Glaring critically at the pictures one after the other, he turned to me. "They....let's go inside first," Max concluded. Nodding, he opened the door for me and rolled up the curtains to keep the light in. When I walked inside to take a seat, he quickly pushed something under the sofa before I could see it.

"They're old items I wanted to get rid of tonight," he said seeing the curiosity in my eyes. I pursed my lips and sat on the sofa looking around. The state of the room was more like he wasn't around the whole day. Actually, it was like he just returned from somewhere.

"I think I get it. It's Ian's doing. He's been attacking your lookalikes thinking it was you. He killed them when he realized they weren't you. Exposing his identity to humans wasn't ideal," Max convinced spreading the pictures on the table.

"Kate is your neighbor, he must have mistook her for you. It's full moon. This is vampires hunting season." As my eyes wavered, I slowly lowered my hands to picked up the pictures one by one, realizing the immediate similarities.

"He killed all of them, b-because of me," I imagined shaking my head. Falling back on the sofa, I closed my eyes to hold back my tears. As agony and devastation filled my heart, the picture slipped out of my fingers.

He moved closer to pick it up before sitting beside me. "It's not your fault. It's Ian we've to blame," he coaxed but I was still stunned to react to his console. Indirectly, I still caused their deaths. How many people would be killed until he gets what he wants? I dragged my bag from the sofa and fished out a letter. His eyes traced my hands as I ripped a letter from an envelope. Sighing, I handed over the letter mom received from dad about eighteen years back.

He read it critically and lifted his head looking around haphazardly. "Your dad left telling your mom to take care of you if he doesn't come back alive?"

I nodded and stared into his eyes exhausted from all these drama. I didn't even know what to do next at this moment. "Did you stay here since ever since you were born?" I shook my head and retorted sharply, "No...I settled here with mom when I was eleven. We moved to eight different cities before setting here." His eyebrows curved at my answer. Dropping the letter on his table, he looked at me.

"Eight cities? Did she tell you why? Why would she move out like that?" I shook my head burying my fave in my palms with a hearty sigh. "She never did. We settled here for the longest time. I guess it's because of that cottage in the woods."

He got up and came back a few minutes after with something in his hands.

"It seems your dad knew that he wouldn't come back. There's something I haven't told you, because I didn't want you to panic.

When you asked me about my parents, I told you they died." I nodded glaring into his eyes with a sudden thought. "But Ian adopted me when I was left alone on the streets and trained me up." My eyes widened at his confession. Getting up in hesitation, the crevices of my eyebrows curved.

He noticed my sudden discomfort to be around him. With lowered eyes, he stared at me with an apologetic look. "You're his son?!" Closing his eyes, he passed his hands through his hair in desperation.

"In documents. I didn't know of his true colors back then. You have to believe me." Holding back in hesitation, I stepped back shaking my head.

"I didn't tell you everything because I knew you'd react like this-"

"-then how do you expect me to take this?!"

He sealed his lips and walked towards the window. As he stared out blankly with his hands beside him, he let out a sigh. "I was four years back then. It was just around winter now," he explained while turning to me. When I walked towards him, he pointed to a little tanker on the table.

"It all began with that. Sixteen years ago."

Snow freckles fell from the sky as the bustling crowd looked up into the sky cheering. It was almost Christmas season when decorations and festivities began.

The streets were bustling with sparkling lights and snow. It was quite difficult to move around during that period. But to enjoy the season, many took the chance to make snowman and shop for the upcoming events.

It was also the perfect time for meeting old friends. As the mall had welcome boards decorating their entrance, many shoppers stepped in. The snow had smeared the roofing and fell on the tarred floor.

"Mom! Dad! I want those puddings. Please?" A little boy asked rolling his hoodie up to keep warm. As he spoke, cold vapor escaped his lips. He rushed forward jumping on his toes in front of a booming mall.

As his boots soaked with snow from the floor, he still jumped heartily pointing to the shop. With sighs, his parents walked up to him and nodded. "Yay! Let's go!" Pulling his parents by their arms, they entered the shop and ordered for a chocolate pudding.

As they packaged it, he rushed out and jumped into their car rolling the glass down. "Be careful," his mom warned dropping his pudding on his laps. He nodded with a bright smile while they sat in the car. Sparking the engine, his father turned to him with a laugh. "You'll choke yourself. Take your time, we're not going to take it back."

Smiling, he stuffed pieces in his mouth and turned to his mother with smears over his lips. "That's it. We're taking off!" his father exclaimed as he drove off from the parking lot. The traffic cleared as their car got to the end.

"Honey, you're not going to work today right?" He sighed and fixed his seat belt properly. "The doctors need me there. Due to the killing spree, they require more hands. When I stop at home, make sure you lock the doors. He came to see me yesterday."

"Dad! You promised to stay home today. You can't go back on your promise." Driving, he turned around to soothe his crying son, but his mother screamed when she saw a car driving into theirs.

Within a second, the two cars crashed and somersaulted over the valley. As they rolled, the little boy fell out unadjusted with his seatbelt. When he fell out and hurt his head, passerbys started to surround the accident scene whispering.

Sobbing under his nose, the little boy struggled to get back on his feet, but could only crawl towards the valley. Stretching his hands, he called out to his parents as a snow globe fell beside him from the car.

"Poor boy. That car's missing! A young man stepped out from the crowd and followed him down the valley as he cried. Standing by the burning car that he once sat in, his body fell.

The young man squatted by him and extended his hands. "Come with me, Max. You remember me right?" Sobbing the little boy raised his head and hesitantly took his hand after a nod.

"That boy was you?" As he turned to me with melancholy in his eyes, he returned a sharp nod. "That's how I met him. Scared as I was back then, I moved in with a stranger who frequented my house.

I worked under him at the hospital as an apprentice until I found out that he wanted to use me to destroy the world. I ran away with a valuable treasure of his. He's searching for me to get it back," he narrated before putting a potion with a toxic sign on it in my hands.

"You didn't tell me," I complained but he insisted, "Yes. I didn't want you to think that I was working with him to kill you. Remember the first day, you were ready to attack me there and then." I looked down in defeat when I realized he was right.

"My dad created this to get rid of pests. But he didn't improve it to work on humans. This contains a powerful and dangerous toxic air which can kill humans at once if inhaled. So by the time he makes another one, we'd have to destroy all its sources."

"I'm sorry about my reaction before. It's difficult to trust anyone now. Thanks for being with me at this phase of my life," I replied while smiling at him. With an understanding look, he turned to my beeping phone.

When I unlocked the screen, I saw a message from the police station working on my mom's case. "You can make arrangements for your mom's funeral service tomorrow." I dropped my phone in my pocket and rushed to hug him closing my eyes.

"Are you okay?" I nodded and broke away from the hug. "I have to arrange my mom's funeral. But before that, I have to go for my night shift. You should take care of yourself," I accentuated.

"What about the suspect case? Do you need my help?" Rushing for the door, u smiled at him. "I'll tell you later! Late for work." I left the woods a few minutes after using the shortcut.

I stepped into the mall and took my place for the three hours. My time was up soon so I looked around with a sigh. "Nothing today too?" After checking my phone, I had a lot of missed calls from Tricia and Jess. I threw my phone in the bag and walked to the bus station. This time, I was the only one waiting for the bus to arrive.

Crossing my legs, I sighed and unlocked the screen to call Jessica. As the number dialed, my eyes fell on a familiar figure. Looking closely, I recognized the person with the hoodie to be Nathan, but he was standing in the dark with another car stopping beside him..

When I tried to call out to him, he quickly looked around critically before sitting in the car. After a split second, the car sped off. "Clara? Are you there?" Turning back to the call, I lost him nevertheless. "Y-Yeah. I'm almost home. I'll call you tomorrow." The bus stopped by me so I got up and boarded it. As I moved inti my house, my eyes traced the door to mom's room open.

Looking at the direction of the wind, I could tell why. I walked to close it, but curiosity got the best of me when I got to the entrance. Everything was like it used to be. Her bed well laid and her clothes intact. But the drawers were locked from inside.

Where did mom keep her keys? I thought as I raised the bedsheets to checked under her bed and behind the picture frames hanging on the wall.

I went deeper into her private library, but the only collection was on vampires and books with strange writings.

Other books were separately packed at another destination. Throwing the books down, a key fell out of one red book. Sighing to have found a fitting key, I rushed to try the key on it. It cracked open making me happy.

Inside, the box revealed a bunch of papers and a picture of me, dad and her, perfume of different flowers and another picture of a little girl standing in front of a garden.

Curving my lips, I realized this was the first time I had seen her face. "Who's this?" I wondered while taking the picture out of the drawer. I gathered each and every paper with the picture and placed them on the table analyzing them.

The picture dated about two years before I was born in our farmhouse before we moved here. "Catherine, happy birthday," it said behind the picture.

I thought over and over on the name to try to remember having heard her mention a name like that, but I couldn't.

I opened the drawer again and found another group of her pictures in the house, vacation sites, all with mom and dad, but one said at the back, "CATHERINE, OUR DAUGHTER,"The picture showed when she was a new born baby.

"Daughter? How's this possible?!" I yelled and unconsciously dropped the picture on the table with my jaw falling over my neck.

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