Chapter 8

Double Update today, watch out! Merry Christmas to everyone except the ones engaging in homos*xual intercourse… the single homos*xuals, you are safe.

Just give some time and space to realize that you
Were busy lying, sleeping round with other guys
And what the hell were we?
Tell me we weren’t just friends
This doesn’t make much sense, no
—Friends, Chase Atlantic

JUDE CRESTON

After class, I watched as Glass kissed Evie on the lips before whispering something to him, his voice delicate and airy as usual. Evie left while clinging onto Redd, and I watched them leave with a strange feeling in my gut. Maybe it’s me judging, which I have no right to do.

Glass however, made that feeling go away just by walking towards my table. “Puppy… hi.”

“Hi,” I find myself blushing just the slightest because of his voice that just lays you down on a bed of silk. Christ, I’m supposed to be a priest…

“Listen, I just want to talk to you about what you said to Evie earlier…” he bends over my table to be closer to me, and I struggled to keep my eyes on his two-toned eyes—which is difficult.

I find myself looking at Leo and Pryce to see if they’re staring at his *ss, but no. They’re currently arguing about how to decorate the church for Halloween mass. I guess it’s just me thinking like a man…

“Forgive me if I made him upset… I’ll confess and pray later,” I tell Glass.

“No, no… I appreciate it, actually,” he smiles at me with his eyes still half-lidded, it’s hard to look away. “Evie can be a little too much if he’s jealous. Last night, he was upset he didn’t get to f*ck you, too.”

That’s not what I saw and felt in that memory. I felt very possessive over him—which means it’s exactly what Evie felt that night. I tell him, “Evie cares a lot about you, too. I don’t think it’s just about me… I don’t blame him for freaking out, he fears I might steal you away.”

“Haha! No one could steal me away from him… but you can have me anytime you want…” Glass smiles at me, his eyes turning a flash of red. That’s when I hear the birds chirping a bit louder, and the sunlight grow more saturated. “I like when you said you wanted things to be fair. I want that too but sometimes… Evie just does what he wants, I guess.”

“Are you really thirsting over the lover of the man who killed you?” Salve grumbled behind me, and I could hear the frustration in his voice. I look down in uncertainty…

Glass is not bad, Salve.

“Ugh, it’s because you still think I look like him. It’s weird, Jude. Maybe we’re just both black, so knock it off.”

I can’t help it, his smile lights up the place just like you. He’s making every color look brighter… I keep looking up at Glass’ two-toned eyes. Lord help me. I feel like I need to confess all my nasty thoughts in the booth.

“Are you coming over tonight?” Glass asks while tracing his tongue over his perfect teeth. “I’ll tell Evie to be nice, I swear.”

“Evie killed him, what makes you think he will be nice?” Leo finally came to join us, his hand resting on Glass’ waist which irked me a bit.

“Oh god,” Salve judges me so hard you’d think he was God; “Are you jealous over Glass now?”

“It’s not that!” I suddenly exclaim out loud, which made everyone—even Pryce, look at me strangely. I composed myself, “I mean—the past is the past, right? I believe Evie has confessed and repented for what he has done. I have faith we’ll be good friends.”

I need to touch Evie and trigger the memories again. I need to know more about him, why he’s acting this way. He’s evil—but I refuse to believe a man of God is purely evil. In class, he knows the bible just as much as Pryce does. Something’s going on inside Evie and if I find out what, I can knock him off my back.

Salve replies, “You’re gonna use your powers against him? Wow… you’re starting to think like them.”

“It’s for peace and f*cking quiet,” I say to both Glass and Leo, but also to Salve. “Making peace with Evie, I mean.”

“I’m so happy,” Glass giggles in appreciation, before standing up to smack Leo in the chest. “See you studs tonight. Bye, Puppy.”

When Glass left, so did the saturated colors and crisp air. Sunlight no longer peeked through the window as the usual clouds came to look over the convent. I sighed, turning my head to find Salve no longer there. Salve?

Leo scoffed, “You’re letting Glass’ powers get to you.”

“I like Glass, he’s actually nice to me…” I mumble, rearranging my books. Where the f*ck is Salve…

Leo sighed, “I apologize, Jude. For everything. I acted on impulse, I acted in desperation. Then I blamed you for the situation I placed you in. It’s unfair, it’s…”

“Is this you confessing to me?” I cut him off, finally looking at him. He looks like an Arab Prince with his thick eyebrows and lashes, curtaining his eyes while they look down at me.

Leo walked around my desk to kneel beside where I’m sitting, now he’s looking up at me with delicate eyes. “Forgive me Father, for I have sinned?”

“I do not have the rank to take a confession,” I dismiss, but he chuckles instead.

“I’ll make it up to you one way or another, Jude. I have an eternity to do so…” he shrugs, standing up. But his effort and clear apology is making my heart lighten a bit—wait. What if this is his powers? Is he controlling my mind? Do I not have free will in the house of God?

“I’ll leave before you,” Pryce announced, smiling at me, “I’ll see you around, Jude.”

Pryce left the classroom, leaving me alone with Leo. Not even Salve is here and I feel strange… I can’t help but search for him, my mind elsewhere. But being alone with Leo felt like standing before both my executioner and my confessor, and I couldn’t tell which frightened me more.

Maybe this is a great time to ask, “What about your powers? You said you’ll show it to me.”

He smiled, holding his hand for me to take. “Stand up for me.”

I was hesitant, but Leo wouldn’t intentionally hurt me, right? I trusted Leo enough to take his hand, but not enough to forgive him for what he’d made me become. I took his hand, and he puts his other hand into his mouth where he sank one canine into it.

“What are you doing?” He is waiting for it to bleed.

“Veni…” he presses his thumb to draw on my forehead with his blood, making me widen my eyes. “… mecum.”

The moment my eyes blinked, I was no longer in the classroom. I was in an all white space, with no walls and nothing beyond. Just white under my feet, above my head, everywhere I look except for Leo.

“Where would you like to go?” He says, keeping my hand encased in his. “Would you rather be in… Italy?”

The place flickered as bricks glitched into view under my feet. The glitches extended into a narrow Italian alley unfolded around us—sun-warmed stone beneath us, laundry lines strung between buildings, the air thick with coffee and basil. I could suddenly hear people speaking in a language I can’t understand.

My mouth flew open, “Leo! Oh my god, where are we?! Did you really take us to Italy?”

“We’re inside a special place where I can show you any place, at any time…” his hand squeezes mine as I laugh watching an Italian man do exaggerated hand signals while on the phone. “Shall I show you… Ancient Greece?”

The modern bricks glitched into greenery with the sunrise peeking through the vastness of the ocean. All of a sudden we stood among pale stone buildings overlooking the Aegean, columns not yet worn smooth by time. A Greek hillside appeared beyond, with white buildings clinging to the earth as if afraid to fall. People in tunics farm below the cliff, and are building their houses that will soon be the father of architecture today.

“Leo wow! This place is beautiful! Does this mean you could take us back in time?”

“Ahh… not quite.”

“I’ve never seen something so beautiful…”

“Let me show you something prettier, then…” The cliff below us glitched into Preston’s waters that reflect the grand white marble standing tall in front of us. The Taj Mahal rose before us in flawless white, its marble glowing as if was lit from inside. The reflecting pool mirrored it perfectly, making it feel like the monument was floating between heaven and earth.

“No way…”

While my eyes look at the place in wonder, Leo’s eyes were only on me. “You know, this is known to be the greatest display of love from a husband to a wife.”

“F*ck… one could only wish we’d be loved the same way…” I sighed at the upcoming sunrise.

“Yeah…” Leo was looking at me with the delicacy of the sun against the smooth marble roof.

“The ground feels so real… can I touch the water?” I happily went to check out the pool, but he pulled me back.

“Don’t let go of my hand! I’ll lose you…” I looked back to see Leo genuinely concerned and refusing to release me. “I-I haven’t yet mastered returning the conscience, so you could get lost in here.”

“Sorry,” I say, waiting for him to walk with me so I can witness the pool. He knelt with me so I could reach down and touch the waters and… wow. It was cold, it was liquid, it felt so real. He’s telling me this is all in his head when I could feel the water?

I squeezed his hand in excitement over what I’m seeing. “Wow… I’ve never been anywhere but my hometown and the convent. I can’t believe you can just go anywhere you want.”

“This isn’t teleportation… this is a dimension I created as an escape. Sometimes I prepare dinner and place myself in a crowded restaurant… sometimes I enjoy wine and put myself in a rooftop bar with a live band. It was the only way I could feel normal.”

The rising sun dawned on me as it peeked from behind the Taj Mahal, but I truly can’t feel the warmth. Not because I’m a vampire, but because this place isn’t real. I could sympathize with Leo… will I be yearning for normalcy just like him?

“It was the only way I could feel human until,” he adds, lifting my hand up, “… you walked in. You enjoyed the food I cooked, and I enjoyed cooking again because of you. You weren’t cold and soulless like them. You carried guilt in your heart, but your eyes are full of innocence and pure intentions. I guess you changed when I changed you.”

Have I gone cold? Have I become like them? I don’t want that… god no, I would hate that.

I faced Leo, “I’m sorry if I’m no longer the human I once was.”

“It’s my fault, and I’ll forever carry that guilt…” he smiles sadly, “I just didn’t want to lose you…”

I carry that same sad smile because I still can’t help but feel bitter over being turned this way. I couldn’t easily forgive him for changing my life, but what if… “What happens after death?”

“Hmm?”

I decided to confess to him, in front of the Taj Mahal, “While I was dying, I saw my first love holding my hand. And I could feel him, in the flesh… as if he was alive. Or maybe I was dead, that’s why I could feel him. I wanted to stay dead, so I could be with him… but what if…”

I’m trying to fight the tears trying to get out of my eyes; or maybe it’s the thought that is desperately trying to get out of my head.

“What if his presence is just me trying to comfort myself after being the reason for his death? What if I imagined him at the end of my life to comfort myself from the pain of losing my life—what if… what if there’s nothing after death? And you may have given me another chance at somewhat of a life.”

Leo didn’t kill me. He didn’t push me through a window. He was just a broken man trying desperately to save me. Maybe I was too harsh on him…

“I don’t want to be a vampire,” I tell him, “And I’ll forever resent you for that, I don’t think I will forgive you for turning me. But at the end of the day, your intentions were pure. You saved my life and I appreciate that, Leo. I’m not God, I cannot judge you.”

The pool glitched again. This time, it turned to white. The marble palace turned into pure absence of color, and we were once again alone in Leo’s mind—or maybe we always have been. It has a way of making you feel as if you aren’t alone. Truly, the greatest enemy of vampires is loneliness.

“Allow me to make it up to you,” he pulls my hand closer so he can hold it against his chest. “If I could just show you that being a vampire can be worth a second chance at life.”

“Leo…”

“Reditus,” he whispered, and at a blink of an eye we are back inside the classroom. I gasp, trying to process the returning colors and wood of the desk I’m laying my hand on. But my other hand is still in his, so I shyly removed it.

“Thanks for showing me,” I quietly murmured. “You have an awesome talent… I can really hear people talking and feel the ripples of water. But aren’t vampire talents meant to help you hunt victims? How does that help you…”

“It’s called Withholding. It’s to isolate a victim’s conscience and bring them to a good place before I kill them…” he seemed to panic because of what he said, “I mean—! I don’t kill! W-we don’t kill. The Monsignor is against that, so even if our gifts are meant for hunting, we don’t really use it like that.”

He’s cute when he panics.

“Evie seemed to love using it on me,” I mumble as we leave the classroom. Leo even took my books so he can carry them himself, the gentleman. Who am I to refuse, they’re heavy.  “Even before I turned, he froze me. I couldn’t move, it was like I was…”

“Ahh… Evie’s Restraining. Yes, he can paralyze you at will. But uhm… if he starts writing on your body with blood like I did earlier… be sure to slap his hand away before he finishes writing.”

“Why? I thought all he can do is freeze my body?” I paused by the terrace which sits in between the left and right wing; it overlooked the dining hall downstairs, but I stopped my the window specifically where I fell down. “Leo… why is that?”

“Our talents aren’t as simple as we make out to be. It grows, it develops, f*ck even as simple as Pryce’s mind communication can rewrite memories.”

He stopped walked back for me before suddenly drawing onto my chest with two fingers, “Evie’s Restraining doesn’t just freeze. Once Evie draws on your skin, he can control the organ under it. So if I was Evie right now and I draw this on you with my blood… I can command your heart to slow down, speed up… or stop. He can render your brain catatonic. He can burst an appendix, fail a liver. Thats why it’s probably a good choice to make peace with him.”

“But we can’t die unless we starve, right?”

“Yes,” he chuckles at me, “But trust me, you wouldn’t want to be brain dead until we can give you the Lady’s blood for recovery. Currently, we’re out of stock…”

I smile in appreciation for the warning. I know Salve is watching, but he knows exactly why I stepped forward and leaned in for a kiss—a small peck on the cheek that made my vision distort into a dream-like haze.

“Diana…” I sobbed, having a woman in my arms though these arms don’t belong to me, but Leo’s. These memories are Leo’s, and my vision is hazy because of the tears in them. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

“…” I couldn’t hear her from a throat so torn open, I’m drenched in blood.

“Hold on! Wait… wait, I can fix this! I can ask help from the Monsignor just—wait…” I bit my thumb, and I could actually feel the pain. “Veni mecum… v-Veni… Veni…”

I could not put her inside my mind because hers was fading, and it devastated me into a pain yell. “Diana, no! Please! MONSIGNOR, HELP!”

When I pulled away from the kiss, I could still feel the pain and hopelessness Leo felt that day. His heart is overridden with guilt, and when he looks at me he thinks of nothing but his inability to save Diana.

“I’m sorry…” I apologize for the sudden intrusion into his mind, but instead of taking offense he pulls me by the waist, pulling me against his body.

“Don’t be… please… I’d beg for you to kiss me like you did them.” The way he said that word was with a voice crack that could only come from true desperation. Leo had one hand over my face, and once again I get flashes of the same memory—same guilt.

I can’t see anything else. Guilt can’t be all that he is! There has to be more…

So I pull him in to kiss him more, this time with an open mouth and an exploring tongue. I can taste his blood from when he bit his finger earlier and—oh God. Dear Lady, it’s making my own blood boil with how sweet it tasted. It’s not as sweet as the previous feeding, but I now know why we yearn for blood.

“Dear God. Let me… feel human again,” I hear from my mind, but it’s not my thoughts. I see Leo kneeling before his bed, in a deep prayer to the statue of the Lady before him. “As he does. As he always has. A smile that bear no ill intentions, a kiss without promising s*x. All that from him, all that for me, a desire I don’t deserve to indulge as a sinner, a prayer I don’t deserve answered by you… Amen.”

Leo yearns for me the same way; both body and blood. And I may have trapped myself because he’s now pinning me to the wall with just one hand against my hip, not much resistance on my part. Right within the vision of a Lady’s statue, he claimed my mouth without any claim to my body. Just pure desire for my lips, which he indulged himself in.

⭐️ VOTE | 💬 COMMENT | so yall “don’t like Leo” but voted for him to take Jude’s virginity like Miley what’s good?