“Ella, wake up!!!”

Ella jerked awake, screaming and sweating. The lifeless image of Renzo lingered in her mind, making her hysterical.

“Ella, you’re safe now,” Kate was gently stroking her back, calming her down.

“But Renzo…”

“He will be fine. Dan is taking care of him,” Kate told Ella with confidence but the latter was still worrying. She knew how much Kate admired Dan. It was easy for her to believe that he can revive Renzo.

“The last time I saw him, he was not breathing and he had no heartbeat,” Ella shook her head as the lifeless image of Renzo flashed vividly in her mind.

“Josh had been hit by a truck but he is still alive. Dan patched him up. I'm sure he can also heal Renzo,” Sierra shocked her friends when she said those words.

“Josh had been hit by a truck?” Kate was deeply bewildered. “I saw him at the front yard earlier when we arrived. He looks okay.”

“It happened a few years ago,” Sierra explained with a shrug of her shoulders. “I can't believe it either. So, if you want to make sure that Renzo is okay, go ahead and check up on him.”

“You will not come with me?” Ella looked disappointed.

“Of course, we will,” Sierra moved out of the bed. “Let's go?”

Ella was about to follow her friend when she finally noticed her surroundings.

They were in a room bigger and more comfortable than their apartment. “Is this their house?”

“Yes,” Sierra answered. “This room is owned by Josh. We need to look around this mansion to search for Renzo's.”

“I know they are rich,” Ella glanced around the room once more, amazed at its size and elegance. “But not this wealthy.”

“I’m also wondering how they acquire a mansion at the heart of a woodland,” Sierra opened the door out of the room and asked her friends, “Are we going to find Renzo or not?”

“This is a mansion? And in the heart of a woodland?” Ella was astounded as she moved out of the bed and looked out of the window. High fence surrounded the vast yard and beyond it, Ella could not see anything aside from tall and massive trees. “Is this connected to their unbelievable transformation?” she glanced inquiringly at Kate. “You had also seen them change into a giant bat, right? That's not a hallucination, right?”

“Yes, Ella. I saw their transformation,” Kate confirmed with calmness that was frustrating for Ella. Why was her friend unbothered by everything that she had witnessed? Even Sierra was not surprised by what she had said.

Why is Kate unbothered by everything that she had witnessed? Even Sierra doesn't seemed surprised by what she had heard. And the fact that we are in the middle of a woodland?! Why am I the only one hysterical?!

“Ella, come on. Let's look for Renzo,” Kate wrapped an arm around hers and urged her to step away of the window.

“Okay,” Ella allowed herself to be dragged out of the room. “Let’s find Renzo.”

Kate smiled teasingly that Ella felt the need to say something that sounded so defensive, “It's only because I want to make sure that he is safe.”

“I didn't say anything. Why are you so defensive?” Kate smiled more annoyingly at her.

“You're smile is saying a lot,” Ella snapped at Kate and decided to pull her arm away from the latter. She walked beside Sierra and wrapped an arm around hers with a firm warning. “Don’t smile.”

“Why are you telling your friend not to smile?”

Everyone stopped moving. Even Ella’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Renzo standing in front of them. He appeared surprisingly okay, as if he had not been stabbed deep in the chest.

“How is your wound?” Ella finally managed to speak up. She was staring suspiciously at his chest that was covered with a navy blue turtle-necked shirt.

“Healing,” Renzo smiled, causing more confusion for Ella. They were all looking as if nothing horrible had happened. “Stop looking guilty. What happened earlier is not your fault.”

“But you…” Ella was shocked when Renzo grabbed her hand and pulled her gently along the corridor.

“Sierra, Kate, come with us!” Renzo yelled. “I'll show you your room for tonight.”

“You're not going to take us home?” Ella glanced at her friends. Their composure was maddening.

“This house is the safest place for the three of you,” Renzo answered. “You should stay here for good.”

“What?” Ella was dumbfounded. “You want us to stay here for good? How about going to school and my competitions?”

“You can still do all those things,” Renzo guaranteed. “You only need to stay with us so we can protect you well.”

“Are we in danger?” Kate finally asked a question but there was no anxiety in her face, only curiosity.

“Sadly, yes,” Renzo looked sincerely apologetic. “We can talk about it later. You need to clean this room first.”

He stopped in front of a closed door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. A room that was bigger than the one Josh owned had been revealed to Ella and her friends. Dust and cobwebs were all over the place. It will take them a while to clean everything.

“Why don’t you tell us everything before we waste our energy cleaning this place? We might hear things that can convince us not to stay here.” Ella shot a serious gaze at Renzo.

Instead of telling her things she needed to hear, he grabbed her hand and said, “I have clean blankets and pillows in my room. Help me with those.”

“I'll get them after hearing an explanation,” Ella firmly insisted.

“Sierra and I can clean this place,” Kate commented with an annoying smile. “Go with Renzo. Listen to everything he had to say. I'll send you a message once we are done here.”

“What's wrong with you today, Kate?” Ella asked in deep frustration. “Are you okay with this setup because…”

“You are curious about what happened earlier, right?” Kate quickly asked back before she could say anything embarrassing in front of Renzo. “You want to ask him a lot of questions, right? Go with him and ask him everything you want to know. Then later, share to us all the answers you will get. We'll wait here.”

“Am I the only one who wants to hear everything right at this moment?” Ella raised an eyebrow at Kate and Sierra.

“We already heard enough,” Sierra sighed. “As much as we don’t want to believe, we cannot deny what our eyes had seen. But I know hearing an explanation will somehow help. Go with Renzo and listen to what he has to say.”

“We'll see you later,” Renzo pulled Ella out of the room before she could agree with all of them. “I'm sorry for bringing you into that dangerous situation,” he regretfully uttered after closing the door behind them. “I know how terrified you were.”

“I thought you’re dead,” Ella stared at Renzo with great disbelief. “You were not breathing. I can’t feel your heartbeat. You had been stabbed in your chest. It was a deep wound. How come you are here as if nothing happened?”

Renzo pulled his shirt up, revealing the beautiful contours on his abdomen and chest. There was a wound at the middle of his chest but it was already closed and healing. “I’m okay. I have a reliable friend. Dan can always patch me up. Stop worrying now and stop feeling guilty. It doesn’t suit you.”

“I’m not guilty and I’m not worrying about you!” Ella snapped at him as she pulled his shirt down. “You should be the one feeling guilty. You should be the one worrying! I don’t know who that guy was. But I know he wants to kill you and he is like you and Dan. You… how can you transform into giant bats?! How can you survive that fatal wound and heal this fast? Only a few hours had passed!”

“It’s because Josh, Dan, and I are not normal,” Renzo admitted with utmost seriousness that silenced Ella. He held her hand and put her palm over his wound.

“Your hand is warm but your chest is cold,” Ella pressed harder on his chest, trying to find a heartbeat but… “Your heart is not beating.” Ella swallowed hard before asking, “What are you?”

Renzo wrapped an arm around her waist and answered with a heart-pounding gaze, “I am a vampire.”

^####################################^