TESSA’S POV
My eyes fluttered open and a gasp escaped my throat. For the first few seconds, I wasn’t sure where I was. As I blinked to adjust the vision in my eyes, all I could see was the white ceiling, and I could hear the faint noise of the air-conditioner that made the unfamiliar room so cold.
With a light head and weak senses, I had trouble moving myself up.
What happened to me?
My hand moved on to touch my head, only to figure out that there was a patch of gauze wrapped around it. As my fingertips brushed against a part of it, I could only whimper because of the pain brought by it.
Blinking both because of the dizziness and confusion, I tried to remember what happened that led me into this hospital bed. However, it seemed like my brain was too weak to even cooperate with me.
The door of the room swung open. My vampire guardians entered the room while they were discussing some things that I had no idea of.
“Are you sure there is no blood clot or damage in her head?” asked Aunt Alice in her worried tone.
“No, according to the result of her test, her head is normal.”
Aunt Alice sighed a breath of relief as she clutched her chest. “That’s a relief…” She then glanced my way. Her eyes immediately widened upon realizing that I was already awake. “My goodness, Tessa!” she beamed out and walked to the bed. “I’m glad you’re finally awake!”
I could feel the worry of my aunt, seeing how her eyes went teary right away and by how tightly she embraced me as if she had almost lost me. I was still struggling to remember what really happened to me and could not help but be curious about the expression on their faces.
“W-Why am I here in the hospital?” I asked, which made my aunt pull back and wipe her tears.
“You can’t remember anything that has happened, Tessa?” Uncle Harry asked me.
“I… I’m trying,” I said and took a deep breath. The pain in my head seemed to be blocking my mind’s ability to remember anything. “But my head hurts.”
They both glanced at each other. I noticed the confusion from Aunt Alice’s expression, and she looked like questioning my Uncle with such a meaningful stare. However, Uncle Harry only shook his head.
“Don’t force it. You will remember everything once you gain your strength,” he stated.
“But do you recall that we found you on the river shore?” Aunt Alice asked.
I blinked thrice trying to remember what she said, and all I could see were fragments of what happened in that place. “I remember waking up and then I saw you two. T-That’s it.”
“You said someone tried to kill you, Tessa,” Aunt Alice added, and that made me look at her in disbelief. “You said you didn’t jump off that cliff. Do you remember it?”
“Alice, do not force her to remember.”
“I have to.” My heart felt like being wrenched when my vampire aunt sobbed in front of me. “I almost lost my niece and I had to know what really happened!”
“You see, Tessa is still weak. We can investigate once her body recovers,” Uncle Harry added. He then walked towards Aunt Alice, who was sitting on the chair next to the bed, and then soothed her.
My chest felt so heavy. I couldn’t process everything and only forced myself to remember from that morning when I woke up from a wet dream. I was all alone in the house and about to have my breakfast when I felt something unusual in the air. My eyes widened, recalling how the knife moved as if it had a life of its own and tried to harm me… I blinked again, and I remember how fast I tried to run away, but the creature wearing a black cape was still able to find me.
Anxiety went through me as I went down the memory lane. My head definitely hurts because of me forcing myself to remember, but the amount of dread crawling over my skin was way scarier than the physical pain that encounter brought me.
“Tessa?”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and then looked at my aunt. “I… I finally remember.”
“What do you remember, my love?” She asked, seemingly attentive to me. “Tell me and I assure you we won’t let it slide.”
I told them everything I recalled. They were both shocked to hear it all from me, but then the anger became evident from Aunt Alice’s amber eyes. No. She was furious, to the extent that her claws grew out as she screamed to release her emotions.
“Do you remember the face of that creature?” Uncle Harry asked, while he was trying to make Aunt Alice calm.
I shook my head, still feeling the dread running through my body. “That creature wore a black cape, hiding its face.”
“Can I go into your mind and see if I can figure out who it was?” Aunt Alice asked me.
Thinking that it would help us resolve the mystery that led me into this, I nodded my head. She then held my head, and I shut my eyes to relax my mind so she could get into my head. All of us were silent during the process, but then, after a minute, my aunt grunted, making me open my eyes and stare at her in confusion.
“Something powerful is blocking me to review her memory,” she almost yelled in frustration and then turned to Uncle Harry. “How is that even possible? I should be able to see her memory!”
Even my uncle was confused. “Let me try.”
But Uncle Harry got nothing as well. I bit my lower lip, as I could not help but be worried and feel sorry for them at the same time. I knew they were worried about me. To think that there was a person who wanted to kill me and was unscathed gave me all the creeps.
Who in the world was that creature? Why did it want to kill me?
What did I do?
“Do you think it had something to do with the mating season?”
“Alice, what are you even thinking?”
I looked up at Aunt Alice. Her jaw was clenched as she tried to connect all the dots…
“Could it be the Luna?”
Uncle Harry shook his head. “Alice, we cannot suspect anyone without valid evidence.”
“But she hates my niece. Didn’t you see how she stared at Tessa the other night? Because it seemed to be like she was planning something, and here it is!”
“They don’t have the powers to block vampires from reading someone’s thoughts, Alice. It’s not them. It’s something else…”
“Then who can it be, Harry? Why is it targeting my niece? Tessa didn’t do anything wrong!”
I wanted to speak up, at least to soothe my aunt as she was totally freaking out, but no words of assurance could come out of my mouth. It would be a lie to say that I was not affected and scared by this mystery. It made me afraid of dying, and the unwelcome feeling of dread kept wrapping around my chest, making it hard for me to breathe normally.
My vampire guardians were in the middle of discussion. Aunt Alice had accused anyone who popped into her mind when a knock on the door interrupted them. They both fell quiet when the door opened, and Cohen entered the room with some flowers and fruits in his hands.
And just like that, my world seemed to have stopped moving. My gaze focused on the future Beta, who was giving me a worried stare.
“I’m here to check how my mate is,” he said without breaking our eye contact.
Aunt Alice breathed heavily. “Sure, Cohen. We’ll leave to give you time to speak with her.”
My heart went crazy went my guardians left the room. Cohen walked near me, wearing a smile that made me forget all the worries that suffocated me awhile ago.
“How are you, Tess?”
Tess…
Why did it sound so comforting whenever he called my name?
Swallowing hard, I mustered the courage to offer him a smile and answered, “I think I’m good. There’s just a throbbing pain on my head but it’s bearable.”
He let out a sigh of relief, sat on the chair next to the bed, and held my hand. That made me look at him in a daze.
“I’m so worried about you. Your guardians didn’t let me in a few hours ago since you were still unconscious. But I’m so happy to see you awake now…” he said softly, making my heart skip a beat.
I didn’t know what to say… Damn, how could a future Beta look so appealing now that he was worried about me?
How come he made me forget all the crazy stuff that happened to me with just a simple stare in his eyes?
This feels so crazy… But I wouldn’t deny that I like it.
I like him…