My Careful Lover

HALF HUMAN 3 ✍

Ocean sat a few meters away from the little crowd, staring at nothing. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He couldn't shake off the ugly feeling swirling inside of him, and the increasing pain in his chest wasn't helping him at all.

Another thing that made the whole situation worse for him was the fact that every time he closed his eyes, he kept seeing Moon crying out his name, begging him to save her. Every time he tried to reach out to her, she suddenly disappeared, and then he would find himself endlessly running around in an unfamiliar forest looking for her. When he finally saw her, it was always a sight that made his chest tighten in agony. He always found her lying lifeless in a pool of blood, with her chest ripped open.

The guilt that was eating away at him. Suffocated him so much that it made it hard for him to breathe. He didn't even say a proper goodbye to her before suddenly deciding to leave and save Lydia, all because he had freaked out after what happened that afternoon. He had been avoiding her like a plague after their afternoon of intimacy and horror. He didn't even know how to face her. He was scared and ashamed of himself for not being able to come clean to her. He had Panicked and acted like a fool. He had seen the hurt on her face when he mentioned about their travel.

He was one minute away from leaving his men and going back to her to make sure that she was okay. The thought that he had cast one of the strongest spells on the apartment to keep them safe didn't even help him the way he thought it would.

Marcus, who observed his best friend from where he sat, knew something was wrong with Ocean, and it was getting the best of him. Walking away from the little group of men he had been chatting and laughing with, he approached Ocean, who acted like he didn't notice, but Marcus knew better.

"Hey man, want to talk about why you are here brooding?"

"I want to be alone," Ocean said coldly, but it would take more than that to get rid of Marcus.

"I am here already, so you better start talking. Do you miss your girl already?" Marcus teased as he sat beside Ocean on the ground. Ocean ignored him and continued to stare into the night.

"Come on, do tell me what is bothering you. Remember, a problem shared is a problem solved." Ocean glanced at Marcus and saw the genuine concern in his eyes. Ocean also knew he could confide in Marcus. They had been best friends before everything in their lives began going downhill. Though Ocean sees Marcus as a brother, he would never admit it openly.

"I am worried." Ocean finally spoke up.

"I noticed. What are you worried about?"

"About everything. I don't know, I am just having this weird feeling, and I have been having this nightmare about Moon."

"Nightmare? You hardly sleep."

"I know, right? It feels more like a trance, I would say."

"Tell me about it."

"She always appears to me crying and asking me to save her, and when I am close enough to touch her, she suddenly disappears. The next thing would be me running around in a strange forest looking for her, and when I finally find her...I usually find her dead with her heart ripped out of her chest."

"Your fear of something happening to her while you are away is getting to you. Do you remember when we were growing up, something like this happened to you. You always saw yourself drowning in the middle of an Ocean even when you sat on a tree. Why do you think that happened?"

"Probably because I was scared of water?"

"Exactly. As night creatures, we were built to be dominant and fearless. That was why when your fear of water got to your head, your mind kept feeding you the worst scenario until you embraced it and made it your strength. To the point you even changed your name from Cyrus to Ocean."

"True, but do you know why I was scared of water like that?" Ocean looked at Marcus and smiled bitterly.

"When I was eight, my parents had once tried to kill me by drowning me in an ocean in the middle of the night. I was left in the water for several days. Till today, I still don't know how I survived. All I can remember is finding myself washed ashore, alive and as healthy as ever. When I went back to the castle, my parents almost died of shock. I can remember the queen passing out as soon as she laid eyes on me while my father continued to hyperventilate."

Marcus chuckled. "I bet it must have been traumatizing."

"It was and is still traumatizing." Ocean sighed and stretched his legs in front of him, not knowing how to start the conversation weighing on his mind and not arouse suspicions.

"Can I ask you something?" Ocean asked and got a suspicious look from Marcus.

Damit! I haven't even asked the question yet. Thank God he can't read my mind, he cursed out in his head.

"What do you want to ask?" Marcus replied as his red eyes glittered in the dark.

"Do you by any chance happen to know what happens if a vampire and a human mate without protection?"

"Did you guys already....?" Marcus trailed off, not able to withhold the excitement in their voice.

"Just answer the question."

"Relax, nothing will happen. A human cannot carry a vampire baby."

"Are you sure?" Ocean asked with a frown.

"Yes. So....." Marcus trailed off again with a cheeky grin, which got him a glare from his best friend.

"I am assuming that things went well between you two?"

"What are you talking about?"

"If you two have already mated, does that mean she has accepted who and what you are— rather, what we are?" Marcus looked at him expectantly, but he turned away.

"You haven't told her yet, have you? Hold on! Did you...."

"Fuck no, I didn't force myself on her, you idiot."

"I am confused," Marcus stated, words reflecting on his face.

"She wanted me, too. It's just that things got heated up, and my feral side got the best of me along the way, so I panicked that she was going to freak out and leave me after everything was over..."

"Don't tell me that you–"

"Yes. Yes, I wiped her memory." Marcus groaned and allowed his back to hit the ground with a thud.