This is surely never a good idea to run about on the open forest in the middle of the night. Well, it would be if not for my heighten sense of eyesight and hearing.
"I didn't know vampires are equipped with night-vision," I mumbled and Hendery chuckles by my sudden proclaim.
"You human are to simple for our kind, I don't know why you all find the pleasure of living a mundane life, I mean surprise! Night vision for something so boring for vampires."
"Mind you, I am human. This is not something that could happen to us," I snapped back, "You seem to enjoy being vampire for someone who used to be a human."
Hendery smirks, as he walk every step a bit faster, teasing a bit for me to catch up, "What can I say? living as a human had no thrill, not knowing that the night was much more interesting."
"Is that why you choose to turn into a vampire?" I asked.
"A part of it yes. But I always think humans are a bit easy to manipulate, weaker than what we are currently," Hendery said proudly, "I would never go back to that state every again, being the me right now is a bliss."
"The power is tempting, "I said a bit surely, "But don't you miss being human? I bet you had to outlived a lot of lives to get where you are by now?"
Cerius and Hendery stood silent, and I had to stop too in the end, looking at them as they sigh.
"No." Hendery started, "I rather not want to be a human anymore. Being human in my life was hell, I knew what I had to go through when I went searching for this night life, and if being able to suppress those who had hurt me, I know I've won in some point of life."
"I don't usually like to tell how I become a vampire." Hendery said slowly, "But yes, I choose this life, because humans were not that great, being human is weak and easy to trick, because our life matters the most to us. But, when human too give us reason to know we're not worth it. That life became meaningless."
"They hurt you," I said boldly, "They hurt you, as a human, that's why you thrived to gain power if it means surpassing those who you love at one point?"
Hendery nodded, "I had to surpass my family, I had to surpass my parents and my little brother and sisters. I can still remember their horror when the police back then never found my body, my father had months and years trying to find me. I had to watch my family go crazy, I had to live in thoughts that my siblings were living their lives. I had to watch them from afar, as long nobody could harm them."
Hendery's voice lowered, the weight of his words sinking deep into the cold air between us. "I thought power would give me peace. That if I could watch over them from the shadows, it would be enough. But it's never enough. You can't love them and protect them when you're a monster to them."
I took a breath, unsure how to respond. His eyes, usually unreadable, now shimmered with something raw — regret, perhaps. Or longing. Maybe both.
"You said you chose this life," I said carefully, "But it sounds like it was forced on you… that pain turned you into something else."
A bitter laugh escaped him. "Pain doesn't turn you into something else. It reveals who you are when no one's looking. I didn't become a vampire to protect them. I became one because I was tired of being the victim."
There was a long silence. The moonlight caught the edge of his jaw, sharp and still like he hadn't moved in years.
"What happened to them?" I asked softly. "Your family?"
He didn't answer right away. When he did, his voice cracked just enough for me to hear the boy he once was. "My father died thinking I was murdered. My mother… she never really recovered. My siblings grew up, moved on. They have kids now, lives I'll never be part of. I used to visit them sometimes, when I'm sure they won't see me."
I stepped closer, almost without realizing it. "Do you regret it?"
He looked at me then — not with the gaze of a predator, but a man who's walked a thousand lonely nights. "Every night," he whispered. "But I'd do it again. Because once you know how powerless you are, you either die with it, or you tear it apart."
I reached for his hand. Cold. Steady. Strong. "You're still trying to protect them, even now."
"Even monsters have people they love," he said, not pulling away.
"Then maybe you're not the monster you think you are." I said truthfully, "You should give yourself credits, you did great!"
Hendery chuckles at the thought and shakes his head, "Says the half human, huh?"
Cerius laughs a bit loud, "Oh of course he did, he should at least do it for his family. I mean getting bitten by a hot vampire chick should be count accountable for a sin in your time."
Hendery rolls his eyes, and ushered us to walk further inside the woods, I looked over to Cerius and he smiles widely, a bit teasing before walking a bit closer to me.
"You are a curious cat, don't you know?" Cerius said, "I bet your going to listen to my answers too?"
"Do you have anything better to do?" I asked, pointing to Hendery who was still leading the way, "We're still as far, I see."
"That's because your vampire powers aren't as develop yet, and we don't want you puking every second we try to pass zoom the forest like we used too. You humans with your motion sickness." He shrug, and I rolled my eyes, matching his teasing tone with a raised brow.
"I'm barely a vampire, remember? I didn't exactly get an instruction manual with the whole 'immortality' package."
Cerius laughed, the sound low and mischievous. "No manual, but plenty of chaos. I almost feel sorry for you, it took a while too to understand, almost my entire life."
"Literally," Hendery pipped in, "Tell her, it would be fun."
"I was born in a cult raise for vampires," Cerius said, "They worship these nightly creatures and decided that I was going to be chosen for the ritual." I was baffled how Cerius said it so casually, like he was talking about a bad school play rather than being sacrificed to blood-drinking immortals.
"You're joking," I said, my voice a little too high, trying to decide whether to laugh or recoil.
But Cerius just smiled, that same crooked, teasing grin. "Wish I was. They dressed me up in white robes, lit candles in a cave, and chanted some ancient gibberish while I sat tied to a stone altar like a birthday present."
Hendery chuckled darkly. "Except nobody told them vampires don't actually like being worshipped."
Cerius shot him a mock glare. "Yeah, turns out vampires hate cults almost as much as I do. But back then I didn't know that that was wrong you know, never bothered to fight back because I was treated like a vampire."
"So? They turned you into one?" I asked and Cerius shook his head.
"No. Lucky me that night a vampire saw what happened and slaughtered half the congregation before the vampire noticed me still alive on the altar. Then she turned to me and gave a choice, die like others or live forever. Obviously, since I didn't know better, I choose to live, I mean that was my purpose right?"
"The vampire that turned you?" I asked, He paused, looking directly at you now, the amusement fading just slightly from his eyes.
"Killed. Not that I care that is," Cerius shrug it off, "Obviously regretted in the first 10 years of being alone, but I was going to live forever with the consequences, I choose to live through it. Afterall after I was turned the only thing I was left was some gibberish that I couldn't understand."
"Which is?" I asked Cerius, as my voice barely a whisper.
"She looked at me, right before she disappeared, and said: 'One day, you'll guide the girl whose blood sings like the old world.'" Cerius said, "She was probably old at that time, and I was just learning new things, how could I understand. Until..."
"Until?"
Cerius smiled faintly, eyes narrowing slightly as he studied my face. "You came in, I think we're about to find out."
Ahead of us, Hendery halted abruptly, placing a finger to his lips and tilting his head toward a bend in the woods. The air changed—colder, tighter—like something was watching. The trees, tall and silent, seemed to lean in.
"I can sense some deer," Cerius whisper, "A lot of them too... that seems weird."
"Something's here," Hendery murmured without looking back.
I froze instinctively, heart thudding even though it beat differently now—slower, but louder. "What kind of something?"
Hendery turned his head just slightly. "Stay close to us, Allora."
Cerius moved closer to me, his playful demeanor vanishing in an instant. "Stay behind me. If we need to run, we need to escape as quick as possible, if I grab your arm, you hold your breath."