The Crimson Reaper-Chapter 65: What it Means for Us

"You sleep in a lab?" Luciel asked once he entered inside Helen’s room and looked around. It was filled with computers, giant, holographic blue screens, and other research apparatus.

The room was so cramped with equipment that navigating the tangle of cables on the floor was nearly impossible.

"I don’t have a choice." She answered, walking towards the bed in the corner of the medium-sized room.

"How did you even manage to bring all of this stuff?" He questioned, staring at one of the screens which was showing a vampire and human skeleton side by side. They looked completely identical except for the fangs on the skull.

"I asked for help before everything escalated," Helen answered, not minding her husband staring at her as she was getting changed into her sleepwear.

She wanted to take a shower, but due to the fact that she was seeing double, she decided to take it after she woke up.

"That’s pretty smart," Luciel commented as he continued to explore her lab, even if he had no clue about what all those machines do. There were all kinds of them, small and big.

Watching her husband giving her only half of his attention, Helen rolled with her eyes before getting up, and approaching her husband.

"Come on... Put that aside for now." She tugged his arm, attempting to get him closer to her bed, but she huffed when Luciel didn’t budge.

Luciel glanced at Helen who was slightly smaller than him, reaching just above his nose with the top of her forehead. "Come where?"

"Oh, you..." She groaned, clenching her jaw, "You know what I mean." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes, looking away from Luciel.

"All right, all right, I’m coming." He laughed, complying with Helen’s wish, otherwise, he might see steam coming from her ears.

"Don’t make me drag you over here. You vanished, and you owe me an explanation." She stomped with her foot and placed her hands on the hips.

"Yeah... Sorry about that." He scratched the back of his head before strolling towards the bed alongside Helen.

"Why didn’t you come back to me?" She asked after she sat down on the bed.

"It’s more complicated than you think." He refused to give her a straight answer since he knew that his wife would become mad once she heard the inner turmoil he went through and how he just thought that it would be better that no one saw him like this.

"Luciel..." She lowered her voice, sounding angry while glaring straight into his soul.

"Look, it was kind of hard to just appear in front of you after the hunters wanted to kill me." He paused for a second.

"The only ones who knew were Alex and Scarlet, they were the ones who found me first." Luciel sighed, trying to shift her attention towards the other two. ’Sorry guys.’

"Alex and Scarlet, huh? I already knew about Alex, but her?" Helen was furious, making even the big vampire next to her feel shivers going down his spine for a second.

Thanks to Luciel, Helen got reminded that she still had a bone to pick with Alex for keeping this information a secret and Scarlet won’t get off the hook either.

She laid down on the bed while Luciel went to take off his clothes except the underwear, but he looked up when he heard a quiet gasp coming from Helen.

Helen leaned closer, her breath catching as she traced where Luciel’s scars should have been. "Your scars... They’re completely gone." Her fingers paused over his abdomen.

"Well, you know the saying, pretty as a vampire." Luciel joked, staring at Helen who continued to study his body which looked to be in even better shape than before.

"No, you don’t understand," Helen ignored the joke as she moved her hand towards his chest. Under her fingers, she could feel a completely different texture that was smooth to the touch.

"Humans turned vampires usually keep something - scars, quirks, traces of who they were... but this?" Her fingers trembled slightly at the realization. She was so happy to finally be with her husband that she didn’t think about it at first, "You are completely changed on a cellular level."

Helen hoped for it not to be true, "The vampirism you went through completely changed you, physically and mentally. I’ll need to do more tests later." Her heart skipped a beat after everything settled in.

There was no denying it anymore, from the appearance, behavior, and way of thinking, Luciel was not different at all from the rest of the vampires.

’If not for his memories, he would have already tried to kill me.’ She thought, remembering the moment when she saw him in a starving state.

"Something’s wrong?" Luciel asked her after hearing how her heartbeat was going out of control and he already had a clue what probably went through Helen’s head.

"Oh, sorry!" Helen shuddered, removing her hand.

"No need to apologize." He sighed, closing his eyes and once he opened them, they reverted from chocolate brown to crimson red. He had to do it since it started to feel uncomfortable.

"Did it hurt?" She hesitated, her voice barely audible. "No, I mean - how much?" She continued to question him after he laid down next to her. Helen wanted to know just what he had to go through to change this much.

"It was the most agonizing pain I had ever experienced." He answered after a small pause before continuing to remember the details.

"It felt like my body was being split into millions of pieces, reassembled, and then followed by a splitting headache. After that, there was a moment of peace before..."

Helen observed the frown on Luciel’s face, covered with cold sweat before he continued: "Before a horrible thirst took over... I couldn’t resist the sweet smell of blood that kept pulling me in."

Seeing how Luciel started to breathe heavily, revealing his fangs each time he opened his mouth, Helen wrapped her hands around his shoulders, pulling him in a warm embrace.

"Shhh, it’s all right now." She reassured him before running her fingers through his hair, "What was done was done, it’s time to move forward." She soothed him, not letting go while feeling of guilt gnawed at her being, she had gone too far.

If she had known the suffering he had gone through that day, she wouldn’t have asked, but hearing this, no wonder that he had taken that poor hunter’s life that day if it was as bad as he made it sound.

"No matter what, I still forgive you," she whispered into his ear, voice filled with unspoken pain. "You don’t have to carry it alone."

Luciel took a deep breath before hugging her back. He closed his eyes, enjoying the company of Helen. Right now, her words felt like an anchor, a pillar on which he could lean and stop pretending to be always strong for the public, but his survival as well.

He had everything as a vampire hunter, strength, power, authority, and respect, but now, he was just a weak vampire who would have died countless times if not for his battle experience.

"Sometimes I wonder..." Luciel paused, brushing her hand, "How I managed to catch someone like you."

"And I still don’t know how such a powerful vampire hunter chose me despite the mess I made." She added, remembering the first mission that the Church gave her.

"What can I say, I knew you were the one when I first laid my eyes on you."

"No, you were just drunk that night." She giggled, but there was a hint of sadness.

"Helen..." Luciel started, moving a lock of her hair behind her ear as he made eye contact, "No matter what, I’ll always be the same Luciel you love at the core, even if I might look and act slightly differently on the surface." He said to her after remembering her words and how she was inspecting his body earlier.

Helen was smart and an observant person, so it wasn’t hard for Luciel to guess what she might be thinking.

She stared into his crimson eyes as his expression softened, allowing her to see her husband once more.

"I know, sorry for doubting... When we first saw each other after you turned, I was so happy to see you, but now I got a chance to think what it means..."

"We’ll figure it out along the way, all right? Let’s just go to sleep. The sun will be up anyways." He reassured her, stroking her hair before getting closer.

"No matter what, Helen, you know I love you." He gently lifted her chin, not breaking an eye contact with her.

"Oh Luci..." Helen smiled, moving her hand across his face before giving him a small kiss on the lips. "I’ve always loved you, you know that."

Hearing those words made Luciel melt inside, he didn’t say anything because her warm expression said it all. Whatever happens, he won’t be alone anymore.

He leaned closer for another kiss, their lips meeting softly as a spark ignited between them, reminding him of something he thought he’d lost forever—hope.