George
"What are you doing here?" I ask through my gritted teeth.
I wrap my fingers around Joaquin's neck. I know I can't kill him. But, my mind is filled with anger. He used my Aunt. He tried to kill me. And now, he's right in front of me.
"What are you doing here?" I repeat and grip the vampire's neck tighter.
"Es," he starts as he taps my hands, "...peranza told me to meet you here."
"How!? Why!? You know her?" I'm confused. How would she know him? After all this time, she knew them?
Joaquin put his hands between my arms. He pushes my arms away from his neck. Due to his force, I stepped back a bit.
"Goodness," he fixes the neckline of his turtle neck before clearing his throat. His gaze lands on me. I ball my fist to stop myself from attacking him again.
"What brought you here?" I say as I walk towards the lake.
"Doing errands. I told you, your mother says I have to meet you here, instead of her. She said there's an urgent stuff that she has to finish."
Huh. As if.
His arms touch my shoulder as he stands beside me.
"I guess you have enjoyed your stay here quite well that you forgot I can hear what's in your mind," he says as he crosses his arms.
"Right," I say as I sidestep away from him.
He chuckles and puts his hands on his waist, moving his long black coat back. "Hah, I thought I outsmarted a witch," he says as he breathes through his nostrils. "Turns out it's the other way around. I thought I got a spy in this forest, " he continues and looks around.
Silence.
"Instead, I am the informant," he says as he points at himself.
"What is it?" I ask and cross my arms on my chest. By the look of his eyes, he seems tired. The vampire in front of me looks youthful as always. But there are hints of lonesome and tiredness as he watches his reflection in the calm pond.
"Here," he says and he faces me. "She told me to give you this," he pulls out a wooden lipstick case out of the pocket of his coat.
"A lipstick?" I furrow my eyebrows as I reach for it.
A deep chuckle escapes his mouth. I lift my gaze. Amusement is written all over his face.
"I never thought of that. Maybe that's why women look at me confused every time I pull this fancy thing out of my pocket," he says before walking beside me. "This is our means of communication."
I frown and start twisting the bottom part of the lipstick. "How? This is lipstick," I conclude as I try to open the case. However, I can only twist the bottom.
"Hey-" I glare at the vampire beside me when he snatches the lipstick out of my hands.
"I think you should stop contacting your mother now. She's probably freaking out right this moment." He rolls the sleeves of his coat. On his wrist, there's a silver bangle with jewels around it.
"Once the jewel shines, it means she's calling you," he says and shakes his wrist. My eyes widen when the white jewels change their color to yellow.
"Oh, shoot," he clears his throat and looks at me. "Mine's vibrating, by the way."
A swarm of fireflies surrounds us.
"What is it this time?" my mother's calm voice echoes in the forest. "I told you not to play with it, Joaquin."
"It's not me," Joaquin responds. "It's your daughter," he quickly says and holds my wrist. He puts a golden bangle around my wrist. "Gold looks fancy. Mine's silver," he near his face before continuing, "because it conducts electricity more," he whispers.
"What does that mean?" I whisper.
"Her punishment," he answers softly.
"I can slap you with my wand again. You know that, right?" my mother warns the vampire beside me.
"Where are you?" I ask. I hear footsteps and voices in the background noise.
"I have to finish something, George," she answers softly as if she's whispering.
"Finish what?" I ask and raise an eyebrow.
"I have to go," she quickly says. The fireflies start flying around again.
"I think it's an urgent matter," Joaquin says and sits on the grass.
I sigh and sit down beside him.
"Where is he?" I ask, to break the silence. I know he knew who I was talking about.
"Somewhere safe," Joaquin quickly says and throws a pebble on the pond.
"And where is it?" I ask and lean back. I support my weight with both of my arms.
He didn't answer.
"You're not with him? Where are you staying?" I ask again. My fingers fidget on the short grass.
"I'm not with him. I'm staying in Blodharts," he replies and throws another pebble. A grunt escapes his lips as he throws it into the water. "I haven't seen Anastasia as well."
"So you haven't seen him recently too?" I lift my gaze and watch the specks of dust scattered on the bluish-black night canvas. The cool midnight breeze softly blows my cheeks. Calmly, I close my eyes.
"Yeah," he quickly replies. "I'm busy doing errands in the Blodharts to survive," he grunts again. The sound of the pebble hitting the water is the only thing you can hear. "I'm basically everyone's errand boy."
A shiver runs down my spine.
Goosebumps.
Sharply, I open my eyes. My eyes widen after realizing something. You are lying. But which one is the lie?
"You haven't seen him recently?" I ask again before looking at him.
"Mm hmmm," he hums. His lips form a straight line as he nods.
I clench my jaw as the familiar chills occur again.
Lie.
He looks at me. His mouth gapes. The side of his lips slowly lifts and forms a smirk. His hand stops halfway through throwing the pebble.
"So... the rumors were right? You indeed had transformed?" he gives me an amused look. "Since when?"
"Last night," I quickly answer and sit up straight. "Where is he, then-"
"That is amazing," he stares at me as if I'm a scientific specimen. "How does feel?"
"Uuhh..." I awkwardly look around while I'm looking for words to describe the feeling, but I can't. "Nothing special," I awkwardly answer because of his sudden fascination.
"Can you howl? Do you have claws? How about-"
"I can. I do. Stop!" I yell in frustration. "I haven't transformed again, okay? I'm just a day-old full werewolf. I'm asking you, where is he?"
"I cannot answer that question, sorry," he answers and looks away. "Since you're a walking lie detector machine now."
I try to speak again but he cuts my words.
"Please, I've endured so many tortures for that question, George. No matter what you say I won't tell you. Even if you threaten me with your claws now."
"Fine," I say and roll my eyes, "Whatever."
"My Mom won't be pleased if she found out that I threatened her... errand boy. I don't even know how to use these claws, I say while staring at my palm.
It's for my peace of mind as well.
Silence.
"How is he?" I ask. "You shouldn't lie or else," I warn him.
"He's okay. I met him to deliver his supplies of blood," he says. "He's planning to talk to you. But he can't as of now. As he should not talk to you."
My mouth was agape at the thought of meeting him again.
High hopes.
It's impossible.
"Oh right," Joaquin pulls out his leather wallet. "Here," he says and hands me a business card.
"A business card?" I ask.
"Yeah, what do you expect? A pippity poppity boo? I'm not a witch. Besides, It's the 21st century," he says as he gestures his hands. "You can contact me whenever you need me. We can ally now. I can tell you everything that's happening in Blodharts."
"Inexchange of?" I ask raising an eyebrow.
"Huh?" he asks in confusion. His brows furrow while waiting for my reply.
"In exchange for what?" I repeat before taking the business card.
"Your soul," he dramatically says while clenching his fist in front of my face. "Is that what you expect, huh?" he sarcastically asks and fixes his coat.
"Just be a great Alpha you should be and we're good," he says before walking away.
"Joaquin all you can?" I frown after reading what's written on his business card. "What the hell? What kind of business are you doing?" I lift my gaze. But he's gone.
* * *
-Note from 2022-
"Hey! It's me again. I would like to celebrate this small achievement that I got.
Book 1 got 112K reads as of now! And a minimum of a thousand reads in every chapter! You are one of the first one thousand people who have seen my story in its ugliest state and full of errors such as tenses, grammar, missing articles, and numerous plot holes. I thought no one would continue reading the second book. But you're here, continuing to read Georgina's quest. I hope you're enjoying the story!
Thank you so much, everyone! Stay healthy."
Fast forward to today...
Book 1 received 249k read now! Thank you to the new readers that I gained over the past two years. I hope you guys are enjoying this revised version of the Book. I'm glad that I can post once a week now. To the old readers who as rereading the story, thank you for your patience.
Thank you so much, everyone! Stay healthy.
I hope you are enjoying the story.
What are your thoughts? Comment down below!
:>