28th Night

At exactly four o'clock in the afternoon, the bell rang signaling the end of classes of all Day Class students who are attending Hillcrest Academy. Like people trained to follow protocols, students go out of their classroom at once after a few reminders from their teachers pertaining to what had been announced a few hours ago through the school's intercommunication system. The hallways were crowded with their presence as the students' murmurings accompanied their steps in the carpeted hallways and stairs. Students with assigned chauffeurs from their families all went in the same direction, in the waiting area, where cars lined up waiting to pick them up and the ones whose houses were only a walking distance went out of the school grounds through the main gate, while the ones who are staying in the school's dormitory all went the same way.

"Don't you always take the train from and back to your house?" Wisteria asked out of the blue.

"My mom sent me a text before the first class this afternoon telling me that someone was going to pick me up without giving me much of a choice. She must have been notified about the school's protocol to keep its students safe due to the recent events." Eona simply answered while her attention was on the cars in the waiting area. "But I don't seem to see a familiar car anywhere."

Wisteria looked at the cars and she immediately spotted their family's car. "Maybe it's in the back? I can wait here with you if you want."

One by one, cars driven by family chaffeurs exited the gates of Hillcrest Academy as students waiting for their drivers disappeared one by one. Wisteria was starting to get worried because Eona looked like she really didn't see a car that was familiar to her and there were only a few cars left in the waiting area. On the other hand, Eona wasn't worried at all, since she could always take the train back home. It's not like the dangers that are looming around them because of the Lepers that preyed on unsuspecting human beings would change. The only thing she was considering was what her mother wanted her to do for her own safety. She was used to doing things on her own, but Wisteria was another matter, since she really couldn't stay still as worry clouded her eyes.

"Is it still not here?"

Eona nodded her head. Without much of a choice, she held her phone to call her mother's driver. "You can go ahead, I'll be fine."

"But – "

"If the car is being held somewhere, I'll just go to the train station and meet our chauffeur halfway."

"Will you really be fine? We can drop you off if you want."

Eona smiled. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Call me when you arrive home," Wisteria reminded Eona, who only nodded in return with a smile to reassure her.

Wisteria, though a little in conflict about whether she would stay with Eona until her driver arrived or leave her just as she wanted, said good bye with worry in her eyes. When she had already entered the car that came to pick her up, it was then that Eona's call got connected to her mother's driver.

"I apologize for the delay, Miss. There was an accident up ahead and I was unfortunately caught up in the middle of traffic. I have been trying to call you but I couldn't seem to get through."

Eona frowned as she looked at the screen of her phone before putting it back beside her ear. She must have forgotten to remove the restrictions on her phone regarding incoming calls. "Where are you right now?"

"1020 N.W. Ave. South of Blue Creek, a few kilometers away from the Austerfield Train Station."

It was still a little too far from the school if he was still in the Austerfield area. "Can we just meet at the Austerfield train station then? I'll take the train from here and stop there instead of my usual stopping point. That way, we can indulge my mother."

"I think that would be the best, Miss."

"I'll see you then."

Eona looked at the setting sun's direction. She was thankful enough that she was wearing jeans and shoes. Getting burned by the sun from her waist down would be the least of her worries. While watching the last of the students leave from the waiting area, she sat on one of the gang chairs and pulled out her hooded jacket from her bag as well as a pair of leather gloves. After wearing them, she stood up and went on her way with her umbrella still wide open. She couldn't afford to be grazed by the sun even though it was already setting. She had already experienced the thrill of standing underneath it but she couldn't risk her life since she was only able to enjoy basking in the sun with the help of Rouen. Besides, that was not in the world of the living but in Laudicea.

Speaking of him, she had not seen him after what happened on the night of the soiree. It was already over a week and she had never heard of him. It was already almost two weeks since that happened. She could remember every little thing that took place that night but no one wanted to elaborate further as to what had happened after she lost consciousness. When she woke up, it was already a few days after and she was already in the world of the living, not knowing how she was able to go back home, but for sure, her mother as well as her employer, Cohen, had something to do with it.

Her family kept their mouths shut no matter how much she asked about what happened and her mother and grandmother always told her that it was better for her to stay away from vampires completely because they couldn't let her be in danger once again. Her family once again refused to tell her about what had been happening, so she decided to go onto her next best option: Kaien. Being a vampire hunter, she is certain he knows more about what has been happening lately. But the man in question always finds a way to evade her, as if they all have been hiding something. Something which they don't want her to know particularly.

As days passed by, she noticed that the filigree lines on the side of her neck multiplied and the longer time she stared at it through the mirror, the more vivid it appeared to be, as if it was alive and pulsating as it glowed softly like molten lava even in the middle of the day. Her family still can not see it and the one who can, the school chairman himself, is avoiding her like a plague.

Sometimes, she wondered if it was because they all knew she would ask about the whereabouts of Rouen, who disappeared in her life as if he was never there in the first place. But as her brain was filled with memories of him, the horror of what happened when he seemed to have turned into a completely different vampire devoured her in a way that it made her shiver in fear literally until now. She fears the unknown things that surround the existence of the prince, but the trust she had built for him is what was making her not run away from him. It was the only thing that was keeping her standing still in her place, waiting for him to appear right in front of her again. Behind the fear she felt was a longing she couldn't understand where it bloomed from. She didn't know how crazy she had become after meeting Rouen but she wanted to see him again even after all that happened. She feared his nature as a vampire-born because of the things he had to live with without a choice but, at the same time, there was something that was pulling her close to him and she herself wanted to know what it was that made her want to get closer to him despite all the dangers that accompanied his existence.

"Rouen, where are you?" She whispered in the air as she walked towards the train station, not knowing that the words itself, that her same whispered voice, reached the ears of the vampire who had been looking for her the second he left the vampires' kingdom without the king's permission.

When she reached the building of the train station, Eona sighed at the sight that greeted her after glancing at her wrist watch for a few seconds to check the time. She didn't expect that there would be a lot of people lining up for the trains to get to wherever they might be going at that time. It wasn't even the rush hour yet and she had to make use of her small frame to slip in between people just to get to her designated platform. If she somehow went on with the flow of the crowd, she might end up on a different platform too far away from where she had to be and that was too much of a hassle, especially when she had to be at the Austerfield train station at a certain time. While she was busy surfing through the crowd, she suddenly stopped in the middle and looked around when she felt someone's stare which was directed at her and, at some point, she thought she saw Rouen among the people not too far away from her.

On the other hand, Rouen hid himself behind the nearest vending machine, which was parallel to where he was standing before, as he followed Eona with his eyes. A meaningful smile etched his lips because he never thought she would actually stop in the middle of the crowd and stare at the place where he had been before, as if she could feel that he was there. He had maintained a safe distance to not alert her of his presence, but he never expected that she would turn around as if she felt his stare at her back which made him hide fast enough to avoid her eyes. If he had been just a few seconds late, she might have seen him back then.

His heart beat erratically in excitement as his blood rushed with the anticipation. It is something not many would understand and only a predator like him would feel. The exhilaration of knowing that his main prey is finally right in front of him couldn't be compared to anything else. It was like the main course was finally right there for him to feast upon after having been done with the appetizers. He could almost taste her blood at the tip of his tongue.

All he could think of was her and the taste of her blood, something that only she possessed. But to his utter dismay and irritation, he couldn't find her house even though he knew where it was. He suspected that the hunters had something to do with it. After all, some of them have innate abilities that help them in the job they have chosen for themselves. He also knew that he couldn't enter the premises of Hillcrest Academy due to Kaien's presence. Furthermore, his movements were restricted because he knew the council had already alerted the Vampire Hunters' Association about things that involved him, especially now that the vampires of Aceldama had surely been made aware that he had been able to close the Astral Gates, forbidding them entry to the world of the living from there.

The hunters are questionably active, enabling them to corner the Lepers preying on unsuspected human beings which might have driven the one who brought them into the world of the living seething in anger because the hunters have ruined whatever plan he may have while hiding in the shadows. But the Lepers were only unfortunately in their way as they were hunting the one on top of their hunting list – him. The hunters must have received an order to prioritize alone. Hunt him down, restrain him and surrender him to the kingdom. But if he could disappear from the radar of the sentinels who were the elite knights of their kingdom, what makes them think they could restrain him when, though hunters, they were only just a natural – a human being with limits?

He had a hard time locating Eona because of unwanted interventions, but when he heard her voice while he was preying on another, he thought his thirst might have caused him to start hallucinating. It took a lot of concentration for him to track the traces of her voice and it led him to where he was currently at. He took his fine time watching her even though his hands were already itching to hold her, his fangs waiting to be pierced on the skin at the crook of her neck, and his tongue anticipating the blood that was about to run through it. He followed Eona stealthily while thinking of different ways of how he could take her away. He could do it now, but he couldn't risk her getting burned by the sun, so he might as well wait until the sun set. It was quite funny that he was thinking about her welfare now when all along he planned to make her bleed for his own satisfaction.

Eona was aware that someone was following behind her tracks but she couldn't risk alerting him of that fact, so she continued walking as if nothing was making the hair on her nape stand up. She just hoped that whoever it was, he wouldn't do something reckless in the middle of the crowd. And if it was indeed Rouen… he wouldn't do something that could end her life, would he? She was only able to breathe more comfortably when she was already on the train going towards Austerfield station, which is more or less thirty minutes away, but her heart was still beating loudly inside her chest because of an unpleasant emotion that settled within it; fright. Her head throbbed with all the unending thoughts of danger she was having and all she wanted right now was to lay down on her bed, close her eyes and sleep it all away.

"Afraid, are we, gem?"

Eona almost gasped in surprise when she heard Rouen's voice in her mind. From leaning on the backrest of her seat, she sat up straight, then she looked around her just to make sure she wasn't imagining things, but she did not see him anywhere.

He chuckled, as if teasing her. "I may not be able to read your mind, but I can clearly hear your heart beat from here."

She looked around once more but he remained hidden from her view. Where is he?

"Rouen…" She whispered, but she never heard a reply nor a laugh or just a chuckle, as if he wasn't communicating with her telepathically to begin with and it only added to the fear that was building inside her. "Don't play with me."

"Why not? I'm bored."

Rouen was acting familiarly but it did not make her feel at ease at all. She wanted to see him but at the same time she was starting to have second thoughts. Is he still the Rouen she knew? But if he was, shouldn't he have shown himself already? Maybe he was still under the influence of the severance? Was it him who was following her from the station then?

"Please…"

"You're begging now? How boring."

"What do you want, Rouen?"

"You," he answered immediately, like she shouldn't be asking the obvious at all.

It surprised her for a moment, making her thoughts go haywire until rationality set in. He was still under the influence of the severance. She remembered how he had taken her blood on the first night of the severance. Painful and forceful, so different from the bliss she experienced when he took her blood for the first time a few hours prior to that. And it seemed like he had chased her yet again because of the fluid that ran through her veins, as if it was the only thing he craved the moment his blood as a Golden Blood vampire started to completely awaken.

"It was my blood that you wanted."

"Same thing."

Eona almost imagined him shrugging as he said those words, not caring about what she had to say, and she couldn't mask the fact that his nonchalant answer had hurt her somehow.

"Where are you, Rouen?" She asked, hoping to steer their conversation away from her. She did not want to talk about blood, especially when she was talking to a vampire who wanted it from her.

"Why, are you coming by to see me? Do you miss me somehow?"

She sighed and closed her eyes before massaging her temple. This situation is giving her a headache. Would it have made any difference if she had accepted Wisteria's offer to take her home? But if Rouen had been tracking her, he would have followed her nonetheless.

"Rouen, can we please have a proper conversation?"

"We are having a proper conversation. It was you who haven't answered any of my questions," he pointed out.

Now that she thinks about it, yes, she really did not, but instead of answering, she chose to remain silent. But Rouen is a different matter because he had fired another question in her way.

"Do you miss me, Eona?"

She choked with her own saliva because she did not expect him to ask that and it took almost a minute for her to regain her composure as she cursed the vampire who was certainly enjoying her misery while he laughed in her mind. It only made her certain that he, too, was on the same train as her.

"I…" she paused.

A feeling she had never felt before surged from her heart as she blushed when she was made aware of something – something which she had been ignoring for so long because of her curiosity about what his world had to offer to someone such as her. She likes him. She really does. Now that she's giving it a thought, him being someone who is not a part of her world is never a problem at all.

She bit the side of her lower lip. She breathed in deep to settle her heart down, but it was no use. Now that she had become aware of her feelings towards him, now that she had finally acknowledged it, everything around her seemed to be starting to change little by little. She's starting to notice all the little things and all the insignificant details that surround her and him. But as realization set in, her doubts made her take a step back a little. Rouen is a vampire who was born having his other half pre-destined and it wasn't her. He would have said otherwise.

"Ignore my previous questions and just answer the last one." Rouen added when she never said a word.

Eona chuckled and she ignored the people who stared at her like she had lost it because she was sitting there, laughing alone. They must have all been thinking of the same thing, that she finally lost it. Maybe she really did. She should be afraid because of the fact that Rouen belongs in another world and that he is a danger to her own life, but here she is finding herself somehow enjoying their telepathic conversation as her fear starts to blur, not knowing that it will come back and bite her later.

"Demanding."

"I'm a vampire, love. Living through this kind of life makes one be like that and more."

Yes, having a semi-immortal life would either make a person a saint or a devil, but for a vampire, their boredom often makes them more cruel and ruthless, as they deem the life of every natural to be insignificant. She remained speechless as she stared at the trees they were passing by. The sky is starting to turn into a dark shade of blue as the afternoon shades disappear on the horizon following the setting of the sun.

"You're not answering. Should I just think that you do?"

"Suit yourself," she answered as she focused her attention outside.

Rouen tsked as if he came to dislike something and when he talked, his tone abruptly changed. "This is really getting tiresome." He paused for a while before he continued. "Do you want to play a game, gem?"

She frowned. "What?"

"It's a game where you don't get to say no and every wrong answer will cost the life of those who are around you. Meaning, the survival of the people on this train depends on you."

It was then that Eona felt alarmed because she became aware of the danger that suddenly loomed in on her at that moment, while the people around her remained ignorant of the sudden change in the atmosphere.

"Shall we get started?"

"No!"

He chuckled but in a way that brought chills to her bones as she thought that he was not the Rouen she knew.

"Did you think I was kidding when I said that the life of those around you depends on your answers?"

Eona went rigid when, instead of hearing that whispering voice in her mind, he heard it being spoken beside her. Rouen's lips gently grazed the skin of her ear as he caged her in his arms that settled gently but threateningly on her back, just above her shoulder blades, while he sat right beside her. With widened eyes, she turned while feeling like time slowed down, and she came face to face with the devil himself, whose smile became more sinister when someone not far away from them screamed as if someone had just died.

"That's one life taken because of you, my love. Now, shall we continue?"

She shook her head no while she was trying her hardest not to break down, but another scream echoed following the first one and Rouen's eyes glistened mischievously.

"Two," he taunted while he was looking directly into her eyes, reminding her exactly of what was happening around them.

"W-who are you?"

And then another scream was heard, making everyone panic because they couldn't tell why people suddenly started bleeding from their eyes, their ears, their nose and their mouth before they fell on the floor without life.

Rouen leaned in and gently touched her forehead with his. "I'm the only one who gets to throw questions, precious. Not you."

Rouen held her close to him and he didn't seem to have any plans of letting her go sooner. He could feel her tremble in fear due to their proximity, but he taunted her even more. After sometime, he leaned back and tucked a stray hair behind her ear ever so lovingly, like he wasn't toying with her.

"So… you miss me?" He asked but she remained tight-lipped, which irked him in a way that his pupils visibly turned to slits. "Answer if you don't want another death – "

"Yes!"

For a minute Rouen stared at her blushing cheeks and all she could do was look away from his piercing gaze. There's no use denying the truth because he can clearly tell that from the way her heart beat reacts towards his words. He looked like he wasn't expecting that but then he laughed, which made Eona feel like a cold bucket of water had been dumped into her.

"Does that mean the prey has taken a liking to her predator?"

Rouen laughed even more, as if the thought itself was ridiculous. Her eyes blazed in anger before she stood up forcefully and faced him. Without a word, she pulled her hand back and then landed a slap on his right cheek, which happened so fast that Rouen didn't have time to dodge. The action hurt Eona more than it did for him but he remained silent while she fumed in anger.

"You… of all beings… don't have any right… to laugh at what I feel… while possessing the body of Rouen!"

"Possessing? That was absurd, dear. I am the same man whom you shared memories with in Laudicea. Just a little different but still… I am he."

He held his face and smiled rather threateningly. His lengthened fangs were there for her to see. It was actually quite puzzling that nobody seemed to notice them both nor what was happening between them, like they weren't there at all.

"Now, let me pretend that your slap had hurt me, so that will cost you half of the people in here."

Before she could say anything, screams echoed yet again as one after the other, bodies fell down the floor, all of whom were just like the first ones who died.

"But then I'm still hurting, so let's just kill everyone on the train."

She gritted her teeth. "What do you want?!"

Rouen stared at the girl in front of him. Hopelessness shadowed her beautiful face as tears threatened to fall down from her eyes. A satisfied smile slowly etched itself on his lips before it turned into a full blown laugh as she openly surrendered. He took his time laughing until annoyance took over his emotions. This is why he doesn't like human beings. They're weak and easily swayed by the lives of another, hiding the fact that they are naturally selfish beings who only think of themselves.

"If I said I wanted your blood, would you give it to me willingly?"

Eona faltered. He still has not given up on his goal from the first time this happened to him. Is this why he is here now in the world of the living?

"What?"

"I wanted your blood."

"Are you… Are you going to kill me?"

Rouen stood up and towered over her. He walked forward but she took a step back until she was cornered in a wall without any escape route. He leaned towards her neck and she stood there rigidly expecting for the worse.

"Who knows? But I'll congratulate you myself if you survive the night."

Eona held her breath and closed her eyes tightly. She could almost feel his lips on her neck while his breath softly touched her skin, but before she could gather her thoughts, she suddenly felt the soft mattress behind her back. From the train she was suddenly transported to a fully furnished room and, by the looks of it, she was in a house which was too far away from civilization because all she could see through the floor to ceiling glass wall of the room she ended up in was a dark forest clad in the pale moonlight.

"How in the world – ?"

"I didn't think it was possible."

She gasped when Rouen, who was now straddling her on the bed, suddenly appeared above her. He, too, was looking around as if he could not believe what had happened.

"Did you do something for the first time without knowing what would happen?!" She freaked out, forgetting that this vampire had been threatening her only a few moments ago. How could he drag her with him when he was only experimenting?

Rouen looked down at her, amusement was clearly written in his eyes. "But we survived the teleportation, so it's fine."

"Maybe for you, but not for me you blood-sucking leech!" She hollered as she hit his chest with her fist and at some point she was even able to land a punch in his face, which he ignored.

Rouen immediately restrained her arms that were hitting his chest and he pinned them at the sides of her head. She was fuming and it clearly showed in her violet eyes.

"But you survived, didn't you?"

"I don't care! Let go of me!"

"Shouldn't you be asking where we are first?" He asked, fascinated.

"Let go!" She screamed after having her struggles rendered useless against him.

He chuckled. "No. I rather like this position." He said as he made her realize how close their bodies were by leaning down towards her. "So, can we continue?"

She blushed profusely at that. "Continue what?! Don't ask misleading questions like that!"

"It was you whose mind was starting to get dirty. I was only asking if we should continue the game we were playing just a while ago."

Eona's face turned red out of embarrassment. Where was the vampire she was dealing with just a while ago? How can he turn from one leaf to another so easily as if he hadn't killed those innocent people back there on the train?

"Get off me."

"No."

"I said get off!"

"On second thought, I would rather do what you're thinking right now."

Rouen leaned further down towards her neck but the moment his lips touched her skin, something awakened within her that she did not even have time to think what it was. In an instant, something she did not expect happened. Adrenaline surged through her and, with all the strength she could muster, she was able to push him off but instead of him falling on the other side of the bed, he ended up crashing on the wall opposite the bed with a force a human like her wouldn't have been able to do so. The wall cracked visibly before Rouen fell on the floor.

Eona's heart raced as fear had yet again started to settle in her. Not fear because of the vampire in the same room as her, but fear because of the unknown. A fear of herself. How the hell was she able to push him away that hard that he crashed into the wall?