadness in her eyes as she spoke.

 

Jessica inhales sharply. She puts down the cup and goes down a few steps to get closer to Tiffany. She slightly tilts her head; showing a symbol tattooed on her neck. Tiffany looks at it. “This was my first mark. My dad drew it for me. It was for enhancing strength.”

 

Jessica, then, pulls down her shirt; showing another unrecognized symbol under her collar-bone. “This was my second. It’s for speed enhancement.” Tiffany still does not understand why Jessica is showing her those two marks.

 

“How old are you?” Jessica suddenly asked. Tiffany blinks confusingly but answers it anyway. “Thirty-one.”

 

“I’m thirty-three. I was ten when the war happened. My dad was the leader of my people at the time. I was one of the few children sent to fight on the front-line.” Tiffany’s eyes slightly widen in shock. The two of them are only two-years apart. While Tiffany was hidden away along with the rest of the wolf children, this woman in front of her was put in the battlefield to go against those vicious Demons. Jessica turns around to sit down on the porch’s stairs.

 

“They’ve captured a live Demon once and experimented on it. They founded out that those monsters were created using angel’s blood. That one discovery led to every clan pointing fingers at us. They blamed us for the war. Those idiots quickly assumed that our people were traitors and threatened to wiped us all out.”

 

Jessica stares at the marks on her arms. “My dad wanted to prove that we were innocent. So, he made a deal; be the first ones to fight in the war in exchanged for our pardoning.” She scoffs, sarcastically and sadly.

 

“My dad made the worst decision of his life that day. There wasn’t much left in our clan. Angel-children usually dies after birth. Only some of us were lucky enough to survive. But he was desperate. Thinking this was the only way to save his people. Lux was cautious but kind. He asked the vampires to assist us in the battle. But those blood- es refused. Saying they don’t want to be involved with a bunch of traitors when honestly, they were all scared of dying.”

 

“Jessica…” Tiffany called in a low voice.

 

“Long story short, I was the only survivor. Everyone died in the war, including my parents.” Jessica looks at Tiffany. “After Lux was gone, the clans formed a Council to take his place. Surprise, surprise, our sacrifices never matter. We were banished. To never step foot in town again. Imagine, being a 10-year-old girl, getting kicked out of my own home with two other orphaned kids. One was still a baby. 23 years, I live and breathe through every starvation, sickness and poorness. I have nothing except for Krystal and Sinb. They were the only ones I have left. The only reason why I still fight to survive till’ this day.”

 

Tiffany could feel the tears pooling in the corner of her eyes. She could not believe that this part of the war’s history was hidden from the rest of them. How can Sunny and Taeyeon never have spoken about this? No, how can they just let this happen?

 

Jessica stands back up. “I don’t care if those Demons came back. After what they did to us, they don’t deserve our help.” She goes up the few-steps of stairs and takes her coffee. “I’ve told you everything. Now, fix your truck and go home.” She sternly spoke before heading inside the house.

 

Tiffany slowly sits on the ground. She wipes away the tears in her eyes. How can she go home after knowing what had really happened to Jessica and the rest of her people. How can she face Sunny and Taeyeon again, now that she knew that they did nothing to stop it? She shut her eyes. Feeling confused on which side she should choose.

 

To be continued.