July 28^th. Cloudy evening. James arrives back to St. Lithe orphanage on his carriage. He stops the horses and gets out of the carriage and sees Theresa standing outside the sanctuary, and walks towards her with bags in his hands. He set his bags down on the steps while Theresa walks to embrace James with a hug.

“Welcome back, James.” She greets him as she takes one of his bags. “How was your holiday?”

“It was okay.” He responds. “It’s beautiful up there. A lot of forest and waterfalls. I’m thinking about moving up there.”

Theresa chuckles as she and James walk inside, little did they know that Delianna could see them through the bushes from afar, since she was eavesdropping on the conversation the moment James arrived. She then decides to wait until James came out by himself.

.   .   .

Inside the sanctuary, Theresa and Deborah helped James put his belongings in the room that was reserved for him before he left.

“Is there anything else that you have on the carriage still?” Theresa asks.

“Just small things.” James replies. “I’ll bring them in myself. Also, where’s Father Nyris?”

“At the memorial pyre getting Harland’s ashes.” Deborah replies. “The funeral for Harland was a couple hours ago. If you want, you can go and pay your respects at the pyre.”

“Okay, but let’s finish this first.”

.   .   .

As James walks outside towards the carriage to get the last of his stuff, he hears a rustle in the bushes. He turns looking at the area where he heard the rustling and sees Delianna emerge from the bushes with a smile on her face. Seeing her face made James smile back and walk to her and embraced her in a hug.

“Oh, Delianna. How I have missed you.” He greets. “You know, we’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

Delianna chuckles. “Yes, I know. How was your day? I haven’t seen you in a bit, but I did get your letter.”

“My day was fine. Sorry you haven’t seen me in a while. The letter was to tell you I was in the Kianu region.”

“Really? What for?”

“I was up there with my family for a week.”

Delianna’s smile fades and she lets go of James. James becomes slightly confused by her body language.

“Delianna. What’s the matter?” James asks.

“Nothing…” Delianna replies in a low tone holding her arm.

“Is it because I was gone for a while?”

“No… It’s not that.”

“Then what? Just so you know, you’re the only woman that I can’t read.”

Delianna puts her head down, and James sees a red aura forming around her.

“Delianna?” James calls worriedly.

“It’s nice to know you have family and friends to fall on.” Delianna sneers.

“Does that… anger you or something? Are you jealous about that?”

Delianna does not respond and turns her head the other way.

“Come on, Delianna. There’s no need to be jealous about that.” He explains. “I know you’ve met Father Nyris, and he’s doesn’t discriminate against vampires. When I went up north, I told my parents about you; they are more than willing to meet you the next time I go up there. If that’s what bothers you, then I’ll make sure you can meet them; they can also be your friends and family as well.”

“I… don’t… know… them.” Delianna responds sternly.

“You can get to know them as they get to know you.”

“I don’t… want to know them…”

James was confused by her response and became annoyed with her sense of logic. He then notices something due to her body language. “Have you… dealt with something back in your past, Delianna?”

Delianna’s head quickly turns to James with her eyes glowing crimson red, and exposing her fangs. “What does that have to do with anything?!”

James backs away with his hands up when Delianna snapped at him.

“I’m just asking, Del…” He carefully responds. “Your body is telling me that.”

Delianna’s eyes stopped glowing, and her fangs retracted back. Her facial expression softens from anger to sadness. “You’re right, James.”

James lowers his hands after her response, and starts to hold her hands softly. “Then tell me. Just tell me. What happened to you?”

Delianna takes a deep breath and exhales. “Just know that I had an abusive parent, I’ve been assaulted by men, and I saw my only friend get killed. Even as a vampire, those memories haunt me to no end, and they will never stop playing in my mind; they’re always ongoing. Anyone that I meet, something bad happens to them.”

James becomes saddened hearing Delianna’s experiences, and feels sympathetic to Delianna’s pain. He also felt that it was the right time to tell her what he truly wanted to say. “Marry me.”

Delianna looks at him in confused shock. “What?!”

“It’s something I wanted to tell you when I got back…” James explains. “With everything that you’ve been through, and what you’ve shown me, I feel the need to… make you feel some semblance of normalcy. I want to do that for you. I know I’m not a rich man, and I don’t have a ring to give you, but I can make you feel at home here. Also, I know you like to have your days when you want to be by yourself, but I want you to know, at the least, you have someone to come back to. I know… I’m not your first, but I know I want to be your only, and if you want, I am willing to… become like you.”

Delianna looks at him carefully to see that James was serious in what he said, but in her mind, James would not be able to handle everything that she lived through in her human life, let alone her vampire existence. “Don’t, James.”

“Don’t what?” James replies confused.

“You don’t need you to become intertwined in my affairs. Your sympathy in my plight is noted, but in what has happened, I don’t think we should see each other anymore…”

“What?... Why?!”

“Because you wish to be in a battle that isn’t yours, and you don’t know how much pain I’ve been through. The memories I have are things that I can never get over, especially as a vampire. So, that’s why, and I’m sure your priest is a good man along with the rest of your family, but it’s best that you don’t fall in love, let alone marry someone with that kind of baggage.”

James sighs at Delianna’s statement, but was able to understand. Realizing the reason why she never wanted to come into the sanctuary; besides being a vampire, it was her trauma.

“I understand…” He responds. “Will… will you be alright by yourself? If you want, the doors here are always--”

“Yes, I will be alright.” She interrupts. “I don’t plan on coming here to confess. So, you have a nice life. Okay?”

James slowly nodded. “You too, Del, but let me tell you something.”

“What?”

“Your trauma doesn’t make you, Delianna. You have to learn how to rise above them. Because if you don’t, you’ll repeat the cycle over and over again, hurting yourself and the ones close to you in the process.”

She lets those words sink in as their hands let go of each other. Delianna then turns away from James, and quickly sprints into the woods. As she was away from his view, James felt a couple of tears fall down his face which he wipes away, and takes the last of his stuff off the carriage, going inside the orphanage.

.   .   .

After getting his belongings inside his room, James walks to the memorial pyre that was behind the cathedral. He meets up with Nyris, tapping him on the shoulder, making Nyris turn and become elated when he sees James.

“Welcome back, my boy.” Nyris greets. “How was your holiday with your family?”

“It was great.” James replied. “My parents and I talked about the events that happened in the 22 years along with my aunt. We looked at the stars as my mother talked about the constellations. My father and I had a man to man talk. What I needed to do to be a better man; especially since I… was with Delianna.”

Nyris looks at him bewildered. “Was?”

“We’re… no longer together. I knew it was going to happen, but I didn’t know it would happen after the holiday.”

Nyris puts his hand on James’ shoulder. “I’m sorry, son.”

“No need to be, Father. It was mutual.”

James then sees Nyris held a leather pouch in his left hand which James predicted was Harland’s ashes. Nyris then holds up the pouch, and gives it to James. James places his head on the pouch, closes his eyes and prays silently. James then opens his eyes looking at the pouch.

“Thank you for your generosity and hospitality, Harland.” He speaks silently. “May you rest in peace with our maker.”

James then gives the pouch to Nyris. “Did the king’s men find who killed Harland?”

“No, unfortunately.” Nyris responds. “But they believe a vampire killed him. They’re still searching.”

James begins to wonder who would kill Harland as he and Nyris walks back into the cathedral.

.   .   .

Nighttime. Rainy night. As James gets ready for bed, he takes out his tarot cards and places them on the table. He sets five cards faced down, then turns the first card over.

“Of course, I’m going back to fortune telling for my clients.” James comments.

He turns over the second card. “Looks like I’ll be staying here until next April. I guess because I need to make and save money and leave, which I’m in no hurry.”

He turns over the third card which makes him uneasy. “That’s… not good. Something bad will happen here?”

He turns over the fourth card which made his breathing now uneven. “… What? No. What will happen to me?”

He then slowly turns over the last card which calms him down, but makes him confused. “I… have some opportunity and… a chance for revenge. Revenge for what? On whom?”

He feels uneasy in his chest, and takes the cards off the table, setting them back in his bag and gets into his bed, and tries not to think about what he just read about himself. As he tries to go to sleep, his mind continues to race, because he knew if he tried to stop the fate that was set, something was bound to happen and unknowingly end. The only thing that he could do was wait and prepare for what would happen as he puts his hands together, and closes his eyes to pray.