Chapter 2

THE VAMPIRE was still staring at the fountain. He looked gloomy. Like he recently lost someone dear to him. It was still a couple of minutes more before the sun set. Rays of sunlight were showered in his direction but the man did not even mind the heat. If he was really a vampire, how come he did not get any burn? Was that dreambender bluffing? Was it a prank?

Terah grabbed the umbrella in her bag. “Mister.”

“I told you my name. It’s Zachary,” he said, irritated. 

Zachary was not even surprised when she approached him. 

“I’m sorry if I did not remember the name of a stranger. It’s just that if someone always lacks sleep, she becomes forgetful,” she answered. How dare this man lecture her?

She grabbed his hands then placed the umbrella there. His hands were calloused. The hands of the worker. “I am returning your umbrella. You need it more than I do.”

“Put this in my backpack.”

Funny how this man looked like a college student with his backpack. Maybe he was one. 

“Are you ordering me?” He nodded. “The heck?” she declared but then obliged.  She distanced herself, after. Satisfied?

She heard an uh uh. 

“Did you stalk me?” she asked when he did not talk. This man talked rarely. 

He looked at her. His eyes were lonely. It felt like it was calling for help but this man wouldn’t even acknowledge that he needed help. 

“No need to do that. I know your scent. I could always locate you, if I wanted to. But I did not. It was merely purely coincidence that we met here. This place brought me serenity. Feels like I travelled back in time. Where I was still a mighty warrior of Datu Humalik together with his son, Kidlat.” Which means thuder. 

Her eyes widened. “No freaking way! So you’re really a vampire? Like that dreambender told me? You don’t age. How come you did not get burned? Do you hate garlic? Are you afraid of the cross? Will you die if you are stabbed in your chest?”

“For a human, you asked a lot of questions. And you are not scared.”

She grinned at him. Maybe it was because of her lack of sleep why she was getting buddy-buddy with him. “Actually, I’m more scared of the loan shark who always visits my mother every single day. Then another one every week. Then another every month.”

He smiled. 

Her heart skipped. He was handsome. He looked better than her biased Korean actors. “Mister. You should smile a lot. It will capture the woman's heart.”

He stared at her. It was like his eyes were calling her. “I don’t need women. I only need one. My mate.”

Funny how the idea of her talking to a vampire casually felt like normal. She did not even sense any danger when she was near this man. Maybe it was because he was the friendly type. Not arrogant. He looked like the knight-in-shining armor of every woman. 

“Have you found her?” she asked.

Instead of answering, he shrugged. “I’m already old. She is still young. I want her to enjoy her youth and when she is ready, I will tell her that she’s my mate. I won’t force her or anything like that.”

“Aw. What a gentleman.” She tapped his shoulders. He stiffened. She hastily snatched her hands for fear that he would bite her. 

Terah resumed looking at the fountain. 

What are you even doing? You need to draw!

Wait! What if she asked Zachary’s permission to draw him? Not a bad idea.

She faced him but her heart froze when a hum danced in the air. Wait. He...he’s here? He said his goodbye. A man has the freedom to change his mind.

In a blink of an eye, Zachary was in front of her blocking her view. “Hey, dude. I have something to look at. Shoo. Go away.” She tried to push her but he wouldn’t budge. 

“Stay still, woman or else…”

“Or else what?” She moved to his side. Her eyes landed on the hooded man staring back at them. Just like in her dream, her body moved on its own accord. Zachary was on edge. He was protesting but did not stop her.  

"E-excuse me?" The man’s back suddenly turned towards her. 

"Yes?"

Was his voice familiar? Is this really the man?  "Are you...are you him?" Are you the dreambender?

He turned and faced her. 

Her breath stole her. Staring back was a man with a pair of beautiful green eyes. Like the color of the grass she sat a while ago but this man was emitting coldness on his aura. There was so much hatred in his eyes. 

She gulped.

This was a mistake. The dreambender has chocolate brown eyes. This man has green eyes.

His almost perfect brows furrowed. 

"There's no such thing as perfect," she reprimanded herself.

"What are you talking about?" He's not him.

Stupid, Terah. Of course, the hooded guy was just part of your imagination. Or your dreams. He won't turn into a reality. There is a vast difference between dreams and reality and reality and expectation. Not because you are so sure a dreambender was calling you, it was true.  

Get over him! He was not worth it!

She stepped back. This is nonsense. She won't waste her time anymore thinking about that man. 

"I'm sorry. It was a mistake."

"Who are you? Have we met before?"  

She laughed. "If this is your way of asking for my name, I am sorry. I do not talk to strangers." 

But you’re talking to a man, a complete stranger in your dream? Beside you is a vampire who is only one minute away from jumping at the man. What’s the difference, Terah?

A snap made them turn their heads. Her eyes widened upon seeing a black shadow slowly forming into ugly monsters. Not just one but there were more of them.

Zachary held her hand. He bared its fangs towards the monsters and she nearly fainted. Those fangs were sharp! There was a vampire! Zachary was a real vampire! There was no freaking that those were fakes.

“I will kill you for bringing those monsters here. You’re endangering my mate.”

Wait. What? Soulmate? Mate? She was the vampire’s mate? She couldn’t handle any more revelations. Her mind wouldn’t accept any of it.

“It was a mistake. But we need to focus on the monsters now.”

He cursed a couple of times. "If you value your life, run."

"What's happening?" she asked. First, dreambender. Second, vampires. And now, monsters? What the heck did she have? Was she cursed? Why did bad things keep going in her directions?

The man glanced at her and sighed. "It was my fault. I'm sorry."

"What are they?" she whispered.

"Monsters. Now, run!"

The man pushed her and nearly stumbled if not for the vampire beside her. She cursed him but did what he said. Grabbing her sketch pad, she ran like the demon himself was chasing her. Tagging Zachary with her. There was no freaking way he would let her go. 

She didn’t turn her back. She didn't glance at his direction to check whether he was alive or not. Her life was more important. She had grades to pass and scholarships to maintain.

He's alive.

If he was the real dreambender, he would survive. Not only were they known for their psychic powers but they used the dreams to kill their enemies through their sleep. That’s why she was not so afraid of him. 

Her heart felt like it was going to burst from running. Her throat was dry. She was gasping for air. Somebody help her!

The people looked at them as if they were crazy. Didn't they see the monsters? They were all over the place, chasing them. And when the monsters noticed she could see them, they smirked.

"Please God. Not today. Don't kill me."

“Not a chance. I will protect you with all my life, Terah,” Zachary promised. Beads of sweat were on his forehead but he did not wipe them. 

Oddly, she felt protected. What was wrong with her?

There were still so many things she wanted to do and that was to finish her studies. She still wanted to find a handsome boyfriend, build her own family, and others. She was still young…and pretty!

Then she stumbled. She felt the pain on her knee. It had a small cut but it was still painful.

Somebody grabbed her. 

She shrieked and kicked whoever was holding her. The person cursed. No. He muttered a lengthy curse enough to scare a demon. Her ears will bleed by those vile words.

"Stop it, Terah. I can't protect you if you will kill me."

She froze. It was Zachary. Then, without asking her permission, he carried her and ran. With the man behind them. He was so fast that they felt like a blur to others. They stopped at a camp. Or it looked like a camp to her. The people gathered around the fire seeking warmth from the coldness of the night. 

How long did they run?

Finally, Zachary set her on the ground, ungently. So much for being the perfect gentleman she envisioned. Terah nearly killed him with her eyes. What's wrong with this man? 

“Know what? You are the most gentleman I ever met. Thank you so much for taking care of me.”

“You should be. I saved your life,” Zachary responded.

Is he dense? I am insulting him, not praising him.

"Chet. Where did you go?" a bear asked.  He sniffed the air then bared his fangs at Zachary’s direction. The latter prepared for a fighting stance, while securing her safety. He was again on his back. “A vampire? How come? I thought Frederico was the only one remaining?”

“Frederico? Who was that? I do not know that name,” he answered, still tense.

A talking bear! Impossible. He was walking on his feet and had eyeglasses on his eyes. 

She scanned her surroundings. The place almost felt lifeless. The trees were almost dead and the houses were on the verge of turning into dust. 

Is this a dream again? Did she fall asleep, again?

Chet bowed. "From the mortals, Father. With a vampire tagging along. Found out that she was his mate."

Terah inhaled sharply. Father what?  She looked between them. How could a bear bore a son who was a human? Or was he a human? Aside from the color of their eyes, she couldn’t see any similarities between the two. Was he a shift shifter?

Maybe he looked more like his mother which she will guess was a human. He looked so much like a human but he had abilities that surpassed humans.

This is getting weird.

"You know you are forbidden to do that. Think of the danger, my son."

“Where is this place, bear shift shifter?” Zachary asked. She escaped from him and stood beside him. 

“That’s rude for a vampire whom I give shelter to. I am Eraj. I hate it when someone calls me that. Besides, give proper respect to your elders.”

“Forgive him, Mr. Eraj. It was the fault of your son,” she butted.

Chet looked at her with irritation. "If I don't drag you here, you will be their food."

She shivered. Yes. Them. "What are they?"

Her grandmother didn’t tell her about those monsters.

"Monsters. That's all you need to know."

"Chet. That's not how to treat our guests. I am really sorry for my son's behavior, Miss."

"If you are really sorry, let me go back to my own world. I will pretend that this did not happen. Nobody will ever know that I came to this place. Awaken me."

"You are not really here. Technically, your body is still in your world but your spirit is in our world. This is Dreamland. This is the spiritual world. Your body is in the physical world."

She’s right. She was in the dream again.

"This...this is just a dream?"

"Yes, but a dangerous one. My son called you despite the fact that I forbid him to do so. First call is good. Second call will lead to problems. The more he calls you, the more your spirit will be bound here."

There was a big possibility that Chet was really the dreambender. The eye color can be changed easily.

 "What exactly is this here?"

Nobody eavesdropped in their conversation. "The Dreamland. The place where we, the dreamlanders, live. We also go by the name dreambenders."

Zachary butted. "I thought the dreambenders live in Hancia. Not in this dream land.”

“What exactly are you? What are dreambenders?" 

Terah’s grandmother did not tell all the things about these creatures. She left some important things she needed to know.

"Before conflicts between Hancia, the place where all mythical beings from winged creatures up to werewolves arose, we lived in harmony. But when a vampire named Frederico wreaked havoc and planted treacherous thoughts in everybody's thoughts, we were shunned. We were driven away by some of our comrades and those who refused to leave were killed. Only a few of us survived. With all honesty, we were shocked when we discovered another breathing vampire existed."

“It was because I erased my existence,” Zachary answered. 

"How did you survive?" she asked. 

"Thinking that our physical body would hinder us, we left them at our camp. What you are seeing right now are our spirits but we need to go back to our body. Otherwise, our physical form would die leaving us trapped here." That’s why.

Now that she saw it, they all looked tired. Some of the people looked like walking dead. Not that they were dead. They were still alive but would be dead if they couldn't return to their physical body.

"Why am I dragged in your mess?"

"I have been humming for almost a century and nobody responded until you came. You heard my call so you will help us," Chet said.

She stepped back. "Whoa. Stop right there. Who told you I will help? I couldn't even go back to my physical body. I also did not forget that you let us fall asleep while endangering our physical body. What happened to those monsters?"

"Don’t you worry. I made a barrier to protect your body but it was getting weaker. I need to awaken the vampire’s physical body to protect yours. My powers are getting weaker each day and since I was the one who called you, I am also the one who has the ability to return you to your world. And you only have what? Five hours. You’re not eating for almost one day. You live by yourself and nobody will awaken you."

“It will not happen. I will awaken her.”

“Not that easy. Unless I permit it. The vampire will awaken after the deadline. So, you need to awake first, Terah if you want to live.”

In a blink of an eye, Zachary was holding Chet on his neck, suffocating him. “I-I w-will not allow you to kill me.” Then Zach vanished.

Chet fell on the ground.

“Where did he go?”

“Do you know it takes more than that to kill a vampire? I used my remaining powers to send him back to his body. I also do a little magic to make him forget that you existed for a certain amount of time.”

That hurt. Reality hurts a lot. Nobody will notice if she will not go to school or not except Maria. But her friend most of the time was absent. She will always babysit her younger siblings.

"Why are you doing this? This is not right.”

“I’m really sorry. But I am desperate. Just do what I asked and you are free from this place. I will never ever bother you again. That’s a promise. We are bound by that promise.”

“Is Zachary safe?”

“He is. He was a warrior before. He was known to be a warrior serving Datu Humalik. The most powerful human that ever lived in the history of mankind.”

The heavy feeling in her heart was suddenly lifted. He was safe. That’s all that matters.  "What will I do?"

"Awaken my body. Just my body and I will do the rest."

She smirked. "Oh. That's easy. I will just cut your hands for you to feel the pain and you will jerk awake. So easy."

"I'm sorry to break it to you but you are forbidden to do that. Leave my body intact. We have one way of waking our physical form."

"Name it." It’s not that bad, right? She could still survive this.

"You will give me some of your energy."

"How?"

He blushed. "It’s for you to figure out."