"Are you done?" Vincencio gently asked, but it came out differently to Skylar. She was taken aback.
"What?" Skylar glared as she asked one more time. Vincencio sighed, understanding his wife was drunk and worried.
"Are you done with your shouting so I could speak and reason with you?" he asked gently, but it ticked something off in Skylar.
"Vince." Medina reacted since he sounded pissed.
"YOU! YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M LEAVING!" Hurt, Skylar shouted, glaring in pain but holding her ground as she pushed Vincencio away.
"That's what you're good at." He scoffed, hurting Skylar more.
"VINCENCIO!" Medina shouted worriedly.
"YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE." Joey spat his worry because it held something to Skylar.
"MAKING IT WORSE? SHE'S NOT GOING TO LISTEN ANYWAY." He snapped, making Skylar furious.
"I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOU, AND YOU'RE SAYING I'M MAKING IT WORSE? UNBELIEVABLE." Skylar shouted before running her hand through her hair, messing it more.
"I CAME BACK ALIVE, DIDN'T I?" He shouted back, pressing something in Skylar's memory.
It was a part of her memory where Gregory once worried about her safety, leading to a heated argument. It made her realize their situation at the moment was the same but somehow reversed. She was the worried one. She shivered, making her drop the gun as her head started to spin. Her hands started trembling, her tears kept streaming down, and her chest tightened—she was having an anxiety attack.
"THE POINT IS YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SHIT, AND DON'T YOU LIE TO MY FACE. I'M WORRIED SICK ABOUT YOU, VINCE. I DON'T CARE IF YOU CAME HOME COVERED WITH BRUISES, BUT HELL, TELL ME, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WHAT TROUBLES YOU? WHO DID ALL OF THESE TO YOU? BECAUSE TRUST ME, I WILL KILL FOR YOU!" Skylar screamed, not caring about the tightening around her chest or the deafening of her ears because all she cared about was letting them out. "I'LL BURN EVERYTHING IN MY WAY TO KEEP YOU SAFE AND ALIVE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE YOU CAN'T SEE OR FEEL THAT!"
"Skylar, I do, but you won't let me speak my side, and what will be the point of telling you if you won't listen or even dare to believe them?" Softening, Vincencio reasoned gently as he began to notice something shifting around his wife.
"BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THERE!" She shouted, indirectly revealing her dark secret, but her breathing started to shorten. "I'VE BEEN THROUGH LIES AND SECRETS! I'VE BEEN LIVING IN DARKNESS THAT YOU HAD NO IDEA HOW LONG I'VE BEEN SUPPRESSING FOR YOUR SAKE! YOU HAD NO IDEA…"
"Skylar…" Vincencio mumbled, noticing her shortness of breath.
"Enough. You two need rest. You won't be able to settle this if both of you were hot. Rest it for tonight; cool it down before talking about it again." Medina interjected in worry and quickly supported Skylar.
"I'll sleep in my workshop," Skylar said, yanking away from Medina's support and walking weakly out to the backyard. Vincencio wanted to follow her, but Medina gently stopped him.
"Vince, rest it for now. I'll take care of her." With assurance, she patted his back before leaving him with Joey. "Joey, help Vince around his wounds."
As Joey tends to Vincencio's bruises, Medina helps Skylar calm down at the workshop that is supposed to be their garage. Skylar had turned the place into her creative studio or workshop. She stocked and piled different sizes of canvas, paints, and brushes and even displayed various types of cameras. It was indeed a space for an artist like Skylar. She slouched and rested on the couch beside her twin bed while Medina grabbed bottled water and a bar of chocolate from the small pantry dividing the space.
"Eat. It will help." Medina gave the bottle and chocolate bar to Skylar.
"You remember." Skylar weakly smiled, accepting the snack that never fails to calm her.
"How can I not when I'm with him almost twenty-four-seven?" She teasingly responded, making Skylar chuckle weakly before eating the bar. Then Medina followed up with a question. "How do you feel?"
"Back there? Hot. Worried. Bothered. Frustrated. But I'll be honest, Med, I truly want to kill whoever did that to him." Skylar admitted her mixed-up emotions back there, which is understandable. Media and Joey saw that before.
"I can tell by the way you pointed your gun at him, but I think you also pointed a gun at yourself." Medina nodded, noticing Skylar's gestures earlier.
"True. There were times I was getting sick of everything, my haunted past that I couldn't move from because I was still hurting. I can't forgive them. I can't forgive myself. Then, the disturbing mystery of the vampires or whatever creatures were out there seemed to be going to be entangled with me sooner than expected. And now, him." With a weak smile, Skylar stated everything troubling her mind before sighing. "I thought he was going to be the least of my problems, but now…"
"Do you regret marrying him?" She interjected curiously.
"NO! Of course not. I married him because he gave meaning and light to my darkest life. But I can't let him enter my world filled with filth, darkness, and blood. I don't want him to get involved in anything that could harm him because of me—my past." She quickly defended herself but shared her worries and her need for Vincencio's presence and love in her life. "But I can't let him go. I needed him. He's the air that I'm breathing, my heart that keeps me alive, making me do everything to keep us, our peace, our world, ours."
"Then don't lose him because of your bloody secrets. But for now, rest and talk later." With an understanding smile, Medina pulled Skylar up and guided her to the bed.
"Med, I'm scared…" she admitted weakly before yawning.
"So does he. Rest now, Sky," Medina insisted before adding another person who could help Skylar with her troubles. "I'll call your uncle."
***
Another day, another same routine, but the flow of silence around the married couple was heavier than before. Both of them focused on their morning commitments, but around their household, it was winter, although, in reality, it was the rainy season. They moved the same but only talked if needed. They didn't even notice somebody had been inside their house, witnessing all of their cold drama.
"I'm hoping for a warm welcome, but it seems it's early December in your house, kiddo."
A sarcastic, teasing tone from an adult man and an uncle caught the couple's attention from moving around their house like robots with the usual flow. Both of them looked at the decent man in his comfy sweater, loose pants, and slippers from their foyer.
"Uncle, I didn't notice you're here." Skylar greeted him with a weak tone and hugged her uncle with warmth.
"Well, you're busy sulking," Skylar's uncle, Adrian Saison, teasingly commented before glancing at the man behind his niece.
"Uncle Adrian, welcome to winter's paradise," Vincencio greeted jokingly, making the man chuckle in amusement.
"I could tell." He agreed and hugged him too.
"What brings you here?" Skylar asked coldly.
"Medina gave me a call last night, and since I'm around town, I dropped by to check things here," Adrian answered his niece before noticing Vincencio's bruises. "And why do you have Band-Aids? Did Skylar beat you up?"
"I wish," she mumbled as she rolled her eyes annoyingly, making Adrian curious.
"And Vince, are you having troubles that your wife didn't know about?" Adrian curiously asked, making Vincencio sigh.
"A kind of trouble that I could handle. I already told her that I'll tell her if I can't, and besides, these are minor compared to those bastards I sent to the hospital." With a smug look, Vincencio proudly answered, making Adrian laugh.
"That's good." Adrian patted his shoulder before the boys both spoke their motto. "Beat them up before they could."
"Seriously." Secretly amused, Skylar reacted in disbelief.
"Also, I need Vincencio's cooking," Adrian added, making Vincencio smile and nod.
"Not mine?" Skylar reacted, sounding offended.
"Burnt cookies and hot milk could do the trick," Adrian teased his niece, who was now frowning.
"UNCLE!" She whined, making Vincencio chuckle.
"I'll cook something. Have some time." Vincencio excused himself and kissed Skylar's head before heading to the kitchen to cook something for Adrian.
Skylar loved the gesture despite their argument last night, but she immediately went serious, narrowing her eyes curiously at her uncle. She knew something was up since her guardians wouldn't visit her unless it was a serious matter.
"What serious matter do you want to discuss, Uncle?" Skylar bluntly asked, making Adrian's smile go thin.
"Medina did call about your drunkenness problem last night. Technically, it's an amusing update, but what concerned me about coming here is when she mentioned her, Alicia Irie," Adrian seriously replied, catching Skylar's attention since her uncle's tone was heavy.
"So they knew each other," Skylar thought before sternly asking, "What about her?"
"Alicia Irie came from a noble bloodline, and that's why I knew her. We were friends back in the day, and I knew her family had a strange pull on anyone they fatefully met." Adrian briefly started, making Skylar confused.
"Strange? How strange?" she wondered.
"Meeting a person like her is like a trigger of something new, a wave of change that is destined to happen to a person they either annoy, get along with, or captivate with their mysterious vibe." He answered what he could only say about the woman. "Honestly, I'm unsure how they affect the person's fate, but serious changes happened to that person they'd visit."
"That's strange, but if that's the case, what changes are bound to happen to me?" she wondered, and before Adrian could respond, Vincencio came with snacks.
"What changes?" Vincencio wondered, interfering with their serious conversation.
"Nothing." Skylar tried to drop the subject, but not Adrian.
"Alicia Irie Aspire-Marshall met your wife recently and received FRSils personally." With a teasing smirk, Adrian answered, making Vincencio's expression drop.
"She gave you what?" With a stern expression, Vincencio asked immediately, obviously worried for his wife.
"Why is he acting like this? What's with that woman that I didn't know about?" Skylar thought before answering. "FRSil tables and the Two-Star FRSil liquid drops."
"That's a high-class medicine. Why did she give that to you?" With firmness, he asked curiously but still worried.
"I'm not sure, but she said it could help me once I'm ready." She replied confusedly before asking them, "What do you know that I don't? Tell me, or I'll kick you both out of the house and soak outside."
"I'll tell you, but I want to confirm something first..." Vincencio answered before asking sternly. "Were you exposed to a bloodbath before we got married?"
"I'm a soldier, of course, I am exposed to bloodshed and war," Skylar answered, sighing before wondering, "So, spill, why? Are there any connections with why she gave it to me?"
"Could be." With a heavy sigh, Vincencio answered before adding what he knew about the medicine. "The FRSil and the Two-Star FRSil were special medicines created by the Cruz family at the request of the Aspire family for those who struggled to control their rage or madness. And receiving it directly from one of Aspire's important family members signified that things were about to change for the person they'd visited. Since she gave it to you, Wifey, you'll be entering changes."
"Changes...don't tell me this is what Cleo mentioned before…I'm going to get involved with their kind..." Skylar thought, connecting dots from what she learned, before reacting softly in disbelief. "That's bullshit."
"It has been proven, Skylar. That's why I came here personally, not just to check the updates on you but to see if it's true, and it is." Adrian added, supporting Vincencio's brief explanation.
"The way they said it, they make it sound like I've been marked by vampires without my knowledge." Skylar was briefly taken aback, but she wasn't surprised about her entanglement with those creatures. Luckily, she had been notified, but something remained a blur at the back of her mind. "Is it connected to my dream? No, impossible…right?
***
Ever since her uncle made a surprise visit and the topic he brought with him, Skylar found herself standing by the window of her office, lost in thought, bothered by the connections that had been piling up at the back of her mind. It has been overlapping with her haunted issues, mysterious dreams, and the potential entanglement with creatures that could happen later on, during her night hunt. However, Skylar was more bothered by one simple thing.
"The way they speak about it, it sounds like natural knowledge," Skylar thought carefully before wondering. "Do they know about their existence?"