Chapter 28 Chapter 28
The maiden gasped at what her father said.
"Please, Papa, don't talk like that. We will get through this. All we need to do is fight Morgana."
"You're the most precious in our life, Aurora. Rest now, and we'll talk again tomorrow."
"Okay, Papa."
Only when her father turned away did the maiden close the door and was about to lie down when she remembered something. She ran to open the door, but Gray stood before her, his white clothes still stained with blood.
"What happened—What the h-he—" She couldn't finish her sentence as she fainted.
When Aurora woke up the next day, her kinsmen were in a commotion.
"What happened?" she asked a woman who was running out of the hut she was in.
"Many of our young people went missing last night, Aurora." Terror was visible on the face of the woman she was speaking to.
"Missing? Did they leave or were they taken?" she asked the woman, confused.
The woman shook her head. With a voice of horror, she said, "A vampire killed the young people, Aurora."
Aurora didn't have a chance to ask again because the woman immediately turned her back on her. She also didn't know if it was just her imagination or if the woman's glare at her was truly sharp.
To answer the questions in her mind, she went outside, and there she was confronted with an unexpected sight.
"Oh, God!" she said, because even if she closed her eyes, the events around her were etched in her mind.
The young wolf cubs, victims of some creature, were being carried by their weeping parents. The parents who lost their children were lined up, heading to the Lubanganang Bato to burn the deceased and scatter their ashes there.
"Aurora!" It was fortunate that Fiel immediately came to her aid, otherwise, she would have collapsed from weakness due to what she saw.
"What's happening, Fiel?" she asked her lover, crying.
"As you can see, someone killed the young people last night. They are your kinsmen whose abilities have not yet fully manifested."
"Why is this happening, Fiel?"
"I don't know either, Love. And..."
"What is it, Fiel?"
"N-nothing."
"Fiel, what is it?"
"They—" It seemed difficult for the young man to tell her the truth.
What is really happening?
"Fiel, you need to tell me, what is it?"
"They are suspecting us, Aurora." Fiel looked away so their eyes wouldn't meet. What the young man said indicated they were facing a big problem. "The young Lycans died due to blood loss from their bodies. Fang marks are visible on their bodies, Love."
She covered her face with her palms because she knew what would become of the vampires they brought here.
"Don't drag him!" From crying, her attention turned to the shout.
"Leora!" she called her friend, who was angry because the wolf soldiers were dragging Gray.
She ran towards her friend but her attention was caught by her real father being attended to by their kinsmen. Instead of going to Leora, she went to her father.
"Papa!" She immediately went to him and held her father by the shoulder. "What happened to you?"
"Your friend attacked me last night, Aurora. As I was heading into my hut, I heard a scream from the eastern side where the young people's dwelling was. There, I saw two of your lover's friends attacking the young people. I tried to fight back, but they were strong, and my strength and power hadn't fully returned yet, Aurora!"
"You fcking son of a btch! You're lying!" Aurora's eyes widened as she looked at Leron. He was the one who cursed her father. "I'm sorry, Aurora, but believe me, that fcking bstard is lying! And we don't know his reason! Most likely, we will be suspected because we are the newcomers in your territory, and it also happens that we are enemies of the race you came from."
"Papa?" She looked at her father. She didn't know whose side to take. Her current situation was new to her because she was caught between two clashing big rocks.
"I have no reason to lie, my child. Believe me."
Reluctantly, she admitted that she believed her father more than Fiel's friends. Her father had no reason to lie and paint the vampires in a bad light, especially since her father was also of vampire origin.
"Y-you were in my room l-last night, Gray..." Aurora said softly, but she knew her words reached every wolf because they stopped walking, waiting for her next statement. "Y-you attacked me, Gray... I don't remember what happened next because I fainted."
"Aurora..." Leora said to her in disbelief. "He was with me last night, Aurora!"
"I also saw, Leora, that your boyfriend attacked Ate Aurora. I was there at that time to give her this necklace!" Nexus even showed the necklace he was holding to everyone. "Sapiro sent this to you, Maiden." Nexus handed her the necklace, and she unconsciously took it.
"Take them to Alabaskar!" Everyone's attention turned to Yfraim, who suddenly appeared from nowhere.
"No, Yfraim! You know they'll die if they stay there too long!" Leora protested.
Alabaskar is equivalent to a dungeon in a palace. But that prison was deliberately designed for vampires like Fiel. With each passing day that any vampire is imprisoned in that place, the magic within the prison drains the vampire's strength and abilities. Their lifespan depends on their level of vampirism.
"A-aurora..."
"F-fiel... I'm sorry..." She turned away from the young man and hurried to her room. The maiden didn't know why she so quickly decided to turn her back on those she had been with for several weeks. They treated her like a vulnerable crystal, but here she was now, turning her back on them and condemning them herself.
"Aurora!!!" Fiel's last cry before she closed the room door.
"AURORA..." She weakly looked at her daddy. Three days had passed since the horrific incident in the mountain, the home of her race.
"Daddy..."
"Shhh... That's enough, my child. There, there." Her father hugged her tightly. In the arms of her recognized father, she felt peace.
"I don't know what I did, Daddy. It's a big sin because I feel like I'm the reason why Fiel and... and..." She couldn't continue what she was saying because that thought was painful for her. "And I will be the cause of their death, Daddy..." She cried and cried in her daddy's arms. "I don't know why I said those things. I don't know what I'll do if the four of them are gone and I'm the reason for it."
"What do you believe?" her daddy asked.
"Daddy..."
"Because if you ask me? I know they are innocent, my child. Even if I haven't been with them as long as you have, I know they are good people, my child. Listen to your heart because it will not lead you astray. Have you forgotten what your mother's best line was?"
"The eyes will be deceived but not your heart especially when you combine intelligence with every decision..." I answered.
Mommy...
I've made up my mind.