“That’s bullshit,” Lucas mumbled. “I brought the delicious vegetable sandwiches from the cafeteria. Even at the mention of it, I am hungry.” He took out his sandwich and started eating.
“Come on, Alex. Prove Lucas wrong,” Becca urged him. “Eat the sandwich and prove to Lucas that you do eat because that's what every human does.”
Groaning in annoyance, Alexander took out a piece of sandwich. He had to eat the human food because if he didn’t, it would cast doubts in Becca’s mind and Lucas would help her to grow those doubts.
Vanessa was amused seeing that Alexander was willing to take a bite of the sandwich, considering he loathed them with a burning passion.
Lucas had a devilish smirk on his face as he watched Alexander take a small bite of the food.
“See, Lucas? He is human, okay?” Becca declared.
Lucas twitched his lips and said, “Then let him finish the entire sandwich. A small bite of it won’t prove anything until he eats it all.”
Mumbling incoherent words, Alexander ate the entire sandwich. Becca joined him once her food became cold.
###
After eating the human food, Alexander had the urge to puke it all out. It was tasteless to him and he wondered how Vanessa adjusted to living on eating human food just for the sake of being friends with human beings.
Alexander was in the boys’ washroom, looking at the mirror. Where did you send me, Phil? he thought to himself. After he splashed some water over his face, he dried off his face and got out.
“Are you okay?” Becca asked, appearing in front of Alexander as if she was waiting for him to get out. “Were you full at that time? I am sorry for forcing you to eat. Lucas was challenging you and I didn’t want to see you defeated.”
Alexander raised an eyebrow, feeling his heart skipping a beat after hearing that Becca didn’t want to see him defeated. “So you didn’t want me to be defeated. Nice.”
She could feel her cheeks starting to heat up. She placed her hand over her cheek and said, “I… I just wanted to know whether you were okay or not, since I consider you a friend.”
“Oh, okay,” he mumbled, a small teasing smile formed on his lips.
“Also, we will be leaving on the trip tomorrow so we need to make sure you are feeling okay,” she tried to explain. “Otherwise, how will we be able to enjoy it?”
“Oh.” He put his hands in his pocket. “Are you saying that without me, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy the trip?”
She shook her head at that instant. “No, I mean to say that everyone needs to attend the trip. Besides, you have helped Ness and contributed a lot, so you must attend.”
“Becca Hertford,” Alexander started speaking, “You accused me of trying to molest you and then murder you. But here, the case seems different.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
“I think you think you are the one trying to flirt with me because you like me,” he said and continued, “Or, you are trying to lure me into going on this on this trip so that you can kill me in the jungle and make the animals there feast upon me.”
A gasp escaped Becca’s lips. “No, are you crazy? Why would I do something like that?”
“Only you know the answer.” With that, Alexander started to walk away.
Becca followed him, trying to explain herself, “No, you are misunderstanding my intentions, Alex. I was just asking about your health because I was worried about you as a friend.”
“Yeah, right,” he mumbled and continued walking, with Becca trailing him. A wide smile was playing on his lips as he continued to tease Becca.
###
“I don’t know what to take there. I have never gone camping before, Ness,” Becca complained to Vanessa, who had already finished packing.
“Why fear when Nessa Worthe is here?” Vanessa said brightly, still not revealing her full name. “I will pack your stuff and show you what to take. Come.”
Vanessa helped Becca to pack up clothes and other necessary stuff for the trip.
Alexander watched the girls pack their stuff. Wearing a black hoodie, he jumped out of his window to hunt as he would have to stay with humans surrounding him for three consecutive days.
Becca glanced at the window at that moment and saw someone jump. She had no idea that Alexander lived in that dorm, but she knew that it was the vampire in the college she was searching for. Because no one else would have that much speed and survive by jumping from that height.
Chapter 15: Soulmate?
It was finally the day when everyone would go to the camp in the jungle around seven hours away from their college. Seven hours—it was a long and tiring bus journey. Therefore, Vanessa and Sebastian ensured full comfort for the students. Despite being in different departments, Sebastian made an application to go with them, which the dean agreed after Vanessa’s persuasion. It was her special power after all.
“Get in,” Vanessa said to Becca after most of the students got into the bus. “Seb and I will make sure that others are inside. Don’t worry.”
Becca nodded and stepped onto the bus. Lucas was about to follow her but Vanessa stopped him and said, “You can get in but make sure Alex sits next to Becca.”
Lucas shook his head in denial. “I won’t do that.”
Vanessa pulled Lucas in one corner. She placed her hands on her hips and asked, “Why?”
“Nessa, as long as Alex is not changing his mind, I cannot risk it. What if he gives it to his brother?” He hinted at the vampire potion. “If Alex took it for himself, I wouldn’t have any problem because I know he is good.”
She arched an eyebrow. “How can you be so sure?”
“You and he are twins. So of course, if you possess this much good, he is too. You just show it openly and he tries to hide it,” he pointed out. “I will even be okay if others of your kind take it because anyone has got to be better than Phil. He is the worst of all. He tried to kill other kinds as well while being the leader of the vampires. Imagine what he will do if he becomes the king.”
Vanessa knew everything about Phil and how wickedly his mind worked. But Phil threatened to kill her if she didn’t keep her mouth sealed. If she exposed his truth to Alexander or Pristine, Phil said that he would not only destroy her but also the entire vampire world. That’s why she made a wise decision and moved to the human world a hundred years ago.
“I know, Lucas. Being the leader of the vampires after my mom died, he has a lot of powers. He is the strongest vampire now, and if he gets the potion, he will ruin the tenuous peace between our worlds. But we cannot help it,” Vanessa mumbled. “But we can just hope that Alex realizes how bad Phil is before he gives him the potion.”
“He can change the future for good or bad. If he doesn’t hand over the potion to Phil, the world will stay in peace, but if he hands it in, the world will be destroyed,” Lucas said, closing his eyes at the horrific picture roaming in his head. “How can we stop it?”
“Make Alex realize that everyone is good here,” she responded, making Lucas arch an eyebrow in confusion. “If he realizes that the human world is a good place, he will want to stay here, and most importantly, if he falls in love with Becca, he will stay here forever. Then he doesn’t have to return to the vampire world and hand the potion over to Phil.”
He let out a humorless chuckle. “Have you gone crazy? Alex and falling in love? You guys don’t even have a functioning heart.”
Vanessa smirked. “Let me enlighten you with a fact then.” She explained the soulmate and love theory of the vampires, making Lucas dumbstruck. Later, he agreed to play cupid between Alexander and Becca, if that was the only way to stop Alexander from giving the potion to Phil. If he didn’t go to the vampire world, how would he hand over the potion in the first place?
###
Alexander was sitting peacefully at the end of the bus. He took the window seat and when others tried to sit with him, he sent a glare which was enough for others to shy
away.
Becca was sitting at one side in the front but she wanted to sit with her friends. She got up and spotted another girl sitting with Lucas so she sent him a wink, making her way to the back of the bus. She found Alexander sitting alone, and without even asking, she sat next to him.
He looked at Becca, heaving a sigh in relief that it wasn’t another stranger disturbing him. His relief didn’t last long when he realized that he would have to sit with Becca for seven hours straight. She would chew his brain out with her endless chatter.
“I was sitting there at first,” she started speaking, pointing her index finger at a random seat in the front. “Then I realized that it was a seven-hour journey so I had to sit with a friend. Otherwise, I would be bored to death, right?” She glanced at Alexander with hopeful eyes, waiting for him to reply.
“Yeah…” he replied, having no other choice.
“So, I stood up and saw Lucas but he was with another girl. I didn’t want to disturb his moment with her, so I made my way here, searching for you, and gladly, I found you. If I hadn’t, I would have looked for you and dragged you over here.”
“Either way, you would sit with me and destroy my brain cells,” he mumbled under his breath, which Becca failed to hear because the bus honked, indicating that everyone was in the bus and it would start moving.
Once the journey started, everyone cheered in excitement, including Becca.
Alexander looked at her in disbelief, wondering how she had so much energy in her. He closed his eyes and leaned against his seat, waiting for the cheering to stop, which did stop after a few minutes.
“Alex,” Becca called out.
Despite hearing it, he pretended to not hear and stayed still in his position.
She started poking his arm. “Alex, Alex.” She poked a few more times.
“What?” he replied, at last, being annoyed at the continuous poking on his arm.
“Are you sleepy?” she asked with the most innocent look ever.
He would’ve melted but listening to her question made him narrow his eyes in her direction. “So you woke me up just to ask whether I was sleepy?” he inquired.
“I am sorry,” she said with a sad smile.
He slightly felt guilty because he wasn’t actually asleep; he couldn’t sleep anywhere else but in his coffin. “It’s okay.” he said, “What did you want to ask though?”
“Nothing,” she replied politely. “I just needed someone to keep talking to me until we reached our destination. I can’t relax during a car ride.”
“Okay.” Alexander started speaking, “How about you tell me about your novel?”
Her eyes lit up instantly at the mention of her novel. She was very happy that Alexander was showing interest in her hobby. “Which one? The Lycan one that I finished writing or the vampire one I am planning to write?”
“The vampire one,” he answered. “I want to read the Lycan one since you have already completed it. You can email me the manuscript.”
“Okay,” she said with a grin. “Hey, I just realized. We are friends on social media but I don’t have your phone number.” She took out her phone from the bag and handed it to him.
He typed his number in it. Even though she didn’t have his number, he did have her number; it was in the file Pristine handed to him before he stepped into the human world.
She saved the number with his name and started, “Okay, so about the new book I am planning. It will have a human girl, falling in love with a vampire boy.”
“How will the love story begin?” he questioned.
She pouted before answering, “The vampire will be cold, ruthless, and all. He has a heart, which doesn’t beat. But each time the female lead is close to him, his heart will start beating.”
Alexander’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. “How did you get that idea?” He was sure that he had removed all the books related to the vampires and even Google didn’t have that information. Only the vampires knew about that particular ability.
“Vanessa gave me this idea,” she cleared his confusion.
He had an immediate urge to stab his sister to death. Why did you give the soulmate and love information to Becca? he asked Vanessa in his mind.
Enjoy, brother, Vanessa replied and cut him off so that he couldn’t use their telepathic bond temporarily.
Sighing, Alexander asked Becca, “Do you believe in vampires?”
She responded with a bright smile, “Yes, I do. Because somewhere in my heart, I know that they exist.”
He was amused by her reply. Usually, people would get scared even hearing that the vampires existed. But Becca wasn’t scared; rather she mentioned with a smile that she believed in the existence of the vampires.
“Why? Aren’t you scared of it?” he asked, to be sure whether she was afraid or not.
She shook her head in denial. “Am I supposed to be?” She further continued, “Also, why are you calling them ‘it’? Though they are not humans, we should respect them because they aren’t objects. As much as we have the right to live in this world, they have it too.”
Alexander hummed in response, impressed by Becca’s answer. He didn’t talk about it further but felt happy that someone respected their existence and wasn’t afraid to say it openly.
“So, as you were saying about your new story. Continue,” Alexander urged her because he wanted to hear her with full attention this time. It was going to be interesting.
Becca continued narrating, “...so the female lead will place her hand over the male lead’s chest like this.” She placed her right hand over Alexander’s chest.
As soon as she placed a hand over his chest, Alexander felt his heartbeat ramping up in speed. His eyes grew wide in terror, realizing that his heart was beating. He stole a glance at Becca and he could feel his rapid heartbeats. He wondered, is she my soulmate? He shook his head, effectively dismissing the thought.
Chapter 16: Childhood Talks
After that realization, Alexander preferred to stay quiet during the entire journey. Becca kept chattering while his replies would be curt. Soon enough, they arrived at their desired destination.
The students got out of the bus one by one. It was almost evening and when Becca stepped out of the bus, she gazed at the trees in awe. “Wow. It reminds me of my home. We have a jungle there too where I always wanted to go explore but Dad never agreed,” she breathed out.
“To whom are you talking to, Becca?” Alexander asked from behind, waiting for Becca to move so that he could get down from the bus.
“Whenever I have something going on in my mind, I just talk. Does it matter whether anybody listens or not?” she questioned Alexander, who shook his head in disbelief. Only Becca would do such nonsensical things.
“Kindly move so that I can get down,” he said with a tight-lipped smile.
“Oh, right.” Becca moved to her left where Lucas was standing with that same girl. “Hey, Lucas. Why don’t you introduce us?”
“This is Julia Armor, and we met each other on the bus. She is an interesting person,” Lucas introduced Julia and looked at her. “This is Becca Hertford, a close friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you, Julia.” Becca extended a hand to greet her.
Julia shook it, even though it was clear she didn’t want to. “Same.” She glanced at her friends on the other side and said, “I am gonna go now.” With that, she walked away.
Becca asked Lucas, “You seem to like her.”
Lucas gave a fake smile, saying, “I will go to her.” He absolutely disliked Julia’s company. The entire time she kept talking about makeup and brands. However, he had to stay with her in order to give Becca and Alexander time.
“Weird,” Becca mumbled under her breath.
“Weirder than you?” Alexander asked all of a sudden, making her jump a little.
“No,” she said and pinched his cheeks. “You are cute.” With that, she started following others, leaving Alexander dumbstruck.
“Did she
just pinch my cheek like a child?” he couldn’t help but question, his hands traveling to his cheeks.
“Yes,” Antonio answered from behind and walked past him.
“Alex, are you waiting for an auspicious moment to walk with us?” Vanessa hollered, having no patience to wait for him with the other students.
Not believing what just happened, he walked towards them, trying to stay away from Becca for the time-being.
###
Reaching a certain point of the jungle, Vanessa and Sebastian started assigning different tasks to everyone.
“Everyone, let’s set up the tents. Lucas and Julia, go to that side of the jungle to find some material for a campfire while Alex and Becca will go to the other side,” Vanessa announced to them. “Collect wood and since we are so tired today, we will just eat some packed food and sleep. Tomorrow, we will do a bonfire.”
“Then why should we collect wood now?” Alexander pointed out, indicating that it might be dangerous.
“Oh…right,” Vanessa said, understanding where he was going with the question. “Let’s set up the tents with our flashlights today. Tomorrow, everyone can enjoy as they want to here while the people I assigned to collect wood shall do their task.” With that, everyone started fixing their tents.
“Here, hold this,” Becca said and gave the flashlight to Alexander. “I will set up the tent.”
“Do you know how to do it?” Alexander asked her.
“No,” she said and started from scratch. “But I want to try and learn.”
He quietly watched Becca struggling to set up the tent all alone. Seeing her foolishness, he chuckled. “I can teach you. I know how,” he offered.
She looked at her with hopeful eyes. “Really?”
He nodded. “Antonio,” he called out.
Antonio rushed to him. “Hey, buddy. What’s up?”
Alexander gave the torch to Antonio. “Hold it while we set up this tent.”
“Okay,” he agreed and grabbed the torch, watching Alexander teaching Becca how to set up the tent.
Becca listened to his every instruction and managed to set up the tent at last.
The Vampire Potion (Vampire World Book 1) Page 8