Chapter 77 - The Twin's Origin
Laura looked over her shoulder and smiled at the newcomer.
Rebecca lowered herself on the chair facing the bed. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Laura nodded her head. "Yes. Have you gone to sleep?"
Rebecca shook her head. "No. Graven and I went back to the woods to check if more vampires or other trespassers are hiding there..."
"And did you find anything?" Laura inquired.
"No. I think those vampires are just wanderer who happens to come to the woods when we're also going there. I call it wrong timing. We went there at the wrong time," Rebecca explained.
"I see..." Laura murmured. She looked at the woman's face. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked.
"Let me hear your question first..." Rebecca said.
Laura cleared her throat. "What kind of being is Graven? I want to know the truth. He's not human, isn't it?" she asked because she already had a suspicion that he is hiding behind a facade.
"Are you suspecting that Graven is not human?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes..." Laura replied.
"In what way? That you suspected him?"
"B-because... he managed to save you when your clan was annihilated. This means the people who annihilated your entire clan are not ordinary humans, they must belong to a powerful clan. Judging by the astonishing power you displayed inside the cave, there must be other clans more powerful than you. Graven needs to be more powerful above anyone else to save you from the clutches of your enemy. The fact that he and his men interfered on your behalf to save you - that means he and his men were not mere human beings..." Laura said.
Rebecca smiled. "You're a smart girl. The fact that you're able to connect the dot and fit the puzzle together, then there's no need for me to deny you the truth anymore. But you must promise me one thing..." she said.
"What is it?"
"What I'm about to tell you... You must keep it a secret between us. Do not tell anyone about Graven's true persona, even his family adopted doesn't know about his real identity," Rebecca said.
Laura nodded her head. "Yes. I swear that everything that you're going to tell me today, I'll keep it a secret till the day I die. I won't tell Graven that I already know about his secret. I'll pretend that I know nothing about his identity. You can be rest assured that I'm sticking to my oath no matter what," she said.
"Good," Rebecca was pleased with the sincerity she saw in the woman's face.
"So...what is Graven's real identity?" Laura asked curiously.
"He's crossbred...an offspring between a vampire queen and a demon king," Rebecca answered.
Laura's eyes widened. She now realized why Graven possessed a mysterious, hypnotic, and magnetic devilish aura around him that is hard to resist. "Now I know why..." she muttered to herself.
"Why?"
Laura glanced at Rebecca. "Now I know why he got that mysterious devilish aura around him," she responded.
Rebecca smiled smugly. "I know the effects of Graven to women. They find his aura irresistible and magnetic. They can't resist his charm. The combination of vampire and demon blood running through his veins is potent and deadly," she explained.
"Exactly! It must be hard for you to ward off those women admiring your handsome fiancee..." Laura commented casually.
After hearing Laura's amusing comment, Rebecca erupted in peals of laughter. "Actually... it's fun! But let's not go on with the details. I don't like talking about this topic," she said.
After a while, Laura turned silent. Then a question popped up in her mind, she said it aloud. "If Graven is crossbred... then...his twin brother is also a descendant of vampires and demons? Am I right?" she asked.
Rebecca nods her head. "Yep! You got it right!" she said. "So, how does it feel to love Luke which is a demon and vampire crossbred?"
Laura was stupefied for a few minutes. She was clear with her decision not to enter into a relationship with non-human beings, but that was before, when she met Luke, all her inhibitions flew outside the window. Now she finally realized that she is capable of loving someone - human or not.
She released a deep sigh. Now that she knows Luke's identity, she wants to know how come Graven was adopted by a human being like Sir Nicholas?
"Why Graven was found abandoned in a hut in the middle of the forest and got adopted by Sir Nicholas? Is that even true?" Laura asked.
Rebecca's brows furrowed for a moment, then she began her narration. "Yeah, that's quite true. During that time, the queen of vampires was still a princess, and then she met and fell in love with a demon which is prohibited in their clan during that time. She got pregnant with the demon king's children and had given birth to a twin in secret.
She can't let everyone know that she bore a crossbred because it would only mean death for the twins and severe punishment for her. So she left the baby in the care of a childless human couple that she befriended in the forest.
Then the princess returned to their clan and married a vampire king. Years passed, the twins grow up into fine young boys, the pride of the childless couple. One day, savage vampires arrived in the forest and killed the couple, the twins during that time was gathering firewood nearby. They returned home to discover their human adoptive parents were killed by the savage vampires.
One of the savage vampires returned and tried to capture the twins. He ended up chasing the two boys all over the forest. He lost track of them and gives up finding them, then left the forest for good.
For obvious reasons, the twins got separated.
A few days later, Graven returned to the hut alone and buried the remains of his adoptive parents in the backyard. He waited days and nights, weeks and months for his twin to come back. Unfortunately, Luke did not return.
Until one day, humans arrived in the hut to ask for drinking water, Sir Nicholas was one of them. Graven gave them clean drinking water, which he gathered from the stream nearby.
Sir Nicholas took pity on the orphaned boy and brought him home, and later on, adopted him legally to carry his name.
Years went by.
Graven was an adult already and got abundant resources at his disposal. His power was already awakened in full force. He and his men spend days searching the vast forest looking for the whereabouts of his twin.
Finally, the twin's path crossed one day in the forest when Luke visited the hut where his adoptive human parents were buried. The twins met there.
As it turns out... The young boy Luke terrified of coming back to the hut, wandered into faraway places and only returned to the hut in the forest when his power was fully awakened at the age of 18 years old. He returned to the hut a few times but was unlucky and unable to meet his twin.
Then one day, when he was already 25 years old, that was the time the twins got reunited at last in the hut. It was a happy reunion for them.
Graven didn't introduce his twin to Sir Nicholas or Cooper. Luke continues to live in one of his brother's property lavished by his affection. Luke's hobby is visiting many different cities and only returning home when he's tired from his endless travel.
During his travel, he meets strange people and befriends different personalities. He reached far-flung places and lives in different towns. He is a wanderer at heart.
Then one day.
Luke returned home and got bedridden. He was struck with a strange illness. Graven was devastated by what happened to his beloved twin. Until one day, Luke's body finally succumbs to the strange illness and died..."
A knocked on the door interrupted Rebecca's narration.
Both women looked at the door.