"Can I ask one more question?" I pleaded. Roger drove faster and faster on the quiet streets. He didn't seem to be paying attention to the road at all.

He sighed.

"Just one." He agreed. His lips pursed into a cautious line again.

"Hmm...... You say you know I didn't go into the bookstore, and I went south. I'm just trying to figure out how you know. ”

He looked away, thinking.

"I don't think any of us should run away from it." I grumbled.

He almost smiled.

"Okay, then, I'll follow your breath all the way." He looked at the road and gave me time to regain the composure on my face. I can't think of any satisfactory answer to this at all, but I've carefully archived it for later study. I tried to refocus. Now that he's finally starting to explain, I'm not going to let him stop there.

Also, you haven't answered the first question I asked...... "I'm stalling."

He looked at me disapprovingly: "Which one?" ”

"How does this work - mind reading? Can you read anyone's mind anywhere? How did you do that? Can other members of your family ......? "I felt stupid enough to ask him to clarify everything in order to cover myself.

"It's not just a problem." He noted. I just intertwined my fingers and watched him, waiting.

"No, I'm the only one. And it's not like I can hear anyone's heart anywhere. I had to get pretty close. The more familiar I am with someone's ......'voice', the farther away I can hear them. But always, not more than a few kilometers away. He paused and thought about it. It's like being in a packed auditorium where everyone is talking at the same time. It was just a buzz -- a buzz in the background. It wasn't until I focused my attention on a certain sound that what they were thinking became clear. ”

"Most of the time I shut them out – it's just annoying. And it will make me seem more normal," he said with a frown, "and I won't answer unspoken questions from somebody's mind unexpectedly. ”

"Why do you think you can't hear my 'heart'?" I asked curiously.

He looked at me with incredulity written in his eyes.

"I don't know." He muttered. "My only guess is that maybe your brain doesn't work the same way as everyone else. It's like your mind is on the AM channel and I can only receive FM. He grinned at me and suddenly quipped.

"My brain isn't right? Am I a freak? These words bothered me more than I expected - perhaps because his speculation hit the nail on the head. I often doubt this, and when it is confirmed, I feel nervous.

"I can hear the voice in my head, and you're worried that you're a freak." He laughed. "Don't worry, it's just a theory...... his face tensed. Now let's get back to your theory. ”

I sighed. Where to start?

"We shouldn't run away from it now, right?" He reminded me gently.

For the first time, I looked away from his face and searched for the right words to put it in. I stumbled upon the speedometer.

"Oh my God!" I shouted. "Slow down!"

"What's wrong?" He was startled, but the speed didn't slow down.

"You've driven to 160 kilometers per hour!" I'm still yelling. I looked out the window in a panic, but it was too dark outside for me to see anything. Only a long stretch of the road that was illuminated by the blue light of the headlights could be seen clearly. The forests on both sides of the road are like two black walls - if we rush out of the road at this speed, they will be as solid as copper walls.

"Take it easy, Imia." He rolled his eyes, but still didn't slow down.

"Do you want to kill us?" I asked.

"We're not going to crash."

I tried to tune my voice. "Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I've always driven so fast." He turned his head and smiled at me.

"You show me the road!"

"I've never had an accident, Imia - I haven't even been ticketed." He grinned and patted him on the forehead. "Built-in radar detector."

"It's funny." I said angrily. "Chuck is a cop, remember? I was raised to be law-abiding. Plus, even if you turn us into Volvo sandwiches on the trunk, you might still be able to get away with it. ”

"Maybe." He let out a short, reluctant laugh in agreement. "But you can't." He sighed. I was relieved to see the pointer gradually receding to 120 km. "Happy?"

"Almost."

"I don't like to drive slowly." He complained.

"Is this called slowness?"

"As far as my driving goes, it's pretty pertinent." He abruptly changed the subject. "I'm still waiting to hear your latest theory."

I bit my lip. He looked down at me, his honey-like eyes surprisingly gentle.

"I'm not going to laugh." He assured.

"I'm more afraid you'll be angry with me."

"Is it that bad?"

"That's right, pretty serious."

He waited. I buried my head in my hands so I couldn't see his expression.

"Go on." His voice was calm.

"I don't know where to start." I confess.

"Why don't you start at the beginning...... You said you didn't come up with it yourself. ”

"It's not."

"Where did you start – a book? A movie? He said tentatively.

"No—it's Saturday, on the beach." I ventured to glance at his face. He looked confused.

"I happened to meet a world friend, Kendil? Allan. I continued. When I was a baby, his dad and Chuck were already old friends. ”

He was still confused.

"His father is one of the elders of the Wollaufers." I looked at him cautiously. His bewildered expression immediately froze on his face. "We walked together—"I removed the part of the story about my conspiracy"—and he told me some old legends—just to scare me, I thought. He told me a ...... "I hesitated.

"Go on." He said.

"Legends about vampires." I realized I was whispering. Now I don't dare to look at his face anymore. But I saw his knuckles tightening as he gripped the steering wheel.

"And you immediately thought of me?" It's still calm.

"Nope. He...... Your family is mentioned. ”

He was silent, just staring at the road.

I suddenly became worried, worried about trying to protect Kendil.

"He just thinks it's a stupid superstition." I said quickly. "He didn't want me to take anything of it seriously." That doesn't seem to be enough. I had to admit: "It's all my fault, I forced him to tell me." ”

"Why?"

"Messa said something about you - she wanted to provoke me. Then an older boy in the tribe said that your family wouldn't be coming to the reservation, but it sounded like he was implying something else. So I asked Kendil out alone and tricked him into telling him. I hung my head and admitted.

He burst out laughing, startling me. I looked up and glared at him. He laughed, but his eyes were furious, and he stared straight ahead.

"How did you fool him?" He asked.

"I tried to ** him - but it worked better than I thought." I thought about it, and there was a hint of skepticism in my tone.

"I really want to see it with my own eyes." He chuckled gloomily. "You accuse me of fascinating others—poor Kendil? Allan. ”

I blushed and turned my head to look at the night sky outside my window.

"And then what did you do?" A minute later, he asked.

"I took it online."

"Does that confirm your suspicions?" His voice sounded merely interested. But his hands clamped tightly on the steering wheel.

"Nope. There is no matching content. Most of the content is a bit silly. Then ...... "I stopped.

"What?"

"I decided, it doesn't matter." I whispered.

"It doesn't matter?" His tone made me look up—I finally broke the mask he had carefully maintained. His face was full of suspicion and a hint of anger that scared me.

"Yes." I said softly. "It doesn't matter to me what you are."

Stiff and mocking colors seeped into his voice. "You don't care even if I'm a monster? Even if I'm not human! ”

"I don't care."

He was silent, and once again stared straight ahead. His expression was dark and cold.

"You're angry." I sighed. "I was supposed to say nothing."

"Nope." He said, but his voice was as stiff as his expression. "I'd love to know what you're thinking—even if it's stupid."

"So I'm wrong again?" I provoked.

"I'm not talking about this. ' It doesn't matter'! He quoted me and gritted his teeth.

"Am I right?" I gasped.

"Does it matter?"

I took a deep breath.

"It doesn't matter." I paused. "But I'm curious." Only, my voice remained calm.

He suddenly complied: "What are you curious about? ”

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen." He replied quickly.

"How long have you been seventeen?"

His lips twisted as he stared at the road. "It's been a while." He eventually admitted.

"Good." I laughed, glad that he was still honest with me. He lowered his head and looked at me with wary eyes, just as he had done before, when he was worried about whether I would go into shock with shock. I smiled even more because of this encouragement, and he frowned.

"Don't laugh - but how do you get out in the daytime?"

He finally smiled. "."

"Burned by the sun?"

"."

"Sleeping in a coffin?"

"." He hesitated for a moment, his voice taking on a peculiar tone. "I don't have to sleep."

It took me a minute to digest the sentence. "Not at all?"

"Never." He said, his voice barely audible. He turned his head and looked at me with a look on his face. Those golden eyes grabbed my eyes, and I completely lost the ability to think. I stared at him until he looked away.

"You haven't asked me that most important question yet." Now his voice was stiff again, and when he looked at me again, his eyes were cold.

I blinked, still confused. "Which one?"

"Don't you care about my daily diet?" He asked sarcastically.

"Oh." I muttered. "That."

"Yes, that." His voice was cold. "Don't you want to know if I drink blood?"

I winced. "Well, Kendil said something about that."

"What did Kendil say?" He asked indifferently.

"He said you don't ...... Prey on humans. He said that your family should not be in danger, because you only hunt animals. ”

"He said we weren't dangerous?" There was deep doubt in his voice.

"Not exactly. He's saying that you shouldn't be in danger. But the Wollaufers still don't want you to set foot on their land, just in case. ”

He was looking ahead, but I couldn't tell if he was looking at the road.

"So is he right? About not preying on humans? "I try to keep my voice as normal as possible.

"The Wolauvers have a good memory." He whispered.

I take it as a confirmation.

"But don't be complacent about that." He warned me. "In terms of keeping their distance from us, they were right. We are still dangerous. ”

"I don't understand."

"We're trying," he explained slowly. "We're usually very self-controlled. But sometimes we make mistakes. I, let's say, leave myself alone with you. ”

"Is this a mistake?" I could hear the sadness in my voice, but I didn't know if he could hear it too.

"A very dangerous mistake." He whispered.

Then, we were all silent. I saw the light from the headlights distorting around the bends in the road. They move so fast that they don't look real at all, like some kind of video game. I realized that time had passed so quickly, like the pitch black road under the car, and I felt a terrible sense of fear that I would never have the chance to be with him like this again—to be honest with each other, and the wall between us was gone, but only once. His words implied that it was all over......