A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 197: What Am I Doing Wrong?

Chapter 197: What Am I Doing Wrong?

Draven softly smiled at Avelina.

"I would have felt very sad if you really meant it. You would be just like everyone else, but...it would not be your fault."

Avelina stared at him and abruptly buried her face in her palms, grumbling as though she was about to cry.

Bewildered, Draven tilted his head, unsure of what was going on.

"Avelina, what is the problem? Are you about to cry?"

"What do you think?" Avelina questioned while still hiding her face in her palms. "I feel so freaking guilty."

"Huh? Why?" Genuine confusion was apparent on Draven’s face.

Avelina lifted her head to look at him.

"I should not have said that. I’m sorry," she apologized.

Draven was still perplexed. "If I am not wrong, apologies are only made when one does something wrong, right?"

"Mhm." Avelina nodded.

"So, why are you apologizing?" Draven queried. "You have done nothing wrong. I’m the one who misunderstood you, and I should say sorry. Forgive me."

Avelina let out a soft breath. "You are a whole different case." She shook her head as she stood up from the seat.

"Can you sit on the bed?

"Why?" Draven inquired.

Avelina, while approaching the table to grab a comb, glanced at him. "Just. Sit. There!"

"Ah...okay." Draven stood up and walked over to sit down on the bed.

Avelina grabbed the comb and some oil for her hair from the table. She advanced towards Draven and sat down on the floor.

Draven stared down at her. "What...are you doing?"

Avelina reached over her hand, handing the comb and oil to him. "Comb, tie, and braid my hair.

For a few moments, Draven was stunned.

"But...I have never done this before." How can he braid her hair for her when he doesn’t even know how that is done?

Avelina pondered seriously for a few seconds before grabbing a handful of her hair. "Watch."

She began to braid it, showing him exactly what to do. Draven watched with the utmost focus.

"Do you understand now?" Avelina questioned.

"Hmmm..." Draven stroked his jaw. "I think I do."

"Good." Avelina smiled and adjusted closer as she loosed the braid.

"Okay, so part it from the middle into two separate bunches of hair. Comb each one, tie it, and braid it." She handed him two rubber bands.

As though he had gotten a grasp of it, Draven nodded. He neatly parted her hair into two separate bunches. "Like this?"

Avelina examined it through the mirror and gave him a thumbs up. "Not bad!"

"So... what do I do now?" Draven asked.

Avelina replied, "Comb it."

Draven did it just as she instructed and tied it.

"Now, braid it," Avelina said.

Draven parted it into three strands. Slowly, he began to interlock them. His brows furrowed, not sure if he was doing it right. It looked quite bizarre compared to what Avelina did.

"Uh, Avelina... I’m not sure if I am doing this correctly. It looks pretty weird compared to what you did."

Avelina glanced at what he did through the mirror, and her jaw fell. "You just...tangled my hair."

She smiled at him in pain and slowly stood up from the bed. "Yeah, never mind."

Draven stared at her as she proceeded to sit down at the table.

"Are you mad?" he asked.

Avelina shook her head. "Not at all." She widely smiled, confusing Draven, who could not tell if it was sincere or if she was smiling in pain.

Draven did not know what to say, so he simply kept quiet, never taking his eyes off her while she redid her hair.

....

It had clocked three a.m. in the morning.

Draven sat on the couch, reading through the new novel that he had borrowed from Avelina. His eyes would also cross on Avelina every now and then, quite attentive in case she ever attempted to fall off the bed.

"Hmm...he killed her." He blinked his eyes, seeming disappointed. "That’s saddening." A soft sigh fled his nose, and he flipped to the next page.

He began to read, but his attention was, however, drawn by sudden low muffles. That was Avelina’s voice—he was sure of it. He averted his eyes from the book and looked at Avelina.

She was asleep, but she was also mumbling a few words that he could understand. He was not surprised by her sleepy talking, as he was used to it. This was not the first time she talked in her sleep, however, what caught his attention was what she was saying.

"Draven, I clearly showed you how to do this. You are just not paying attention," Avelina was muttering.

Draven furrowed his brows. "What did I do?" He was curious. He closed the book and stood up from the sofa. He advanced towards the bed and bent to stare at Avelina’s face.

"No, no, you don’t do it like that!" Avelina’s face turned into a frown. "Listen, you do it like this, or else you will tangle my hair again!"

Draven’s eyes widened, and he gasped a bit.

"She was indeed mad!" He looked at Avelina. "You little liar. You told me you weren’t mad."

"Draven! Draven! Listen, concentrate!" From the face Avelina was making, he could tell that she was fed up with him in her dream.

"What am I doing wrong?" Draven pondered.

He tilted his head. "Am I that terrible at it that I couldn’t even understand how it’s done even in her dream?

Draven scratched his head and began to stroke his jaw in thought.

Is she awake? He wondered and extended his hand to poke her forehead with his finger.

"Avelina..." he called her name, waiting for a response, but none came.

He narrowed his eyes into a thin line and pulled her cheek, but not too hard. "Avelina... are you awake?"

She really is asleep! Confirming that she was indeed asleep, Draven nodded his head. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed someone’s number.

It rang for a few moments before the callee answered.

[Don?]

"I need your help," Draven said.