Chapter 22 — The Beast’s Secret

(Natasha)

“CAN I sit beside you?”

My eyes widened when I was greeted by the Night King’s smiling face when I looked up. I glanced around to make sure that he really was talking to me. But all the Vampires were miles away.

After a while, Silas laughed as if he read what was going through my mind. “You are cute, you know. Rest assured that it’s you I am talking to right now, Natasha.”

My cheeks flushed. “Then, please, sit wherever you want, Your Majesty.” This is your property after all.

“Thank you,” Silas said before sitting on the space beside me. I didn’t picture someone as mighty and as elegant as him to be the kind to sit beside ordinary humans. There was no person in the world who didn’t know Silas Sinclair. He was listed as the wealthiest man on Forbes magazine. He had businesses in different countries. And just like Cain, he looked like he was only in his early thirties.

He stared at the sandcastle I'd made before smiling. “From where I was a while ago, I saw that the waves had reached your castle many times but it did not shatter. Do you know why?”

“Because I built a rather strong castle?” Deep inside, I was wondering about that, too. I left it for a few hours earlier. But when I came back to the shore, the sand castle was still there in one piece.

Silas chuckled. “At times like this, I’m glad that despite what happened; you can still be as innocent as you look, Natasha. Unfortunately, no matter how strong your castle is, if it’s made of sand, it’s bound to break. The only reason why it’s still standing mightily is because there’s this man who made sure that whatever you create cannot be destroyed. And it’s not just the sand castle. I know that in the future, he will keep protecting everything about you.”

“So, Cain was the reason.” I softly smiled. I never thought that Cain would waste his magic on something as trivial as this. He kept my castle safe while I wasn’t around.

Cain brought me in this beach party to celebrate Marker’s first year anniversary. Aside from some human employees, the party was basically consisted of both Wolves and Vampires.

Cain was currently busy chatting with his employees that’s why I was left here which was by choice anyway. He would have wanted me there, too, but I chose to be here to watch the waves. It had been so long since I went to the beach and I wanted to make the most out of it by enjoying the lovely view.

But before Cain left, I told him that Kurt and I used to make sandcastles when we were kids. Kurt used to cry whenever his castles would be torn apart by the waves, that’s why when I was younger, I wished to have a superpower so I could protect his castle. I’m older now and still didn’t have superpowers but I had someone who could do it for me. Cain had fulfilled my childish dream…

“Do you know that whenever I see the younger generation, I would think about how fortunate they are?” Silas asked while looking at the human employees who were now busy drinking and celebrating.

“When Cain and I were kids, we had it pretty rough. The life in Northern Europe where we were born used to be cruel for little children. Before, once a child reaches nine, regardless of their gender, their parents would send them away to live and work as servants or apprentices in someone else’s home. The children were required to stay for seven years in a certain household.”

“That… was such a cruel system,” I said, still surprised. “What year was that?”

“Oh. That was in fifteen hundred.”

I gasped. “I… I see. Can you keep going, Your Majesty? I would like to hear some more.”

“Only if you will call me by my name. Come on. Only you and I are here. No need to be so formal.”

“All right, Silas. Please tell me more.”

He grinned. “That’s better. Let’s just say that at that time, children were a useful source of cheap labor for their masters. That system benefited the poor families more. That way, parents would have one less mouth to feed. It just so happened that Cain and I came from poor families. Both of us were runaways. That was how we met. We were abused by our masters. Cain’s master used to beat him up every day while my master used to lock me up in a basement without feeding me. So, when both of us had a chance, we escaped. We met on a street, exchanged stories, and hit it off as friends. At that time, we could not return to our families because we were afraid that they would send us back to our masters since they had an agreement. So, we slept on the streets for weeks until a bubbly old man found us one day. It was Desmond. He was like a second father to us.”

Cain never told me about his personal life that’s why there were so many things I wanted to find out. But the sadness in Silas’s eyes made me hesitant to hear more.

“Desmond was the only adult who truly cherished us. Our only job was to help a little in the tavern and to serve the dishes once in a while. He gave us food and shelter. He was not that rich but he was a philanthropist. When he took us to his house, we discovered that we were not the only ones he adopted. There were already seven kids there. He did not have a family of his own that’s why he treated us like his own children.” Silas smiled. “All of us worked hard until he bought us from our masters so he could take us in legally. The other kids were nice, too. We treated each other as siblings. We were like a big family in that house. They were the people Cain and I could never forget because we were loved by that family unlike in our own families who never even tried to find us or to know what happened to us. Remembering Desmond and the others brings us both happiness and pain until this very day.”

My forehead creased. “Pain?”

“Yes. Pain. And it all began because of one wretched woman who tried so desperately to involve herself with Cain. He politely refused her because he had always wanted to become a priest. Believe it or not but Cain was the most warm-hearted person I have ever met. In our house, he was like an angel to us who would remind us to pray at night and in the morning, too. He worked extra hard in the tavern so he could save money to enter the monastery. And he was able to do it. He was about to reach his dreams until he met Sabra, a woman with loose screws. She was a possessive Mage who insisted that Cain looked like her dead husband. She linked his life with hers so he would not die.”

My eyes widened. “What happened next?”

Anger was visible in Silas’ eyes when he spoke. “Sabra turned Cain into the man he was now. She was the reason why he fell from grace, why he became addicted to sex. She casted a spell on him which forced him to leave the monastery. But he rebelled against her and tried to have sex with different women which resulted to a catastrophe. She threw a fit and burned Desmond’s house. It happened during night time when everybody in the house was asleep. She burned his other friends, too. I was lucky to be alive because I was away at that time for work. In a blink of an eye, only Cain and I were left again. Desmond, our siblings, and all the people that mattered to us all died the tragic way.”

My eyes suddenly welled up. I never imagined that Cain had went through something like that. I couldn’t begin to grasp how painful that was for him.

“That was the time when Cain finally flipped. He turned his back from Sabra and swore to avenge our family’s death so when an opportunity came, he grabbed it. I grabbed it, too, thinking that I could help him.” Silas laughed but it sounded bitter in my ears. “But because we were young, we were fooled. There were people who approached us and pretended to be doctors. They said they would help us change our lives for the better if we agree to help them, too, in their research. They said they know some Mages and so we agreed. We were that pathetic.”

Silas was quiet for a while. When I glanced at him, I saw him clenched his jaw.

“It turned out that they were creating a medicine that would transform people into Vampires. Those so-called doctors colluded with the Mages to do it. There were many of us who became a part of their experiment. There were hundreds of us. That medicine… turned us into beings who could only feed on human blood. That was how we became Vampires.” Silas shrugged. “And that was also another trial someone as kind as Cain had to endure. Everything magnifies when a person becomes a Vampire. And because he was still bonded with Sabra at that time, the spell magnified when he became a Vampire. His desire to feed on women every night grew more intense. He could feed on human blood but it was sex that could only satisfy his body.”

I gulped. Oh, God…

“Those doctors forced us to become their slaves. They used the Mages’ magic to control the Vampires. Once again, Cain and I escaped when we had the chance. We worked to become stronger. We did all we could to survive in our new state. I fed on blood and he fed on women. He became obsessed with the dark arts because he was still focused on his revenge until he succeeded after so many years. He was the first to become a Vampire-Mage hybrid. He got stronger than Sabra. He cut his bond with her, absorbed her magic, and took her life with his own hands. I fed on her, too, as my way of avenging. I sucked her dry. Cain did not stop there. He took justice in his own hands and killed the doctors and the Mages who turned us into Vampires. He killed both the Rogues and the human criminals as well. His strength and magic intensified with every high-ranking Mage he killed.

“He made each of them suffer a terrible death. One by one, he hunted them all on his own until every supernatural being would tremble at the mere mention of his name. I was by his side the whole time, helping him bury the bodies. Because for me, nothing had changed. He is still my best friend. I believed that he was not exactly cruel because he only punished who deserved to be punished. More humans would have turned into Vampires because of those fake doctors and more would have died because of the Mages and Rogues. That was how Cain got his nickname because he was a beast to every person who had wronged him. So, you see, the man everybody referred to as the ‘Beast’ was once an ordinary human like you, Natasha. He had it harder than most humans, actually.”

“Thank you, Silas.”

His brows furrowed. “For what?”

“For telling me those things and for staying by his side all this time. You are a true friend.”

I felt like my head was about to crack open because of what I just discovered. I wanted to run to Cain and embrace him as tightly as I could the way he would embrace me every time I’m going through something difficult. I had been too busy depending on him to notice that he was struggling deep inside, too. “I don’t understand, though. Why did you tell me something this important?”

“I don’t tattle on my best friend, even to my own wife and kids. I only told you about this because it’s you. For some people who despise Cain, you may be a sinner for waking the beast. But you aren’t like that to me. I don’t know if Cain told you about this but every Vampire has a special ability. I could see a glimpse of a person’s future. I guess one really can’t have it all because that was something he couldn’t do no matter how powerful he is. And I saw a glimpse of your future with him. In return of telling you my best friend’s secret, can you do me a favor, Natasha?”

I suddenly felt nervous. “As long as it’s within my capability.”

“Don’t worry, it’s simple. Really. One day, when you find yourself standing on the crossroads, unsure which direction to choose, please remember this moment. I hope that these things will help you decide.”

“What are you saying?”

“For more than five hundred years, Cain was in constant pain. Until now, I know he still blames himself for Desmond and our friends’ death. Aside from that, even if Sabra died, the spell she created is still active. He still hadn’t found the cure that’s why he couldn’t live normally and he couldn’t move on. I’m sure every time he feeds; he would remember Sabra and would struggle over it. But like I told you, nothing had changed. For me, he was still the same Cain I knew. Yes, his hands were now filled with blood but he helped a lot of people, too. Even the wolves. He served as the middleman so the three different species—the vampires, the mages, and the wolves—could live in the same place peacefully.”

Silas pointed the Vampires who were surrounding Cain. They were a few meters away from us.

“You see all those people wagging their tails in front of him? They wouldn’t follow Cain without a reason. Some of them were the people he saved from their abusive Mage masters while some were the people who became Vampires because of an experiment just like us. He just keeps on saving people even when he had been having a hard time saving his self. That’s why he may be a monster for those who don’t know him but for us who do, he’s our angel.”

I could relate on that. In a way, Cain was like an angel to me, too. “What about the curse that made Cain fall asleep for a hundred years? Who casted it?”

“Those were Sabra’s followers. They treated Sabra as their goddess. When Cain went into a rampage, they hid in a cave to strengthen their magic. In order to avenge Sabra’s death, their entire coven attacked Cain from behind and put him to sleep, saying that the person who would wake him from slumber would be the same person who would finally put an end to his life through a silver dagger laced with that person’s blood.”

I stood up out of shock. “T-that’s supposed to be a secret! It’s like you are telling me how to kill your own best friend!”

“No, Natasha. It’s because I trust you. I trust that you would not do it even if I tell you. I’ve been observing you. I know you are a good woman and you are bringing changes in Cain’s life.” Silas also stood up. “Ever since he met Sabra, I never saw him smile again. His eyes had become lifeless. But you… you could make him smile, Natasha. And I think you could neutralize Sabra’s spell in his body seeing that he was not as irritated as before. He can control his self now. I think it’s because of you. You are helping him in your own way. Because of you, he’s starting to redevelop human emotions again. You could get him confused, worried, angry, and agitated. And he’s gentle with you. It’s almost as if his old self is back when he’s with you. Did you know that he never makes blood contracts? He’s only ever done it with you.”

“What? But according to the rumors—”

“Those were just rumors. It was true that he used to grant the wishes of the women he fed on because he did not want to owe them anything but he never used blood contract to do it. I think those who cling to him reminded him of Sabra. But you are different. I’m not saying this just because Cain and I are friends. But Cain had so much to offer. He deserves to be loved not only for what he could give, but for his rough edges, too. I’m hoping that you could make him realize it one day. Because me and his friends were not enough to make him realize that. He was so confident that he knew how the story of the both of you would end believing that in real life, the Beast does not deserve the Beauty.” Silas glanced at me. “What about you, Natasha? What do you believe in?”

I immediately stopped reminiscing when Cain pulled me closer to him and passionately kissed me on the lips. It was past one in the morning and we were still standing outside the gate, but I didn’t mind. I embraced him and kissed him back. God, I missed him. I missed him so much.

It had been a week since we last saw each other. He was gone when I woke up that night he told me he would sleep over. My schedule became hectic afterwards that’s why I couldn’t look for him in person. I’d been spending my free time trying to call him, but he never responded.

I was happy to finally see him. But my heart ached seeing him like this.

Cain’s body was still cold and his kisses were different today. It was the gentlest kiss we had ever shared. When our lips parted, I looked straight in his eyes. I had always been terrified to make him stay and to tell him I loved him thinking that it might bring back his trauma. That he might feel burdened or chained by my love and it might make him remember the painful things from his past since Sabra had twisted Cain’s definition of love.

But today, I wanted to try being brave. For him. Because he deserved it. He had to know that after all that happened; he still deserved to be loved. “Cain, I—”

“The reason why I exist, I’ve been trying to find that. But lately, I’ve been thinking that maybe I exist for you. Maybe I exist to be with you. Natasha, I… I’m in love with you.”

I was stunned.