7. You Are Now A Burden

Triana

The deep voice made Triana turn towards the foot of the bed with a start. She gasped to find a man in a white tunic perched there like a bat. His pair of light-brown eyes shone in the dark, staring at her intently.

Triana's body felt stiff. She couldn't move and her heart was pounding fast. She wanted to jump away from here, but she couldn't even move her fingers because fear had chained her whole body.

The vampire lowered one of his feet to step on the bed, and then his hands followed. He began to crawl over Triana's body until their faces met.

"Hh…" Triana's tongue trembled.

When the vampire drew his face close to her neck, her face instinctively looked away.

Her jaw tightened and she squeezed the sheet as she felt the vampire's lips press against her bite wound which she believed was still freshly open because it brought the pain and soreness back. 

However, instead of a bite, she heard a long, strong snort right in her ear. Her brow furrowed as the vampire lifted his face back.

Then swiftly, a large hand with long nails, gripped Triana's jaw to direct her gaze at the vampire's face. 

"I'm dying to drink your blood to the last drop. But, why do I have to let you drink my blood instead, human girl?"

"Put away that scared face of yours because I won't be able to kill you." Vlador continued.

Feeling the grip tighten on her jaw, Triana grimaced. But the vampire finally let go of the grip, and got away from above her.

Triana blinked, breathlessly. She had just felt like her life was standing on the edge of a steep cliff. However, what did the vampire mean?

She thought her life would end just now. However, hadn't the exact same thought come into her mind before? – When she was being eaten alive by that vampire in the middle of the forest?

Then, where was she now? She was in a room and alive! And the vampire... did he really say he wouldn't kill her?

"Ouch..." Triana winced again while holding her throbbing neck.

She touched the wound with her two fingers - It was very sore and a little wet. When she withdrew her hand and looked at her finger, there was a small amount of blood on it.

Valdor stood behind the open window with both hands rose to lean on either side. His head was slightly hung down as if he was feeling depressed.

Feeling the threat of being killed was no longer before her eyes, Triana found the strength to sit up and carefully ask, "Where am I? What happened?"

"I have been cursed, and so have you. We, have been cursed." Vlador said without turning to Triana.

Triana's eyes widened. Ignoring the pain in her neck and weak body, she jumped off the bed and ran around the large, slightly dark chamber.

"Mirror! Where's the mirror?!" She asked desperately.

Vlador turned his back to look at the beautiful yet stupid girl who seemed to be a little insane too. His brow furrowed and he muttered, "What are you doing?"

Hastily, Triana turned to the vampire and asked again, "Don't you have a mirror here? I beg you… I need it,"

"I don't have it," Vlador replied coldly. Then his gaze became sharp. "Your face. It looks awful."

Tears instantly filled Triana's eyes. She helplessly fell to her knees with both hands continuing to touch her face. "No! Haven't I fulfilled the conditions? Then why did I still get the ugly curse?! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Triana was devastated at the fact that she had turned ugly now. Even though she hadn't been able to see her face and actually felt no difference when she touched it, a terrifying image of what it looked like now haunted her very badly.

A pair of feet in long, dark-brown leather shoes came to stand in front of Triana. Then, a hand with long, pointed fingernails lifted her chin.

Eyes filled with tears, Triana stared at the beautiful pale-skinned man before her. She should have been afraid of this man, who had a pair of blood-drinking fangs. However, for some reason, the bleak future that her parents had always threatened her since she was little sounded even more terrifying. 

Wouldn't it be better to die than to live in misery?

"Then, it is true, isn't it? You made me drink the potion of suffering to make yourself beautiful. It turns out that the future you were referring to was your beauty? You are a pitiful woman," Vlador said.

Sobbed, Triana asked, "How can I come home in this condition? I came here to save my future, but now my life is a mess. What will people say when they see my face? What will happen to my parents?"

Smiling crookedly, Vlador released his grip. "That's the risk you have to bear when working with a witch. If you were not stupid, you should have known that they were as sneaky as snakes,"

"If I have to live like this, I'd rather die," Triana muttered as she lowered her face.

However, Vlador responded to her sentence with a frown. He stared at Triana sharply. "You can't die. I won't allow you."

Triana raised her head and stared at the vampire in confusion. "Wh-what do you mean? Didn't you almost kill me before?" She paused and thought for a moment to realize that the fact that she was still alive now was an oddity.

"Weren't… you going to kill me? Why am I still alive now? What was exactly…" 

Triana's line of questions came to a halt again as faint memories started popping up in her mind.

Previously, she was caught by the vampire whose mouth was covered in blood. Then, she felt a sharp pain in her neck as the vampire pounced on her. At that time, she immediately felt very weak and was dying. However…

"The witch?" Triana muttered with both eyes widened. She raised her eyes to meet a pale face with a pair of flaming brown eyes.

"Did you just get your memory back?" Vlador asked.

Triana nodded. "But… I can't clearly remember what she said because I was dying. You… almost killed me… didn't you?"

"I hope I did. But unfortunately, you are now a burden for me." Vlador answered.