(This Chapter is for Engel11. Thank you for sending powers stones daily dear.)

(A few days ago)

Frila bought herself a new phone as she went to fetch the two things Xiran had asked her to keep safely in his vault. Her phone was lost in the mayhem the day they were attacked.

She fetch the items from his vault and took them to Xiran’s house. He had asked her to wait for his return from his meetings with Rivan, Warise and Mazitine.

Frila cleaned the house and cooked food, she also stocked his mini-fridge with fresh blood. All the while her mind was occupied with thoughts of Carios.

Memories of their intimacy in this very house were still fresh in her mind and it shredded her heart to think he would never hold her again. She considered herself to be trapped in a never-ending nightmare, hoping to wake up.

Xiran was making her independent, but she didn’t want to leave the side of her Señor, knowing very well how hard a time he was going through. He was pushing everyone away so no one would get hurt for being close to him.

Xiran arrived at night and after she had served him blood and dinner she handed over the items he had requested. One was the portrait Aselia had painted of him and the other one was the bracelet she had gifted him.

"Thank you! Frila," he took them from her with a grim expression. His emotional turmoil was bare for Frila to witness, for he couldn’t hide it no matter how much he tried.

"All of her other stuff I had already placed in the room above, all the clothes she wore and all of her art supplies and other paintings," Frila informed him further and he simply nodded his eyes focused on the bracelet he held in his hand.

She decided to give him privacy and quietly tried to walk out when Xiran softly called her and asked:

"Frila, can you do something for me?"

"Anything Señor!" she turned to face him as he took out his phone.

"I am giving you the number of Aselia’s partner, Yurian. Text him and find out how she is doing. He will no longer talk to me, but he will tell you because you were Aselia’s friend. Please do this for me," the heaviness of his voice told her he was drowning and there was very little she could do to ease his pain.

"Don’t worry, I will talk to him on my own without letting him know that you asked," Frila took the number from Xiran and exited the room. Giving him the privacy he desired. She went to the room Xiran had assigned to her and taking out her phone she texted Yurian:

[Hi! I am Frila: Señor Xiran’s assistant. We met a few days ago at the funeral. I took your number from Señor to inquire about Aselia. We became close during the time she spent here and it hurts me to know what happened. I just wanted to check how she is doing. And also to ask if I can sometimes text you to inquire about her.]

Frila used a secure app to text Yurian, one that couldn’t be traced and hit the send button, she then waited for his reply.

Meanwhile, Xiran kept the bracelet in his hand. He had only worn it for a few days and since it held traces of her blood, he didn’t want other vampires to smell it. Slowly he pressed it closer to his nose and her scent still lingered where her blood had dried on his name...

His shredded heart missed her with an unfathomable need, but she could never be his now. She was gone and he had ceased to exist in her world. Only her memories remained behind, he deeply sighed. Placing the bracelet on his side table he picked up the portrait and traced it with his hand.

The strokes were so beautifully put in and the light hues she had used to paint him highlighted his features, especially his face. She was so talented, and he wished she would paint more and have an exhibition of her paintings.

Xiran got up and hung the painting in his room, in a place which was in his direct line of sight. He then proceeded to take the bracelet and opened the secret compartment in his walk-in closet.

There was a rectangular chocolate box, she had brought him, emptying it out he had kept her phone, her pendant, a bloodied tissue paper which contained her hair and now that bracelet as well.

Instinctively his hand reached out and he picked up her phone and switched it on. He had previously switched it off without seeing it, for his emotional state was too unstable at that time.

He didn’t want to invade her privacy so he didn’t open any of her apps or texts but just stared at the picture she was using as her home screen. It was his picture, she had taken it as a screenshot from their very first video call, he was lying down on the bed with a smile, staring at her in the picture.

Fervent beats of his heart picked up seeing this gesture, how she had quietly captured him and made him her own. And yet all that was gone now. He had snatched away her love, the love she had solely given him.

He slid down to the floor and clutched her phone close to his heart, hoping to feel close to her. This was all that he was left of her. His back was pressed against the cupboard door as he closed his eyes to feel a tiny drop of relief from this ocean of torture which had become his permanent abode.

Then just out of curiosity, he took out his phone and texted her with a single word:

"Leia!"

He wanted to see what name she had saved his number with. His text immediately floated on her phone and it put a tiny smile on his face, he hadn’t smiled in over a week now and yet he did reading the name she had saved his number with. It read:

"~My Angel~"