Chapter 21: Chapter 21

I woke up the next morning with Carol of the Bells chiming from my phone. Reflex made me accept the call before looking at the caller’s name. I almost fell to the floor when I recognized the deep voice on the other end saying my name.

“Nick?” I said, groggily getting up in a flash. I wasn’t sure if I was still dreaming, but I got out of bed to avoid waking up Jan.

“Mira, please come outside, it’s urgent,” he said.

“Outside? Nick, I’m not home,” I said rather harshly. Did he really expect me to act as if nothing happened between us? I hadn’t gotten over his rebuff yet.

“I know. I’m outside your friend’s house,” Nick said.

“You’re outside Jan’s house. In Cebu. Really?”

“Yes,” Nick said, sighing.

I noted the exasperation in his voice, but I still couldn’t believe what he was saying. How would he know where to find me in the first place?

“I’m tired of playing your games, Nick—”

“Look out your window if you don’t believe me. You will see a black SUV parked under the tree across the street. I’m inside it,” Nick said, cutting me off mid-sentence.

.Curious, I walked over to the window and did as Nick suggested. My breath hitched when I saw a black SUV parked where he said it would be. He wasn't lying! But how did he find me? And why was he here?

“What are you doing here, Nick?” I said, my anger getting the better of me.

“I need to talk to you, Mira. Please come outside,” he pleaded.

“No. I don’t want to talk, Nick. I’m here to enjoy the holidays with my friends.”

“Which one? The tall, handsome guy who couldn’t keep his hands off of you?”

At first, I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Tall, handsome guy? Then it hit me. He was talking about Liam. He saw me with Liam last night.

“Oh, my god, Nick. Are you stalking me?”

There was a short pause before he replied, “I’m trying to protect you.”

“Protect me from whom, Nick?”

“I...I can’t tell you. Just believe me, Mira.”

“Of course, you can’t. You know what? I’m getting sick and tired of your cryptic statements, Nick. We’ll talk when you’re ready to give me some straight answers.”

“Mira, please,” Nick said.

He sounded so desperate I almost gave in. But, no, I couldn’t let him walk all over me. If he really wanted to talk to me, let him work for it.

“Goodbye, Nick,” I said, hanging up before I could change my mind.

Nick called again, but I rejected it. After a few minutes, I saw the black SUV drive away. Part of me wanted to call and tell him to come back. I was still mad at him, but I also missed him. Terribly.

“Who was that?” Jan said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

I didn’t want to tell Jan that Nick was here. It would only make her feel bad since Arnold was unable to come with her on this trip due to his parents’ surprise visit. Both of them were working in Hong Kong and took the time off to spend time with their kids. Yet, I couldn’t completely lie to Jan. She would know something had upset me.

“Nick called. He wanted to talk,” I said.

“That’s good news, isn’t it? At least he hasn’t forgotten about you,” she said.

“Yeah. But what if he's just trying to make a clean break?” I said, unable to deny that the thought had crossed my mind. Deep inside, I was afraid it was what Nick wanted to talk about. What if Nick was here to settle things between us, to make sure that we were truly over?

“I don’t think he’d call you this early in the morning and on Christmas day, too, just to end things. He couldn’t be that cruel, could he?”

“No, Nick isn't that cruel,” I conceded. Jan could be right. Nick didn’t sound like he was trying to break off with me. In fact, he seemed jealous when he mentioned Liam. My heart leaped at the idea of Nick feeling threatened by Liam. It would mean that he feared losing me. Maybe he also had feelings for me.

Don't get ahead of yourself, Mira, I thought. It would only hurt even more if you were wrong. I had to agree with my inner voice. No matter how much I wanted to be with Nick again, I shouldn’t keep my hopes up. Nick was a complicated person and had too many secrets. Unless he was willing to let me into his life, things between us would always be strained. And it was not something I would want in a relationship.

Jan didn’t bring up Nick for the rest of the day, which I greatly appreciated. The whole morning was spent opening gifts. I wasn’t surprised when I received a gift from Jan’s parents, they were the type of people who loved giving. What I didn’t expect was the one from Liam. He couldn’t have bought the lovely set of brand-new drawing pens in such a short time. We only met yesterday, yet his gift was well-thought-out. Jan could’ve told him that I loved to draw, of course. But this brand was expensive and could only be bought online. Even if he ordered it yesterday, it couldn’t have arrived that fast, express delivery or not.

This only meant that he got this for me before he came here. He did say that he’d heard a lot about me from Jan. Had she been trying to set me up with Liam? I hoped not. And I hoped Liam wasn’t expecting anything more than friendship. I liked Liam. He’d been nothing but nice to me. He was charming, thoughtful, and had a great sense of humor. Everything I liked in a guy. But even if things didn’t work out between me and Nick, my feelings for him wouldn't disappear overnight. It would be unfair to keep Liam hoping for something that might never happen. I must not encourage him too much.

Lunch was another mini-feast. Auntie Lillian made sure I finished the plate she prepared for me before I was allowed to leave the table. I was so full I felt I would burst. Jan and Mel couldn’t stop laughing at the way I turned green every time someone mentioned food. Liam, ever so thoughtful, gave me some herbal tea. He said it would help settle my stomach. He was right. I felt better soon after. After a satisfying siesta, we all went to the Night Market. Auntie Lillian and Uncle Florian stayed behind because they were expecting guests.

The bazaar or Night Market was an open-air affair, where everything from popcorn to high-class designer bags was sold inside numerous colorful stalls dotting the grounds. I tried to avoid the food section and just nibbled on the pink cotton candy Liam bought for us girls. As we toured the place, looking for something that might catch our fancy, Liam and I got separated from the sisters. We ended up in front of a raised stage where a local band was playing an 80’s hit song. Soon we were singing and swaying with the crowd. When the band switched to love songs, I suddenly felt uncomfortable and told Liam that we should go back to the bazaar area to look for Jan and Mel. I tried calling them but they seemed to have left their phones back home.

“Let’s go back to the car and wait for them there. I’ll just get a bag of chips and a couple of sodas over there so we don’t get bored,” Liam said, pointing to a kiosk selling snacks.

“Okay, I’ll stay here and be on the lookout for the two, just in case they pass this way,” I said, nodding at a nearby bench. Liam agreed and made a beeline for the kiosk.

As I walked over to the bench a group of boisterous teens came careening toward me. All of them were on skateboards, racing each other to the stands. I was able to get out of the way in time but bumped into a couple of men in black, leather jackets in the process. Deja vu hit me immediately, freezing me on the spot. Memories of another night and black-clad men came crashing down on me like a tidal wave.

When one of them smiled to reveal gleaming white fangs, I stepped back in horror, my eyes darting everywhere for an escape. I moved to go to Liam but the two blocked my way. I wasn’t sure if I was able to call out to him, but with the noise around us, he probably wouldn’t have heard me even if I did. One of the men reached out to grab my arm, but I turned on my heels and ran before he could. I didn’t know where I was going, but I kept on running.

Bad move. I just realized that I had run into a deserted area of the property where the road was rough and tall trees obscured the view to the bazaar. Still, I continued forward, glancing back only once to see if they were still pursuing me. I stopped and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that there was no one there, believing that I had actually lost them.

How wrong I was. A soft chuckle made my head snap to the dark stretch of dirt road before me. The two men were standing right where I was headed. They were not behind me because they were already in front of me. Now how did they do that, I thought, pushing down the fear that was threatening to overwhelm me.

“Who are you? What do you want?” I said before twisting around to run back the way I came. I gasped when I slammed into a hard body. It was one of them, but how could he have moved so fast?

“You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart. Not until we’ve had a bit of fun,” the man said, lifting my chin up to meet his gaze.

Even in the dark, I could see that his irises were red.

“Karl, not here. Our instructions are to take her with us,” the other man said.

“You’re not taking her anywhere,” a familiar voice said.

“Nick,” I breathed, my heart jumping with joy.

“Come, Mira,” Nick said, his eyes never leaving the man holding me.

I shoved Karl’s hands away and sprinted toward Nick. My captor didn’t bother to stop me. His eyes were also fixed on Nick’s.

“Well, look who we have here, Gunter. The infamous Dark Knight,” Karl spat.

“Are you going to kill us, too? We haven’t done anything wrong. Not yet, anyway,” the man named Gunter said, smiling at Nick, exposing his deadly fangs as both hands slid inside his jacket. When he took them out, they were both holding long, silver blades.

“Why don’t we just fight for the girl, Knight? Just like in the old days, eh?” Karl said, grinning maliciously, twin blades appearing in his hands as well.

“Yes, let’s do this properly, Knight. Stop using your rank as an excuse,” Gunter grunted as he twirled the knives in his hands, his eyes flashing malevolently.

“Hide behind the tree, Mira. And don’t come out until I say so,” Nick whispered to me.

I nodded and did as told, recognizing the urgency in Nick’s voice. I sat on my haunches behind the tree and tried to make my 5’8” frame as inconspicuous as possible. The cold December air whistled through the trees, sending shivers down my spine, enhancing the terror running through my veins. I feared not only for myself but also for Nick.

But my fears for him were proved unfounded. The fight was over before it even began. Nick moved so fast, I saw nothing but the glinting of his blades as they left their scabbards. The next thing I saw was the decapitated heads of his opponents rolling on the ground, their glassy eyes staring at me in eternal shock.

Bile rose up my throat as I heaved my entire dinner onto the ground. My head was pounding painfully, images from the night I met Nick suddenly falling into place.

Nick was the one who rescued me.

He was the man with the yellow eyes that turned to blue. The one whose fangs were hidden behind smiling lips.

It’s okay. You’re safe now.

“Mira, are you okay?” Nick said, kneeling beside me, his cold fingers brushing the hair away from my tear-streaked face.

“It was you,” I said. “You’re the one who rescued me that night. You killed those men, too,” I gasped, slumping against the tree.

“They were not mere men, Mira. They were—”

“Vampires. I know. And you’re just like them,” I said, shaking my head, still trying to process the harsh truth that I was now abruptly faced with.

“Mira, I am nothing like them. I’m―”

“Their executioner. They called you the Dark Knight. Is this why you said I know nothing about you? Is this the big secret you were keeping from me?”

I wanted so badly to know everything about Nick. But it would take more than a lifetime to truly get to uncover his secrets. And now, I was no longer sure if I really wanted to.

“Mira, you have to understand. I tried to keep all this ugliness away from you—”

“Are these the ones you were trying to protect me from?” I asked, somehow relieved that he wasn’t just a paranoid freak. He really had enough reason to fear for my safety. But why me? Why were they after me? And why didn’t he just tell me the truth?

Yeah, right. Like that would’ve turned out nicely, my inner voice said.

“I’m sorry, Mira. I didn’t know how to tell you. I wanted to, but I couldn’t.”

“Tell me what, Nick? That I was being hunted by vampires or that you’re a vampire? Which one did you want to tell me?”

Nick glanced away, as if unable to look into my questioning eyes. “Both. But I had been sworn to secrecy. And I was afraid—”

“Afraid of what?” I said when he didn’t say more.

Nick turned back to me, his gorgeous blue eyes filled with pain. “I was afraid of losing you. And I didn’t want to lose you, Mira. I still don’t,” he said, his voice breaking at the end.

I wanted to throw my arms around him and tell him that it was okay, but I couldn’t. This was too much to take in one go. It wasn’t as simple as him confessing to cheating on me or not loving me at all. His feelings for me were as clear as day. I should rejoice, I should be happy that Nick reciprocated my feelings. But he was not who I thought he was. He was a freaking vampire, for god’s sake! And I didn’t know how to deal with that.

“I have to go. Jan...Jan would be looking for me,” I said as I slowly got to my feet.

“Mira, the danger isn’t over. You’re still in danger,” Nick said, grabbing my hand.

I pulled away and took a step back. I regretted my actions when I saw the anguish in Nick’s eyes, but I had to get away from him. Even for a while.

“I need to think, Nick. This...this is just too much. I mean, there are just too many things I don’t understand. I need time to process all of this,” I said, my heart breaking at the prospect of being apart from him again. I still loved him, of that I was certain. But was it enough?

“Mira, please,” Nick said, reaching for my hand again. I shook my head and took another step back. Nick took the hint, his shoulders slumping in resignation.

“Just give me some time alone, please?” I said as I turned and ran away from Nick, unsure if I’d ever see him again or if I’d even want to.