THE IMMORTAL'S FRIEND

Chapter 5: Dark Red Cloak

I had a dream.

And in that dream, I was running and sweating while holding a red hair clip in my hand. I don't know why I am running and why I am holding the hair clip. Everything around was blurry. I just continue to run not knowing where I am headed to.

Dream never felt this real. The tears that are falling from my eyes are warm as it touches my skin. I know that it was just a dream so I don't know why my heart is hurting a lot.

A profound emptiness opened up inside me, threatening to swallow me whole.

It's the same feeling when you just lost someone very dear to you. The feeling that I felt after I lost Flare.

Sadness… Grief… Pain… Regrets…

All of them pulsed through my veins with every beat of my heart.

Why is it that even in my dream, I still need to feel so much pain? Dreams don't want to help me escape from reality. What did I do wrong to deserve such cruelty?

I stare at the hair clip on my hand, watching it slowly fading away. When it's already gone, I sat on the ground and started sobbing.

I want to wake up. But what's the purpose of waking up from this dream when it's just the same in reality?

Tears stung my eyes like shards of glass.

I do want to stop crying as I don't even know what I am crying about. Am I crying because of a mere hair clip? The clip isn't mine anyway.

I am not into wearing a clip so I know it isn't mine. But why was I holding it? Why does it disappear now?

I continue to sob because nobody's there to comfort me. The dream ended with me crying alone so I didn't know what happened next.

I've been dreaming of the same dream every night for years already. I wonder what that dream wants to tell me.

Even though I want to find and look for an answer, I'm still scared to know the truth behind it. I believe that some things are better off not knowing so everytime I wake up from that dream, I just shrug it off and pretend that it doesn't bother me.

But the truth is, it really bothers me to death, and no matter how much I try to ignore it, I can't just continue to fool and lie to myself that I don't want to find out the reason why I always dreamed that dream.

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I am already inside the forest and I could hear the wind whistling through the trees. My hair dances with the leaves and my skin shivers from the coldness of the air.

Every step I made was careful and quiet. I don't want to make any sound as I don't want to lure any unwanted beast that was hiding in the forest.

My heart was beating faster. It was because I was scared. It was getting darker and I only got to see what's around me because of the moonlight.

I'm so stupid.

I don't want to die but what I am doing right now is more like putting myself in danger. I might die from a heart attack. I will surely die if I encounter wolves and snakes here.

I should've come here earlier. I thought of going back and that I'll just return tomorrow morning, but my feet continue to walk silently without my permission.

I want to hit myself.

It's as if all the courage that I gathered earlier when I was just about to go here faded and right now I feel nothing but cowardice.

What if I die here? Am I okay with dying here in the forest than dying in the hospital?

If I stay at the hospital, I will still be alive tomorrow, but now that I'm here in the forest, I'm not even sure if I could make it out alive tonight.

I stopped from walking and heaved a deep sigh.

Don't be discouraged, Miracle. Have faith that you will get out of this forest alive.

All I need to do is to find a vampire and ask them to drink my blood to turn me into immortal.

But what if I encountered a bad vampire and not a good one?

I imagined myself being killed by a vampire, my body almost looking like a skull because of too much blood loss. I got scared because of the idea so I frowned.

Being killed like that is just too hideous.

I know I should be running back home now, however, I don't have any choice but to stay here. I don't want Flare's heart to be removed inside me.

I promised her that we would live together, forever. So the only option I have right now is to look for a vampire that will turn me immortal.

Time goes on, I don't know how long I have been walking. I only stopped when I saw a river from afar.

The wind is still freezing and the stars above continued shining.

I want to touch the water to check if it's also cold, but I didn't get to walk near it when I saw a tall figure of a man standing on the river.

Even though it's dark, I still noticed that he's wearing a dark red cloak. He is standing there like a statue while both of his feet are soaked by the river. From my point of view, I could only see his back.

I wonder who he is. And why is he not moving? What is he doing there? Is he okay?

Unknowingly, I continued to watch the man from afar—waiting to see if he'll move or not. He's looking downwards—specifically at the water. I don't know what's fascinating there that he can't remove his eyes from it.

It took him, I guess, 5 minutes to finally move, and when I saw a glimpse of his face, my jaw dropped and my eyes also widened in surprise.

I never thought that I was going to find what I was looking for at the river.

Without any hesitation, I run towards him and caught him on both of his shoulders. He looks at me with wide eyes but I only smile at him when our eyes met.

"Found you!" I muttered.

I expected that I would see a vampire here, but I never thought that it would be this easy. My lips curve again to smile in victory.

I finally found him... The one who would turn me immortal.