chapter 79

ELI.

I didn't know how I did it, but I was still alive. After everything that I went through, from looking for David and Ariella to facing David again, I thought that I had finally run out of luck. But I still managed to evade death.

I was currently in an icy lake and I was floating as I rested my body because I was too tired from swimming. I was still far away from land and to be honest, giving up had already crossed my mind a lot of times while I was here. But every time that I think of Ariella and how scared she must be now, I just can't do it. I just can't abandon her. So here I am, trying to rest as I float in the water hoping that I would drift to the shore while I recall everything important that happened in the last few days.

When that vampire kid, Lawrence, told me where he sent Ariella and David during the war at New Forks, I did everything to get to them as fast as I could. But it's not like the place where they went was an hour away. Traveling by foot or vehicle to that place would take weeks. Even months. So I had to plan my next move wisely.

I decided to stick with Lawrence and try to convince him to send me to where Ariella was, but he wouldn't listen to me. I even lost my patience with him twice because of how hard-headed the boy was. When the battle was finally over, only the boy survived on their side, plus Blaire, whom I don't count as an enemy so we actually won the war. I got excited as I realized that if we managed to defeat David, then this stupid war would finally be over.

But things didn't go as planned. I wanted to take Lawrence in for the time being, but Blaire took him from me and claimed that they were leaving New Forks for good. Having no way of getting to Ariella as fast as I wanted, I just headed to the nearest airport. Blaire told me that the castle where David put Ariella was in Alaska, so traveling on foot would be impossible. I mean, I could probably do it in my wolf form, but that would still take weeks.

"Be careful there, Eli. That castle is cursed. No matter what happens, don't go inside that place because you'll never be able to get out again. We're headed to that area too, so meet us there in three days. We'll be in a town called Tree Lake. We will show you how to get to that castle as it is hidden between mountains."

That was our agreement. But unbeknownst to us, as we traveled to Alaska separately, David actually went back to New Forks to kill me. I only knew this because Emma told me using her ability to project her voice. She specifically told me that David was alone and she didn't see Ariella with him so I was sure that she was kept in that cursed castle. I told Emma that this was favorable to me since I could rescue Ariella safely if David was not there with her. Emma and the others just needed to hide for a while because I was sure that David would look for them because of me.

When I finally arrived in Alaska, I went straight to the town Blaire mentioned. But I found out that the place was so big that I couldn't find them. It took me two days to find them and when I did, I was surprised to find out that David was already there with them. He was determined to kill both Blaire and his younger brother whom he repeatedly called traitors so I stepped in and fought him. The two escaped but I told them to fetch Ariella in case I lost to David.

And as expected, David and I were unmatched. He was definitely stronger than me, so he easily defeated me. We were fighting on the edge of a tall cliff beside a lake and I took my chance and jumped to the water after he wounded me fatally on my back. And now, I was floating like driftwood in the lake, saving my remaining energy. I kept saying to myself that I couldn't die yet, not until I found Ariella and made sure that she was okay. I had to go to Ariella before David, even if right now that was already impossible because David might already be there.

And then I suddenly felt an excruciating pain in my chest, and my wolf started howling sadly and that scared me.

What was happening? Is Ariella okay?

Fearing that she might be in mortal peril this time, I braved the waters and swam again despite my weakened condition. I was near the shore when my body gave up and I just sank into the water.

***

When I woke up, I saw that my body was already bandaged. I also feel lighter and the pain from my wounds got lesser. I saw that I was inside a building or facility. I was lying on the floor with some carton boxes as my makeshift bed. And people were lying beside me. I couldn't make their faces out because it was still dark, but I immediately recognized one of them because of their scent.

"Ariella? Is that you?"

The light went on as soon as I spoke but I got speechless as soon as I saw my mate, standing by the light switch. She was looking at me teary-eyed too. I dashed to her and embraced her. Then I kissed her on her forehead. "You're finally awake, Eli! Thank you!"

"It's really you!" I said breathlessly. "I'm not imagining you, am I?"

She shook her head. "No, you're not. I'm really here. And you are here too."

"What happened to you? Blaire told me that you got locked up in a cursed castle. How did you get out? And how did you find me? I was in the water..."

"We found you unconscious in the lake," said Blaire who was on the floor too. Beside her was Lawrence, sleeping. "We came back to where you were fighting David after we got out of that castle. You were lucky that we were just in time. Had we arrived later than we did, you could've drowned."

"I see. So my wounds healed a little faster because you were here with me," I told Ariella. She was still crying and it worried me that something bad must have happened. "What's the matter, Ariella?"

She was about to answer when the door to our left opened. A man came in and I almost lost it when I saw that it was David who came in with a water bottle in his hand. "Oh, is he alright now?" he asked us but anger got the best of me.

"YOU!" I shouted and then charged at him, but Ariella immediately stopped me by shielding David from me with her body.

"No, Eli! He's not David! He's Darius, his twin brother!"

"What?" I stopped midway and almost fell to the floor from the shock. "Did you just say that this isn't David?"

Ariella nodded. The man that she called Darius also raised both his hands up in the air as a form of surrender. "I am not your enemy," said the man who looked exactly like David.

"Even if that's true, you are still a vampire!" I yelled at him.

"And? Got a problem with that? If you want to kill vampires then maybe start with Ariella herself because she's one of us now too." He gave me a mean look as I stared at Ariella. She was crying harder than ever, then apologized to me with her eyes.

"No..." I mouthed.