The Devil's Thirst Trap

Chapter 21

"Hey dad, I'm going off to work now, don't forget to eat and take care of yourself.", she reminded him as she kissed him on his cheek and left the house.

"Take care too, sweetheart!", he said.

(I'm happy for her...she looks like she's getting better now. That's good.), Zoey's father thought to himself until he knocked against something by mistake and picked up a bag.

"Shit...Zoe....you took the wrong bag...", he muttered under her breath but it was too late to catch up with her because she was far gone.

Just then, he saw something that peeked out of the bag. A picture. Leo dropped her bag in shock to see who it was, he even had to double-check his eyes. His jaw ticked. He went down to the basement and stayed there for the rest of the day.

Later that evening

"Hey dad, I'm home!", she exclaimed as she sang a sweet lullaby.

Leo, her father just sat in the dining room with his arms folded until she poked him to check if he was okay, he got up and went to his room.

(Huh...why did he flinch as if he touched dirt...?)

The next day

"Bye bye dad! I love you!", she said with hopefulness in her voice that her father would respond to her but instead, he ignored her.

She went to kiss him on the cheek as usual, but after she kissed him, he passed her a sturdy glance as he used a tissue to wipe the area that she kissed. It made her disheartened.

Later on that afternoon

"Dad! I'm home!", she exclaimed in a joyful tone but only to find the house empty which made her confused.

She walked into the basement to find the door was slightly opened, in there, she tripped on a carpet. It raised her suspicions, so she decided to lift the carpet to find another secret passage.

(Why would dad make so many secret passages...?), she thought to herself as she climbed down the ladder.

She clasped her hands against her mouth in shock as her eyes widened.

"What the hell is all this...?", she thought to herself as she picked up a picture.

She found jars of ears, teeth, and more disturbing stuff, but she got shocked when she saw the picture.

It was Alexander and he was number one on a hitlist. It was a list for vampires. She saw the bow, the arrows, the knives. It all clicked in her head.

"Oh gosh...Dad....you've been killing vampires....What have you gotten yourself into?", she muttered under her breath as she stepped by and mistakenly bumped into one of the jars and broke them, which woke her out of her state of mind.

She ran up to her room and started to pack her clothes and left.

(Everything was a lie...A DAMN LIE!), she thought to herself.

"I need to save Alexander...", she muttered under her breath as she drove her car as fast as she could.

Zoey reached the house after driving at full speed. She raced to the house and barged into Alex's room without bothering to knock she opened the door in hopes that she would reach him and warn him on time before her father found him but she saw the window was broken which made her worry.

"Shit.", she said in a quiet voice before she looked down on the ground to see no one there but only a trail of blood leading to the garden.

Zoey ran back downstairs following the long trail of blood which led to the garden. She panted and stopped as she tried to catch her breath, and decided to scream for him instead.

"ALEX!", she screamed his name as she formed a cone shape with her hands to echo her screams for calling him.

She tried to focus on where the sound was coming from as the wind gushed through, she followed the sound which led her to a nearby bush.

"NO!", she heard a loud demanding shout from Alex which froze her on the spot for a split second.

"This is what you get for coming near her.", she heard her father's voice and realized the warning was not for him but her as she saw her father stab Alex in his heart.

"STOP DAD!", she yelled from the top of her lungs as she covered Alex from the next stab.

"Zoey...?What are you doing here?", Leo asked her in confusion as he stopped before he could stab her and dropped the silver knife." You're not supposed to be here!", he yelled at her.

"And your not allowed to kill him.", she demanded as her eyes glowed mysteriously.

"Zoey, he is manipulating you. He always has, and that's what they will always do!", he yelled at her.

"Zoey...get out...don't try to help me..", Alex said as he tried to get up but he couldn't.

"No...I'm not leaving you like this...", she stated as she put pressure on his wound to stop his bleeding tears welled up and she then turned to her father. "Dad...please help...me...", she pleaded.

"Do this yourself, and don't bother coming back home.", he said before walking away.

"Dad!!!", she yelled as she tried to hide her cry to seem strong for Alex.

"Hey...Zoey...I'm okay...", Alex said as he gently caressed her cheek with his bloody hands which started to get cold and tremble.

"Shut up! I know you're not.....", she said as she leaned into his hand.

"I...I lo-", he said before she could stop him.

"Hey, just focus on me, you're going to live, I'm going to bring you in, and you're going to be perfectly fine. Okay?", she said as she tried to pull him up slowly but he groaned in extreme pain which made her put him back down gently and put her forearm to cover her mouth as she cried.

"I- 'm going to get you out of this Alex! Please....just bare with me and trust me...I'll be right back!", She said as she made a run for the house but was soon pulled back by his little strength left.

"Keep quiet and listen to me, Emma...I love you. I found interest in you as soon as I saw you in that alley, you're the first woman that I've met who is so fearless of vampires, who loves everything and everyone, no matter how they are. You're the first person who didn't run after my money.", he said as he gave off a dry chuckle.

"I want you to move on and be happy. I don't want you to remember any of this. You're too pure for this world...too pure for me...You'll get hurt if you continue to be with me...I want you to give up your vigilante ways, for me, just this one promise....okay...?", he asked as he wiped a tear off her face as she nodded. "I love you...everything about you....You're so special and precious..."

"I love you more!", she burst out into tears as she hugged him but when she got off him, her heart never broke more than this.

He stopped moving, his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful.

'He's dead.'