Chapter 60

VALERIA.

The weight of my mother and Stefano in my arms is getting more and more painful the farther I go up, but I hold on still, trying to get them as far away from the sinking School. The wind is roaring in my ears. The gravity of the hole below is like a vacuum, pulling me down and fighting against the power of the bat-like wings on my back.

However, I just flap them as hard as I can, trying to remain balanced as I swerve farther away. I look down, watching the darkness swallow every brick like a hungry mouth… until there is nothing left.

The School that I have come to respect and love, is now completely gone. Along with the horrors that came with it.

I’m free now. From the prophecy, from the promise of power that can only be used for wrongdoing.

And now all that’s left to do is rebuild.

* * *

“So… let me get this straight: the School is completely gone, Professor Blossom is a power-hungry bastard, and you’re half-vampire, but you’re actually good and won’t eat me?”

“Yes, that is all true,” I tell Celeste as I push her wheelchair along the hallway of the hospital. “Shame you weren’t there.”

A full day has passed since the incident. Everyone knows that I’m half-vampire now. Some are not pleased, some are fascinated. But most of them, like Celeste, are simply just happy not to be eaten. She does, however, felt very much violated and grossed out when she found out about Auric being a blob-monster.

“I always knew he was off,” she said when I told her earlier. “Maybe Jake and I could go to therapy together.”

Speaking of Jake, he’s with Stefano now, who is in another room. We’re about to visit him, as we’re just done visiting my mother, who is making wonderful progress with her recovery. She’s been rehydrated and fed well, her wounds treated and her aching body sedated. She’s now asleep, catching up on all the rest she didn’t have before.

But before she fell asleep, she managed to hold my hand and tell me, “I’m proud of you, my daughter. And I’m happy to be back with you.”

I still don’t know anything about my dad. I was planning to ask her about it, to know more about him and why she had to tell me that he was human, but I didn’t get that chance. It seems that the conversation would have to be moved when she’s recovered.

For now, I’m more keen on moving on.

That’s what everyone seems to want to do, even back there at the School area. All kids have been sent home. No one died, thankfully, but the truth is still being… embellished. The inspectors were trying to rule everything as an explosion, but none of the Black Coats were particularly keen on explaining how Professor Blossom died and vanished. When I was called to their station to talk, all they could focus on was my vampire side, and whether or not I would be kicked out of Society.

Surprisingly, only the Black Coat leader Merlin stood up for me yesterday.

“The girl is clearly also half werewolf,” he told all of his subordinates. “She has not hurt anyone, and her story checks out with all the accounts and the reports. She is telling the truth.”

“Yes, okay, let’s say that is true,” one of them said. “She’s still a threat. She’s a vampire.”

“Half,” Merlin reminded them again. “And the other half is what we shall acknowledge. She saved all of us from everyone.”

With that, he led me out of the station and offered me a ride to the hospital.

However, on the way to the hospital, he told me, “I will still be keeping an eye on you.”

It was a chilling statement for sure, and even now that I’ve been at the hospital for a couple of hours, I can still feel myself being nervous about his parting words to me. I still don’t know the extent of my vampire powers. I still have no idea how everything works. My history is still hidden, and there is still much to be uncovered about the half of me I kept buried all these years.

But for now, all I want is to take care of my friends and my mom, to make sure they are alright.

I continue to lug Celeste around, listening to her rant about how she saw all of it coming, particularly the Auric situation, and I just have to smile to myself. Celeste will be Celeste, but I am more than happy to be friends with her again.

Finally, we reach the room where Stefano stays.

I have left him unconscious the day before, and he hasn’t woken up since. I was worried that he wouldn’t make it because he was losing a lot of blood, and I had to partake of it to save them, but the nurses all insisted that he would be alright. His mentor, Priestess Lilith, told me that he would definitely be alright.

“That boy is too stubborn to die,” she informed me, which I think is a good thing.

I cautiously open the door in case Stefano is asleep, but before I can even get in, I already hear his voice. And when I finally step inside, I see his face.

My heart melts. A smile appears on my face.

There he is. Sitting up with pillows propped on his back. He straightens up when he sees me, his bloodshot, tired eyes lighting up. A smile slowly brightens up his face, and as though in a daze, he tries to get off the bed.

Jake immediately pushes him back down. “Easy there. The doctor said you need to rest. Your spine is sore, remember? The stab wound is still fresh.”

“Oh, yeah,” Stefano mutters, a flush of pink rising in his pale cheeks. “Um, hello, ladies.”

Celeste rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. “Well, well. If it isn’t the golden boy. I still hate that I had to be bonked in the head and removed from the action while you get your spotlight.”

Stefano sighs at her, but there is wary affection in his aura. “Well, I would happily exchange conditions with you, Celeste.”

She makes a face, and I can’t help but crack a smile. “Hello, Stefano. It’s good to see you awake and fighting Celeste immediately.”

“It’s good to be awake and putting her in her place,” he says, his tone softening as he adds, “It’s good to see you...”

“Do you want us to leave so you can make out?” Celeste asks, her tone cracking like a whip in the room.

“NO!” Stefano and I say in sync. “Don’t leave!”

Jake laughs. “They even speak the same. Goddamn.”

Stefano and I look at each other, and we all just laugh. It feels good to do that after what seems so long. But annoyingly, tears start to appear in my eyes after the laughter peters off. Thankfully, it’s easy to wipe them and pass them off as tears of mirth.

I wait for the two to start another round of teasing, but to my surprise, they look at each other and seem to come to an understanding. Jake gets up from his chair and starts to wheel Celeste out of the room.

“Hey, where are you two going?” I ask, but unfortunately, Stefano also says the very same thing.

Celeste and Jake chuckle. “Goodbye, love birds” is the last thing Celeste says before Jake closes the door behind them.

And now Stefano and I are alone.

Silence stretches between us, comfortable and charged at the same time. Every time I open my mouth to try to say something, I would catch a glimpse of him doing the same.

At last, I manage to say what I’ve been meaning to know all this time. “You came back for me… why?”

“Because it’s all I’ve wanted to do,” he says. “To come back to you.”

“I owe you my life,” I tell him, and that’s the first time it hit me how true it was. “I would have died in there without you.”

“You would have found a way,” Stefano says softly. “But I… I would have been long gone without you. I owe you everything.”

I take a step closer to him. He tries to get up but I stop him. I sit on the edge of his bed, putting my hands on his chest. He places his hands on mine. I lean in for a kiss.

“All I can ask for is your love,” I whisper.

Stefano kisses me again. “You already have it.”

THE END.