Blood Moon: Chapter 9 - Fruit. Forbidden.

The sky was grey and gloomy. Too gloomy that the sun could not even shone its brightness through it. The ground was dry and quiet, as if waiting patiently for the storm to come. And soon enough, small droplets of rain fell and hit on the cold surface of a windscreen. The wiper mercilessly wiped them away. The car moved fairly quietly across the dry, lonely road. It was the only car on the road, and there were only three people sitting in it.

Jack Kennington stared at the moving yellowed, dried up bushes on the road side. They disappeared from his sight as fast as they appeared. He couldn't help but think the sky was mirroring his heart, what he was feeling at the moment. He had always hated being on the road. Not because the only thing he could do in the car was sleep; but because the only reason he would be on the road with Annabel and Hugh was that they are moving. Again.

Jack had lost count of how many times they had moved across the States. They had been to almost all of the cities — large and small, quiet and busy. He had grown tired of saying goodbyes, so he had stopped making any close friends since long ago. There is really nothing you can do if you and your family are vampires. If you don't move frequent enough, people would bound to notice something is wrong. Why do they look the same as they did twenty years ago? Why are they so pale like they were dead? Those are the unavoidable questions that will be running through every normal human's mind if they stay at the same place too long.

However, it seemed Jack was the only one who felt that way. Hugh, who was driving, tapped on the steering wheel rhythmically and whistled happily. Annabel, sitting beside Hugh, put on her Gucci shades and listened to her iPod. A sunless sky is the best weather for them vampires. Even though they would not be burned to death in the presence of sunlight, they still hate the sun and prefer the night. The first reason is that the sun robs away their powers, which are amplified by the moon; the second reason is a very simple one — they are born that way. (Or, in the case of made-vampires, they are made that way.)

This time, they were moving away from a small town in Illinois. And this time, Jack made a mistake. He fell in love. At least he thought he was in love. That heart-raising feeling, what else could it be? Her name was Scarlett Greinger. She had been his friend since junior year, the year he moved into the house next to hers. And the night before he left, she asked him to go to a college in St. Louis with her. He said yes.

But he had to leave and disappear from her life. Nobody would know they had ever appeared in the town because they would never remember. It was a small town. It wasn't hard to "conveniently" evaporate from the surface of the earth. But it was so painful when he had to erase all of the memories of himself from her mind. It felt like his heart would burst. That was why he made a promise to himself, to never get too close to humans again, to save himself the pain.

"Oh, come on, Jack. Stop scowling over a petty human already. You have the entire ocean out there. You can have anyone you want. Well, any vampire you want, that is," said Hugh over his shoulder.

"I would very much appreciate it if you would stay out of my love life, Hugh," scorned Jack.

"Hey, don't talk to your father with that tone," hissed Hugh.

Yes, he wasn't being funny or sarcastic. Hugh was Jack's biological father, and Annabel was the woman who gave birth to Jack. They always told the humans that Hugh and Jack were brothers, and that Annabel was Jack's sister-in-law. It wouldn't have made sense if they were to tell the humans that they're father, mother and son. Hugh had a pretty boy face; but Annabel wasn't any better than him. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties.

Annabel had dark, straight hair and pale blue eyes. Her eyes were cold and piercing and she often had a mysterious and dangerous aura surrounding her, but she was beautiful enough to attract every single man that had lain his eyes on her. She had the face of a goddess, was what most people said (vampires and humans alike).

"Jack, honey, do you realise how many girls from the high-level vampire families have their eyes on you? Any one of them can be better than that girl. Reina, for instance. Didn't you two use to hang out a lot when you were younger? And Brittany. You two went to the same vampire academy, didn't you?" Annabel asked.

"Firstly, I don't like politics. And neither will I ever get myself into those political-marriage nonsense. I don't give a damn to the whole strengthen-the-high-level-vampires-blood thing. Second, I'm not about to live my whole life with a lady version of Leroy d'Evreux. My life is miserable enough. Thank you."

"That's a very rude thing to say about your father's best friend. Though, I have to admit that about him and Brittany. But Reina isn't as bad, right?"

"Yeah, well. Not as bad…but ten times worse."

There was a pause and Jack sighed heavily. "Look, could we just stop talking about this? Give it a rest."

Annabel was going to say something but Hugh stopped her. The atmosphere in the car fell into awkward silence again.

That night, they arrived at a small city near Mobile in Alabama — Donnsville. This was where they were going to stay for the next ten years. Donnsville may not be very well-known to humans, not as famous as New York City and such, but it was the New York City for Hell denizens, or best known as Nightwalkers. It was one of the largest Hell cities in America. There were only two large Hell cities in the States — the other one was in the extreme north of Alaska, a perfect place for "the king of Nightwalkers".

They bought a manor in Glen Orpheus, a neighbourhood near Jack's new high school — the Lucien East High School. The house was almost entirely surrounded by trees and bushes. Not a bad thing. The tall and big trees would make good blockers of the sunlight. However, Jack couldn't help but sighed at the thought of attending high school, again. Letting go of Scarlett wasn't easy, but he had slowly began to accept the fact. He knew it was naïve of him to wish for a normal life, a life without having to hide who he is, and a life with someone close to share it with. He had grown tired of repeating the same routine in his endless life — pretend to be an innocent human teenager in a new place; "grow up"; after ten years or so, leave the place and erase memories, and move on to another place. Living like this, he would rather live in a cave and be himself.

However, after living with the humans for so many years, he had come to dislike the way his kind does things. He had lost the heart to harm humans, the thing that he had been doing since he had become a fully grown vampire. He used to prey on humans or enslave them for their blood, and, no matter how much he wanted to forget it, he had killed countless innocents only for the sake of satisfying his hunger.

He now preferred a more quiet, and perhaps, civilised way of feeding — getting blood from volunteering humans. Well, unknowing volunteers, to be precise. Some vampires, like Hugh and Annabel, would use their privileges to get to human blood, and store it or sell it. That was the reason Hugh and Annabel became doctors and the directors of Donnsville Hospital. They bought over the hospital a few days before they arrived in the city.

Hugh and Annabel had been doctors for humans since long ago. And they had always used this position to get blood from unknowing humans. They would always set up a special room or vault in the hospital they worked in, called the H unit, and store the blood in there. Some of the blood was for themselves, and some was for business. Yes, they would sell half of the blood stored to traders or retailers, often the vampires owning night clubs or bars. They sell it as a drink called Red Satan, a drink that only vampires would know. That's where Donnsville comes in as the best Hell city for business — it has hundreds of night clubs and bars, as it is known as the "City of the Night".

Jack shut his bedroom door behind him, threw his suitcase onto the floor and flung himself onto the bed. He stared at the chandelier above him. He could see it clearly even in the dark with his vampire eyes. That had reminded him of how he used to prey on humans from the shadows, using his eyes that can see in the dark. He closed them and put his arm over his forehead.

It was then there was a flash of light, followed by a loud bang. He could hear voices hissing and whispering. He grinned.

"It's impolite to trespass people's room in the night," Jack said playfully while lying on the bed, still with his eyes closed.

"Aww, man. And I thought I could finally have a successful sneak attack. It's all your fault, Billie Goodwood," said a boyish voice.

"How was it my fault? You were too clumsy to even land on your feet after teleportation!" a high-pitched female voice complained.

"Shut up! It's because you bumped on me during landing."

"Hey! Don't tell me to shut up. I'm your older sister, Stevie Goodwood."

"So what? You're only older than me by a minute," said the boy, Stevie, with a he-could-careless tone.

"Guys, do you come here just to fight with each other?" Jack said, finally stood up from his bed and switched on the light. "And you're not supposed to use your teleportation power to travel such a long distance yet."

Billie and Stevie Goodwood were a pair of vampire twins Jack met around a century ago when he was living in Washington. They were his friends and his mentees. Even though they were still young as vampires, Jack could find good company in them.

Billie was a beautiful red-haired girl with gentle, cornflower blue eyes, always pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She had long and elegant legs, making her almost as tall as Jack. It wasn't a surprise when she told Jack she had become a model. Stevie, on the other hand, had slightly brownish red hair and hazel eyes. He had the same height as his sister. And he's often the more childish twin. Billie can be childish sometimes, when she's with her brother, but most of the time she can be too mature for her age.

"But I'm almost two hundred years old!" Stevie complained.

"That's like a teenager's age in vampire society. And you've only just gotten the power few days ago. You're still green. You'll exhaust your energy if you travel too long a distance."

"It's only from Texas! I'm strong. I have tons of energy to use. Besides, I've mastered it already," said Stevie proudly.

Billie snorted at the statement. "Yeah, right."

"I'll have to tell your parents if you don't promise to use the power sensibly," Jack demanded.

"Serves you right," Billie chuckled.

"You, too, young lady."

"Me? He's the one who wanted to show off his power to you!" Billie complained, annoyed. She shot a nasty look at Stevie, who had sat down on Jack's bed, looking tired.

"Ugh, I feel dizzy."

Right at that moment, Billie's face became slightly paler and she sat next to her brother. "Me, too."

"That's because you've used up too much energy. You've crossed almost three states, for Pete's sake."

"But I was absolutely fine a second ago," cried Stevie.

"You won't feel the dizziness immediately. The effect only shows up after awhile." Jack sat on the armchair beside the bed casually. "So, why are you here? I trust that showing off your newly gained power to me is not the only reason."

"Well…" said Stevie, looking away from Jack.

"We're asked to bring a message to you, from our cousin," explained Billie, trying to sit up straight despite her dizziness.

"Reina?"

"Well, yeah. She wants you to go back to London. And, well…"

"And marry her," Jack finished Billie's sentence. "She hasn't changed one bit, has she? As domineering as always."

"We're totally on your side, bro," said Stevie proudly. "I mean, who the hell wanna live with a good-for-nothing, bossy narcissist for the rest of their eternal life?"

"Well, it can't be helped. She's our Queen's favourite. Might even be the successor if our Queen dies. If she can die, that is," said Billie.

"Eww. If she ever becomes the Queen, I'll be the first to kill myself."

The twins stayed for a short chat and left during midnight. Jack skipped supper and went straight to bed. Not that he could get any sleep, though. He was merely staring at the ceiling until the next morning.

He went out early in the morning, going to the school before classes start to get himself registered and his uniforms. He changed in the male washroom after getting his timetable. By the time he had finished changing, the hallways were already filled with hundreds of youthful teenagers. He walked down the hallway as some of the students stared at him admiringly. He had gotten used to it a long time ago.

As he reached the door way of his first class, he could hear loud voices coming from the room, both sounded and unsounded. The emotions of the students were so clear that Jack felt like he was actually reading minds instead. All of them were excited about something. All, except one.

He stepped into the class and everyone's eyes on him. Almost everyone. There was this one person who didn't even look at him, unaware of his presence whatsoever. This girl, who was so quiet and busy drawing in her notebook. She sat at the farthest corner at the back of the class, staying in her own little world and couldn't care less of the rest of the world.

She had long, wavy dark auburn hair, with matching dark emerald eyes. She's a little petite compared to other girls, and delicate-looking. Her cherry pink lips made her looked pale, but exceptionally beautiful. It wasn't her beauty that had attracted his attention, but something else, something he couldn't quite put it into words. It was as if he was curious about her, wanting so badly to know her. And before he realised it, he had already sat down on the seat next to her.

The girl did not look at him still, and continued drawing in her notebook. He looked at her, and then her drawing. She has talent, he thought. The teacher had come in and introduced Jack to the rest of the class, but the girl merely gave him a quick glance and continued drawing. Jack didn't know why then he had such a desire to attract her attention. When the class started, neither he nor the girl was paying attention. For some inexplicable reason, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

After awhile, the girl finally finished her drawing, and signed at the bottom of the page — Robyn E. Winston.

"What does the E stand for?" Jack whispered to her unconsciously. He was surprised when he realised he just talked to her.

The girl looked at him, staring straight into his eyes with her glimmering green eyes. Finally, he thought. You finally looked at me. She was quiet and just stared at him. Jack could read it even without his empathic powers. She was like a deer in headlights when he spoke to her.

"Pardon my rudeness. I'm Jankin Kennington, but you may call me Jack," said Jack under his breath when he knew she wasn't going to speak anytime soon.

She waited for a moment before she spoke. "Elizabeth," she said softly. "It stands for Elizabeth."

Jack smiled. He thought her voice was as sweet as candies. "That's a beautiful name. I think it suits you better than Robyn."

She looked away, uneasy, and forced a smile. She took out a writing pad and started taking down notes, paying attention to the teacher instead of him. That somehow made Jack snapped. Look at me! He shouted again and again in his head, as if she could hear him.

When the bell rang, everyone else rushed out for another class. Robyn stood up and was about to leave when Jack stopped her.

"Do you dislike me or something, Lizzie?" Jack said playfully.

She looked at him and frowned. "I'm Robyn," she said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Well, I reckoned Elizabeth's more suitable for you. So why don't I just call you Lizzie from now on?" Jack suggested with a grin.

"Do I dislike you? A moment ago, I would've said no. But now? Yes." She pushed her chair under the desk, irritated. "Don't just go and call people any name you want, Jankin."

"Oh, Jack would be fine," said Jack, still grinning. He didn't know why he acted like a thick-faced rascal. It's almost as if he was enjoying irritating her. It's not like him at all, he thought. But it seemed like he got her attention, and he's a little happy about that.

Robyn took a deep breath as if to cool herself down. "If you'll excuse me, I'm late for class." And she walked out of the class.

Unbelievable to even himself, Jack followed suit and caught up with her. "What are you having now?"

"None of your business," she said without looking at him. But she suddenly stopped walking and looked at Jack. "You're really annoying, do you know that?"

Jack smiled. He must have gone insane to smile at that comment, he thought. "Why, really? Thought you find me good-looking." He smirked. He had read her emotions. And her emotions said she was shy and embarrassed to be with him.

"What…makes you think so?"

Jack shrugged. "Well, there must be a reason why you can't act naturally around me." He leaned closer to her face, and he thought he just saw a human turning into a tomato.

"I…I am…acting naturally. Just…go away." She ran off immediately after that.

Jack stood there, smiling to himself. He couldn't understand this sweet feeling of teasing a girl and making her embarrassed. It never happened before. This feeling never came to him when he's with Scarlett, or any other girls. What happened to me? He laughed silently. He felt like a hopeless little boy.

She's a very strange girl, he thought to himself. He had been watching her ever since. She was always with a red-haired girl whenever she's not alone, and only her. She didn't seem to have any other friends, but she didn't seem to be bothered by that either. Quiet, cold, anti-social, and a little self-conscious; she was exactly what Scarlett was not. So, why, he asked himself, why was he so intrigued by her? It was as if there was this invisible string pulling him towards her.

"Is this what they called love at first sight?" said Jack softly, while lying on his bed. Even when it was Scarlett, he had never felt this intense desire before. The desire to possess someone.

It's been a week since they talked. All Jack could do was to watch her. She, for some reason, had been avoiding him. She even gone so far as to remove herself from her usual, away-from-the-world seat at the back of the class and sat at the front of the class instead. Even though almost every student in the school couldn't wait to befriend him, she shunned him. There were so many times that he just wanted to kidnap her from her friend, or to chain her up with him so that she'll have no choice but to be with him. But she was only fifteen, and that made him cautious of how aggressive he was on her. Scaring her away was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Hmm…I wonder who the lucky girl is," said Hugh, who suddenly appeared in Jack's room.

Jack sat up on the bed and frowned at Hugh. "Will you please knock on the door before you enter?"

"You haven't answered my question," Hugh grinned.

Jack kept quiet. He did not want to look him in the eye. He didn't want to tell Hugh that he's attracted to a human again.

"A human again, huh?" said Hugh casually.

"Hey! Don't just read people's mind as you please."

Hugh was not smiling anymore. The atmosphere became serious all of a sudden. "Son, you should know better than to fall in love with a human again. Have you not felt the pain of letting go someone you love and erasing all of their memories of you? What are you gonna do if she finds out you're not human and that you can never age? And even if she still choose to be with you knowing all that, how long is she gonna stay with you? Humans don't live a long life like us."

Jack had tried to ignore the reality, the facts. But Hugh had forced him to come back to the inevitable reality and rationality in the end. He buried his face in his palms, and let out a thousand years worth of sighs.

"I dunno why I'm falling into the same trap again. The same mistake. But at the first moment I saw her, I felt this strange connection. As if something's pulling us together. As if I've just found a part of me that has been missing, and I wouldn't be complete without it. It'll probably sound crazy but…I have this immense barbaric desire to possess her, to the point that I'll kill anyone that comes between us."

Jack hove a deep sigh again. "I'm not sure if I have feelings for her but I definitely want her to belong to me, and me alone." He paused. "What is wrong with me?" he spoke softly, more to himself than to Hugh.

It was only after quite awhile that Hugh finally spoke. "Oh dear. I prayed that it would never come to that but it seems it still happened."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, let's see. There are only two explanations as to why you feel this way about that whatever-her-name-is girl. One, there's a possibility that she is a Veela."

"That's not possible. Well, she is beautiful and all, but…she doesn't seem to attract other males."

Hugh's face turned sombre at the statement. "Then, there can only be one reason," said Hugh acutely. "She's your soul mate."

Jack was a little surprised, but deep down, he somehow knew of it long before.

"The fact that you felt the connection and that overwhelming possessiveness over her before you even have feelings for her proves that she's the one you're destined to be with. The same thing happened to me when I met your mother. I nearly murdered your grandfather when he opposed of our relationship," said Hugh and he laughed at that memory.

"But she's human. How is it that a vampire's soul mate is a human?" asked Jack, looking straight into Hugh's eyes.

"It's rare. But it's not unprecedented." Hugh paused. His face became to look regretful. "My best friend is the best example. It's funny, really. He, the lion, kills so mercilessly, and yet still fell for one of his preys. He was so deeply in love to the point of madness and extreme obsession." He laughed bitterly.

"Leroy? In love with a human?" Jack asked incredulously. He laughed wryly.

"There's nothing you can do about it, really. You'll feel like a moth being drawn to the light, and you'll still go for it even if it's dangerous. If it has come down to the Destined One, Ann and I won't be able to stop you. But you have to realise you have to endure the consequences on your own. Falling for a human will most likely cause you to break the Hell society's primary rule — never let humans be aware of our existence. And of course, you might endanger her life."

"Knowing all that, do you still want to fall in love with her?"

Jack turned his gaze away. "This is ridiculous," he said, laughing bitterly. "Yes."

****

Those glimmering dark emerald eyes gazed at him as if they could see straight through him. They were ethereal. But there was a hint of fear hidden under the piercing gaze. He could definitely feel her nervousness and her fear…of him. He could almost hear her heart thumping against her chest violently. She was like a helpless prey, cornered by a beast.

"I'm sorry, Miss Stravinski. May I borrow your friend for a moment?" Jack asked without looking at the person he was asking, but at Robyn instead. The anger and annoyance were overflowing inside him. He couldn't help but be irritated by Robyn's actions — avoiding and ignoring him. Anymore of it, he would probably snap and jump on her. Or maybe that's exactly what he was doing.

"Um, su…sure. I'll m…meet you by the main entrance, Robyn," said Stella Stravinski before leaving reluctantly, along with dozens of students leaving for home.

For awhile, the two of them only looked at each other. Each waiting for another to speak.

Robyn swallowed and shifted her gaze to Jack's arm, which was stretched beside her and onto the locker, instead. "Wha—"

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Jack asked in a solemn voice.

"I wasn't—"

"Don't lie." He's voice became more solemn. "You wouldn't even look at me. Not even a glimpse."

She didn't answer, and didn't look at him still.

She became even more nervous now, he thought. She didn't show it on her face but he could read it clearly. And he's not going to suppress her emotions to make her feel better. In fact, he wanted her to feel even worse. The more nervous she was, the better.

"I know you felt it. That strange, unfathomable attraction, as if you're drawn to me. And that extreme possessiveness. But you're terrified of it. So you ran. Running away from that…and me."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Please excuse me. I have to go," said Robyn shakily.

The moment she tried to walk pass Jack, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her into his arms. It happened in such a quick moment, that even Jack himself didn't know what he was doing. Before he realised it, he had pressed his lips on hers. She tried to pull away and struggle off his arms but he held her tightly, so that she couldn't escape. It wasn't long before she gave in as she returned the kiss.

There was this guilt of eating the forbidden fruit, consenting to the forbidden love; but there was also the overflowing happiness, the light-headedness, and the butterflies. How could he ever let go of such sweet and soft and cherry-like lips?

Jack was certain that he had never once felt this way for Scarlett. Towards her, it was more like a platonic love. No, perhaps it wasn't even love to start with.

They were in bliss. It felt like there were only the two of them in the world and everyone else didn't matter. He put his hand on her waist and pushed her against the lockers. She seemed to be a little shocked by his aggressiveness. She squeezed the sleeves of his blazer, as if to tell him she's about to lose her mind.

He pulled away and looked at Robyn gently. The anger from before was gone. What was now in place of that anger was a burning desire. Lust. Longing. He wanted this delicate human girl to only belong to him and no one else. He wouldn't let anyone take her away from him.

Jack touched her chin and caressed her cheek. He put his hand at the back of her neck and pulled her in again. He wanted to taste the sweetness of her lips even more. He wanted to touch her and feel her warmth. Even though he knew this love would be difficult, and dangerous, he didn't care. All he ever cared at that moment was to possess her.

After what seemed like millenniums, they finally pulled away from each other, and looked into each other's eyes. Jack brushed her hair and smiled. "Where've you been my whole life?"

****

Hugh put his arm over Annabel's shoulder to let her lean on his chest. The atmosphere in their room was solemn. They were quiet for a very long time.

"We're really not going to do anything?" Annabel asked anxiously.

"We can't even if we want to. That's his fate," Hugh explained reluctantly. "We can never win if the opponent is fate. The only thing we can do now is to pray nothing bad would ever happen."

Twofold: Prologue Two - The Knight in Black

He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues…

The poor and unfortunate adore and love him like an angel from the heaven, or even like the Lord Himself; the rich and arrogant fear him like a messenger from Otherworld, like the lord of all evil. The breakers of law and order turn him into a legend, a marvelous marvel; the authorities see him as filthier than sewer rats and bear a hatred on him that is deeper than the deepest sea. He who is the bravest and darkest man in the Kingdom of Gryphon -- the Black Knight. Never deliver the fate he delivers to the rich to the poor. Gold and silver and diamonds are his gifts to those in need. Respect and applause are his renumeration from his duties.

“Hoorah, hoorah, the man in black.
From the messenger of God,
Gold and copper and rubies.
Enemy of law and friend of people.
Wields the sword of justice,
With the bravest of all hearts.
Agony and Grief,
The two friends never exist
When he comes along.
Hero of ours, the king of knights.
God save the Black Knight!”

There comes the song of Man in Black. Sing by the people of Gryphon, a well-known rhyme in the hearts of the people.

And as the song echoed in the damp air of a cold night, a black shadow lurked in the forest behind the stone castle of Osmir Palastin, Earl of Flinstein. Swift and suave, the shadow entered the castle without hardships. His silver sword in his armored hand and the sheath in the other; his feet tapping on the marble floor soundlessly; his black mask secured on his face mysteriously; his black cloak flowing behind him like a dark storm of wind; he was well-prepared. And he was, none other than, the infamous vigilant, Black Knight.

The Black Knight slipped through the doors and gaps of the walls slickly like a silent predator, without being noticed by the guards standing by the gate. He opened the wooden door to the Earl’s bedroom and stepped towards the sleeping Earl and his wife. He raised his sword and pointed it below the chin of Lord Flinstein. As if he felt the pressing aura of the king of the thieves, Lord Flinstein jogged awake and stared at the Black Knight with big round, terrified eyes.

“Where are the gold and money you’ve robbed from the villagers?” the Black Knight asked in a deep muffled voice.

“I…I didn’t rob them. Those were…pay…payments for the taxes,” Lord Flinstein replied in a trembling voice. He knew it would be useless to call for the guards, or perhaps he was simply too terrified to scream. Never in a million years would he have expected to come face to face to the fearsome vigilant of the whole Gryphon kingdom.

The Black Knight did not care to hear the pleading Earl’s explanation. “Rubbish,” he said. He pointed the sword on the Earl’s throat and a small drop of dark crimson blood dripped onto the Earl’s night shirt.

The Earl and his wife, who had woken up from her husband’s desperate nudges, opened a secret door to a small room connected to their bedroom. With the sword still pointing towards Lord and Lady Flinstein, the Black Knight took all the jewelries and gold he could find in the room and put them into a sack. By giving Lord and Lady Flinstein a gentleman bow, the Black Knight rushed out of the bedroom.

“Guards! Guards! Seize the thief!” shouted the Earl as he recovered from the numbing fear, his wife crying in tears of relief beside him.

Facing few tens of armed guards, the Black Knight threw the heavy jewelry-filled sack over his shoulder and tied it around his chest. He smiled and wielded his sword with poise. He gave it a few swings and defeated the guards effortlessly. He laid a rose on the stone floor at the gate before he disappeared into the moonless night, his black cloak flowing behind him like a fierce gust of wind.

And there goes yet another tale of the Black Knight unfurled to be told by the people, to the people.

Blood Moon: Chapter 8 - Dark. Secrets.

Robyn reached home around dinner time. Jack, Damien and Stella stayed for dinner and left before 9 o’clock. After switching on every light in her room, including the bathroom light, she unpacked her belongings and took a nice warm bath while being careful with her bandages. As she sat in the bathtub, she could see that the mirror she broke was removed, but it hadn’t been replaced by a new one yet.

After that, she decided to do at least some of the homework that Stella brought her before she goes to bed. She was almost finished with her calculus exercises and French essay, despite having to write slower than usual because of her injuries, when Ashley came into her room with Nelly.

“I have to be over my colleague’s place. There seems to be some problems with the company’s file. Would you be all right on your own?” Ashley asked, a little worried.

The thought of being alone at home in the middle of the night made Robyn’s skin crawled. But she knew she couldn’t be selfish. And so she answered, “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

She had tried hard to hide her fear and nervousness and it seemed to have worked because Ashley was relieved and left. But the moment she heard Ashley drove off from the driveway, it became harder to control her nervousness. She had Nelly stayed close to her and she put on her iPod and listened to songs that could make her forget about her anxiety. It had always worked and she felt more relaxed after a few songs.

It was almost twelve at midnight before she decided it was time to go to bed. Although reluctant and afraid to do so, she still tried to force herself to sleep. After packing up everything in ready for school and bringing Nelly to her bed in Ashley’s room, Robyn sat on her bed, getting ready for bed.

Right when she was to lie down, she felt the presence. She was sure he was in the room with her. She turned to look around her room, and to her horror, a man was standing at a corner, staring.

She jumped up and grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk swiftly. “How did you get in here?” she asked with a shaky voice. Her heart was pounding madly against her chest. She was terrified.

The man closed in to her. His malicious, reddish pupils stared fiercely at her. That was when she noticed something peculiar.

Red? I was sure it was greyish blue. Or was it green?

Yes, that’s it, she thought. That was why she thought something always changes every time she sees him — his eyes.

She couldn’t bring herself to believe that the mysterious young man had been the charming boy with jet black hair all along. Even though Leroy hadn’t been giving much of a good impression, she didn’t believe he could be the ruthless killer that had murdered those three girls. And she couldn’t believe that he was the young man that she dreamt about, the young lad she had had visions of.

As he got closer, Robyn took a large step backward. “Come any closer and I’ll scream,” she threatened while pointing the scissors towards Leroy. Her hand was sweaty and shaking and stinging. She was holding on to the scissors so tight that her hand was in pain.

“I won’t hurt you,” he said gently. It didn’t sound like the bossy, violent Leroy that she knew. He sounded sincere.

She looked into his eyes. They were a deep orange now. He kept telling her that he wouldn’t do her any harm and came closer with each step he took. And before she realised it, she had dropped the scissors onto the floor. She no longer felt she was in danger even when Leroy got closer. She felt nothing. She was in peace.

His voice started ringing inside her head, and she couldn’t pull her gaze away from him. Deep down inside she knew he did something to her. She couldn’t run away, or maybe she didn’t want to run away. He started talking in French, inside her head. He kept repeating the same words, “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

He was right in front of her now, caressing her cheek and looking at her in a way that she didn’t understand. As he leaned closer, he whispered, through his mouth, “Je te désire.”

His lips pressed on hers gently. She didn’t push him away as she stood there, not doing anything. She closed her eyes as his last three words resounded inside her. And she kissed him back.

Robyn could hear her heart racing as the gentle kiss turned passionate. Leroy had put his hands on the back of her neck, pulling her closer in. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and the skin of his palms against the back of her neck. The feeling of those lips of his against hers, somehow, felt familiar. The feeling resonated at the back of her mind. It was as if it wasn’t the first time they kissed.

Before she knew it, his hands pushed her hair away from her shoulders and traced her neck with his fingers. His lips moved down towards her neck and kissed on it. She could vaguely hear him whispered “Eliza” in her ear. As he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, she felt a slight sting on her neck where his lips touched. It felt like two tiny needles were pressing on her neck. But the sting got more intense and it felt painful.

All of a sudden, she and Leroy were pushed down by a strong force. Robyn fell on her bed and opened her eyes. It felt like she was awaken from a trance. She touched her lips with her eyes widened. Why did I do that?

Robyn turned around to see two bodies rolling on the floor, one on another. Leroy was pressed against the floor, strangled by another man. It didn’t take long for her to realise that it was Jack. His seal brown hair gave it away. He must’ve come to check on her, she thought.

However, she couldn’t understand one thing — how did Jack get in? She turned to look in the direction of the force that pushed her down. She could only see a wall and a window, and it was firmly and safely locked with the glass unbroken.

Jack, who was still on top of Leroy, punched his knuckle right into Leroy’s face. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” Jack shouted in a hoarse voice before he gave Leroy another punch in the face.

“Get off me!” Leroy demanded and flung Jack onto a wall with just a wave of his hand. The part that Jack hit on was cracked and dented.

Robyn thought her eyes must’ve been playing tricks on her, because no human could ever flung another human onto the wall with just a wave of its hand, destroying the concrete wall in the process, and then disappeared in a flash of red light. But that was what she saw Leroy did. With another flash of red light, Jack disappeared, and returned a second later with Leroy in his arms.

As they wrestled around the room, Robyn had noticed both Leroy and Jack’s eyes were sheer black. It weren’t only the pupils, but the entire eyes were black. Their beautiful faces turned into a beastly expression — eyes staring at each other fiercely; lips stretched from ear to ear, being pulled back to reveal two long canines. They were humans no longer. They had turned into fearsome predators in a matter of seconds.

Leroy swung his hand across Jack’s chest and four bloody scratch marks appeared on Jack’s shirt. He was about to hit Jack on the face but Jack grabbed his hand immediately and hurled him on to the wall. Another dent appeared on it.

Leroy, who fell on the floor, stood up and shaped his hand into a claw. Robyn thought he was going to scratch Jack again but she knew she was wrong when she saw a dim light coming from his palm. The dim light turned into a large ball of fire with bright red flames, flames that were oh-so-familiar. It was the same colour of flames as those she saw in the news. And she knew it was the same fire that burnt the forest in Riverdale.

Robyn’s eyes widened and were unblinking when Leroy threw the fire at Jack, and Jack, without much effort, made an ice wall out of thin air and blocked the attack.

As they continued on their fight, Robyn could hardly believe her eyes. She was too dumbfounded to even breathe. She tried to convince herself that she was dreaming. She must have fallen asleep on her desk while trying to finish her homework and now she’s dreaming, she thought. She literally slapped herself on the face and blinked very hard to try to make what she was seeing to go away. But it didn’t work at all and she had become very frustrated. Even more so when she saw Leroy bit into Jack’s neck, causing blood to ooze out like water, but the wound closed in just a second and was gone by the next second. That was when she noticed that, despite being in such a violent brawl, both of them had no serious wounds at all.

The scene of two of the boys she knew turned into beasts was unbearable. Jack’s shirt and jeans were torn and ripped with blood on them; the corner of Leroy’s mouth was dripping of Jack’s blood and onto Leroy’s ragged coat.

Then, a piercing scream resounded in the room. The boys stopped, their fists frozen in the air. Robyn’s throat felt sore. It was then that she knew it was her who made that scream.

Robyn had clapped her hands on her head and closed her eyes. She had wanted everything to go away and make herself wake up from the nightmare.

The boys looked at her in shock. Jack was utterly speechless. Evidently, he had forgotten that Robyn was still in the room, wide awoke.

Robyn sat on her bed, hands clapped against her head, eyes closed, crouching her body. “It’s not real, it’s not real,” she kept telling herself in her head, despite knowing that it was. She knew no dreams could be so crystal clear and real, not even her usual nightmares felt this real.

She felt a hand touching her shoulder, and she reflexively slapped it away.

“Robyn?”

By hearing the voice, she knew it was Jack. She opened her tightly closed eyes and looked up to find the usual pair of amber eyes staring at her. They weren’t sheer black anymore, and there weren’t any canines. Leroy, who was standing beside her, had returned to his normal, arrogant-looking self. But his eyes were of ash mauve.

Yes, she knows these faces, she thought. But I don’t know these two persons.

Remembering the scene a few seconds ago, she jumped off the bed and moved away from them. Her limbs were shaking too much to let her run away and she was too horrified to speak.

“Robyn, it’s all right now. You don’t have to be scared,” Jack said softly while approaching her.

Even though she was afraid, deep down she knew she could still trust him. That was why she stayed where she was and didn’t run away as Jack closed in. Jack stretched out his hand and put his palm on her forehead. “You don’t have to remember any of these.”

Robyn felt dizzy and her vision was blurred almost immediately after Jack placed his palm on her head. However, all of a sudden, it stopped. Her vision had returned to normal and she wasn’t lightheaded anymore. Leroy had seized Jack’s hand and pulled it away from her.

“You’re not going to use the charm on her,” he demanded imperatively while still had Jack’s hand in his grip.

Jack shrugged off Leroy’s grip and looked at him in incredulity. “If they find out that she knew, they’ll kill her!”

“Or recruit her,” Leroy suggested matter-of-factly.

Jack let out a bitter chuckle. “One, does she look like she can protect herself against people like us? They’ll only recruit people who are useful to them. Two, and the main point, I don’t want her to become one of us.”

There was an awkward pause. Robyn could only gape at them as she didn’t understand a thing they were talking about.

Suddenly, it was as if Jack had realised something important. “That’s what you want, isn’t? She, dead.” He pounded on Leroy and grabbed his collar. “Why the hell are you doing this? What did she ever do to you?” Jack asked angrily, his voice raising with each word he spoke.

Leroy chuckled bitterly. “You want to know? I suggest you looking into her ancestry.” He flung off Jack’s hands and turned his piercing gaze to Robyn. “I’ll get back what I’ve lost.” He gave her one last, bitter look before he disappeared into a flash of red light.

Jack was staring at the spot where Leroy had disappeared while pondering over what Leroy said.

“I wanna know.”

Jack was surprised by Robyn’s sudden words. He turned around to face Robyn who was still standing on the same spot.

“I wanna know the truth. I wanna know who or what you are. I wanna know everything,” Robyn said firmly. She gaze was unwavering. She was determined.

Jack didn’t answer immediately. The silent stretched into an awkwardly long pause.

Jack turned his gaze away from her. “You read a lot about myths. And you’re smart. It shouldn’t be hard for you to guess what I am.”

Another pause. Robyn couldn’t find the right words to say.

“Is that why...you asked me if I believe in myths the other day?” She took in a deep breath and gulped. “Vampires?”

He looked at her for a brief moment. He wasn’t brave enough to look straight into her eyes. He put his hands into his pockets and shifted his weight from one leg to another. It was obvious that he felt very uneasy.

Even though he didn’t give her a sounded answer, she knew what answer he was going to give. “Oh my god.” Those were the only words she could say.

After that, neither of them said anything. It wasn’t because they didn’t have anything to say but they didn’t know how to say it.

“No,” Robyn said firmly, more to herself than to Jack. “Vampires aren’t supposed to walk in broad day light, or have reflection, and they don’t feed on anything else but...blood.” Saying the last word had made her felt awkward.

“We...created some facts about us and spread them to the humans to mislead them,” Jack explained carefully. He paused for a bit before continuing. “So, vampires can walk under the sun, we have reflection and we do eat food like humans. Well, even though the food doesn’t really fill up our stomach, we still eat them, for the sake of tasting something else other than...you know.” He avoided using the word which, he clearly knew, would make Robyn uncomfortable.

“So...you don’t sleep in a coffin?”

It felt really strange to ask questions to a notoriously terrifying, blood-sucking creature like it was only natural. But Robyn had somehow calmed down and she wasn’t afraid of him anymore.

Jack chuckled. It wasn’t bitter or sarcastic. He was really laughing. “No. I prefer a soft and comfortable bed.”

“And...garlics?”

“We actually eat them.”

“So what facts about your kind mentioned in the books are actually true?” Robyn asked impatiently. She couldn’t believe everything she thought she knew about vampires was only created by the vampires to deceive humans.

“Well...we do have alluring features...and we’re sort of...immortal,” Jack said with great difficulty, as if he was embarrassed of the things he just said. “We still age like humans do, but the process is much slower. We age like normal humans when we’re kids, but the older we get, the slower we age. And our wounds heal by themselves. So, in a sense, we’re immortal.”

Robyn was quiet. She was in deep thought, trying her hardest to find the right words to say. “How old are you?”

Jack smiled weakly. “I was born five years after Queen Elizabeth I died. You do the math.”

Upon hearing that, Robyn’s jaw dropped. “Four hundred years old,” she whispered through her breath to herself.

“So technically I’m an old man,” Jack said and laughed bitterly.

And then, both of them went silent. It felt really uncomfortable.

“Funny. I’m so calm now. I’m not scared anymore. But I’m supposed to,” Robyn blurted and laughed a little. She only said it for the sake of saying something to break the silence. However, she got herself an unexpected reply.

“That’s because I did something to you,” Jack said flatly. “I’m controlling your emotions.”

Robyn gave him a “what?” look. She was in disbelief.

“We have powers. Well, I guess you already knew that.” He stared at the small pile of water on the floor where the ice wall used to be. “We gain powers as we grow older. The first that we’ll get is strength. Every one of us has that. And then, it’s teleportation. You know, like Harry Potter can Apparate and Disapparate. Only we do that without the wand. And again, every vampire can do that.”

He paused and waited for the information to sink into Robyn. “After that, most vampires would have developed telepathic powers to manipulate and read minds, and communicate through minds, like...Leroy.” He spoke of the name in deep disgust. “But some of us, instead of becoming a telepath, they become empaths with the power to read emotions and control them, like me.”

He laughed to himself. “This power comes in really handy when I’m dealing with that overprotective friend of yours. Without it, I can’t imagine how many times he would have pounded on me.”

“So I’m guessing you’ve also used that on me several times.”

“I can’t bear to see you cry and so exhausted.” He paused and cleared his throat. “And next is the elemental power. Each of us has the power to manipulate either one of the five elements. My element is water.”

“Then, Leroy’s must be fire,” Robyn said weakly to herself. She looked straight into Jack’s eyes suddenly, which surprised him. “Leroy. I felt...needle-like things on my neck. Was he...trying to...me?” Robyn asked while touching the part of her neck where she felt the sting. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. The mere thought of it made her felt a chill down her spine.

Jack did not answer. He simply gave her a look.

“He’s trying to do...what he did to those girls...to me. So that’s what happened. He hypnotised the girls, drunk all of their blood, and kill them in the process. The wounds must have somehow disappeared,” Robyn explained, to herself, frantically. Her breathing became heavy and her heartbeat had become more rapid. “That’s what he was trying to do to me just now.”

Jack grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. “Robyn, calm down.”

“No. He’s trying to kill me, isn’t it? And he said he won’t give up!”

“Robyn,” Jack raised his voice. Robyn immediately looked straight at him. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me. I came in time, didn’t I? I can sense it if you’re in danger.”

She was not sure if it was Jack’s reassuring words that had calmed her, or it was his empathic power in the working, but she had become much more composed, and her heartbeat as well as her breathing were back to normal.

“What does he want? Why is he so determined to kill me?”

Jack gave her a look as if he had remembered something vital. “He told me to look into your ancestry,” he spoke more to himself than to her.

“My ancestors?”

“Does your family keep records? Like a family tree or something?” Jack asked hastily.

Robyn shook her head.

Jack pondered for a moment. “Tomorrow. We’ll visit an acquaintance of mine.”

Robyn agreed to go with him, albeit not knowing the reason to do so.

“And Robyn, you have to promise me you won’t speak to anybody about tonight. You can’t tell anyone about what happened or what I told you. Absolutely nobody. Not even Ashley. Do you understand?” Jack said with a very solemn expression on his face.

Seeing Jack’s expression, Robyn nodded a few times.

“If the council finds out you know everything, they won’t let you off so easily.” He then smacked his forehead. “Shouldn’t have told you in the first place...what was I thinking?” he asked himself repeatedly, pacing back and forth in the room. Suddenly, he stopped dead. “No. I should use the Memory charm now,” he suggested to himself.

“No!” Robyn exclaimed. “You’re going to erase my memories, aren’t you?” She paused to take a deep breath to calm herself. Jack could only look at her apologetically. “You are not going to mess with my brain. I have the right to know exactly what I’m facing and the true identity of my friend.”

Jack laughed bitterly. “You sure you wanna befriend a blood-sucking killer?”

“Yes,” Robyn answered confidently.

“Vampires are beasts created by Lucifer — or Satan, or whatever you’ll like to call it, to bring chaos and catastrophe to humans as revenge to God. We are predators made to be beautiful to lure humans, so we can consume them. We’re cold-blooded and brutal. Don’t you think it’s wise to stay away from me? Or forget about everything I just told you?” Jack looked at her with an excruciating stare, waiting for an answer he’d expected from a sane person.

It began with a quiet giggle, and then a light chuckle, and evolved into a silent belly-laugh. Robyn couldn’t stop herself form laughing. “No offence but...I find it rather difficult to be...afraid of you.” And she burst into laughter once again. She tried to stop when she saw the annoyed face of Jack. “If it’s Leroy, I would have been scared to death; but you?...Hell no.”

Robyn had stopped laughing now. She sat on the bed and smiled to Jack. “Being a vampire doesn’t make you a monster. I may not know much about vampires — well, I thought I knew everything about vampires, thanks to you guys — but I know you. After knowing you for two whole years, you think I wouldn’t know if you’re a bad person?” she said while staring straight into his eyes. “I’m not a genius, but I’m no idiot, either,” she added when Jack gave her a doubtful look, with a tiny hint of irritation in her voice.

She hove a quiet sigh. “Look, I know you. I trust you.”

Jack sniggered. “You’re definitely not a sane person. You’re saying you trust me? Someone who used to kill thousands of innocents just so they can quench their bloody thirst?”

Robyn was quiet for a moment before she spoke. “I don’t know if you’ve killed somebody. And to be honest, I don’t care. And didn’t you just say you used to? That’s past tense.” She made another pause. “The Jack I know wouldn’t hurt a fly if he had a choice. And I know you wouldn’t hurt anybody…especially me.” She looked at him with so much trust in her eyes that it frightened him.

Jack locked his jaws. He looked away briefly and back at her again. But at that brief moment, Robyn thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitched. And there was something in his eyes that said…guilt. A deep, remorseful guilt. He gripped the brass frame at the end of the bed. His breathing became rapid. He looked as if he was struggling inside.

He looked at her with such intensity, frowning so hard that Robyn thought he was sick. “I don’t deserve that trust. And I’m not being modest.”

Blood Moon: Chapter 7 - Mirror. Reflection.

Robyn opened her eyes. The room was filled with bright sunlight from outside the window. She had just fallen asleep when she felt it. It was him. But he didn’t speak to her. He didn’t do anything. She sat up on her bed and looked around her room, expecting him to be in it. But aside from herself, Jack was the only one in the room.

Jack was surprised by her sudden reaction. “What is it? You saw those visions again?” Jack asked in a worried tone.

Robyn shook her head lightly. “No. But he was here. I felt it.” She stared out the window and wondered if that man was watching her from outside the window. She felt a cold chill down her spine at that very thought. Does that mean he has been watching my every movement?

Jack gave out a sigh that one would have missed if not paying attention and looked around the room, too. “Nobody’s here, Robyn. Go back to sleep, all right? I’ll keep you safe. I promised, didn’t I?” And he pulled her into his arms and rested her head on his chest.

“Did you and Damien skip school?”

Jack chuckled. “Yeah. Can’t believe it myself, too. I mean, me and Quinn.”

“I can understand where Damien is coming from. But you...why?” Robyn asked in a soft voice.

Jack didn’t answer immediately. Robyn knew something was going through his mind. “What do you mean why? We’re friends. And I’m worried about you.”

There was another pause. “Is that it?” Robyn asked, still in his arms.

Jack never answered. He just pulled her closer to his chest and kissed her forehead. She could hear his heart beating madly against his chest but she didn’t push him any further. She could never tell what he was thinking, and what’s true and what’s not. But she knew one thing — she felt safe in his arms.

****

And there she was, standing in the dark again. The eerie tick-tocking sound of the old clock echoed throughout the darkness more loudly than ever; the malicious, bloody red moon hung high up in the inky black sky; the sorrowful but beautifully chilling melody rang in the air when the clock struck twelve; and the dark shadow that passed through her and stabbed her in the abdomen. Then, there were those tiny little nail-like things that stung deep into her skin. The pain increased by the second and it had become unbearable.

Robyn gave a short cry when she woke up, sitting on her bed. The room was dark and so was the sky outside the window. Small drops of rain lashed on the glass and thunders could be heard. It was midnight already. She must have slept for a long time, she thought. And thanks to Jack, she was able to sleep peacefully, until she had the same nightmare again. And evidently, Jack had laid her on her bed and tucked her in before he left.

She turned to her bedside lamp and switched it on. She could still feel the stinging pain from those nails and the chilliness of the thing that the shadow used to stab her with. She couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to forget those pains immediately. That’s when she thought of having a hot bubble bath and she ran off to her bathroom. She turned on all the lights at once and started filling the bathtub with soothing hot water.

The thunders got louder when she walked over to the sink to wash her face a little. She closed the tap and took the towel hanging next to the basin on the wall to dry her face. She looked up at the mirror and saw her own reflection looking back at her — that’s what everybody would expect.

No. She thought it was her in the mirror but when she looked closely, it wasn’t. The girl in the mirror had the same face as Robyn, but she had darker and curlier hair; her eyes were of icy grey; and there was a beauty mark on the corner of her left eye.

Robyn took a step backward, still looking at the face of a stranger on the mirror. Her breathing became heavy, or rather, she couldn’t breathe at all. There was nothing in her mind at that moment, except to remove that face from the mirror. She raised her hands high up and threw them onto the mirror. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” she shouted as loud as she could, hoping that the visions would stop coming to her.

The mirror cracked and a few pieces fell onto the tiled floor. Robyn dropped onto the floor, tired, physically and emotionally. Her throat felt sore from the shout and not long after that, she could feel a stinging pain on both of her hands. They were wet, sort of greasy, and she could get a whiff of the smell of rusty iron. But that didn’t bother her. She’s too tired to think and move again.

About a second later, she could hear Nelly’s non-stop barking and hasty footsteps leading towards her room. “Robyn? Robyn!” Ashley shouted anxiously.

But there was another person with her, its footsteps heavier and faster than Ashley’s. “Lizzie!”

They were so taken aback when they saw her like that in the bathroom that no word could come out from their mouth. They knelt next to her and held her hands. Nelly was circling Robyn anxiously and moaning.

“What happened?” Ashley asked so anxiously that her voice was shaky.

“You...you’re bleeding,” said Jack, stunned. He turned pale, even paler than usual, in a matter of seconds. He breathed rapidly and he looked like he was about to be sick. He ripped his handkerchief into halves and tied one onto each of her hands, while trying his best to look away from her bleeding hands.

Ashley shook her a little on the shoulders. “Robyn, what happened?” She stared at Robyn intensely, demanding an answer from her, and so was Jack.

But she couldn’t even get a word out of her mouth. Her jaw was shaking. The rest of her body felt numb. And her head felt lighter and lighter until she couldn’t sit up straight any longer. Before everything blacked out, she could hear Jack shouting to Ashley. “Take her to the hospital. Now!”

****

When Robyn opened her eyes, she saw nothing but darkness. Her heart skipped a beat. She had become more terrified of the dark than before. But her eyes began to adjust to the darkness and she could see lights coming through the blinds on the windows. And then, she realised she was lying on a bed.

Her body felt stiff, as if she had been immobilised for a long time. She tried to move her hands a little, but she felt something had tied up her hands. She sat up on the bed and brought her hands closer to the dim light rays which came through the blinds. Both of her hands were bandaged; from her palms, and all the way up to her wrists. She tried gripping her hands and they felt a bit raw. She groaned. She massaged her hands gently to make the pain go away.

Robyn looked around the dark room and she saw a figure sitting on a sofa, with its back against the window. It looked like it was sleeping. She cleared her dry throat softly. “Excuse me,” she said politely.

The figure twitched. It sat up straight swiftly. “You’re awake,” it said in a relieved voice. It walked over to her bed and switched on the bedside lamp. The sudden brightness blinded her eyes for a moment. After a few seconds, she could see the figure’s face.

The yellowish light shone on a delicate boy’s face. He had a pair of beautiful golden eyes, and his face was so stunningly beautiful as if it was crafted. Robyn couldn’t say anything when she looked at him. She was only staring at him, eyes unblinking.

“How do you feel?” the boy asked delicately. He looked concerned.

Robyn finally regained herself. “Fine,” she answered softly. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital.” He smiled weakly and caressed her head gently. His touch felt familiar to her; and the more she looked at him, the more it felt like she knew him.

However, she was confused. Why is she in the hospital, she thought. But she was worried about another thing, too. “Does my father know about this?”

He smiled again as if to make her feel relieve. “No. We haven’t called your parents. But Ashley was here just a minute ago. She went back to get some of your belongings. You need to stay here for two nights,” he explained.

But she didn’t understand what he just told her. “Who’s Ashley?” she asked curiously.

The smile on his face disappeared almost immediately. He stared at her like she had just said something strange. “She’s your sister.”

That answer had made her even more confused. “I don’t have a sister. I’m the only child.”

The boy grabbed her on the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “What’s your name?” he asked swiftly.

She told him the only name she remembered she was being called by. “Elizabeth.”

He looked even more worried than before. “No. That’s your middle name. What’s your first name?”

First name? No, that’s not my first name. She searched deep into her mind and remembered very dimly. “Ro...byn.” Yes, that’s her name, she shouted in her head. She looked into those golden eyes again and she remembered seeing them many times before. She did know the boy. “Jack?”

Jack put his palm on her cheek caringly. “Robyn, what was that about?” he asked. Anxiety could be seen in his eyes.

She couldn’t answer his question. She simply didn’t know. She couldn’t understand why she said those things herself. “I...don’t know. I don’t know.” she repeated to herself.

“Do you remember what happened in the bathroom? Or how did you get yourself cut?”

Robyn thought for awhile. It was all blank initially, but the memories began to come back piece by piece. “I had the nightmare again. And then, I was going to take a bath to calm myself but...I saw something...in the mirror,” she explained, more to herself than to Jack.

“What? What did you see?” he asked impatiently.

“Me.”

Jack frowned, so hard that his brows almost stuck together. He obviously thinks she’s crazy, she thought.

“I mean, it was me, but it wasn’t me,” she added after seeing Jack’s worried face. However, that did not help at all as Jack looked even more worried and confused. “The girl looked almost exactly like me, except that she had curlier and darker hair, grey eyes, and a beauty mark at the corner of her left eye,” she said breathlessly. “She was hauntingly beautiful.” Robyn couldn’t believe she said that. She couldn’t believe she just thought someone who may not even be a human beautiful.

“And then, the only thing that kept swirling in my mind at that moment was to get her out of sight.” Robyn looked at her bandaged hands. She didn’t understand why she had chosen to smash up the mirror with her bare hands.

Jack sighed heavily. She didn’t know if he was relieved or he had become more apprehensive. He then chuckled to himself. “We thought you were trying to...kill yourself.”

Robyn gave him a “what?” look. She laughed at his idea of her committing suicide. “I’m sorry I made you worried.”

There was a pause. They were looking at each other, both trying to say something to one another, but no words were sounded.

“Hang on. You were there when I passed out. I thought you left?” Robyn asked curiously.

“I didn’t. I was planning to stay overnight.” Jack smiled gently at her.

“Isn’t that too much? You’re treating me like a baby,” she said, irritated.

“Well, your bodyguard did ask me to look after you while he’s gone,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Damien? Where did he go?”

“Well...he has to take care of something. But he did come back after you were asleep. Speaking of which, where the hell is that guy? He should be here any minute now,” Jack explained while looking at his watch.

The door flung opened almost right after that; at the doorway stood a silhouetted figure, seemingly out of breath.

“Ah, speak of the devil,” Jack scoffed.

Damien quickly went over to her bedside and grabbed her shoulders. “Robyn, are you all right?” He stared at her bandaged hands. “Why the hell did you do that?” Robyn could hear it from his voice that he was fuming. He must have been very worried, she thought.

The only thing Robyn could do was to apologise and explain everything to him. However, she somehow regretted explaining every single detail to him, making him all frustrated.

Though, she was surprised that Damien didn’t jump on the conclusion that Jack was the one who caused her injuries. Instead, they discussed over how to get rid of the stalker and how to keep her safe at all times. It was the first time they actually got along. And the three of them had decided not to tell Ashley about the stalker unless the situation doesn’t get any better, because letting Ashley know would mean they will be letting Robyn’s parents know, too.

After Ashley came back with Robyn’s stuff, the boys somehow succeeded in convincing her to go home, despite her being unhappy about the possibility of them skipping school, and leave Robyn to them. And so, the boys stayed for the night, without the knowledge of the nurses, of course.

****

Jack Kennington closed the white wooden door behind him quietly, trying not to disturb Damien and Robyn who were sleeping soundly. A nurse walked by and looked at him for a moment. She smiled weakly and walked off.

Jack knew she was trying to tell him to leave since it’s already after visiting hours and Robyn wasn’t in much of a life-threatening condition. But who would ever be brave enough to say that to the blood relative of the two directors of the hospital?

Hugh and Annabel Kennington — the directors and owners of the Donnsville Hospital. The staffs were informed immediately after they took over the hospital from the last owner that Jack Kennington is Hugh’s brother, and the hospital rules do not apply to him. He was pretty much known as “the prince” in the hospital. However, he would never step into the hospital unless necessary. It’s much too embarrassing to show his face after such an announcement.

Jack walked towards the vending machine and bought himself a can of soda. He was about to turn around when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He didn’t have to look to know who it was. “Hi, Hugh.”

“Why do you always do that? At least take a look at people first before you greet them,” said a boyish voice unhappily.

Jack hove a sigh and turned to look at a face that was so alike to his. The man had short brownish red hair, slightly wavy, and a pair of piercing golden eyes. He was only slightly taller than Jack. His face did not give people the impression of a twenty-nine years old, dependable and accomplished doctor. Instead, people would think he’s a good-for-nothing college playboy at first glance, much attributed to his exceptionally beautiful boyish face.

“So how’s your girlfriend doing?” said Hugh with a big smile on his face.

“That’s not funny,” Jack replied emotionlessly.

“What? So she’s not your girlfriend?”

“We broke up two years ago. You knew that. So stop teasing.”

“Ah...yes, yes. It happened two years ago around this time. If I remember correctly, it was the full moon of September.” Hugh gave Jack another seemingly innocent big smile.

“You don’t have to remind me about that. I could never forget it even if I want to,” said Jack before taking a sip of his soda.

Hugh raised an eyebrow, not convinced by Jack at all.

“We’re friends. Just friends and nothing more. Savvy?”

“Savvy.” There was a pause. “So how is she?” Hugh added.

Jack rolled his eyes. “Like you really care.”

“Well, it’s only proper to ask. Anyway, I reckoned you won’t be coming home tonight?”

“No,” Jack answered flatly.

Hugh sighed. “Annabel is not going to be happy,” he added in a sing-song tone.

Jack patted on Hugh’s shoulder. “It’s your job to take care of that.” Jack gave Hugh the same smile Hugh gave him earlier. Hugh could only laugh bitterly.

There was another pause.

“Hey, Hugh. Do you know why that best friend of yours kinda went cuckoo back then? Something really appalling must’ve happened to make him went into slumber. Did he, perhaps, lose something?” Jack asked solemnly, determined to have a satisfying answer.

Hugh eyes were widened. “Am I hearing it correctly? You concerning about his affair?

“Would you please just answer my questions?”

Hugh pondered a moment and cleared his throat. “Well, he didn’t really tell me anything about why he was so grief-stricken. But he did mention that he lost something and he came here to look for it.”

Jack did not say anything. He stood there, deep in his own thought.

****

The next day Stella came visiting after school, finally found out about Robyn being hospitalised when she called Ashley to ask about Robyn’s absences. She walked into the room quietly and threw her bag on the sofa. She crossed her arms and stared at Robyn, who was sitting on the bed, and the boys, who were standing beside the bed.

“I am so freaking happy that you guys forgot to tell me about this,” Stella said sarcastically.

“Well, we didn’t go to school, so we didn’t get to tell you about it,” Damien explained matter-of-factly, and smiled.

Robyn and Jack just smiled apologetically at her.

“And that’s where the best invention from Alexander Graham Bell comes in — a phone!”

The three of them went quiet as they watched Stella pacing back and forth at the end of the bed.

“Can’t believe that nobody even bothered to tell me that my best friend is hospitalised! Absolutely unbelievable.” She stopped suddenly and looked at Robyn. “Anything else that I don’t know?”

Robyn blinked. She turned to the boys, biting her lower lip. And they gave her the same look that she gave them.

Stella was completely dumb stricken when she saw their reactions. “What now?”

Robyn knew she had to tell her about everything, just because she was her best friend. And she did, after pondering for a long time. Stella gave the same reaction as Jack and Damien did when Robyn told them everything.

“Wow,” that was the only thing Stella managed to say.

There was a pause. Everybody else was looking at Stella. She only stood there, blinking her eyes.

“By the way, did anything happen in school?” Damien asked.

“Not that I know. Everything was just like usual — going to boring classes, Leroy torturing every student he could get his hands on...nothing much, really, except that Leroy has been in a really bad mood since yesterday and it’s unfortunate for a lot of people,” Stella said tonelessly, like she couldn’t be bothered. “Oh, and the two of you—” she pointed at Damien and Jack “—have gotten yourselves into a week worth of detention.”

“What?”

“Aww, man...”

Both Jack and Damien voiced at the same time. Robyn giggled.

“Why was he so grumpy?” Robyn asked without knowing that she did.

“Do you really think I would know?” Stella raised an eyebrow. “Though, I heard he’s been like that when he knew the three of you weren’t in school.”

Jack and Damien gave each other a look.

Robyn was quiet. Somehow, she knew Leroy’s bad mood had something to do with her. Maybe she’s being full of herself, she thought. And she slapped herself mentally. It felt weird to have her head filled with Leroy.

The three of them stayed with Robyn until Ashley came in the evening, being off from work in usual time without any extra hours. It was then that Robyn begged to be released from the hospital. It killed her to be restrained in such a dull place, even if it’s only for another night. And she knew the boys wouldn’t go away until she’s released. She tried to convince Ashley that she’s still sane and that she won’t do anything to hurt herself again. It could be seen in Ashley’s eyes that she was only half convinced but she agreed to talk to the doctor in the end. And as a result, Robyn was allowed to go home on that very night.