CHAPTER 161

The soft humming of the air conditioner and the slowly dripping faucet of the kitchen sink were the first sounds that registered into Tristan's ears as he woke up, assuring him that he was in fact in his house.

His eyelids slowly fluttered open only for him to wince involuntarily as his retinas drank in the bright lights in his room.

He looked at the stand on the side of his bed and saw a burning scented candle that was almost depleted to its base.

Other than the candle, everything else was his room.

He sat up on the bed and brought a hand to his throat and rubbed it gently, eyes twitching with a slight shiver across his body at what felt like phantom pains.

He remembered it very vividly. From what had happened to what it resulted in.

His fight with his English teacher(now wasn't that an unpleasant surprise) revealed something he was always wary about.

The druids were terrifying.

Even if she was using forbidden sacrifices to increase her strength past the norm, they still terrifying supernatural beings.

"Her regeneration is annoying."

It was only a few fractional moments away from instantaneous regeneration.

'She could neutralize my blood and even my venom had a miniscule effect on her. And then the wind…'

Sliding his legs off the bed, he moved to stand in front of the mirror to check his body.

The feeling of being burned alive was a very traumatizing one.

He looked down at his hands, seeing them making little shivers, and shook his head dispiritedly. He would never want to go through that again if he could help it.

He walked towards the window that was partially opened, letting the soft rays of the sun filter into the room, and stood before its reflection.

TZSS.

"Ouch." He hastily withdrew his hand from the sunlight and brought it to his face just in time to see the red blisters healing.

"When was the last time I got a sunburn?" He absentmindedly stared at his healed hands and asked himself. The answer to that was like 2 – 3 years ago. He was trying to overcome his urge for blood, a bad idea, and refrained from drinking Malia's blood for a week or so.

Basically the sun only hurts him if he doesn't have sufficient blood in his system, and that doesn't mean a gallon or two of the red liquid. It meant days of indulgence in quality blood just to build up the resistance, and even then the sun would still feel prickly on his skin for the coming days/weeks.

He sighed and picked up a robe and went downstairs to the kitchen where he could feel Malia and a few familiar presence.

Not surprisingly, he was met with a gathering of Malia, Allison, Satomi and surprisingly(a little bit) Boyd too.

"Tristan! You're up!"

He could barely keep himself steady as Malia barreled into his arms, a few hard sniffs, nudging deeper into his arms, an exhale of relief, and topped off with a deep slow kiss.

She trembled slightly as he held her waist and drew her tighter into his embrace, muttering something only he could hear.

"You're scaring me, Trist. I don't like it."

She said it with such a hurt emotion that made the guilt Tristan was already feeling increase tenfold.

"Forgive me. I'll try not to do it again." He whispered, kissing her forehead, then her nose, before finally resting on her lips.

He could feel the residual fear and self-loathing she felt slowly dissipating. It would take some time for her to get out of this funk and it was up to him to assure her of his safety.

"Don't try. Make sure." She said. He smiled at her and simply nodded. It was a promise he would strive to keep.

Rare instances like these were the reminders that unlike other couples and life partners, they couldn't live without the other in every sense of the phrase.

"It's like they just forget that other people are here trying to have a talk with them."

Allison slapped Boyd's arm with a chuckle of her own, a sweet expression on her face along with something else as she watched the both of them. Satomi merely smiled at the both of them, feeling nostalgic upon witnessing the scene they brought to life.

"Grandma." Tristan parted from Malia and went into Satomi's inviting arms. She almost lost her dear boy and worst was that she couldn't arrive on time and if not for Argent who was nearby, he might have died before they could get him help.

"You had me very worried, my dear. I'm sorry for not being present during your pains."

"Mmn-mmn. It's alright, grandma. I'm fine, that should be enough." He said as she patted his back encouragingly.

He turned to the remaining two people in their house as much as he wanted to point out they shouldn't be here this early in the day, he couldn't when bearing the brunt of their feeling of worries and anxiety.

'Maybe it's not a surprise they would. I did almost die to that druid.'

It left a sour taste that the two times she crossed paths with that woman, she always escaped – rather easily at that. The capacity of her strength was hard for him to wrap his head around, but it did open up a new thought to him. A grim one at that.

If she was that strong and slippery to catch, then how strong was the Deucalion that she was running from. One thing he noticed during their less than pleasant conversation was the palpitating fear that she emitted when she spoke of him.

It was true genuine fear - fear of the inevitable - the worst kind of fear to feel in a negative situation.

"Um, hey." He said. 'I can think about all this when I'm fully fed.'

His greeting was sorta stiff and he expected exasperation from Allison and a sarcastic retort from Boyd but what he got was the pale girl pulling him into a hug while Boyd scrambled his hair.

"You had us very worried there, man. None of us could sleep until we saw that you were all healed up." Boyd said.

"I see." Was all Tristan could say, and while he didn't say anything else, everyone could hear the silent 'sorry for making you worried' that was never said.

That was just the way he was to anyone that was not Malia and Satomi. And they were fine with that.

"Come, Tristan. I made some rice. You need to eat a lot as you are very weak right now." Satomi remarked from the kitchen as she dished the food for everyone.

Malia was the only one who didn't eat as she kept herself snuggled to Tristan's side while he ate with her eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her face.

It didn't take long before her tiredness won over and she fell asleep in his arms, finally clocking in for the long overdue sleep she refused to take since the night Tristan was fatally wounded, which was two nights ago.

"She's shaken, Tristan. This is the first time she's ever come to losing you. That obviously has her mind rattled. It would do both of you good to take it easy for now." Satomi said to him as he laid Malia down on the bed to rest after they finished breakfast.

"I don't think it's about taking it easy at this point, grandma." He whispered softly as he parted Malia's bangs to reveal her sleeping face. "She wants to kill me just as she wants to kill Deucalion, not because of any grudge but because I am not a natural cause."

He ran his hand through his hair in a tired manner. "Is being a vampire this bad?"

"People fear things they don't understand, Tristan." She consoled.

"They also fear things they can't control and things they are weak against." Tristan replied in the same vein.

Personally, he understood why the vampires were killed off; because of their unrestrained hunger and strength that became their tool for terror.

He was exactly like that when he first turned and not for his already existing bond with Malia, he would have gone on a spiral, living off human blood every day. Satomi taught him control when he was at a very impressionable age, courtesy of his veiled origins, and Malia taught him to care.

"I can't force your actions, Tristan. But reckon caution at your side at all times." She advised and stood up to leave. "I'll be coming back later in the evening. Be with your friends and sleep, you need lots of rest after all."

After Satomi left, Tristan, Boyd and Allison were sitting in the living room in peaceful silence, until Tristan asked.

"Lydia. What happened to her?"

Boyd and Allison looked at each other before Boyd shrugged, prompting both boys to turn to Allison.

She had taken off the brown jacket she wore when coming and wrapped it over her hands as she sat cross-legged on one of the larger couches.

"She only became responsive yesterday, and let's just say her first reaction was less than desirable. Her mom is getting very worried, almost considering putting her in Eichen House."

"What did she do when she woke up?" Boyd asked curiously.

Allison sighed while looking at Tristan who nodded slightly for her to continue on. "Well she started screaming bloody murder and saying things like 'I'm dying', 'I don't want to die', 'the blood is killing everything'." She said the last part while staring directly at Tristan.

As far as she was concerned and knowledgeable of, Lydia's words were a bad omen and hopefully the blood killing everything wasn't referencing to Tristan.

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