Twilight Requiem

A Good Start

“I’m sorry, but I still have no cure for you.”

Ivan looked at his uncle Creon as he spoke.

He was in Creon’s clinic for another check-up for his vampire rampage syndrome, a condition that was still classified as idiopathic or of unknown cause. Since then, Creon has been trying to find a cure for his nephew, but so far, he has failed.

“Don’t worry about it, Uncle.”

Ivan said, smiling at his uncle.

“I feel fine, and your serum is already doing wonders,” he added, and then Creon let out a sigh of defeat.

“Don’t worry, I will still try. For now, your tests all came back normal, which is good.” Creon said, showing Ivan his lab results on the tablet.

“Now, tell me… how are you since the last check-up? Were there any slip-ups?”

Creon asked.

“I’m fine.”

Ivan answered.

“Uncle, I have been taking the serum religiously. I have never had an episode since you know what. The animals and people around me are safe,” he continued.

Creon looked at him intently and asked.

“Are you sure? There wasn’t any instance that you feel like you wanted to… well, kill?”

Ivan nodded his head as Creon looked at him intently.

“I guess, taking part in the Elites helped?” he asked him, and Ivan nodded his head again.

“Yeah. I mean, being part of the Elites has given me legitimate reason to kill, and it really helped.”

Creon smiled in response to what Ivan said.

Then Creon stood up, grabbed a small rectangular black box, and handed it to Ivan.

“Since you are going on a mission, I will be giving you extra doses of the serum aside from your monthly supply, just in case,” he said.

“Uncle, I am fine. No need,” Ivan told him, trying to give the box back.

Creon heaved a deep breath and looked at his nephew intently.

“For everyone’s peace of mind, take them,” he said, pushing the box towards Ivan.

Ivan let out a sigh.

“Fine, thank you,” Ivan mumbled, and then he stood up.

“I will be going now. I still need to prepare.”

Ivan told him, and Creon nodded.

“Call me if anything happens or if you feel a little different,” Creon reminded his nephew, and then Ivan smirked.

“Want me to tell you when my heart skipped a beat when I met my mate, too?” he joked, and Creon snorted.

“You better tell the family group chat,” he said, and Ivan chuckled.

Then he bid his uncle goodbye and left his clinic.

Ivan heaved a deep breath the moment he got out of the hospital building.

“Time to get ready,” he said to himself.

Then he teleported himself into his room in the castle.

Since he joined the Elites, he left Tasmania and went back to Stone Castle.

In his room, Ivan started packing for the mission, and when he was zipping it up, his phone chimed. He walked over to the nightstand where his phone was and saw a text. It was from Zack.

‘Commander, everything is ready for the mission. We will be flying out tomorrow. All weapons and gadgets are packed and will be loaded into the aircraft in the morning.’

Ivan read, and he immediately sent a reply.

‘That’s good. I’ll see you guys later then.’

*********************************.

The next day, Ivan and the rest of his team flew to Sofia, Bulgaria, for a mission to apprehend or eliminate a vampire criminal.

When they got to Sofia, they settled in their rented apartment and started making arrangements. They started their mission with surveillance on their target the next morning, and they made their move in the evening.

The mission was a success thanks to Ivan and his abilities, and they eliminated the target and saved the victim.

After cleaning up the scene, Ivan and his team went back to their rented apartment to pack up their stuff. In Ivan’s room, he was packing his things when he saw the box of serum that his Uncle Creon had given him.

Ivan thought about what had happened to him earlier. He was close to having another episode when he let his anger towards the suspect get to him. He then decided to take a dose of that serum just to be safe.

Once he was done, he discarded what he used and put away the box. He was closing his bag when there was a knock on his door.

“Yeah?”

The door opened, and Zack came in.

“Boss, we finished the mission quickly, so we think we should celebrate. We will be hitting the bar downtown,” Zack told him.

Ivan arched his eyebrow.

“Are you asking for permission to go, or are you inviting me to join?” Ivan responded, looking at Zack from head to toe, who was already dressed for clubbing.

Zack chuckled.

“Well, both,” he said.

Ivan smiled at him.

“Sure. You guys can go. Just message me where you are, and I’ll catch up with you. I’ll just finish what I am doing,” he told him.

Zack smiled and nodded his head.

“Alright. See you later then,” he chirped and left, closing the door behind him.

Ivan sighed and continued packing his stuff. Once he was done, he contemplated whether he should go out and follow the others.

‘What are you dawdling about? Go and get dressed! We’re going out!’

Casper barked.

“Should I? I mean, I feel like my bed is calling me now,” Ivan replied, and then his Lycan growled at him.

‘There is no time to sleep, human! The night is young, we are young, party like no tomorrow!’ his Lycan responded.

Ivan frowned.

“We are far from being young,” he retorted.

‘I don’t care! I want to go out! Get dressed and go out, damn it!’

Ivan was confused about his Lycan’s insistence on going out.

“Seriously, why do you want to go out? You don’t usually like this kind of thing,” he asked, wondering why the sudden change in his Lycan’s interest.

‘I don’t know, but right now, all I want is to go out. I feel like something great is waiting for us out there,’ Casper answered.

Ivan quietly stood in the middle of the room, thinking about what Casper just said.

‘Don’t be a statue and move it!’

Casper growled.

Ivan heaved a deep sigh and shook his head.

“Fine,” he mumbled and started getting ready to go out. He wore dark denim jeans, an oat-colored long-sleeved shirt that he topped with a black leather jacket.

Then he texted Zack, asking him where they were. When he got a reply about where they were, Ivan stuffed his phone into his jeans pocket and grabbed his wallet from the nightstand before putting on his shoes.

‘Just teleport to that place. I don’t have the patience to drive or be in a car. Quick! Take us there!’ Casper ordered.

Ivan sighed again and just did what his Lycan told him. He teleported towards the bar where the team was. He then appeared in the bar’s comfort room.

‘Why the comfort room?’ Casper asked in disgust.

‘This is the safest place,’ Ivan replied, and his Lycan started making a disgusted sound.

‘This place is very dirty. Do you have any idea how this place smells? It's full of human waste! And I am not just talking about number one and number two!’

Casper snarled.

‘I didn’t know you were a clean freak,’ Ivan teased him.

‘I am not, but this is just disgusting. Did you know –‘

Ivan ignored his Lycan’s ranting and exited the men’s comfort room and went to find his team. Passing through the swarm of bodies dancing, he spotted Zack and the others on the bar’s second floor.

He made his way there, but as he was getting close to the stairs, he bumped into someone.

“Sorry –“ Ivan mumbled and then paused when he felt a slight tingling sensation on his arm when he bumped into someone. Then a mouthwatering scent hit his nose like a truck, and at the same time, gave him the feeling of floating.

It smells like jasmine and mint.

When he turned around to see who it was, all he saw was a woman with long black hair. He wanted to follow her as her scent was inviting him. But before he could take a step towards her direction, a hand landed on his shoulder.

“Boss.”

Ivan turned around, and it was Zack.

“You came. Come on. The guys are upstairs,” Zack said, leading Ivan upstairs to their table.

While Ivan followed Zack, his head kept turning towards the direction where the woman went.

‘Casper, what was that?’ Ivan asked his Lycan.

‘I am not sure, but I want to smell it again. I feel addicted to that scent,’ Casper replied.

As Ivan sat with the others, they ordered more drinks. Even though human alcohol doesn’t really affect them, they still drink for the sake of drinking. Ivan would join their conversation, but most of the time, he was quiet and was just looking over the railings, looking down at the dance floor and the bar counter.

Ivan was scanning the crowd, looking for the woman he bumped into earlier. He inhaled deeply, trying to locate her using her scent, but the whole place was packed with different strong scents, and he had a hard time finding her.

He was about to give up and just focus on drinking with his team when he finally got a whiff of the amazing scent he had smelled earlier. His head snapped up, and he started scanning the room below them.

Soon, his eyes fell on the black-haired woman coming out of the ladies’ room. Seeing her, it was like Ivan’s eyes just zoomed onto her face. She had sharp, cat-like hazel eyes, not too high a nose bridge that matched her cheeks, and her plump lips, which made Ivan think about how it would feel if he kissed them.

She was wearing a black dress that was a size too small for her. When he saw her smile at the bartender, he both felt smitten by it and annoyed that the male bartender behind the counter got to see that smile up close.

‘How dare he look at her smiling?!’

Casper snarled at the same time Ivan stood up from his seat. Leo and the others looked at Ivan, wondering why he stood up. They asked him why, but he ignored them and just left. Confused about it, they followed them with their eyes and saw them going towards the bar counter.

Ivan just didn’t think about that moment. He just moved; his feet moved towards the woman’s direction like they had a mind of their own. When he was a few feet away from her, one word from his Lycan made him pause froze him on the spot.

‘Mate!’

Ivan’s eyes widened in response to what he heard from his Lycan.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘She is our mate! Get mate! Now!’

Casper barked excitedly.

Ivan could feel his Lycan bounce up and down, like an excited puppy for treats. He swallowed several times as his heart continued to hammer against his chest, and the addicting scent coming from his mate engulfed him.

Ivan then slowly approached the counter. He stiffly stood next to his mate, swallowed hard as he tried to calm his frantically beating heart and his excited Lycan.

He took a deep breath and ordered a drink from the bartender.

“Also, a drink for the lovely lady next to me,” Ivan told the bartender, who nodded and went to get his orders.

“Thanks for the drink.”

Ivan inwardly gasped when he heard her voice. He slowly turned towards her, and when he saw her, he couldn't help but smile. At that moment, he felt helpless in front of her gaze. She looked more beautiful up close, and her scent was stronger and more addictive than he thought.

Ivan smiled as soon as he got a hold of himself.

“You’re welcome,” he replied.

The woman, his mate, smiled broadly and held out her hand to him.

“I’m Nyx, by the way,” she said, introducing herself.

‘Nyx? Like the goddess of the night. Figures, as her black hair is as beautiful as the night,’ Casper spoke, completely smitten by his mate.

Ivan agreed to his Lycan. She is indeed beautiful, and her black hair is like the beautiful night sky. He then looked at her hand and grabbed it. The moment their skin touched, they both felt sparks and tingles, making Ivan smile.

“Nice to meet you; my name is Ivan,” he said.

Nyx just smiled as she pulled her hand back, clearly taken aback by the tingling when they touched. Before any of them could speak, the bartender gave them their drinks.

Nyx then took a sip of her drink and turned towards Ivan.

“So, are you from around here?” she asked.

Ivan looked at her and shook his head as he noticed her thick accent.

“I was just here for a few days,” he answered.

Nyx narrowed her eyes at him.

“Business?”

“Uhm, not really.”

Ivan’s answer intrigued his mate more. She turned completely towards Ivan, propped her elbow on the counter, and leaned closer to him, exposing her cleavage that made Ivan gulp.

“You are not a businessman, so what do you do for a living, Ivan?” she asked Ivan, who suddenly felt heat coming off his body.

“Uhm, a teacher,”

Ivan blurted.

He couldn’t think straight because of how close she was to him, and his scent was starting to drive his imagination wild.

Nyx, on the other hand, was surprised by his answer. She found him too good-looking to be a teacher. She smirked and spoke.

“You’re a tourist then,” she said, and Ivan nodded.

“Same. I am here for a short vacation.”

“Where are you from?”

Ivan asked, wanting to get to know more information about her, especially where to look for her. Instead of answering his question, Nyx just smiled at him and took a sip of her drink.

Even though Nyx did not answer Ivan’s question, they still chatted as Nyx was the one asking him questions. Ivan happily answered them and even ordered more drinks while they chatted.

A couple of drinks later, Ivan closed and paid their bill.

“This place is getting loud; let’s go somewhere quiet.”

Nyx said, grabbing Ivan by his collar as she pulled him out of the bar. Ivan just followed her like a lost puppy.