BXBX NOVEL Chapter 79 - The Truth!
Rebecca sighed. "If Luke suddenly resurrected after he died then, you are making love to a real person..." she replied.
"What do you mean?" Laura asked in confusion.
"I have a feeling that Luke makes love to you in his spirit form and uses his twin brother's body to make his fantasy a reality," Rebecca made her conclusion.
Laura's eyes widened in shock. Huh? Did she make love to Graven himself? That would be absurd. But Rebecca's theory has a touch of reality to it. Now that they are on this topic, she finds it awkward when Graven's fiancee was talking about such a sensitive topic with her. They were discussing her fiancee making love to her, yet she didn't even see an ounce of anger or jealousy in Rebecca's eyes. She was amazed by the woman's strange attitude towards Graven.
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. There was a strong need for her to change this awkward topic. "Hmm, Rebecca. I'm sorry if that is the case. I have no intention to grab Graven's attention or take him away from you," she apologized and defended herself.
A smile appeared on Rebecca's lips. "Hey, no need to feel the shame of what happened between you and Graven. You were both tricked by Luke's spirit. Besides I'm not the possessive and jealous type of girlfriend," she assured her.
Laura felt a little bit better after hearing Rebecca's assurance. She found her understanding and open-mindedness refreshing and out of this world.
Rebecca looked at Laura's face closely. What if Luke's spirit was lurking somewhere that a naked eye can't even see? He must be following Laura everywhere. She might as well ask her the next question. "Is there any mysterious happenings in your life lately?" she inquired.
Laura's brows snapped together. Then her face blanched fearing where their conversation would lead to. She analyzed Rebecca's sincerity. So far the woman has been generously supplying her information about Luke, she feels that she can trust her.
"Rebecca, I have to be completely honest with you. Something weird and frightening happened to me lately," she confessed.
"What is it?" Rebecca rose to her feet and sat on the edge of the bed beside Laura. "Tell me everything. Don't worry, you can trust me with your secret," she urged her, trying to gain her trust.
Laura sighed. "There is an entity that is bothering me, he can take shapes or copy a human form. I think he is a spirit dwelling in the mirror. He copied Luke's appearance many times. He left me a single stem of rose a few times in my room. Sometimes he will leave it on my pillow or above the dresser table. Due to fear, I never told anyone about this strange and scary phenomenon, not even my family. To prevent him from disturbing me, I ended up covering all the mirrors in my room so that he can't pester me anymore," she explained.
Rebecca's eyes widened with Laura's revelation.
Laura smiled at Rebecca. "Good thing this room has no dresser table with mirror," she added. "If you noticed the covered mirror in my room - that's the reason why," she said.
Rebecca was quiet while listening to Laura's revelation. "You mentioned of a shapeshifter spirit? Is that what you think inhabiting the mirror in your bedroom?"
"Yea, does the spirit of that kind exist in this world?" Laura asked.
Rebecca nods her head. "Yes. There are being that exist in this world like me demons, vampires, and many more," she admitted.
Laura doesn't want to put her companion in a tight spot. But she was suspicious of that grave in the woods. "Are you sure that the tomb that we had seen in the middle of the clearing in the woods is Luke's grave? Why do I have a feeling that you are lying to me? Are you telling the truth or just making things up? Did Graven told you to lie to me and hide the truth?" she asked her.
Rebecca released a deep sigh and squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, she's ready, to tell the truth. She shrugged. "Well, it seemed it's hard to lie to you. The truth is the tomb you see in the woods in the old cemetery is intended for Luke. But on the day he died, he asked his brother to bring his coffin to a cave instead," she said.
Laura lifted an eyebrow. "What cave? Where is that cave located? And why would Luke insist that his coffin be brought there? What's special about that cave?" she bombarded her with questions.
Rebecca smiled a bit. "Here we are again. You are getting excited, you dumped so many questions on my head again. Can you take it slow?" she said.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm carried away. Let's start with my first question. Where is the cave located?" Laura asked.
"It's located a thousand miles from the hut where the human couple raised the twin brothers."
"What's special in that cave?"
"Luke stumbled on it when he was hiding and stayed there for years. He thought the vampire who chased after him already found his brother and killed him. That cave becomes his refuge," answered Rebecca.
"What's so special about that cave?"
"There was a cold spring in that cave. Luke loves to bath in that spring."
"I see...does Graven knew the existence of that cave?"
Rebecca shook her head. "No. Only Luke knew about the existence of that cave. Before he died, he was able to draw a clear sketch of how to find the cave. When we brought his body to the cave, that was the first time Graven and I saw the interior of the cave."
"So...did you bury his body beneath the ground of the cave?" asked Laura.
"No. Luke has specific instruction - he wants the coffin to be placed in the water itself. He wants to be surrounded by the spring water."
Laura's eyes widened in bewilderment. "Huh? But why?"
"How I wish I know the reason why," Rebecca answered.
"Is the water in the spring, warm, hot, or cold?" she asked.
"It's cold spring water... I heard Luke mentioned a few days before he died that the cold spring water can preserve his body. I didn't believe it and Graven didn't believe it as well. So we ignored his blabbering..."
A line appeared between Laura's brows. "Tell me...did Luke died five years ago or just recently? Please stop feeding me lies, I want to hear the truth this time," she pleaded.
Rebecca stared at Laura's pleading eyes for a few minutes, debating if telling her the truth is the right thing to do. She already told her a lot. "Promise me that you won't tell Graven anything. Just pretend that you knew nothing of his death. If you can keep your mouth shut then I'm willing to tell you the truth," she said.
"Of course, I swear that everything you told me today won't reach Graven's ears. I'll carry our secret to my grave. I don't want Graven to get mad at you," she said and made an oath in front of her.
Rebecca was satisfied with the sincerity she saw in Laura's eyes. "Alright, since you were able to convince me with your sincerity then I'll tell you the truth now. Luke didn't die five years ago. He died last year. His first death anniversary will be next month," she revealed.
Laura gaped. So, Luke died recently, not five years ago?
"Five years ago or just last year doesn't matter. The truth is - Luke is gone," Rebecca said.
Laura breathed deeply. The woman's statement penetrated her heart painfully. Indeed, Luke is already a dead man. "You are right..." she finally said. "Although my heart finally accepted that he already died, I still want to see his coffin one last time," she declared.
Rebecca snorted. "What is there to see inside his coffin? His flesh must have been decayed by now, there is nothing there to see but a skeleton," she said.
"I just want to see his coffin. We don't need to open the casket," Laura suggested.
"But the cave is dangerous! After we placed the coffin in the cold water and about to leave the cave, snakes of all sizes came out from their hiding place and blocked our way. We almost died there, the good thing is, Graven is with us. He roasted the snakes into ashes while we run outside. We are taken by surprise by the sheer number of snakes inhabiting that cave because when we entered it, we don't see a single snake in the mouth of the cave," narrated Rebecca.
"Is there any other way to enter the cave without worrying about the snakes?" Laura asked, still very much interested to go to the cave.
Rebecca sighed. "No other way, unless you can convince Graven to bring you with him when he is going to visit the cave. But I warned you, he doesn't know that I told you the truth now," she said.
The truth is, she knew a way how to enter the cave without worrying about the snakes. She found an alchemist who concocted a potion oil, once a person rubbed it all over his body parts the snakes will stay away and hide. The snakes dislike the smell of the oil so much. Graven already purchase a few bottles of it and they used it effectively when they come to visit the cave, six months ago.
On the downside, the oil's effectiveness will only last for fifteen minutes max once exposed to the air. So one needs to keep rubbing the oil all over the body so that the snakes won't launch a frenzied attack on anyone who invades the cave, which is kind of cumbersome.
"How did Luke survives hiding in the cave for a long time surrounded by those poisonous snakes?" Laura inquired, feeling confused.
"Luke didn't mention the snake before. I guess the snakes migrated into the cave during those times when Luke already left the cave and begin his wandering. That's just my theory," Rebecca answered.