It was around midnight. Kay lay asleep next to me. The car was now passing through the highway, the desert in the middle of it.

I stared out of the window, glad for the silence that befell us. I had made a plan that once I was cured of my treatment, I would leave Kay’s mansion and live on my own. I don’t want to live in the house of murderers. Kay and his family wouldn’t hesitate in killing me if they wanted to.

Around six in the morning, I was woken up by Kay’s soft voice. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the early morning light filling the once dark interiors of the car. I stretched in my seat but realized that there was dark coat laid atop of me. I stiffened, staring at me.

“You were cold.” Kay explained softly, seating to the corner of the car seat.

I glanced at him, seeing that his eyes, nose and cheeks were tainted red. He sniffled and crossed his arms lazily over his chest as he stiffled a yawn. I quickly away quickly, my heart unable to bear the pain on his face. My heart was screaming at me to close the distance between us and kiss away his pain. My body yearned for his warmth, for his touch. I balled my hands into fists, setting my lips into a thin line.

Kay informed me that we would reach the hospital within fifteen minutes. I handed back his coat.

“I want to make myself clear.” I said, staring straight ahead. Kay’s attention was now on me. “After I’m done with my treatment, I will part ways with you. I will cease all communication with you. I wish you do the same with me, respect my wishes.”

“You want to break our deal?” Kay asked me raising a brow at me.

I nodded. “Your deal didn’t include ‘lying to the other party if necessary.’” I pointed out. “I want no part of a deal if the other party is a monster, a killer.”

Kay wanted to say something to me but I folded my hands across my chest, signaling the end of the discussion.

He sighed. “If you say so.”

***

Dr. Alcott was delighted to see me after so many days. “I thought you weren’t going to start the treatment at all, Ruella. I and Dr. Fraser were beginning to worry.” He smiled softly at me.

“Here I am.” I merely shrugged.

He smiled bigger at me. “Okay then...” he sighed looking around the hospital room where I was booked to stay in. “Uh, this will be your residential room. The surgery will be done upstairs. Then after a few days, we will commence with your cancer treatment. Hmm?”

I nodded. My hands feeling clammy. Kay was seating beside me on the bed, his warmth was the best support I needed during my anxiety.

The moment Dr. Alcott left, Kay gently turned my face towards his and captured my lips in a passionate kiss. I was caught off guard and as his warm lips caressed my own. I sighed as I pulled him flush to my chest, his minty breath intermingling with my foggy thoughts. My hands curled in his hair as his tongue entered my mouth desperately, exploring my mouth.

His hands ran up and down my sides and it created a soft hum in my heart, making me deepen my kiss with him. His lips were now kissing my jaw, my neck before he stopped and held the side of my face to look into my eyes.

“What was this for?” I asked, my breath labored.

“I want you to reconsider your new deal.” He said, touching his forehead to mine. I stared at our interlinked fingers in his lap. “I don’t want you to go back.” He pleaded, staring at them. “I know you won’t have anywhere to live and it will be too late to take up residency in the university again.” He continued. Then he added, meeting my eyes. “I want you to live with me... live in my home.”

“You are all vampires.” I said, scowling. I hated that word. Pathetic, evil creatures.

“We are not evil. Not all of us.” He rushed. “My family isn’t evil. They know about your condition. I told them everything about you.” He said earnestly.

Shock graced my features. “When? W-why? Why would you do that?” I asked my voice rising an octave.

“Shh-shh.” Kay said looking at the door worriedly. His hands were on my shoulders, looking intently in my eyes. “Because I wanted to. They did have some questions about you, so I thought since you were going to start your treatment, why not let them meet you.” He shrugged. “In that way, you would meet my parents, know about what I am and what I do.” He said, excitedly.

“And what about your ex-girlfriends?” I asked awkwardly. “Won’t they be throwing themselves at you?” I had seen the way the girls at the hotel were behaving around him. The way they smiled and talked to him was very sultry. Some of them were whispering in his ear, telling him something. I wasn’t jealous of him having sexual partners because that was the place for it but if that continued now, it would be a huge problem.

A foreign emotion passed in his eyes before he masked it perfectly. He opened his mouth to tell me something else, but I stopped him.

“I know you’re keeping something from me.” I stated. “If you want us to work, I will need to know about your exes. EVERYTHING! I won’t judge you for what you did in your past but if you don’t want me to leave, I need honesty from your end.”

“Fair enough. Understandable.” He replied. “I had sexual intercourse with around three hundred women in total. None of them were serious relationships. All casual flings. I would bring them home and we would fuck all night. They even stayed the night and left the next morning after having breakfast.”

I paled at his body count. With a man as handsome and charming as him, any woman would like to get her knickers in a twist. “Were some of them vampires as well?”

“Yeah. My parents’ business partners’ daughters.” He replied, feeling ashamed. “When I look back at it now, I feel horrible.”

“Did anyone at the hotel, your friends, or your business partners know about you and your family being vampires?”

“Some of them did, yes. My whole bloodline does business with only vampires.” He said. “That's because we work mostly during the night and rest during the day.”

That piqued my interest. “Do you sleep in coffins?”

“Have you seen coffins at the mansion?” He asked me with his brows raised.

“Have you given me a tour of your mansion?” I matched him.

He laughed. “I haven’t given you a tour of my mansion. I’m sorry about that. But no, we don’t sleep in coffins. At least not our clan’s bloodline.”

“What do you mean by ’your clan’s bloodline?” He had mentioned that before in the car ride to the hospital.

“When God created the Adam and Eve, Satan and Lucifer had made a plan where they would create beings in their own likeness. That’s how the first vampires were created.”

“That isn’t written in the Bible-”

“It isn’t, but there were several books that didn’t make it in the Bible. Weren’t there?”

I looked at him confused.

“There were fourteen books which were removed from the Bible.” He informed me. “One of them is called The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Really?”

“Mhm Hmm. In that its mentioned how Lucifer and Satan devised a plan to poison The Garden of Eden with a more sinister kind of species- something human-like but way worse. Millions of vampire bats descended upon the unsuspecting humans who were asleep in the night.”

I gasped, horrified at this new knowledge. Why was this kept a secret from the faithful?

“Because the Holy Catholic Church doesn’t want you to know about this. There is a conspiracy theory claiming that below the Vatican’s library are some of the first vampires who are caged. They are being fed blood to this very day. They keep them there for experiments.”

What?! The faithful have been fed a lie all along. Then another thought crossed my mind, something I should have asked him earlier. “And how did you know what I was thinking?”

He gave me his most handsome smile. “Because when you kiss vampire, the vampire makes a temporary connection between minds. It’s like a mind-link. Your deepest, darkest secrets are now mine to share.” He quirked a teasing brow. “When I made love to you, I knew your sweet spots and I was able to pleasure you like you’ve never done before.”

My cheeks were hot. I looked away, unable to handle Kay’s teasing.

“Do you... um, do the same love-making what you did with me to the others?” I asked my gaze pinned to the hospital bed, drawing lines with my nail.

“Ruella Carron is jealous?” He said playfully nudging my side, making me cower in pain. Kay was quick to hold my hand, asking me if I was okay. I nodded quickly, biting my tongue to stop myself from wincing. “Well,” He began, “Most of my partners were only there for the wild sex and booze. Some of them were even in for a threesome and I was okay with it.” I paled at the word ‘threesome.’ “Very few were there because their boyfriends or girlfriends cheated on them and they were looking for a distraction. But you," He said, “You are an enigma, Ruella.”

I stopped fidgeting and looked at him, lost for words.

“When you asked me that day if I would be comfortable to sleep with you, I found you out of place.” He chuckled, making me smile along with him. “But then your innocent nature and the thought of you wanting to be naughty intrigued me. None of the people who visit here have the guts to do that. You are very brave... unique. I like that about you.”

He then took my hand in his hand and planted a soft kiss. “Just know that I won’t be the womanizer I used to be before. I am truly, deeply, captivated by you. And it’s not of how you look underneath your clothes. It’s your spirit... It’s how you treat people lower than you. I know you were kind to Remus, Ruella.” With that he captured my lips with his for a few seconds before pulling away to say. “None of my previous partners did that.”