Thirst For You

The city was a maze of lights and shadows, and from the rooftop of her apartment building, Eva could see it all spread out beneath her—an ocean of flickering streetlights, the distant hum of cars, and the pale glow of the moon hanging low in the sky. The air was thick with the scent of rain, and the chill in the wind made her wrap her arms around herself.

She hadn't meant to come up here... hadn't meant to be with him, either but somehow, here she was—standing at the edge of the world, her feet barely touching the cold concrete, staring out into the night with Elias behind her.

His presence was magnetic, as always. Even now, despite her best efforts to remain grounded, she felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.

"I'm sorry if i scared you" Elias said, his voice low and smooth. He stood a few steps behind her, his silhouette a shadow against the city lights. She hadn't even heard him move, but now that he was near, she could feel his gaze on her like a weight on her back.

"You didn't.... I just came here to escape the noise," she replied softly, though it wasn't just the noise she wanted to escape. It was the overwhelming storm inside her—the questions that refused to stay silent. "Why are we here, Elias? What do you want from me?"

His footsteps echoed in the silence as he moved closer, his presence like an inevitable pull that she could not escape. He didn't touch her, but the air between them seemed to vibrate with the force of something unspoken, something ancient.

"What I want," he said, his voice a whisper of something older than time itself, "is something you've already given me."

Eva frowned, turning to face him fully, though her heart skipped a beat at how close he was. "I haven't given you anything. You came into my life without warning.. What is it that you—"

"Eva." His voice cut through her words like a knife, sharp and filled with an intensity that sent a chill down her spine. "You have given me something... promise. A promise I've waited for centuries to be fulfilled."

Eva blinked, her pulse quickening. "A promise? What are you talking about?"

Elias's gaze softened, though it carried the weight of a history she couldn't understand. "Centuries ago, you and I were lovers you promised me before you died that if you died, you would come back to me. You swore it."

Eva's breath caught in her throat, her mind spinning. "I—what? What are you saying? That was... centuries ago?"

He nodded, his eyes never leaving hers, like he was searching for something deep inside her. Something that had been sleeping for far too long. "Yes. And in those centuries, I never stopped waiting. I never stopped believing that you would return to me, just as you promised."

She shook her head, her thoughts racing. "No. this... this doesn't make sense. I've never met you before. I'm not—I'm not her.I'm not the one you're looking for"

Elias stepped closer, his eyes dark and full of longing. "But you are her, Eva. You just don't remember.....not yet."

The words hit her like a wave, crashing over her with a force she wasn't ready for. She staggered back, her mind spinning as fragments of something—something forgotten—began to claw their way to the surface. Faces, memories that didn't belong to her, flickering like shadows in the corners of her mind.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head. "This isn't possible. I'm just... me...I'm just Eva .....this doesn't make any sense"

He reached out then, his hand resting gently on her arm, grounding her with a touch that burned like fire against her skin. "You are still her, Eva.....your soul, your essence—it is hers and it always will be you've just... you've forgotten."

Eva's knees wobbled, the weight of his words pressing down on her like a stone and her head started spinning in all directions. She closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because I've felt it, every day, for the last few hundred years." Elias's voice softened, and for a moment, he sounded almost vulnerable—something she hadn't expected from him. "I've waited for you, I've watched you die, time and time again, only for you to be reborn. And each time, it's the same, I find you, I seek you out, I bring you back to me."

Eva's mind reeled. "So... you've been watching me? All my lives? Every time?"

"Yes," he said, his voice thick with a sadness that twisted in her chest. "I have."

The words hung in the air, and Eva felt the full weight of them settle over her like a suffocating blanket. "Why?If what you're saying is true, why didn't you come to me sooner? Why now?"

"I couldn't," Elias replied, his voice growing colder, more distant. "Because of him."

"Who?" Eva asked, her pulse quickening. She could feel a sense of dread coiling in her stomach, but she didn't understand why.

"My brother," Elias said, his lips curling into a sneer as he said the words. "Lucian."

Eva's breath hitched at the name. She didn't know why it sounded so familiar, but it did. Like an echo from the past, from a life she didn't remember.

"Lucian?" she repeated, her voice unsteady. "What does he have to do with any of this?"

"He killed you," Elias said, his voice low and filled with venom. "He killed you because of me... he couldn't bear the idea of us being together."

Eva's heart skipped a beat, her breath catching in her throat. "He killed me?"

Elias's eyes darkened with fury, and for a moment, Eva thought he might lose control. His jaw tightened, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "Yes. He took everything from me.......everything."

"But I don't understand," Eva said, her voice shaking. "Why... why would he do that? What does he want with you?"

Elias's gaze turned distant, as if he were lost in the past. "Lucian is a very complex vampire a ruthless creature of the night, but what I know is that he wanted me to hand you over to him, so he could use you for a ritual he claimed was important but I could never do that. Not when I was in love with you."

Eva stepped back, her mind spinning with the weight of Elias's words. "This is crazy.....I don't know what you're talking about. I don't... I don't remember this."

"You will," he said, his voice softer now. "In time, you will remember everything. All of it, the love we shared, the betrayal, the promises."

Eva shook her head again, her mind reeling. "I can't— I don't even know who I was before all of this."

"You were mine," Elias said, his voice full of an intensity that sent a shiver through her. "And I was yours."

She swallowed hard, the words echoing in her chest like a drumbeat but despite the fear clawing at her, something inside her stirred. A flicker of recognition. 

"I promised you that I would come back," she whispered, almost to herself. "I promised."

"Yes," Elias said, his voice thick with emotion. "And now I'm here, and you're here. And this time... this time, we will not be separated again."

Eva's heart hammered in her chest as the weight of his words settled over her. She didn't know what this was, what it all meant, but there was something inside her—a deep, gnawing pull—that told her Elias wasn't lying....that somehow, all of this... all of him... was a part of her, a part she had forgotten.

But with that knowledge came fear. Fear of what she had been, and fear of what Elias had become.

"I don't know if I can trust you," Eva said softly, her voice trembling.

Elias's eyes darkened, but his expression softened. "I understand, Eva. But you will. In time, you will trust me with everything."

And as he said those words, as his eyes locked onto hers with that intensity she could not ignore, she knew that whatever choice she made next would change everything.