Chapter 108

Pearly was just staring blankly after what happened. After Jaden Gabe carried her and laid her on the bed, he left without saying a word. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Lucille was looking at her as if she was mocking her for what had just happened. They were alone in the room, and she didn't know why Lucille followed her.

She just glared at her. "Look," the woman approached her. "It shouldn't have come from me, but from Jaden Gabe. He's your boyfriend, not me."

She didn't say anything. Somehow, Lucille had a point.

She wanted to ask her, but she might not take it seriously, so she decided not to. She could wait for the person who should tell her everything. That is, if that person would still talk to her. Or was Jaden Gabe even a person?

Pearly bit her lower lip. Where was that man? Why didn't he show up?

"I'm leaving," Lucille said.

"Where's Lander?" she asked. "Is he still not coming home?"

Lucille paused but didn't turn around. "I don't know..."

"Why did you two fight?"

"None of your business, mortal," she said and then left the room.

A long time passed without Jaden Gabe showing up. She couldn't even peek into the room. It was late at night when she heard the door open. In the corner of her eye, she saw a tall man entering.

The room was dark, with only one lampshade on, just beside Jaden Gabe's bed. The man stopped at the foot of the bed, as if contemplating whether to sit beside her or just leave again.

She couldn't bear it anymore. She knew she couldn't fool Jaden Gabe. Her pretending to sleep wouldn't work on him. She got up and turned on the lampshade on her side. There she saw Jaden Gabe, looking at her intently.

At the end of the bed stood Jaden Gabe. He was wearing a slightly wrinkled blue polo shirt, untucked, with the sleeves folded at the elbows, and ripped denim jeans on his long legs. That's what he wore the day before. He was barefoot, his hair was messy, and he wasn't wearing his signature watch.

Pearly swallowed, her eyes suddenly burning. From where she was, she could smell his men's cologne mixed with the scent of expensive alcohol. She wanted to rush into his arms and kiss him, but something was holding her back.

"You're still awake," he said. His eyes were bright and wide, and she could see the slight redness at the tip of his nose and his smooth cheeks from the light of the lampshade.

"Did you drink?" she confronted him softly.

He didn't answer. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bed, far from her.

"Why aren't you coming near me?" Pearly asked, her heart aching.

Jaden Gabe looked down as if embarrassed. "You... you hate me."

His answer made her tremble. "So that's it?"

He looked at her in surprise.

"I'm angry with you, so you won't come near me?" Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Pearly..."

"Shut up!" she snapped. "You know what? Shut up!"

She wanted him to hold her, to explain everything to her, to hug her, to kiss her on the forehead, to calm her down. She wanted to hear from him that everything would be okay, that she had nothing to worry about. That's what she wanted, but he was withholding it from her. She was furious with him.

"You're not normal, Jaden Gabe," she said sadly. "I've known this for a long time. I just pretended not to know. I turned a blind eye, played dumb."

He looked down as if accepting what she was saying.

"I know, Jaden Gabe. I've known all along! I knew that your family is not normal! I'm not that stupid not to notice that you're different. That you're not normal. Because who's normal and doesn't age? Who's normal and doesn't change their appearance as time goes by? And who's normal and has abilities like yours? There's no such normal!" She sobbed into her hands. "And... and there's definitely no normal person who loves but can't trust the person they love. Unless they don't really love them!"

"Pearly..."

"Talk to me when you've figured out for yourself what I really am to you." She pulled the blanket over herself and turned away. She felt terrible.

***

"Talk to me when you've figured out for yourself what I really am to you." She pulled the blanket over herself and turned away. She felt terrible.

"J-Jaden Gabe!" She was startled awake. She had fallen asleep crying earlier.

"I can't rest..." he said hesitantly. "Because I know you're angry with me."

She sat up and looked at him. "W-where did you come from? Why are you wet?"

In the light from the lampshade, she saw his wet hair. When she touched his shoulder, she felt that his polo shirt was also wet.

"It's raining outside."

Her eyes widened. "And you went out in the rain?!"

"You didn't want me here, so I went out..." he said like a child.

"Jaden Gabe, no! I didn't tell you to go out and get rained on! What if you get sick!" She was annoyed, but she was still worried. She couldn't help but worry about Jaden Gabe.

He chuckled. "I won't get sick."

"Jaden Gabe..."

"Maybe if you left me out in the sun for a long time, that might kill me. But the rain?" He shook his head. "Even if you left me in a flood for a year, I wouldn't die."

She shuddered. She was chilled by what he said.

"Do you see me differently now, Pearly?" he asked, looking at her intently.

She couldn't speak. Her tongue was tied. Had her feelings for Jaden Gabe changed?

He looked down sadly. It seemed like something was squeezing her heart as she saw him in pain.

"This is the real me, mi Zara..." he took her hand and brought it to his lips. "I didn't want this... I didn't want to be like this... but I'm grateful for this curse now, because it led me to

you and I got to know you." He looked at her with sad, green eyes. "But it's hard for me to think that I'm hurting you now because of the truth I've been avoiding telling you..."

"J-Jaden Gabe..."

"I understand if your love for me has diminished or disappeared."

She shook her head. She was crying now too.

"Please..." he tightened his grip on her hand. "Don't cry... I'm sorry..."

"It's your fault..." she sobbed. "Tell me, what are you really? Why are you like this? Why are you all like this? Trust me, please..."

"I trust you, Pearly..."

"Then tell me the truth..."

"We are a type of vampire." He looked away. "Different from Lucille. She's a recruited vampire, she needs blood to survive."

"And you and your siblings?" Her heart was pounding. She was about to find out everything about the man she loved.

"We are vampires without a specific identity. We are the result of a curse. We came from Helios, a mortal who was cursed to become a vampire, and from the mortal Euria, who also became a vampire after giving birth to us. And from Euria's blood, we can create recruited vampires, the origin of our family's vampirism, and the former mortals like Lucille."

Vampires? She wasn't alarmed. The important thing was that Jaden Gabe wasn't like other vampires, he didn't live on blood. Now she understood what she saw when Lander was trying to make Lucille drink the wine that looked like blood. It really was blood. That's why Lucille didn't eat. She only cooked, but she rarely ate.

"If that's the case, you won't age..." she felt sad at the thought of Jaden Gabe looking like this forever, while she would grow old and time would pass.

He nodded slowly.

"When the day comes that my hair turns white, my skin wrinkles, and I can't stand up straight anymore... will you still love me?"

He looked at her in surprise.

His previously dull eyes now had a different sparkle. And his grip on her hand tightened even more. "You mean?" Jaden Gabe asked her without taking a breath. "Do you still love me despite what you've learned about me? Aren't you disgusted or afraid of me?"

Pearly laughed through her tears. "You answer my question. Is there anything disgusting or scary about this handsome man?" She pinched his cheek. "Huh? Is there, Immortal?"

"Oh, Pearly..." his eyes were teary, but Jaden Gabe was smiling. "I will love you until the end of time."

"Promise?"

"Even if I die." He added with a big smile.

She hugged him, and Jaden Gabe's response was even tighter. They would worry about tomorrow later, because what mattered most was the present.

"I love you, Pearly Escalante-Vaughn."

She returned his kiss. She missed him so much. And she felt from Jaden Gabe's kiss that he missed her even more!