Chapter 20

Athena's Point of View

Arius encircled my waist with his hands. His chin was already on my shoulder which made me bite my upper lips. I was trying to stop myself from smiling. I won't allow myself to fall from his hands.

“We can create new memories here, Athena. This place would be a good start.”

Arius started to speak again which made my face flushed. I didn't know what to say. I was still distracted by what he's doing now.

“I never expected that you also had a house here in the middle of nowhere, Arius.”

Finally, I made up my mind to speak. Arius spun me in front of him, so I was forced to stare at him. Our eyes met each other. The way I look at him deep into his eyes, it seemed like he's taking all the strength that was left in me. It seems like I don't want to remove my gaze to him.

“I am a vampire, Athena. I have so many houses all over the town because I couldn't stay permanently in the same place. If ever that the mundane knows about our existence, then we need to go away. However, there's a place where all my kinds were safe. I don't want to stay in that place because I want to be alone. I choose to stay outside of that place.”

Arius started to tell me about his life, and I couldn't prevent myself from being interested in listening to his story. I wanted to know more about him. I want to know Arius and his past. Maybe this is now the perfect time for me to get to know him better.

“If you mind, Arius… I want to know how old you are now?” I inquired that made him smile.

“I will tell you everything when we reach inside, Athena. This is not the perfect place for us to talk.”

I blushed from what Arius had told me. I was about to say something when he already pulled me inside of the house. In just a few seconds, we are already inside the house. Arius settled down on the long couch, so I also did the same thing.

“So, would you answer my query earlier, Arius?”

I queried, that made him smile. Arius turned his gaze in my direction. He looked at me for about a minute before he decided to speak up.

“I have been living for a thousand years already in the world, Athena. I have been a king for so many decades and I went through so many struggles in life.”

I could feel my mouth agape from what he uttered. I couldn't even believe that Arius was already living so many years in this world. He went through so many things already. He met so many people and most importantly, he already met many women in his life.

I don't understand myself either. Why do I feel saddened by that thought? What is going on? What is the meaning of this?

“If you're living for a thousand years… Have you met too many women, right?”

Arius' brows furrowed by what I inquired of him. But after a couple of minutes, he was already smirking.

“Yes, I already met several women in the past, Athena. But no one of them captured my heart. No one from them made me feel love, and it's impossible for me to love them because I'm dead. I am a vampire, and we don't have a heart.”

Arius explained that made me sigh. I just can't imagine myself talking to a vampire. I can't imagine listening to the story of a vampire.

“That's not true, Arius.”

He furrowed his brows from what I uttered to him. Arius was waiting for my continuation, so I let out a sigh first before I responded to him.

“It's not real that you don't have a heart because as far as I know, Arius has a heart. If you didn't have a heart, you would never save my life. You will never protect me from anyone. So, I believe that you have a heart, Arius.”

Arius couldn't believe what he heard. I was also shocked because those words came out of me. I couldn't imagine myself talking to a vampire and saying words that I wouldn't imagine coming out of me.

“I don't know, Athena because what's important to me now is that I am happy. I am happy because you're there beside me. You made me realize so many things, Athena, and I couldn't believe that you would bring so many changes to my life.”

I looked away after hearing those words from Arius. I can't stare at him deep into his eyes because if I do that, I know I would lose myself.

My mission to him, to all of them, would remain the same. I have no plans of retreating just because of this weird thing that I felt for him. Yes, I know something was different. When I first met him, I could feel my anger when I saw his face. But now? It's weird because the anger that I have felt for him started to fade away.

“W-what, are you talking about, Arius? What you are saying is wrong. Let's stop this and focus on other things,”

Arius let out a sigh from what I mentioned. Thankfully, he didn't insist on continuing about what he uttered earlier. I just didn't want to talk about it for now. I am not ready yet to discover what I really felt.

“I will accompany you to your room, Athena.”

Arius got up from sitting on the couch, so I also did the same thing. I felt relieved because we had already stopped our conversation earlier. I just wanted to avoid that our conversation would dig deeper which would be the reason for me to lose myself. I didn't want to lose to him. I should win the game that I started.

Arius started walking to where the room of this house could be. This house is amazingly beautiful. It's modern and this is far from what I thought could be the vampire's house.

My mind was too preoccupied about something that I didn't notice I already bumped into something, which caused my legs to slip.