Chapter 25: The Truth

The chilled air of the air-conditioner made Vidhi lick her dry lips as she opened her eyes slowly. She was suddenly aware of a new kind of energy that was coursing through her veins, and it was thrilling. She felt aroused and focused. She was in a car, CJ's car, and Anirudh was driving it. Vidhi turned to look at Anirudh's face, gazing his expression in the dim blue light as he sat beside her and manned the steering like a stone statue. The blue glowing hue made his face appear angelic, drawing her dangerously towards him. 

"How are you feeling?" Anirudh asked gently without looking at her. There was a strange sadness in his voice and Vidhi found it to be incredibly attractive. Her eyes focused on his thin red lips.

"It's amazing!" She murmured.

"What's amazing?"

"Umm... the car." She quickly blurted out 

"It's convertible... Isn't it."

"He left the key in here. I don't have a choice to go back inside the mansion until the sunrise... Hence, we'll have to drive around for a few hours, I guess!"

Vidhi took a deep breath and looked outside. The night felt inviting as she gazed at the stars and inhaled the crisp fall air. She lowered the window a bit, the wind was tugging at her brown straight hair as they flew down the highway.

"Do you have any questions?" Anirudh asked, pulling her attention back into the car.

She looked at him for a moment. His shiny black hair and bright gray eyes looked unearthly in the moonlight.

"I have a few thousand questions, to be honest," she said as she admired his handsome face.

"Do you understand what had happened to you?"

"I believe CJ stabbed me with a wooden knife... And, I was dying."

She touched her chest to feel the wound, but to her surprise there were none... But her white satin robe was tainted with bloodstains.

"Where's the wound?"

"My blood had to power to heal fatal wounds." Anirudh spoke slowly.

"I'm sure by now you have realised what I am!" He stole a glance at her.

"Not really. But you had fangs!"

"I feed on blood Vidhita... I'm a creature of the dark. You remember I told you about my curse, well, I'm dwelling in a bridge between the living and the dead."

"A vampire!"

Vidhi gasped.

"If you call it so, yes." Anirudh smiled.

"How old are you?"

"A hundred and twenty six."

Vidhi let out a soft giggle.

"I always knew I had a thing for older men."

"Vidhita, aren't you scared?"

Vidhi shrugged.

"I know I should be, I mean I'm sitting beside a vampire who sucks blood... But, funny enough, I'm not scared... Not at all!"

"Do you know the reason why you aren't scared?"

"No."

"It's because you are sired to me, because I gave you my blood."

"Sired?"

Anirudh chuckled uncomfortably.

"It means you are my subjugate. You'll feel things for me that you probably won't feel otherwise. You will now follow me and my words like a compulsion."

"Is that a good thing?"

"No Vidhita. I don't want you to be my sired."

"Hm...!" Vidhi sighed.

"So about that compulsion... How does it work?"

Anirudh steered the wheel taking a sharp turn.

"Apart from healing humans with my blood, I can compel people. I can make them do things or make them forget things."

"Sampurna Maa!!"

"Yes, I had compelled her to forget her past life so as to save the last shred of her sanity."

"CJ tried to compel me as well... But he couldn't. Why?"

"Because, all these vampire powers, they have antidotes as well. The metal that you were wearing around your waist is such a thing, an antidote. No vampire can compel you if you are wearing it, not even me."

"Oh...!" Vidhi leaned back on the car seat.

"So, you didn't kill your parents... Who is Anubhav Roy Chowdhury?"

"Our son." Anirudh cleared his throat.

"Anubhav is my son... He is a writer, lives in Mussorie... I was his father still his graduation day... Then somehow he became mine." Anirudh chuckled fondly.

"He is an amazing lad Vidhita... You'd love him."

"Wait, Anubhav RC, The Anubhav RC you mean?"

"Yes."

"Wow! I have read most of his work... I'm a fan... I didn't know my son is this famous... I mean Bondita's son is this famous."

Anirudh smiled at her words.

"So tell me how did these all started?"

"I'll tell you Vidhita, but not tonight... Because once the effect of my blood fades away, which is usually a week if you aren't bleeding out, you would forget most of the things that we talked or did."

"Wow! A guilt free pass?"

Vidhi murmured.

"What?"

"Nothing... So what's the deal with this CJ? Why is he after us?"

"He is after you." Anirudh paused.

"Chandrajeet claimed to have loved Bondita, but she was already married to me... Incidents occurred which I'm sure you'll remember in due time... And, after Bondita gave birth to our boy, Chandrajeet tried to kill me... But, instead our son became the victim.

Bondita did some ritual to save our son whicj gave her some power. But, eventually she gave her life to save his."

Anirudh took a deep breath.

"She died on my arms, but before dying, she transferred the power in me. I had two options. To die with her and be born again and reunite with her, that is you... But, then the chances were if may not know where we were!  Or, the second option was I live a hundred years and wait... I waited Vidhita, because I promised her I'll take care of our son."

Vidhi felt her heart overwhelmed with a sudden sadness. She placed her hand on his to comfort him. But, the moment she did so, the touch ignited a spark in her body, coursing a ln electric shock of desire through her veins.

Vidhi shivered.

"That's the sire bond attraction, I felt that too." Anirudh smirked softly.

"Now, coming back to Chandrajeet, after Bondita was gone, he too performed the ritual. He sacrificed his elder sister for the ritual. He got the powers... But he wished for more... which he could get only from Bondita's reborn, that's you. But, he refused to wait a hundred years, he chose death and was reborn a few years before you. He too suffered from visions and past memories, but once he turned 18, he let his past self take control on him completely, and he performed the ritual again, sacrificing his father this time... And that's how he became a vampire as you would call."

"So, he had the option of not becoming one?"

"Yes."

"And, what happened to his sister?"

"She was my step mother, Bondita's companion, the power that I received from Bondita, I ensured that she gets her life back, as in, she is born again."

"Did she?"

"Yes."

"Sampurna Maa!!"

Vidhi exclaimed and Anirudh nodded his head in approval.

"Any more questions, Vidhita?" Anirudh asked slowly.

"Yes... Whom did Bondita sacrificed for the ritual?"

Anirudh let out a deep sigh.

"Herself."

................

Dear readers,

Don't forget to comment.