Chapter 159: Precious To Me
[Music Recommendation: Release Topic - Old Scars]
He couldn’t believe the reflection staring back at him was his own. Closing his eyes briefly, he exhaled shakily before glancing down at the bloodied mess in the basin, then at Eve, who still stood beside him, with tears streaming down her cheeks as her trembling hand continued to move gently over his back. Watching him suffer like this was breaking her apart.
Quickly, he turned on the faucet, letting the cold water gush out. He cupped handfuls of it to his face and mouth, washing everything away down the drain. Again and again, he poured the water over himself until the burning heat within finally began to fade. He ran a hand through his damp hair and felt the sharp pain in his chest slowly ease.
They remained still and silent for a while before Ivan finally spoke in a low, weary voice. "You didn’t have to see that."
He looked up at the mirror again, meeting her tear-filled gaze, and asked almost in a whisper, "Why didn’t you leave?"
Eve continued to stare at him before her trembling lips parted, her voice barely audible. "Would you have left...if I were in your place?"
It was a simple question, yet it struck deep. Would he have walked away after seeing his lover coughing up blood, helpless and alone?
No.
He knew he could never have done that. Not to his Eve...his Eve.
Without another word, he pulled her into his arms and slowly sank onto the bathroom floor, taking her down with him as his back came to rest against the cabinet beneath the sink. Eve clung to him tightly before a sob escaped her lips, then another and just like that, the dam broke. She cried helplessly, her heart aching with unbearable pain as the image of him coughing up blood replayed in her mind over and over again. The violent way his body convulsed, the sound of him struggling to breathe, it all tore at her soul.
How could she ever be okay after seeing that?
When Ivan regained a bit of strength, he held her closer and whispered softly, "I’m okay, baby. Don’t cry...I’m sorry you had to see that." He murmured the words again and again, his voice low and tender, but Eve couldn’t stop. She felt almost pathetic for being comforted by him when she should have been the one comforting him. Yet she couldn’t help it. Her grip on him only tightened, as if she feared that if she let go even for a second, he would vanish and she’d be left alone in the dark.
She soon began whispering through her tears, "Don’t leave me... we’ll find a way."
Her voice cracked between sobs, twisting Ivan’s heart. He brushed his hand gently along her back and murmured, "I won’t, baby. Stop crying, I’m right here." He said it even though he knew what he had seen in his reflection was a sign of corruption.
In all his studies, he had never come across a single case where someone had been healed from it. Corruption was always a swift, merciless death....either the vampire turned deranged and had to be killed for safety, or their body withered away when their system could no longer hold blood.
What troubled him most was that the transformation into full corruption usually didn’t take long. So why was he still like this? Why was he still able to think, to feel?
Something inside him was eating him alive from within, hollowing him out, stripping him of his emotions and yet, his feelings for her remained as fierce as ever. If anything, they were stronger. Her every pain, every flicker of discomfort still cut through him as if it were his own.
And then there were the attacks....the violent episodes that came and went, erratic and unpredictable. Did this mean his condition was something different altogether? Or was there something deep within him still fighting, trying to suppress the darkness before it consumed him completely?
But more than any other question, he asked himself, ’Was it safe to be around Eve in this condition?’ Because he knew....he knew, he couldn’t lose her. He couldn’t imagine another day without her. Yet did that mean he was willing to risk her well-being while he was in such a state? No. Certainly not.
Ivan was so torn in his thoughts that, for once, he didn’t know what to do. He had always been a decisive man, but when it came to Eve, everything was infinitely more complicated.
He was lost in these thoughts when he felt her stir. She lifted her head to look at him with those devastatingly beautiful blue eyes, still glistening with tears. Once again, he felt himself drowning in those twin pools of emotion. He saw the way she searched his face, watching for any sign of change, but his features remained as they were: strikingly handsome, though touched with exhaustion. His crimson eyes still burned with the same fire she knew so well, but now, faint swirls of darkness lingered within them, sending a chill down her spine.
Eve swallowed hard, her lips trembling as she licked away the traces of salt from her tears. In a slightly hoarse voice from crying too much, she asked softly, "H-How are you feeling?"
Ivan raised his hands and threaded his fingers through her hair. His thumb brushed gently against her cheeks, wiping away her tears, only for fresh ones to spill down again.
"I’m feeling okay now," he murmured softly. "Don’t worry so much, alright?"
"H-How can I not worry? You threw up so much...blood," she choked out, her voice breaking as she clung to him again, burying her face against his chest. "Please be okay...please don’t l-leave me," she sobbed, her whole body trembling.
"Who says I’m going to leave you, Eve?" Ivan asked quietly, his tone warm yet pained, as he ran one hand over her head while the other rubbed soothing circles on her back.
He pressed a tender kiss to the top of her head before inhaling her familiar scent and whispering, "Don’t you know by now...how precious you are to me?"
Eve’s heart clenched at his words, and she rubbed her face against his chest in silent response. The faintest curve tugged at the corner of Ivan’s lips....even in such a dire situation, even while facing the darkness inside him, this woman in his arms had an unshakable way of drawing him back to her light.
"Then...live," Eve’s muffled voice came from where her face was still buried against his chest.
"Who said I’m dying?" Ivan asked softly.
She went still for a moment before slowly raising her head to look at him. "But Damien said the corruption doesn’t heal, and that it leads to a person’s..."
"So you think I’ll simply die like this?" Ivan interrupted gently.
"No! You cannot! I won’t allow it!" Her eyes suddenly burned golden as she glared at him fiercely.
He stared at her for a moment before replying, "Eve, I’m not sure what it is..." He sighed, then added, "The signs are those of corruption, but it’s not progressing the way it usually does in other vampires."
Eve felt her throat go dry as she asked, "W-What do you mean by that?"
"It means that usually, corruption takes full control over a vampire’s mind, body, and soul within seconds...minutes...or, at most, a couple of hours. And yet...it hasn’t happened to me."
"Then...what is it that you’re feeling exactly?" she asked eagerly, her eyes darting between his.
He fell silent again, thinking carefully about how to respond. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her, he just didn’t want to frighten her, not after she’d been a sobbing mess only moments ago.
He opened his mouth to speak when she cupped his face in her hands and said, "Don’t you dare lie to me, or else...or else I’ll make you confess." Her voice trembled, but her determination was clear.
His eyes widened slightly at her attempted threat before his lips curved into an amused smile.
"You...really are a force to reckon with, aren’t you?" he said, his tone carrying a faint tease, just like the old Ivan used to. The familiarity made her heart squeeze painfully in her chest.
But she refused to let herself get distracted. Keeping a firm front, she said, "Don’t try to distract me. Be honest. Please..." Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her the truth.
Ivan exhaled deeply before finally answering, "I feel something coiling inside me...feeding on my emotions, making me hollow little by little. It’s not like I felt much to begin with, but every now and then, something goads me to do things I normally wouldn’t."
He pulled her gently into his embrace and whispered, "And I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to have you around me like this..."
"No! I’m not leaving you! Not like this!" Eve cried, her voice rising in fear at even the suggestion of him pushing her away.
Ivan’s eyes softened at her defiant refusal to stay away from him, but inside, he was torn...utterly conflicted and terrified for her safety when he couldn’t even trust himself anymore. Pain flickered in his eyes as memories from his past came rushing back, the very reason he had always kept people at a distance. The haunting incident from his childhood hit him like a crashing wave, tightening his chest and reminding him of one cruel truth: anyone who came too close to him eventually left, one way or another.
He couldn’t let that happen to Eve. Not her. She had become far too precious to him to risk losing for the sake of his own selfish desire to keep her near. So, hardening his heart, he whispered softly, "It’s for your own good, Eve."
