chapter 20 : The Revelation

After the big revelation game��truth and dare, everyone decided to call it a night and went to their respective tents. It had been three hours since then.
Becca and Vanessa were sharing a tent.
��Are you enjoying the trip so far, Becca?�� Vanessa asked Becca, lying next to her.
Becca said to her, ��It is going awesome, so far. You know, Ness, I am loving it here. I can finally experience freedom.��
Vanessa chuckled. ��I am so happy that you are loving it. As long as you are my roomie, you will have a lot to experience. Are you willing to explore the world of independence with me, Becca Hertford?��
Becca felt her head spinning slightly; it was definitely because of the roasted marshmallows and the hot sandwiches she had. She wasn��t supposed to eat warm food, but she couldn��t control the temptation of it.
��Becca, are you okay?�� she asked, seeing that Becca didn��t respond to her. ��Are you feeling okay?��
��No,�� Becca answered. ��I just need a walk or some fresh air, I guess. This tent seems to suffocate me.�� She was about to get out of the tent.
��Okay,�� Vanessa said. ��Just stay near the camp. Don��t go too far since it is after midnight.��
Becca nodded her head and got out of the tent. She took a deep breath, trying to relax for a while. ��Why hasn��t eating warm food affected me yet?�� she mumbled to herself. ��I should call Alex and see whether he is asleep or not. If he isn��t, then maybe we can go on a walk towards the dark forest. With him, I feel secure.��
She dialed Alexander��s number on her phone. She frowned when he didn��t receive her call. Her phone had only one bar as she was standing in an open space. Maybe he doesn��t have a network, but if he didn��t, the call wouldn��t ring in the first place, she thought.
��Guys!�� someone hollered all of a sudden, making her shudder.
Becca looked at Greneia, one of her classmates, who was standing near the bonfire. Fear was written all over her face. She called out once again, ��Guys, please come out.�� Tears dripped from her eyes.
Becca rushed to her while others started to come out of the tents after their sleep was broken by her shrieking.
��What��s wrong?�� asked Becca.
Greneia breathed out while sobbing, ��Julia is missing.��
��What do you mean she is missing?�� Lucas questioned, walking closer to her. ��What exactly happened?��
��Julia went out in search of a phone signal since there was barely any reception here, but she never returned. It has been two hours since then,�� Greneia explained. ��I tried calling her, but it was out of reach.��
��What did she need a signal for in the first place?�� Vanessa grumbled. ��For God��s sake, we were here to enjoy ourselves, and get away, not keep posting on social media about our whereabouts. Is that why she needed reception? To post pictures online?��
Greneia stayed silent, her silence answering Vanessa��s question.
��Okay, instead of panicking, let��s make a plan on how to search for Julia. We cannot search for her at this hour, but we have to stay awake together because we cannot be sure that another one of us won��t go missing,�� Sebastian said to those gathered around.
��Yes, you are right. We should stay around the bonfire till it��s dawn,�� Antonio said and other students agreed.
��Nessa, can I talk to you for a second?�� Lucas said to her.
Vanessa nodded her head and walked towards him.
Becca was a bit away from them, yet she put her entire focus on them, wanting to hear their conversation.
��What is it, Lucas?�� Vanessa asked him.
He leaned closer to her ear and whispered, ��When I woke up, Alex wasn��t there as well.��
A gasp escaped from Becca��s lips after hearing it. She had no idea how she could hear what Lucas said, but all she could think of was Alexander being lost. She had to find him before it was too late. It was a scary jungle and even though she didn��t worry that much about Julia, she had to look for Alexander. Her heart clenched at the thought of him getting hurt.
Without hearing anything else, Becca dashed towards the dark forest. She decided to look for Alexander alone and if possible, she would find Julia too. She turned on the flashlight of her phone, hoping to find any clues about Alexander or Julia��s whereabouts. Please stay safe, she prayed silently.
Meanwhile, in the camp, Vanessa said to Lucas, ��Take care of Becca. I will try to contact Alex.��
��Becca?�� Lucas arched an eyebrow in confusion. ��Aren��t we supposed to protect the other students?��
��Lucas, all the vampires know about the vampire potion now and they are after Becca,�� she informed him. ��We need to protect her. Don��t worry about these students. I am here to protect them.��
��What about Julia?�� Lucas inquired.
��If I contact Alex, he can find Julia,�� she said to him.
Lucas nodded his head and mumbled, ��Unless he was the one who took her.��
Vanessa��s eyes grew wider in terror, knowing that Lucas might be right. What if Alexander was the one who made Julia go missing?
Lucas looked around to find Becca. He asked a few students whether they knew where Becca was. When none of them had seen her, he asked Antonio, ��Hey, did you see Becca?��
��Yes, I saw her going that way.�� Antonio pointed towards the woods.
��Why didn��t you stop her?�� Lucas questioned him.
��I thought that she was the brave one and went to look for Julia alone,�� Antonio reasoned. ��I would have gone with her, but I didn��t have enough courage so����
Lucas interrupted him, ��Stop your fucking whining.�� He glared at Antonio. ��If something happens to her, I will bury you right here after I make you dig your own grave.��
Antonio gulped in fear, silently praying for Becca��s welfare.
Lucas went over to Vanessa and whispered to her, ��I am heading towards the woods to look for Becca. She went in there alone.��
��No, wait,�� she stopped him. ��If you go as well, what will I tell the others? Don��t worry about Becca. I am sure if she has the vampire potion, she is strong enough to protect herself. I just realized that. So don��t panic, just wait here with me. Otherwise, if we are under attack, I can��t fight all of them alone. I will need your help.��
��Are you sure Becca can protect herself?�� he questioned.
��Lucas, we are so dumb. Becca can protect herself. She is strong and she has to realize it by herself. If she couldn��t protect herself, how can this precious gift be bestowed on her?�� she pointed out.
��What about Julia? Did you talk to Alex?��
She sighed. ��I tried, but I failed. We cannot do anything till dawn.��
Shaking his head in disappointment, Lucas decided to stay with the other students. Vanessa was right after all. Becca didn��t need the protection, the vampire potion needed it. And if the potion was with her, it meant that she knew how to protect it, whether Becca was aware of it or not. Her heart would protect the potion.
Julia didn��t realize when she lost consciousness. She had slipped on a dry piece of wood on the ground because she couldn��t see anything in front of her. Her head had hit a stone, which caused her to lose consciousness.
Alexander, who was walking nearby, sensed the strong smell of human blood. He followed the smell and found Julia unconscious. He wanted to help her, but as soon as his eyes fell on the fresh red blood, which he could see, thanks to the moon peeking out from the clouds, his eyes turned red.
He tried to turn his eyes back to green, but failed miserably when the bleeding didn��t stop. He was craving for the human blood and it was right in front of him. His eyes transformed into red glowing orbs and fangs dropped down from his gums. He leaned closer to Julia and sank his fangs into her neck, starting to drain her blood.
In the meantime, Becca��s instincts told her to go to the same place from where she collected wood along with Alexander. She decided to follow her instincts and cautiously started making her way to that area of the jungle.
��Was it left from here or right? All these paths look the same,�� Becca informed herself. Since it was night-time, she was unable to recognize any landmarks. Her heart told her to head to the left, so chanting a few prayers, she decided to follow her heart and took a left turn.
While taking tentative steps, she finally reached that place. She was happy to follow her heart because she arrived at the correct destination. She could feel a strong emotion, the one she always tended to feel when Alexander was nearby.
��I knew you would be here, Ale���� she stopped midway after pointing the flashlight towards Alexander. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. A gasp escaped her lips and she covered her mouth with her hand.
Annoyed with the sudden light flashing over him, Alexander looked at the person who pointed the flashlight at him and hissed. He saw Becca standing there.
Becca watched blood dripping from Alexander��s fangs and his eyes red like blood. She pointed the flashlight at the person who was lying on the ground, only to find Julia unconscious, and her neck had the same bite mark as the other two students she noticed before.
Seeing her, Alexander��s fangs disappeared at that instant and his eyes returned back to green. He got up and walked towards her. ��Bec����
Before he could say something, Becca felt her head spinning as her vision started going dark. She let go of the flashlight and fainted straight into Alexander��s arms.