Cursed Blood | Chaelisa

Chapter 28.

When I got home the next day, Mom was already there, reading on the kitchen table. I went to open the fridge and took out a carton of milk to drink.

"Did you have a good day, honey?" she asked, putting a bookmark on the page she had read and placed the book on the table. I could hardly make myself look at her. I hoped I didn't have this I'm-going-to-sneak-out-tonight written all over my face.

Somehow I managed to act normal and said, "Yes I did. Can we have our dinner early today?"

"Oh, you're hungry?" Mom asked with concern. "Of course, we might just do that."

At the dining table, I couldn't stop peeking at my mom. I already felt guilty about my plan tonight, but I had to finish what I had started.

"What is it, honey?" Mom asked when she caught me looking at her.

"Nothing," I said awkwardly.

Then just out of the blue, Mom said, "You know, you look just like your father."

"Oh?" I said, smiling. Normally, Mom never volunteered to talk about Dad, "I thought I looked beautiful like you."

"So was your father," Mom said and let out a quiet laugh.

"Mom, can you tell me how you met daddy?"

"We met at the medical school," Mom spoke softly as if she was talking to herself. "Your father and I, we both were students at that time."

"Dad attended medical school? Why?"

"He wanted to be a doctor, honey," Mom said with a smile. "He'd always dreamed of becoming a doctor, helping people- except one little problem."

"What was that?"

"He had trouble staying around blood."

"Oh," I breathed, nodding understandingly.

"At first, I thought he was just afraid as medical students sometimes are," she said, "Never had I known the real reason of that."

"So how could Dad handle it?"

"I helped him overcome it," Mom said and laughed. "He followed me home every night, making sure I was safe like he was afraid I would fall into a sewage or something." She laughed again, but this time, I saw tears glittering in her eyes. I could guess the rest of the story.

"And when did you know what he was?" I asked, hoping the question wasn't too difficult to answer.

"Shortly before we got married," she said and managed a smile.

"Really?" I asked.

"Chaeyoung, when your father told me he was a vampire, he was intending to go away from me."

"Why?"

"He thought I would be shocked, become hysterical and stuff like that,"

I took a deep breath. "And were you?"

Mom just smiled, reaching her hand over the table and put it on mine. "You know the strangest thing when I finally knew what he was; it's the moment I realized I was in love."

After dinner, I went to my room, I told Mom I was tired and wanted to go to bed early. But once I got inside, I dialed Joy's number and the next thing I knew; our secret espionage was set in motion. I put some pillows on my bed and covered them with a blanket so that it looked like I was sleeping in. My hands were shaking with both anticipation and uncertainty.

Was it crucial? Yes.

Was it stupid? Maybe.

But I knew the drill and understood the risk. I had been dying to find out about what happened to our parents as much as Lisa had. And this might be the only chance.