Chapter 99: What Are You Saying…

***Selene***.

I stare at Raoul, blinking. 

“His…His dad separated him from his mum, when he was only six?” I echo.

He nods sadly.

“I never knew.” I whisper. 

Raoul shrugs, casually. “He never speaks about it. I found out the night he heard his dad died from liver cirrhosis. Albert was so drunk; drowned his sorrow in alcohol, spewing all that out.”

“But Albert doesn’t get drunk.” I remind Raoul, recalling the night he drank just a little during our first night in Amsterdam. 

Raoul chuckles, dryly. “That was the last time he drank. His father’s death from years of alcohol over dose, made him stop.” Raoul reveals. 

I nod in understanding, everything coming to light. 

“His father was drunk for power and fame. He never loved his son and only God knows why. But Albert carried that pain all his life. Especially when his mother died, after his father separated them.” Raoul quietly explains.

“Was there a reason he did that to them? Did he ever explain?” I ask, baffled.

“No.” Raoul shakes his head. “Only thing Albert added that night was that the separation broke his mother. She died from a self-inflicted hunger strike.” 

I sigh heavily. Tears brimming my eyes from the pain I feel, finally understanding his pain.

“He isn’t a bad guy.” Raoul urges. 

“But a vampire?” I press. “He said he marked me; drank my blood.”

Raoul chuckles dryly. “It’s his nature. Do you know what I can do?” He asks, looking profoundly into my eyes.

I frown, my mind already working. 

“Are you a vampire as well?” I ask, suspiciously.

He hitches his breath for a second, before he exhales heavily. 

“We are super soldiers recruited by Albert. After his father’s death, when he was 25, he rebranded his father’s private security company into an elite base for super soldiers. Soldiers who can brace the most perilous situations. Alia was one of us. But she betrayed us, because she was obsessed with him…”

“You knew she was obsessed?” I ask, amidst this confession from Raoul about Alia.

He nods. 

“I smelled it from the day she came in.” He pauses for a while, his countenance, thoughtful.

The silence grows heavy, hearing my own riotous thoughts. 

“Go to him Selene. He needs his wife.” Raoul finally speaks.

He smiles, before he leaves me alone on the balcony. 

The chill in the air grows stronger and my mind is clear, my heart no longer filled with heaviness as I accept these truths. Most women aren't given the opportunity for truth. Most men aren’t either. They just keep walking blindly in a relationship, until things destroy.

But tonight, am given a chance to make my choice. Not just for Isabel, who I have been making this decision alone for at first. Now, I have to make a decision for me. 

I inhale shakily. The night air stinging me.

*** 

***Albert***.

I tuned Selene out hours ago. It’s past 1 am and I’m sure she’s either gone to sleep in another room or she’s taken a cab to the airport. Faye came for Isabel, two hours ago. 

I laugh bitterly, realizing she left me. I’m happy she did. Because for the first time I allowed a woman make her choice in this. I allowed her know my truth and allowed her decide.

I didn’t have to hypnotize her. She saw the raw me.

I struggle to my feet. The effects of those damned silver bullets already wearing off.

I have never been hit with silver bullets, since I became this creature. I only know that I can’t bear it. That’s the reason I had our wedding rings cloaked with white gold, void of any pure silver. 

The wrenching pain I felt when the bullet tore through me still lingers. A burning sensation that crippled me from inside. I can’t even begin to explain. I suddenly felt like I was consumed by flames.

I reach the tap and fill the jug of water, with a lot of difficulty. I need to get myself on track, so I can hunt down Alia and that pirate. I already have Raoul on it.

When I finally reach the bed, I drop heavily on it, breathless. I fill my glass with some water. I gulp it all down. My throat regaining its usual ease.

“Why didn’t you mind link me to come help you?” 

I turn to the familiar voice with a start. I can’t hide the shock and pleasure at seeing her here with me. This means our daughter is here too. This means: I don’t know what this means. 

Am staring at her as she closes the space between us, searching her eyes. She raises a brow and I realize she is waiting for me.

“I…I tuned you out.” I muster a tentative smile. 

“You can do that?” She asks, disbelievingly.

I nod quietly. She draws closer, taking the cup and jug from me.

She drops them on the table and sits next to me. 

We are silent for a few seconds and I’m restraining myself from hearing her thoughts. 

“Can you read everyone’s thoughts?” She asks, mischievously.

I turn at the playful way she asked it. She’s like a playful, little girl curious about climbing a high ladder. 

“No. Just yours, because you are my marked one.” I reveal.

She nods, staring.

“Let’s sleep. I’ve had an eventful day. One which I’m sure any woman must be a super woman to be able to take it in at once. And I want to believe I’m that super woman; married to a vampire, my daughter being a pure one.” I hear the tease in her voice.

I smile at it. Shocked that she is teasing us about this. 

“What are you saying?” I ask, because am too daft to understand her.

Because I want to hear her say this. Because for once, my heart beats fast for a woman. 

“I guess what am trying to say is; am staying.”