2 Her Big Brother

Legaxy

Time flies so fast, and before I knew it, it was already dark.

Finally, time to go home.

I packed my stuff, got to say my usual goodbye to boss, then changed to my casual outfit and once I dropped the uniform at the uniform shoots going down the laundry room, I exited the hotel.

Since it was a long-distance between my home and hotel — I see not a lot of cars or taxis around either and thanks to my overprotective parents, I never learned to drive — I texted my Dad for a ride home.

I waited for a reply but then realized, he works a lot at the Hue Kingdom.

Considering the fact that the Vampire King stays as a hidden identity and never leaves his chamber, unless necessary, my Dad fills in most of 'his' work. That means, my poor father has to handle a full-time paperwork duty and has to accept — without thinking twice — endless overtime. 

So, to be clear and in short, I don't know if Papa could spare me that extra time.

I sighed at the thought. 

Surprisingly, he texted back, and I see a 'YES' on my screen. I got excited and waited for him but once I got picked up by our Black SUV, I was shocked to see my brother, Seth, in the driver's seat.

Seth Deo Dyme, the big brother of mine...

He's a vampire, so you can imagine when he got out of the car and flashed his pearly white smile at me that a lot of human girls were already drooling over him. 

Oh, GREAT! My cue to do a facepalm.

I'm gonna say this, sternly and for the hundredth time: I'm in no mood of having another set of fake friends asking me how was I doing when in reality, they just want to ask about the whereabouts of Seth — so they could stalk him all day, every day.

And just the fact that my big brother only flashed a smile, resulting in every girl in town to go nuts, literally — I mean, what else am I going to do or say to stop them?

'Yup, gotta blame this on the female hormones again, Legaxy,' I thought.

Or more like a scold to myself, making me shook my head out of exasperation.

Good thing for me though, I already saw that smile before... What am I saying? I ALWAYS saw that smile since it's the regular gesture Seth does when we greet each other.

But for some odd reason, and unlike those enchanted ladies, I'm acting pretty much 'normal' around that 'smile' and more importantly, around Seth.

Not that my brother is ugly or plain in my eyes — His actually drop-dead gorgeous; brown hair, smooth white skin, pointed nose, masculine body, pretty green eyes, and perfect diamond smile.

It's just that, brother or not, I don't have that instant attraction towards him; It doesn't feel right if you ask me.

Confused enough, I'm human myself so his so-called 'charisma' should affect me as well, right?

Nope, think again

Or perhaps, I am just too familiar with my brother's features and presence. We did live on the same roof once...

So yeah, that was the only explanation I could think of regarding this matter.

“Hey, cheeky boo,” Seth greeted and ruffled my hair playfully. 

“Kuya! (Big Brother in Filipino) I've been saving that for later!” I exclaimed, hitting his arm. 

He laughed, instantly dodging my hand.

“Still a neat freak, I see. You do know, you look far cuter in ruffled hair than your usual hairstyle.”

He stated, flashing a full smile at me. 

I frowned.

“What's wrong with my straight hair again?” I asked.

“Boo, no offense and to be honest, I don't like the straight locks on you. It makes you look old, dead serious... and boring.”

He murmured the last part, but I still heard it loud and clear.

I rolled my eyes at him, quite offended.

At the same time, I momentarily caught a glimpse of human ladies still captivated by Seth's presence. I got distracted by this because I saw one lady — I recognized as one of our Front office staff, Maylene — almost trip, walking our way.

Cruel as it can be, and as much as I wanted to help my kind to snap out of the trance, but that's how Vampire beauty works for mortals.

It captures you without any warning, then engulfs you to the point that you cannot escape, until you finally get hurt — or killed — without fully realizing it. 

Sure it's an involuntary response of both the heart and mind — thanks to the strong magic quality of the Vampire charm, but I fairly believe that you could only get hurt once you let the dark magic sink in more.

However, who am I to judge these ladies, knowing all too well how immune I was towards the said spellbound?

Yeah Legaxy, think about that... 

“Let's get you home,” My big brother said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I could only nod at him and from there, we talked about our day. We got to joke and laugh around for a brief moment, while we casually walk to the car's side.

At one point, Seth got to mention things about Dad which got me thinking; where is he?

“Kuya, why'd you picked me up instead of Papa?” I asked as we reached the side door of the car. 

Seth shot me a confused look as he took my backpack from me.

“You don't remember?” He asked.

“Remember what?” I inquired innocently which earned me a glare from him.

“Seriously Legaxy? The Red Moon Ball is scheduled to happen next week,” he stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest, “don't tell me you forgot all about it already.”

I made an 'Oh' face, and he did get it that I forgot the once-in-a-lifetime party of the Vampire — Witch race, where every single Vampire and Witch finds their RED — for werewolves, it's equal to 'mate'.

Seth could only grunt at me. 

Of course, he will be irritated and disappointed by my oblivious state — which I may say is temporary for today — since he always mentioned this to me every year he joins the ball.

Nevertheless, like every year, Seth never found his Red. I don't know why or how the process works for them, but sadly, he never gets a match. 

Not even once, if I may add... 

He's already 28, and I don't know if he is still willing to look for his Red since he did end up choosing the security forces, where he guards and protects, over waiting for someone who never came. 

Embarrassed, I bit my lip. 

“Sorry, I didn't mean to forget about it. I've been a bit... unfocused lately. Hotel stuff, don't ask.”

I apologized, chewing the inside of my lip as I abruptly recalled the heated morning meeting session we have with Mr. Black.

All the arguments that took place, the screams that left the lips, the unfiltered and foul language bouncing around the room, and the fist pounding on the porcelain table causing it to crack —

Yeah, that kind of stuff, which left me a bit absent-minded at the moment.

I guess I'm not over it as I believed it to be...

Seth sighed and seeing how 'unfocused' I really was at that second, he became quiet for a while. 

All of a sudden, and without expecting it, he pinched my left cheek to look at him.

“Hey, it's alright cheeky boo. I'm the one who's sorry here. Stress got the best of me,” he sighed again.

“It's just... hard, and knowing it's a big day, everyone doesn't just expect it to be perfect. Rather, they WANT it to be perfect.” He explained, flashing a sad smile at me.

I only blinked a few times, getting off of the recollection I was having, before registering into Seth's apologetic eyes. 

“That's why Dad didn't pick you up. Overtime — again... but he said he was sorry.” He added softly while rubbing my cheek with his thumb. 

I nodded at him in understanding and finally, went inside the car. As he entered the driver's seat and laid my backpack beside him, I caught him sniffing the air.

I scowled. 

“Do you ever stop that, Kuya?”

He looked confused as he glanced my way. 

“What do you mean? I always do this.”

“But you're off duty. It's not like somebody's going to jump out of the bushes and hurt us.”

I protested, scrunching my nose in the process. 

He chuckled. 

“It's better to be safe than never Legaxy. Besides, it's just a security check — not the hunting stance,” He announced, backing up the car.

“You know pretty well that I will feel hell if I didn't do this perimeter check since we are at a place where EVERYONE IS WELCOME.” He then pointed out. 

I clasped my mouth shut after hearing that, and didn't argue further.

His right... 

Mallow Hotel may be a sacred ground for everybody, and no one is allowed to fight here — unless granted by the head owner, but with deadly thoughts and heavy hearts, you never know what each dark mind can do.

Especially, a dark beast's mind who's being unintentionally provoked by their enemies...

“Oh,” was all that I could chirp off; the sudden thought of fear lingering in the back of my mind. 

“Not to mention,” he paused and a dangerous grin appeared on his face as he glances at me through the driver's mirror, “I do love smelling your scent.” 

At first, I didn't think much about it, and believing that it was just his normal teasing, I rolled my eyes at him.

“Shut up. You said no 'hunting stance'.”

He laughed darkly as we drove off.

Still, he was not done joking and from there, I saw a hint of hunger in his eyes — from green to red — while peeking again at me in the mirror. 

Oh, hell no... 

“Seriously though, your scent could drive a Vampire crazy... That savory, sweet-sweet scent...”

He licked his lips and swallowed hard.

“I know I would boo...” He added, his voice was playful at the end, but too low and husky — bringing me to confirm he was hungry for blood. 

Freaking hell no!

I stiffened hearing that and like a switch, the memories of him almost killing me flashback in my head — replacing the fear I felt with great panic. 

“I wished you haven't said that Seth. Particularly, when you're starving...” I muttered nervously. 

He heard me and the fright in my voice was his realization; His once hungry features immediately drop and turned into pure shock.

Then, pain.

“Shit! I'm so sorry cheeky boo, I didn't realize I was — ” 

“Seth, no... It's fine... I'm, fine.”

I managed to tell as I flash my smile at him through the rearview mirror — trying to hide the horror I was feeling.

“Do you need to feed? We could stop, and I will let you go hunt — ” 

“No, no, I can wait.” He cut me off, breathing hard.

“Mom, she — she will be disappointed if we don't eat her dinner.” He rationalized, slowly calming down now — and his eyes, still shifting from red to green which means he was fighting for control.

I just nodded and we both became silent for a while; waiting for him to thoroughly calm down.

“So, could I safely conclude that the reason why you are planning on leaving home is... us? We scare you much — far too much, don't we?” He Questioned in a miserable tone, breaking the silence that long crept between us. 

I shook my head in a 'NO' and surprisingly, a giggle left my lips as I thought about his outcome about me leaving home after a "minor" incident.

I mean, it's a natural occurrence between us but that never draws me out...

“Of course not, silly,” I smiled at him in the mirror since I notice he was relaxed now — his eyes were in their normal shade of green.

“It's just the idea of independence Seth. Besides, no one in this family likes the idea of me driving.” I pouted at the thought. 

He laughed, fully breaking the tension that we were feeling at the moment.

“True. You're too clumsy for driving.”

“Ah, thanks for the vote of confidence?” I stated, sarcastically. 

He laughed harder.  

I could only shake my head at him.

“How's Howard and Axel by the way?” I questioned, changing the topic.

He stopped laughing and instantly, a wide smile was plastered on his face. 

“The boys are great actually. Howard got promoted to Major of the Vampire Army. Axel, on the other hand, has been recently chosen as the Head of the Witch Coven Ministry.”

He claimed, proudly. 

I smiled at the news myself. 

Like Seth, my other two brothers work for the Hue Kingdom and currently living there — leaving me with Mom and Dad.

Well, all my family members work at the Hue Kingdom — except for me because as clear as day, I am a prey there. But it doesn't matter where they are, or what work they had. As long as they are happy with their chosen career paths and the home they are currently living in, then I'm happy as well. 

Especially with the guys... 

They happen to be troublemakers from the past and now hearing how they got what they want and blossomed from there, kinda made me want to tear up. 

I am just so proud of them. 

That reminds me though, what about Seth's — specifically with the ongoing ball?

He used to be on royal guarding duties whenever this ball occurs... 

“What about you? How's work for you?” I curiously ask.

Surprisingly, Seth stiffened at my question. He didn't turn, say or answer the simple question I've asked. He just kept on driving, eyes very focus on the road. 

Huh, funny.

“Not that you want to talk about — ” I took back nonchalantly. 

“No, it's fine,” He intruded.

His voice was low again, though, too dark with emotion that I don't even know existed within him; he sounded 'feral'.

I unintentionally shivered... Nonetheless, I waited for a continuation.

He sighed, once. I waited.

Nothing. 

I waited again. 

Still, no word. 

I almost gave up and was about to change the topic, when he gives me a look through the mirror as if telling me to hold on and wait a little longer — which I did. 

It took maybe under a minute or so before he sighed another one and this time, it was a bit heavy — like he was carrying a burden so big that he forgot to breathe.

Hence, finally, he talked. 

“To be honest, I'm not liking the new assignment given to me by the Kingdom.”

He confessed in a plain voice. 

My forehead wrinkled in confusion.

“Why?” I questioned, intrigued.

He hesitated again.

His eyes were checking me on the mirror — as if calculating if I was somewhat ready or not, before shaking his head; he's having an internal battle with his mind. 

I glare at him to continue, which he, thankfully, obliged. 

“First, I was not supposed to tell you anything — not yet, because the whole family should be around. And second, I'm planning to communicate this matter this weekend, for Howard and Axel will be present at dinner. That's all I could tell, no more.”

He explained, eyeing me once again through the mirror. 

I gave him my best 'beg' face for more information, that he rolled his eyes at me.

“Goddess, you're so pushy!” He growled, “Okay, fine! Since you pleaded, I'll tell you one thing and one thing only — and sure enough, you will never going to like it.” 

I became perplexed. 

“What do you mean? You know Kuya, you always share everything with me — FIRST.” I pointed out, pouting at him, “Do you hate your job now that you will only give me clues instead of details? And why would I never like it? I mean, I am always fascinated by everything you do. Specifically when it comes to your work.” 

He shot me a small smile. 

“Oh cheeky boo, I still love my job — always have been. However, there were some changes that I need to work on and to be followed soon. Rules, to be exact, that is on strict compliance.”

He clarified while chewing the inside of his cheek.

“Changes? What changes?”

I never knew the Hue Kingdom could do that. As far as I've known, they never change anything before, primarily when it comes to their legislation.

That's a first...

Real question is, what made them changed their lawful ways? 

Before I could even formulate an answer to the question, Seth's heavy exhale caught my attention.

“The concept now is that I'm not guarding any royal people. Well, not until the Red Moon Ball ends...” He declared, his voice was once more dark and husky. 

I looked more baffled than before. 

“Oh, congratulations... I guess.” I expressed, wrinkling my forehead, “But, if you don't mind me asking, who are you guarding now Kuya?”

At the exact time I popped that question out, the car came to a stop at our front lawn. When Seth turned and stared at me, the cheerful big brother of mine faded, and in its place was a deadly poker face of a Vampire soldier.

His eyes were burning glossy red again and since the moon was full and bright tonight, the color red glowed dangerously, making me froze in my seat.

All of a sudden, and in a husky tone, he mumbled, “You.”