Searching For Answers

Feeling ashamed of how much she was admiring herself in the mirror, Iris put on an oversized hoodie and sweatpants before she sat in front of her computer to finish the task that her client was asking. She did a quick check on her calendar and a satisfied smile curved her lips. She had a full schedule and it meant money. She could add a substantial amount to her savings.

Her fingers froze in the air when she remembered why she was saving the money for. With how things were going, her plan to get away didn't seem to be a good idea. With the sudden appearance of Calixto's family members—more blood-suckers pretending to be human and not all of them were nice. She shivered when she remembered Calixto's father and how he stared at her in that massive mansion, telling her that they would meet again as she and Calixto fled away from him.

She didn't know the extent of her relationship with Calixto and his family, on why Calixto can only consume her blood. But from what she had heard that she put together, her family had a strong relationship with Calixto's family. She didn't know what that was but if she would leave Calixto's side, it would be difficult for her to find it out.

She had no concrete plan because she was being put in the dark and her usefulness to Calixto was just being his blood supply, however, she knew that there was more to just being his meal.

The reaction of Calixto's father when he saw her and how Talon, who was Calixto and Love's uncle, had this very odd interest in her, somehow told her that she had to stay close to them for her to get an answer about who her family was and where they were. She wondered if she was looking for her or if she was abandoned. But if she was abandoned, why and how did she end up in Calixto's mansion.

The more she thinks about how Calixto needs her, the more she is convinced that she wasn't abandoned by her family. Something had happened that made them leave her in this place. And maybe it wasn't their choice. She had met Calixto's father, he was not the kind of man that would give you a choice. Hence, when he said that he would see her again, she believed it. She felt it in her bones that one of these days, she would meet him again and she had no idea what he would do to her but she knew that it wasn't going to be good. He had her tied up in a chair the first time, she would not be surprised if he would do more than just tie her up.

Iris caught her own reflection on her computer screen and she just realized that she had stopped working. She sighed loudly and thought to herself if only there was someone that could tell her where her parents were, maybe she would not wonder this much. And if only she could do more online and not just design some websites.

Staring at her reflection on the screen, a thought was running in her head. It seemed impossible but she would not know if she didn't try. After debating on herself, she saved everything that she was working on and stood up from her computer chair, shut down her computer, and grabbed her phone.

If she did not do it now, she might not have the courage to do it later. It's better to just act on her impulses now and just regret them later. Whatever the result would be, at least she had something to work on than just being stuck wondering what could she do.

"Where are you going?"

She froze and slowly turned around and saw Monette, leaning against the door frame with her arms folded under her breast. She was looking at her with disgust and she regretted wearing the clothes she was wearing.

"The place where I'm going is called none of your business," she said to spite her. Satisfaction rose from her chest when she saw how Monette's expression quickly changed from condescending to anger.

"Just because you're the chosen blood donor of Calix, you're better than all of us here in the mansion. We are all the same. So don't give me that attitude, Iris. You're still an orphan!"

Iris sucked in some air to stop the tears from escaping her eyes. She kept her face expressionless because she had no plan to give Monette any control of her emotion, despite feeling a pang of pain in her guts when she said the word orphan. She had a feeling it was true and her idea of talking to the father that she knew seemed to be a good idea because of what Monette said.

"You should complain to OUR master if you're unhappy with how things are in this house. I'm sure he'll listen to you since you are quite close. Even calling him Calix when it isn't his name!"

Monette's face turned red in anger but before she could form a rebuttal, she turned on her heels and leave her seething in anger by herself. Her feet hurried to the place where she knew she could find Monette's father.

She wanted to hear from his mouth if what Monette said was true and if it was, she wanted to know the name of her parents. She wanted to find out if she still has some living relatives because she would like to live with them. Calixto had to adjust if he still wanted her to be his blood donor as Monette called her.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" She asked when she reached the kitchen because she heard some noises coming from the pantry. "Papa?" She called that surprising her. Since she had found out that the parents she knew weren't her blood relatives, she stopped calling them papa and mama. But the word papa escaped her mouth when the hair on her arms stood up the moment she stepped into the kitchen.