Chapter 1: Fallen tree on a rainy night
Walking along the forest path, the heavy rustling of the trees was frightful. Melanie shivered under the heavy rain as she folds her damp hands over her chest, her hair now loose and wet. while walking slow but cautiously, the rustling of the tree made her look to the direction. she halt on her step and listened to the sound coming from the trees but she couldn't defer because of the strong rain and breeze.
She look ahead whether she should just head home and forget about the unclear sounds or... The sound of something that was dropped with force resonated from afar, her heart jolted with fear and she increased her pace.
Close to her house, she saw a tree have fallen due to the heavy wind but it was rare for a large tree to fall just because of a frequent wind. when she got closer, the tree did not absolutely fall on it own, the middle part of the tree was broken with a big crack. the sky was black and dull without any sign of brightness, the rain was now dropping lightly.
"what am I going to do?" she said to herself. the fallen tree was laying horizontally on the narrow path. Melanie bit her lower lips while blaming herself inwardly. she should have followed the normal road and wouldn't be in this mess right now. hitting her palm on the tree trunk, she managed to climb over it. she puffed her cheeks and exhaled tiredly when a movement caught her attention.
Behind the fallen tree, a man was lying there unconscious. Melanie's eyes went wide at the sight of a man. she quickly bent on her heels and touched the man.
"sir... are you okay?," she ask, rolling her eyes, 'would he even hear me?' she smiled at her stupidity.
She lay the man on her little bed inside her room and rushed out to get a bowl of water and napkin.returning back to her room, she starts cleaning his bloodied face that was filled with marks like that caused by fingers. With time, the marks were all gone without a trace of it. Melanie stopped cleaning his face and savoured the man's masculine face.
She place the napkin on the wooden table next to her bed and stretch out her hand to his face. she paused for a second before touching the skin on his eyes. reluctantly she opened his eyes and just how she had suspected, he was a vampire. She exhaled and placed her palm on her forehead. If her parents caught news that she was having an unconscious vampire in her house, a pureblooded one at that, she would never leave alone until she's married.
Melanie Robert is a young lady from the human Robert's family. being the only daughter from a wealthy home, the urge to marry her off was great. when her parents saw that Melanie was not ready to have a family of her own, they made a deal with her.
"you'll live alone and don't cause trouble. I'm giving you a chance to find a suitor for yourself, if by the completion of the three months and you've not find a suitable partner then you'll have to marry any man we prepare for you," Mr Robert said as a matter of fact.
Melanie was happy with the deal but the last option made her fret, finally she agreed and that's how she came to stay in this little house her parents arranged for her. her mother always send her invitations to soirees each time she was invited.
After cleaning his face, Melanie was stuck on how to remove his clothes. the thought of it made her blush a little. she remove his shirt and coat as that was a least worried one. she draped a blanket over him before unbuckling his belt, going back to his legs, she pulled off his shoes. When she was done removing his clothes, she spread the blanket on his body before thinking about herself.
Hanging his wet clothes on a hanger inside her house, she proceed to make a dinner for herself. She sat inside the kitchen staring at the red flames from the stove, a knock on the door brought her back to reality. the man her mother always sends to give her invitations and other basic things usually comes at this time of the night so that people won't know that she's living on her own which would be a risk to her. thinking he was the one, she opened the door to find an empty space with nobody there.
She observe the area but there was no movement except the chirping of birds and crickets.the faint glow of candles from windows of houses were still burning brightly as it was still early for sleeping time. she shook her head and shut the door. 'maybe I'm thinking too much' she thought and went back to the kitchen, her black hair now packed into a loose bun.
When she was done eating, she head to the bathroom and had a cold bath. After dressing up in her nightdress, she took out another blanket and laid on the couch inside her room while the man was on the bed. she curled inside the blanket still looking at the handsome man on her bed.
Now she was thinking about what happened in the forest. though, pureblooded vampires have more strength than average vampires and humans, she didn't want to believe that this man was the cause of the fallen tree across the road. 'or maybe he got into a fight with another pureblooded vampire?' she bit her lips clumsily and suddenly sprang on her feet. quickly, she shut the window tightly.
She also made a tour around the house to make sure all the doors and windows were tightly shut. the thought of someone entering her house in the middle of the night made her scared as goosebumps enveloped her.
