Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Rakiza's face was touched by the cold wind as she walked around the back of de Leon's mansion. She was concerned about Theo, but she wasn't sure why. It's just that she felt safe thinking he was just watching her. But Theo's sudden disappearance irritated her. "He said he'd stay here for me, but where is he now?"
"Who are you looking for?" asked Nokilas, who stood behind Rakiza. Nikolas' expression was concerned. "Are you looking for someone in this place?"
Something in Rakiza's conscience told her not to tell Nikolas about Theo's presence. Rakiza said with a smile, "I was looking for some visitors who had not been acknowledged by Muriel's mother, Nikolas."
Nikolas gazed up at the stars in the sky. "What a lovely creation."
Rakiza smiled, "Yeah, but I bet you still like to walk around in the sun." But then she felt embarrassed by her inappropriate remarks. It was late when she realized that having a rare illness that involved sunlight was such a sensitive issue in Nikolas' life. But she couldn't get it back to her mouth. It had already been spitted out, and she was waiting for Nikolas' retort.
Instead of becoming enraged, Nikolas smiled and said, "You're right, how I wish I could see the sunlight freely at daylight, but the cure for this skin disease of mine hasn't been discovered yet, or maybe it's just lying in the dark, waiting for you to discover it."
"How did it go for you?" Rakiza asked, smiling.
"Well, anything can happen under the moon, "Nikolas said with a smile, "And who knows, maybe you're the chosen one to find the cure."
"So, you are certain of the cure?" Rakiza inquired, "I mean, there is a cure for that sickness, right? Every disease has a cure. "
"Not all have cures," Nikolas softly stated. And his eyes were sparked by the starlight and the lamppost lights together, creating a beautiful effect on Nikolas' dark eyes.
"But there is still hope for everything, including the cure of your sickness," Rakiza said, hoping that her words would ease Nikolas' pain.
"You are an angel to me, Rakiza," Nikolas exclaimed.
Rakiza was flabbergasted by Nikolas's eyes. Rakiza hadn't expected such gratitude from him, and the tone of his voice was so genuine that it touched Rakiza's heart. "I'm not an angel. I'm just a friend offering some advice to alleviate your suffering."
Nikolas moved closer to Rakiza and took her hand in his. Rakiza let Nikolas tighten his grip, as if he was afraid of losing her. Then Nikolas locked his gaze on hers and whispered, "You are mine, Rakiza, only mine."
Rakiza's emotions erupted into a new level of excitement. Her heart pounded quickly, as if she'd been sucked into a place by an elixir that brought her joy. And she felt trapped with Nikolas. But there was this little voice in the back of her mind yelling the name Theo, Don't forget about your guardian. Look for Theo. Rakiza drew her hands from Nikolas.
Nikolas frowned and asked. "What happened? Am I offending you? "
"No, it was just this funny feeling I have right now." Rakiza smiled anxiously.
Nikolas stared at her with questioning eyes and said, "You’re hiding something from me, right?"
"I’m sorry, but sometimes it’s not proper for a woman to accept right away what a man is offering. We should think it over and over again before deciding to say yes. " She was stammering when she reasoned it out. And she was wondering why she had these mixed up emotions. It wasn’t her anymore; she felt she was caught in the middle of two men from different worlds.
Nikolas enquired with a frown. "Can you tell me what happened, and am I offending you?"
"No, it is just this strange feeling I'm having right now," Rakiza said, anxiously smiling.
"You're hiding something from me, right?" Nikolas asked his eyes wide with curiosity.
"I'm sorry, but sometimes it's not appropriate for a woman to accept what a man is offering right away; we should think it over and over before deciding to say yes," she stammered as she reasoned. And she was perplexed as to why she was experiencing such conflicting emotions. It wasn't her anymore; she felt caught between two men from different worlds.
Rakiza was tormented by the loneliness in Nikolas' eyes, and she couldn't help but pity him. She wanted to cry and hug him at the same time.
Rakiza, moved by Nikolas's lack of pride, said, "I know, the toughest man on the outside has the weakest heart."
Nikolas took a step closer to Rakiza, softly touching her jaw and allowing her to look into his eyes. "I already marked you, Rakiza; you are already mine," he said, his gorgeous dark eyes tormenting her. She was on the verge of quitting.
But there was a thud and a hit on the column near Rakiza and Nikolas, and it was a spear that pierced deep into the wooden column. Someone should toss it at them. Rakiza was quickly led inside the house by Nikolas. "Come inside; some cretins were plotting to derail our peaceful conversation."
Rakiza was concerned about Nikolas' reaction. He didn't shake, but he was clearly angry and drew Rakiza inside and said, "Stay inside; I'll look into where that spear came from and who threw it in our direction." Rakiza's shock rendered her immobile. She wanted to pursue Nikolas, but she couldn't move. What's the matter with me? She pondered. "I can't move," she said quietly.
He looked into the dark woods and saw the trees shuffled, just as she and Theo had seen the trees waving one night in the abandoned plaza, and now it was repeated as she heard a man's growling and glottal screaming, but it wasn't really a man. She shook as she watched the trees and shadows squabble. What she didn't realize was that Theo, the werewolf, had fought Nikolas, the vampire.
After hearing that someone was in the woods, people gathered outside the house for a few moments. Chin and Susan were among them.
Chin inquired, "What happened here, Rakiza?"
Rakiza's body was still trembling. "Nikolas went into the woods, and... there was this thudding on the ground and growling, as if animals were fighting inside the woods."
"Have you drunk?" Susan inquired.
"I don't drink, Susan, and you know that. I was telling you the truth. I heard there was fighting there in the woods, "Rakiza stated emphatically.
"Who were they fighting?" Mrs. de Leon inquired, and Rakiza began to tell her what she saw after she and Nikolas were thrown with a spear.
"That spear was thrown at us," she said, pointing to the column.
Mrs. de Leon drew the spear and looked at it, then asked Rakiza what had happened. Rakiza rewound the story to the point where the spear became stuck on the column. And she decided to enlist the assistance of her male companions, assigning them the task of tracking down the men who were fighting. And, to their surprise, the woods remained motionless, as if nothing had happened.
But by the time Mrs. de Leon joined the observant group of visitors, the chaos had vanished. And the forest was silent and still, as if nothing had happened, and she inquired, "So, what is it in the woods that have you riled up? It appears to me that the woods are peaceful and silent," de Leon inquired.
Rakiza didn't want to draw all the attention to her, so she made up a story and began to speak, "We were just talking here, Nikolas and I, and maybe some drunken bastard got envious of our closeness, which is why he threw us with that spear. And obviously, the doer was a hunter because the spear was perfectly stuck on the column." And then she asked for permission to leave because she needed to go to the comfort room for a call of nature. Rakiza drew a deep breath inside the comfort room, worried about Nikolas and Theo, because she didn't know where Theo was.
After a few minutes of chit-chat, everyone returned to their respective places and topics, until the visitors began to say their goodbyes to Mrs. de Leon one by one. Rakiza walked away from Muriel's coffin. She was still processing what Nikolas had said earlier. She pondered what had happened to Nikolas. Is he courting her but she isn't aware of it? Rakiza was sometimes insensitive to other people's feelings as a result of her own life struggles. She sat silently on the bench, a few steps away from Muriel's coffin, feeling a little tired.
She nodded off for a moment and began dreaming of Nikolas returning. In her dream, Nikolas returned the red beryl ring of Maruja to her. She wanted to refuse the duty of guarding the ring, but Nikolas left her and never listened to her cries. Then a monster appeared with two long, sharp fangs and bit her in the neck. Then she awoke, startled. She was the only one in the room, and Muriel's coffin was in front of her. What happened to them? She was convinced she was still in her nightmare. But then Chin came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of two cups of coffee.
Chin greeted Rakiza with a smile and handed her the second cup of coffee. "Here, take it for yourself."
Rakiza was taken aback when she realized she wasn't dreaming. "I appreciate it."
"Are you having another nightmare, Rakiza?" Chin inquired, concerned. "You appeared pale; perhaps we should go home by dawn to rest; we need to reenergize ourselves."
But Rakiza was stunned as she watched her finger. Her eyes widened with surprise. The red beryl ring was once again on her finger. "How could this have happened?"
"What are you saying?" Chin frowned and examined Rakiza's ring. "The ring has returned to your finger."
Rakiza stood up and requested that Chin slap her on the cheek.
"What is going on with you, Rakiza?"
Rakiza screamed, "Hit me, Chin!" A hard slap landed on Rakiza's face. Rakiza's face was taken aback by what Chin did.
"What's going on here? Why are you both screaming? Are you fighting? " Susan barged in.
"Is this a dream, Susan? Please answer me. Am I dreaming?" Rakiza abruptly stood up.
"Of course not," Susan replied, "you're getting crazier, Raki."
"You scared the hell out of me, Rakiza!" Chin exclaimed.
"Oh, Chin, I'm sorry; it's just that I haven't been feeling very normal lately, and you know that; please excuse me, and allow me to wake up."
"You're awake, Rakiza!" both Chin and Susan exclaimed.
Rakiza was astonished by the yelled at her best friends, and she tried to remove the red beryl ring from her finger, but it fit so tightly that it wouldn't turn a millimeter.
"Rakiza? Are you okay? Why are you attempting to remove that ring? It fit perfectly on your finger and looked stunning on you," Chin inquired.
"But I need this out of my finger," Rakiza continued, "Please assist me in pulling this out."
Chin couldn't understand why Rakiza was afraid of the ring. "All right, let me assist you, but first we need to go to the restroom and wash your finger with soap so the ring will just slide off your finger," she suggested.
However, the ring could not be removed from Rakiza until she surrendered. "Enough, Chin, this isn't going to work; perhaps I should accept and keep it."
"That would be the most logical idea," Chin said with a smile, adding, "To keep that ring is to keep your friendship with Nikolas, and it is a nice thing for a giver to accept and safely keep the gift that they have given." Let's go, let's get some sleep. "
Rakiza struggled to remove the red beryl ring until dawn, when she decided to look inside Muriel's coffin once more. Chin sat on the empty bench and stretched her legs.
Rakiza walked slowly towards the coffin, peering inside at her friend, and then she realized Muriel was staring at her, eyes widened.