The Vampire's Bride

"Hey! Don't go spouting nonsense!" Jillion said.

Zorek narrowed his eyes as he slowly spoke, "I already told you this, Jillion... Don't go and try to hide the past. You won't succeed."

"Shut up!"

Mallory looked at Jillion confusedly. It was obvious that Jillion was frustrated. But... why?

Mallory's confusion was caught by Zorek. Smirking, Zorek claimed, "Seems like there's someone here who doesn't know the truth."

Mallory knew he was talking about her. She looked at Zorek and wondered what he meant by the truth.

"Do you want to know..." Zorek asked as his grin widened, "Who the real bad guy is?"

"Bad guy?" But before Mallory could ask what he meant, a voice cut her in.

"You're the bad guy," Jillion said as if he was protecting something — or rather, someone.

Jillion's words made Zorek laughed. His laugh sent shivers to Mallory and she suddenly felt afraid of the ''truth'' they were talking about. For some unknown reasons, she felt like it was better for her not to hear about the truth. The fact that she's scared with the unknown scared her the most. She couldn't reply to Zorek's question. All she could focus was the creepy laugh Zorek had.

"Hahaha! Bad guy? You're calling me the bad guy?" Zorek said as he raised an eyebrow. Pointing at the man in the middle, he continued, "If I'm a bad guy then does that mean that he's a devil? Boy, I'd be delighted to see that!"

A devil...?

Mallory followed where Zorek was pointing and found Leo's troubled face. He was gritting his teeth and starring daggers at Zorek. Mallory trembled and unconciously stepped a half-step back. Her actions went unnoticed by all. She tried to think of what Leo could have done for him to be called a devil. But she wasn't close with him to begin with... how can she know of his past?

"Why are you even pretending to be a good guy? Oh, wait I know why! It's because 'she' is gone forever that's why!" Zorek laughed. "I mean she's also the reason why you invited me to make the zombie army, right?"

No! You're wrong! I didn't plan to build a zombie army!

Somehow, the words were stuck at Leo's throat. He wanted to retort but was unable to. He could only glare at Zorek whole trying to hide the guilt inside. Seeing his lack of reaction, Mallory concluded that what Zorek was saying was true.

"Master Orpheus... started the zombie... army?"

Smirking, Zorek nodded, "That's right! He started it! Didn't you ever wander how we met? How I knew about Jillion and Aldo? How the four of us became friends?"

"You're wrong. We were never friends. You never treated us as your friends," Aldo hissed. He still couldn't forgive what Zorek made him do when he resurrected him. As a family-oriented person, how could he accept the fact that he killed his own family?

Pretending to be hurt, Zorek grasped his c.h.e.s.t, "How cruel, Aldo. I brought you back to life so it is only natural for you to return the favor. I helped you so you must help me... or have you forgotten the promise of gratitude we made before?"

"Promise of gratitude?" Mallory wondered. She looked at Aldo and asked, "Aldo... you made a deal with... him?"

"No! It's not a deal! It's—" Aldo tried to explain to Mallory what Zorek meant by the promise.

Confused, she held out a hand to stop Aldo. Covering half of her face with her other hand, she said, "No... No, before that... you mean you're friends with the person who killed you? The person who resurrected you? The person who... used you?"

Aldo seemed to be unable to explain. Knowing Mallory, she would feel betrayed. There she was, for more than a decade, feeling guilty of not being able to save Leo from the bad guy (Zorek) only to hear that they were friends?!

"Don't get them wrong, Mallory," Jillion butted in. Patting her shoulder, he said, "We used to be friends even before Aldo met you. We used to be friends... but it did not last until when Aldo met you. Because before he met you, Zorek had gone crazy."

"Bwahahahhaha!" Zorek could not hold it back anymore and laughed. How could these simple idiots make up excuses like this? Me? Crazy? Have they gone mad?

"It's amusing how you guys kept pushing the blame on me. Don't say that everything started because of this! Remember, this only started because she disappeared and Leo wanted to find her!"

Zorek was amused at her reactions. He was satisfied. If he could pull Mallory to his side, boy would he be so happy. Did he even need Leo? No! As long as he got Mallory, he could discard Leo anytime!

Zorek looked at Mallory with victory in his heart. But then he realized something. The way she looked at the others with a pained expression, the way she clenches her fists when in denial... it was exactly the same. Shaking his head, he said, "I pity you, little girl." Everyone looked at Zorek as he continued, "You're chosen by your looks."

"You're wrong!" Aldo and Leo said at the same time. Why were they so defensive? Probably because of guilt. They were afraid that Mallory will realize that they mistook her for the person they were looking for. They mistook her yet used her at the same time as a substitute. They knew deep in their hearts that's why they can't afford her to know about it.

But was the time really right for them to hide it? Wasn't it time for them to tell her the misunderstanding? Or will they let their fear haunt them?

Chosen by my looks? Just because of my looks? Chosen for what? Mallory's eyes swept across Leo, Aldo, and Jillion, wanting to hear the whole story. With a broken voice, she asked, "What does he mean? What... happened?"

She could decide once she knew the whole story. She can't just claim that Leo was the bad guy who started this. No... it's not that she can't... she just doesn't want to. She couldn't believe.

"Since I pity the little girl, let me give you five minutes to tell her the story," Zorek said as he crossed his arms. Ahh, what a show to watch.

Aldo was the first to speak. If he recalled correctly, it was dangerous to lie in this situation. If this goes on, it might trigger her. If she was triggered then... she would be dangerous. "I'll explain, Mallory. We were... friends even before I met you for a couple of years. But it's not just the four of us. We have another friend. It was a girl. She was my neighbor for quite some time so I introduced her to the boys..." Aldo trailed off, not knowing how to continue.

"Long story short, she disappeared. We searched for her whereabouts but found nothing. It was like she never existed in the first place. All informations were erased, leaving no trace. That's when I started doing the process," Leo admitted.

"Doing... the process? H—" Mallory wanted to ask how but was scared. Leo glanced at her before looking down. He then proceeded to answer the unsaid question, "I killed hundreds of people, both humans and vampires... just for this."

Leo gritted his teeth. It was obvious that he regretted it. How could he be so dumb? He even brought Zorek to the dark.

Mallory, on the other hand, remained quiet. She did not know whether to comfort him or to get angry at him. She did not know where she will stand on this. Killed hundreds of lives? Indeed, she was against it but she also knew that as vampires, they will kill people for they need blood in order to survive.

Noticing she wanted them to continue, Jillion finished the story, "But Leo stopped after two years if collaborating with Zorek. Within those two years... was the time when Zorek started turning vampires into zombies. That's why, even if he made the process, Leo had no idea of the zombie army that Zorek was planning to build."

Zorek sneered, "Heh... as if. He made the process so obviously he knew. He was planning to bring her back to life. Don't feign ignorance."

"You're wrong! I was told that that process was to help locate someone!" Leo said. He could still remember the day when a woman told him that if he wanted to look for someone, he should do everything that was said on the paper and to not lose it because every person has a certain type and each type had different process. That was why it the process is complicated. Leo will never forget the woman who tricked him.

"Locate someone? Then why did you ask for my help? If you wanted to locate her, you would have asked Aldo or Jillion! You think I love her romantically like the rest of you?" Zorek said.

"That's not it. I also asked for their help but Aldo was sent to study somewhere while Jillion was brought to his other home and got grounded for being unable to clean his bloody mess. With only you left, did you think I have other people to ask help from?" Leo said.

"That doesn't change the fact that you started the zombie-vampire army. If you're going to label who's evil and innocent then I'll be the innocent one. I never knew about the locating process nor the zombie part... All I knew was that I was helping you but I was tricked! You had the process therefore you have plans to turn her into a zombie — to bring her back to life," Zorek said as he narrowed his eyes.

"But did Master Orpheus found the body?"