Without hesitating, I tore through my bedroom drawer until I found the old velvet box tucked between piles of random stuff. My hands shook a little as I opened it, but curiosity won by a mile. The old necklace my dad left behind was still sitting neatly inside. A long, thin chain with an 'H' pendant shaped like a butterfly, carved with strange details. The metal was brown, with red stones filling the gaps.
Watching my movements, Alan, who had been standing behind me the whole time, suddenly went rigid. His breath caught.
"This is a Humanos symbol. But not the official version," he commented, taking the pendant and holding it up to the window light.
I frowned. "The 'H' symbol is the same. What's the difference?"
"The usual Humanos symbol is simple. Just an 'H' shaped like plain butterfly wings. This one..." Alan's finger traced the engraving on the pendant's surface. "Too much ornamentation. Asymmetrical lines, dots that aren't placed randomly. Almost looks like a spell pattern."
"So what's the point? It's still a Humanos identifier, right?" I pressed.
"It could be an older version."
"Guessing just from the shape?" Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited for a more logical argument.
"Not just the shape. Look at the material." His finger pointed to the red stone in the center. "These are real stones, not synthetic. This necklace is expensive. Unless your father was secretly a billionaire."
"So?"
"One, its value is fantastic. Two, it's hundreds of years old. And three..." Alan hesitated for a second. "The design is too feminine."
"Meaning?"
"If I were a Humanos, I'd wear a symbol on something that represented my personal character. Men's rings are different from women's bracelets or necklaces. Trust me, this wasn't your father's Hammer identifier."
My mind immediately reeled. A woman's? Then why did my dad keep it and pass it down to me?
"Okay, that settles it." Without wasting time, I immediately grabbed my backpack, stuffing my wallet and a few essentials inside. "None of these theories are going to get answered if we just sit here guessing. We have to go to Arida. Now. See Grandpa and Grandma."
Alan stayed where he was, his gaze sweeping the room like someone calculating the odds of danger.
"Let's go," I urged, slipping the chain around my neck. The cold sensation of the metal pressed against my skin, giving me faint chills.
"I'd strongly advise against going there." His voice dropped, far too careful.
My steps halted. I turned, trying to catch whatever he was hiding behind his suddenly serious face. "Why? Is there a problem?"
"No. I just... don't want you involved any deeper." Alan took a step forward, his hand half-extended.
"Involved?" I scoffed. "I'm already in the middle of this. You're telling me to back out when I'm already in over my head?"
"Yes. It's the safest option right now."
"Then what should I do? Play dumb? Live a normal life knowing there's a mountain of lies in my grandparents' house?" My voice rose.
Alan closed his eyes briefly. "Alina, you don't understand the scale of the conflict. I don't want you to have a breakdown. Remember our initial agreement? This info is still too heavy."
"I need the facts, Alan."
"You can't. Just yesterday you went into shock finding out about vampires. If everything's opened up now, you could collapse again."
I narrowed my eyes. "So there's something more dangerous than just vampires and Humanos? What else are you hiding?"
Alan went quiet. His jaw tightened.
"You promised you'd tell me everything, right?"
"I will, but in stages. I'm also calculating how safe our steps are."
I fell silent. My fingers squeezed the pendant so hard the metal edges dug into my palm. A sharp, thin pain, but it actually cleared my mind. My logic told me the guy might be right—he just wanted to protect me. But this wasn't just about the underworld he was hiding. This was about Mom dying sick. About Dad disappearing off the face of the earth. All the connecting threads were in Arida.
"I can process anything. No matter how ugly the facts are, reality is better than living a lie." Stubbornly, I took a step forward, closing the distance between us. "I have to go, Alan. This is my family's business. That's what being partners means—facing problems together, not having one person walk ahead while the other is told to wait."
I grabbed his hand. Alan looked at me, still half-convinced, half-not.
"Okay, I'll help you find info," he decided. "But wait here. Let me be the one to go to Arida."
"No. This is my family. I'm coming."
"Alina—"
"I trust you. You'll protect me. So help me, don't block me."
He went quiet for a long time, his sigh sounding heavy, before finally giving a small nod. "Okay. We're going."
The car cut through crowded streets that slowly transitioned into rice fields and small houses. The tension in the cabin was palpable—two people, silent, both knowing why.
"Alan, are you okay?" I asked, trying to break the silence.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered shortly. His jaw was stiff, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary.
"Just tell me. I don't want you carrying it alone."
Alan let out a long breath. "Just imagining worst-case scenarios. You know all the Humanos factions don't like me. Your Grandpa and Grandma might..."
"Oh, Grandma will definitely blow a fuse."
"That's the scenario I'm thinking about."
"But if all this is true, I'm the one who's going to be way angrier."
"Why?"
"Because they've been lying to me this whole time." My tone was sharp. I felt a heat rising right to the tip of my tongue. "If I had known earlier, I could have been more careful—taken self-defense, not walked home late at night alone, not acted so brave. Now it feels like my freedom all this time was fake."
Staring out the window, I kept talking. "From childhood until high school, I was heavily guarded. Playtime was scheduled, clothes picked out, friends had to pass screening first. I thought it was all because of the trauma of losing Mom. That's why I thought they were just overreacting."
"Strict rules are a form of love."
"Yeah, so they say. But even for an out-of-town camp, Grandma strictly forbade it—only allowed if Grandpa tagged along. Imagine, a teenager wanting to go camping, but shadowed by parents. Embarrassing, yes, suffocating too. In the end, I recklessly went without permission. Grandma nagged for a whole week."
"But now you managed to go to college out of town."
"Managed it because I was stubborn. Didn't want to be a caged kid forever." I leaned back against the seat. "Grandpa was the same. Routinely stopped by the school to make sure I was safe. To the point he memorized all the teachers, got buddy-buddy with the security guard like a regular."
"Where did your grandparents used to work?"
"At a factory. They're retired now." I exhaled. "All of that made me feel locked up. I wanted to be free, but now I know... they had a reason."
"They were afraid of losing you," Alan's voice was softer, like he was trying to tidy up my emotions.
"Yeah. But their methods made me want to run." I gave a cynical grin. "Including the Marina thing."
"You trust her that much?" Alan asked, his voice flat.
"Marina's the one who introduced me to a lot of cool music, took me to the movies, became someone I could talk to. She's not stingy, often treated me, and even defended me when I got bullied. She took karate, I was in the scouts. When everyone else backed off because Grandpa was fierce, she stayed friends with me."
"I personally don't like her."
"You haven't met her, Alan. Her face is judgey, sure, but she's actually fun."
"Your Grandpa and Grandma also tried to forbid you from being friends with Marina?"
"Yeah. Said she brought a bad influence. Whatever the logic was, I didn't get it." I let out a breath. "Even though Marina never committed a crime. I even know her habits by heart—if she's really sleepy, she can fall asleep standing up."
"That means she's used to staying alert. Normal people can't do that."
"Oh gosh, you're just as suspicious."
He just gave a stiff smile and went completely silent after that. I glanced at him from the side—calm, not provoked by my up-and-down ranting. Like a wall that took all my complaints without wavering a bit.
Strangely, even though I was the one ranting, inside my head it felt like I was the one losing.
Noon. The moment the car window rolled down, the smell of sweet citrus mixed with wet earth hit me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm a heart that felt like it was going to drop out of my chest. The vehicle pulled up under the mango tree, kicking up thin dust around it. Alan killed the engine, but both his hands stayed glued to the steering wheel, his vigilant gaze sweeping the yard. The dark brown wooden building with a mossy roof in front of us looked sturdy. My childhood home. An area that should've felt warm, but this afternoon felt distinctly foreign.
The moment I opened the door, the tip of my sandal touched the gravel. The crunching sound felt like an awkward welcome. On the porch, Grandma was knitting with her glasses perched on the tip of her nose. "Alina!" The old woman was startled, scrambling up so fast her ball of yarn dropped to the floor. A thin smile bloomed through the wrinkles on her face.
Before the atmosphere could even warm up, her smile faded. Her gaze sharpened past me—toward Alan. The air across the entire porch changed instantly.
"Who are you?" She snapped, cold and sharp.
Alan didn't move, his jaw hard.
"Grandma, this is—"
"Quiet." Grandma's voice pressed down, holding back anger. On instinct, Grandma snatched up a piece of wood and swung it straight at Alan. "You... Monster... You have no heart..."
"Grandma, stop!" I screamed.
The wood missed Alan's head, but he only shifted his stance, letting the tip sweep through empty air. His hand caught Grandma's wrist, gentle but firm.
"Let go!" Grandma yelled. "You think anyone can just waltz in here?! Want to destroy us? Want revenge?"
Alan stepped back two paces. Both hands raised in surrender.
"Grandma, enough!" my voice cracked. "He's my boyfriend."
The sentence landed like an explosion. Grandma stared at me, her eyes reddening. "Boyfriend? You bring a vampire here and call him a boyfriend?"
"How did you know he was a vampire?"
The old woman froze for a moment, her chest rising and falling to hold back her anger. "Those pure blue eyes, and that bright silver ring in his iris. You think I could be fooled by something like contact lenses? I've spent decades dealing with slippery creatures like them in the underworld, Alina. A predator's gaze can't be covered up."
"You know about the underworld?"
"Did I say that?"
"I'm not deaf, Grandma. I know about vampires and Humanos now."
Grandma slammed the wood down hard. "Leave. Don't bring him here again."
"Why? What are you hiding?" My voice rose too, the heat in my chest chasing after it.
"I don't know anything." Her voice turned defensive. "You've made all my efforts to protect you pointless, Alina."
"No. It worked—at least until I was twenty." My tone was raspy.
Grandma shook her head, stepping back. "You're wrong, Alina. You're making a huge mistake."
"Wrong how, Grandma? Please answer me!"
"Wrong because you brought an enemy here!"
"Why do all Humanos treat Alan like an enemy? What fatal thing has he done?"
"Vampires are Danzel's enemy, Alina."
The blood felt like it rushed to my head. "You and Grandpa are from Danzel? The ones running all the illegal operations behind the scenes? I thought we were decent people, Grandma. Turns out we're former criminals?"
"Yes. Are you regretting it now?"
My hands clenched until my nails dug in. Alan's words spun in my head. The time spent together, the conversations, the sacrifices. All this time they had been good to me. I just needed to accept that bitter reality.
"No. You raised me, you educated me. I have no reason to hate you. Whatever the background is, I still love you."
Grandma looked at me for a long time. The harshness in her gaze suddenly crumbled. Her tears fell one by one.
Without a second thought, I stepped forward and hugged her tightly. Her body was stiff at first, then slowly softened. I knew this must be hard. A bad past, painful experiences aren't easy to talk about.
After things calmed down, the three of us went into the living room. It was quiet. I glanced left and right.
"Grandpa's still in the garden," Grandma answered, as if knowing what I was looking for.
The old woman sat on the tatami mat, her gaze dropping to the photo on the side table. Her finger gently rubbed the frame—the motion of someone picking at an old wound.
"Why did you approach my granddaughter?" she asked Alan, without turning her head.
"Because I love her," he answered firmly.
"Nonsense. You think I don't know how vampires love?" Grandma's voice was flat, like stating a simple fact. "Forced loyalty. Full of masks. Nothing sincere."
"That's only in the beginning. Feelings can slowly change," Alan answered quietly.
"Alan's right. He's sacrificed a lot—time, behavior, learning to understand me. That's how he fights," I chimed in.
"You never listen to me. Always arguing."
In here, Grandma always felt she was right. I didn't fire back—not because I didn't have an argument, but because there were more important things.
"Why do you consider vampires the enemy?" I asked directly.
"They used to attack us a lot. Danzel and the werewolves."
"Werewolves?"
"Yes. Your boyfriend didn't tell you?"
I quickly glanced at Alan. He just gave a tight little smile—like saying, *this is what I meant by heavy.*
I tried to be tough, asking for the next fact. "What happened?"
"They wanted the werewolves wiped out, including the Humanos who were loyally submissive to the werewolves, which were the Danzel." Grandma paused, taking a heavy breath as if the air in the room had suddenly turned toxic. "This is a part of our family's past, Alina. A part you never heard because we wanted you to grow up normal."
"But Danzel commits crimes. Doesn't crime deserve to be wiped out?"
"So you think vampires are heroes?" Grandma's voice hardened. "A lot of them control the government, make regulations to protect themselves, even dictate the media. Hammer was used as a pawn, then thrown away when they weren't useful. They also monopolize the economy. Small businesses that refused to bow were brought down. Land was taken, and then they felt supreme like gods. You think his family's wealth is clean?" Her eyes pierced Alan with pure hatred. "Ask him, how many people were ruined because of the system they control."
I turned to Alan. "Is Grandma telling the truth?"
The guy was quiet for a moment, his gaze unwavering. "The world is harsh, some actions are admittedly a bit extreme."
I let out a breath. Dizziness and dilemma crashed together in my head. This debate wasn't about good versus evil. It was about two sides that both had justifications for surviving.
"Okay. That means this world is really just full of people wearing masks. No one is truly clean."
"Alina, pessimism is not how I raised you."
"I know. But the quiet times are over." I looked directly at Grandma. "I want to know about my parents. Why Mom died. Why Dad left. I want you to be honest."
"After that, what will you do? Go investigate?"
"What I do after I know is my business. I just hope you cooperate."
She let out a harsh exhale. Grandma narrowed her eyes, looking like she had zero energy to drag up the past. "Didn't you used to play at Slapton Ley Lake? You don't remember?"
I dug through my memory again, searching for the fragments that hadn't connected yet. Was I ready?