BiteBound *completed*

Chapter 55

I felt very much back at home in Santa Barbara. I missed the warm sun beating on my skin, the smell of the salty air invigorating each breath I took, above all, I missed the calm shopping areas around me. Something about it made me feel at peace, even if it was just a quick stroll down the luxurious streets.

With Ryan protecting me at all times, I took advantage as much of the sun as I could. I had a couple of drinks at a private bar the hotel provided, went down to the beach to bask in the sun, and stupidly, jumped into the icy water to feel the California waters.

It was nostalgic.

The last time I was floating among the waves was when I still had both of my parents. While my dad hated the water and spent his days under the cabana, my mom was the only one who endured the refreshing waters with me. She would then bury me under the sand, building a mermaid tail around my legs so I could be warm again.

Now it was just me.

Building a sand tail over my eyes as Ryan watched me with a curious head tilt.

"My mom used to do this." I said shyly. "Being here on this beach, it makes me feel like a kid again. It's bittersweet when you relieve the memories and realize, it used to be three. Now it's just me and the ghost of my mom."

"And your father?"

"Abandonment by choice." I shrug, covering my true emotions under it.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He says, remaining formal with his tone. "Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like to go back to the hotel? It's almost high tide."

I wasn't ready to go back to the hotel just yet.

As the sea started to hit the end of my tail, I wanted to stay despite how cold it grew.

"I'm not ready." My voice choked a little. "I want to be with my mom a little more."

The water slowly consumed my fins, dragging the sand higher each pull when he says,

"I lost my mother when I was your age. She was mortal and my father a vampire. Although her death wasn't abrupt and she was able to leave peacefully, it was still a very difficult time to process her death. To this day, I still think of her. It's been... almost a century."

When the sky started to visibly grow darker, Ryan removes his Ray-bans to finally reveal his prominent golden eyes. Misty and vulnerable as he continued to talk.

"At the time, I wondered why my father never turned her into one of us. I knew that it wasn't what she wanted, but I thought surely, he could change her mind. To have her stay with her lover and son. And yet with all our pleading and tears, right on her deathbed, she still said no.

In a way, I too felt abandoned.

When I finally met my wife, I was able to process what I was feeling through her eyes. I poured my emotions out, letting go of all the anger and sadness I had buried within and not once did she interrupt me.

She listened, stroked my head as it rested on her lap, and then she said,

'My love, not everyone would be willing to take the chance at immortality. While some may look at us as powerful immortal creatures of the night, other see us as a curse. Even if she could be a half vampire and see the sun, she couldn't have survived on just food. She would have to drink blood to survive, relearn how to live like a fake mortal, bury her bloodlust— that's only some of the cons of the list. Did you maybe think that, maybe she knew that there was no other side for us?'

That's when I realized, it was that what if that possibly made her say no.

We don't know what holds on the other side for us but for her, she had something.