22. Will You Join Me?

Ammar was in my room, he was lying on the bed unconscious.

"Ela, do not leave me alone. There are many things we have to fix. I promise I will help you to solve all these problems. Ela Ela Ela!!!" Ammar had a dream in his sleep, and then he woke up.

"Huh, where am I?" Ammar was surprised because he woke up--he was in my room. Then he held his face and pinched his hands to make sure, he was not dreaming.

"Am I dead?" he muttered. Ammar tried to recall previous events. He also remembered where he had fallen in the Lore Lindu forest and a tiger in front of him. After that, he didn't remember anything else.

"Is there someone to help me, but who? Could it be Ela who helped me?" Ammar asked himself.

"Ela, I'm sure Ela must have helped me," Ammar got up from his bed and then left my room. He looked around the area inside the house, but it was quiet as if it were uninhabited. When he was walking to find out who had helped him, I stood behind him and held his shoulder. He was shocked, but he did not dare to look back. Because he thought someone behind him was a ghost. Besides, because he saw my long, sharp, and deadly nails.

"Ammar, hey, calm down! You are at my house," I said standing behind him.

Hearing my voice, Ammar looked back. He was surprised by my true appearance. My long hair is loose, my face is pale, my fangs are sharp, my eyes are red, and my nails are deadly sharp. He looked at me, took in my appearance, and asked, "What are you, werewolf?" Suddenly I laughed because of his words.

Ammar was still looking at me. Because I did not want to be stared at, I changed my form like an ordinary human being. After changing, I still giggled because I saw Ammar's super tense face.

"Ela, how could you…" he stopped talking and looked at me. Meanwhile, I was still smiling at the expression on his face. He was still looking at me, then he hugged me very tightly. The hug was so tight as if he didn't want to let go. Therefore, I returned his hug, and finally, we hugged.

"Ela, don't ever leave me," Ammar asked me.

"Hmm, what does this mean?" I started teasing Ammar.

His face turned red, and then he said, "Ela, I am serious. Do not ever leave me alone. Because..." Ammar stopped talking for a moment, took a breath, exhaled slowly, and said, "Because I love you."

I fell silent and blushed. My heart skipped a beat and my face flushed with embarrassment. Apart from his words which made me embarrassed, his gaze and smile made me lose myself in him.

"Ela, I know things may be going too fast for us, but this is better because this way, I can look after you," said Ammar as he put his hands on my shoulders.

"How do you look after me? You would have fainted before with the tiger," I joked because I remembered he fainted in front of the tiger.

"Tigers…that's different. I mean, it is natural to faint because the tiger looks like it's going to eat me alive. If only you saw how sharp the tiger's teeth were, you would also faint. Emm, why are we talking about tigers? Then Ela, whether your answer is like it or not..." Ammar hadn't finished speaking, but I hugged him again as a sign that I accepted his love. And in the middle of the night, we were standing in a hall, hugging and kissing each other.

"Ouch! Ela, my darling, why did you bite me?" asked Ammar while holding his bleeding lip.

"Sorry, I did not mean it. Here, let me treat you," I said, holding his lips and inviting him to sit on the sofa to treat his wound. I did not mean to hurt him. Maybe because I could not control my lust, I went too far.

"Wow wow wow, aren't the ice cubes too big?" asked Ammar who saw me carrying half a kilogram of ice cubes.

"Duh, honey, the ice cubes have to be big so you can get better quickly," I answered, then I put the ice cubes on Ammar's lips.

"PIC, how did you know I was in the Lore Lindu forest? How can you defeat that tiger?" Ammar asked curiously.

"PIC, what is that?" I asked him again what a PIC was. Then I continued my words, "I know because I know the smell of your perfume by heart. If it's a tiger problem, I'm the one who told the tiger to scare you. Just to scare you, not to kill you. I wanted to see how far you could go against that tiger, but it turns out nothing. You fainted first," I smiled at him.

"How brave... by the way, PIC means Partner in Crime," said Ammar, returning my smile.

"Huh, that's all," I said. After I treated his wound and talked to him for a long time, I finally sat back in his arms until I fell asleep.

***

The night turned into morning. I was still lying on the sofa. However, I woke up when I heard Ammar making a noise in the kitchen. Then I got up and followed him and it turned out he was cooking instant porridge.

"Good morning, PIC," Ammar greeted and hugged me, then he went back to stirring his porridge in the saucepan.

"Oh, the instant porridge has expired. Why cook it? Do you want to eat it?" I asked because he cooked porridge that was not edible.

"Who says it's expired? Look at this on the packaging it says "Best Before not Expired," You know that PIC best before does not mean expired. Those are two words that have different meanings. Besides, I am so hungry. Did you know a few days ago, I was robbed by a monkey? Are you the one who told those monkeys to rob me?"

"Oh, getting robbed by a monkey…no, I did not ask the monkey to rob you. That is purely on the monkey's own will," I answered, laughing amusedly.

"Never mind PIC, instead of eating food that is not edible, it is better if we just go hunting while it is still early in the morning," I invited Ammar to hunt.

"Okay, come on," he agreed and we went hunting.

***

On a sunny morning, the wind blows the leaves. There was a fragrant wet smell in the air and we heard the melodious chirping of birds, accompanying our footsteps in the forest.

"Look, PIC, there are deer," Ammar pointed to the deer which were eating grass. Then Ammar asked, "We go hunting with bare hands, so how do we catch the deer?"

"It's easy... look at this," I suddenly disappeared and went towards the deer and bit him. Ammar was stunned by what he saw. He closed his eyes, but unfortunately, he had already seen the moment I bit the deer.

After killing the deer, I wiped the blood on my lips and said, "PIC, look the deer is dead, let's cook it," I pointed to the dead deer lying on the ground.

Ammar groaned and walked towards me. After that, we collected firewood and burned the deer at the scene.

"PIC, what is wrong with you? Why have you been silent all this time? Are you thinking about something? Tell me what is on your mind?" I told Ammar to tell me what was on his mind because I saw he was silent.

"There is something I want to say to you. PIC, you should know Layzal and his team are looking for you. They know that it was you who killed the middle-aged man near the Abundance Hotel. They have also obtained all the evidence of the murder from CCTV footage. Therefore, they believe you are the perpetrator," said Ammar, who looked worried.

"Oh, I see. So you are worried about me because my secret was blown? PIC, I have a brilliant idea, but I do not know whether you agree or not because this is a difficult choice," I said while fanning the fire.

"What is your idea? "Don't make too many pleasantries, remember PIC, you are in danger," he said.

"Will you be a part of me?" I asked Ammar, who was turning over a deer that was being burned.

"What do you mean?" Ammar asked again because he did not understand what I meant.

"I mean, would you like to be a vampire like me? You will turn into a powerful vampire. I am sure, PIC, if we face them together, we will win. After winning, we will live happily ever after," I answered, clenching my fists excitedly.

"What?!" Ammar was stunned and could not believe what he heard, while I smiled at him.

Notes:

PIC (Partner in Crime) is the affectionate nickname for Ela and Ammar.