Two hours later.
Irene woke up from her slumber with no recollection of what happened to her just a few hours ago.
Her dream about Brent the vampire was wiped out from her memories temporarily.
She stared at the window wondering why she was late in waking up in the morning? She left the bed and entered the bathroom to start her morning routine.
Done in the bathroom, she went to the kitchen and fixed herself a breakfast consisted of sliced bread, sunny side up egg, and sandwich spread, then finished it with one cup of hot coffee.
Twenty minutes later.
Armed with a shovel and machete, she went to the back of the house and started clearing the area, wearing protective gloves on her hands.
By the time she finished cleaning half of the area, her hands were sore.
Time to go back to the house and rest for a while.
She went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water then went straight to her room on the second floor to take a rest. She will continue cleaning the backyard this afternoon after lunch.
Inside the bedroom.
Before closing her eyes to sleep, she checked the messages on her phone.
The messages came from her mother, her former office mates, and her best friend.
She replied to their messages one by one. Afterward, she placed her phone on the side table.
Lying on the bed, she closed her eyes, preparing to sleep.
Suddenly, a burst of cold wind enters the room through the window, caressing her skin, and making her feel better.
A smile curled up on her lips, she drifted into a deep slumber fifteen minutes later.
Suddenly...
Brent materialized in the middle of the room, staring at Irene's sleeping form.
He went to bed and lay down beside her, wrapping his arms around her waist lovingly.
A few hours later.
Brent left Irene's side and vanished from the room.
Time went by.
Irene woke up at noon, lunchtime.
After checking the time on her phone, she left the room and went to the kitchen to prepare her lunch.
She boiled rice in the rice cooker and grabbed canned food from the cupboard, she cooked the luncheon meat in the frying pan.
Half an hour later, Irene finished cooking her food. Starving, she begin eating her meal with gusto.
One hour later.
Irene is back in the backyard to finish her chore. She will only finish clearing a few areas today and leave the rest to the new owner.
She picked up the machete from the ground and began the laborious task of clearing the rest of the area near the house.
Minutes went by.
At 5:30, she was already resting under the shade of the tree, tired and thirsty.
Finally, the fountain was now free from the wild bushes that enveloped it for several months.
After the death of her grandmother, the place was abandoned and wild plants and bushes took over the vast area. She decided not to hire a helping hand to clean the house to save on money.
Her mind traveled down memory lane.
She was just 15 years old when her father died in a car accident, her mother married a gambler and drunkard which infuriated her grandmother.
When men starts coming to the house to collect payments of debts made by her stepfather, her grandmother was angry.
Her grandmother made an ultimatum to her daughter.
Her mother has to make a painful choice between her grandmother or her gambler lover.
In the end, her mother chose her gambler lover. They were kicked out of the ancestral house after that. Their living condition starts going downhill the moment they left their ancestral house and relocated to another place.
Years went by.
Last year when she turned 23, her stepfather was murdered.
Then her grandmother also passed away a few months later.
And now... she was going to sell the ancestral house that she inherited from her grandmother.
Irene released a deep sigh, if only she has lots of money she won't sell this valuable property. This place holds special memories in her heart that she shared with her father when he was still alive.
Her life was happier and simpler way back then when her father was still alive.
She missed him so much!
Tears fell from her eyes. She gets emotional all of a sudden.
She looked heavenward. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I don't want to sell this house but I have no choice, we really need the money!" she said sorrowfully.
Her lamentation was carried by the wind, heard by the invisible vampire lurking nearby.
"Oh, sweetie..." Brent whispered, wanting to comfort his woman but decided to go against it. There's a right time for everything.
A few minutes later.
Irene left the backyard and returned to the house to rest for the night.
She went to the kitchen and prepared her meal.
After she finished preparing her simple dinner, consisting of noodles mixed with egg, she began eating right away.
One hour later.
Irene was already resting in bed inside her room on the second floor, texting her mother, informing her that everything is alright at her end. Done texting, she placed her phone on the side table, she rose to her feet and shut the window then leave the light on.
She went back to bed and covered her body with the blanket. She stared at the ceiling, trying to see what her future will be like a few years from now.
Sighing, she shut her eyes to sleep.
One hour later.
Irene drifted into a deep slumber, snoring softly.
This time, she was dreaming of Brent again.
In her dream, she was talking to Brent inside a coffee shop. For some odd reason, she has grown closer to him and this time she was openly sharing with him her problems and worries in life.
"Sweetie, it breaks my heart to see you suffering badly, shouldering the financial burden brought to by your stepfather. I would like to help you. Tomorrow when you wake up in the morning, go to the basement of the ancestral house and remove the closet from the wall. There... you will see a secret drawer on the wall. Inside the drawer are twenty pouches containing two hundred gold nuggets each. They're my gifts to you. Sell the gold nuggets and use the money to help your family. Do not sell the ancestral house, it's the only inheritance left by your beloved grandmother to you," Brent said.
Irene smiled at Brent, thinking that he was joking just to make her feel better. "Thank you for trying to cheer me up. If I have another choice I won't sell my grandmother's ancestral house and the whole property," she said sadly.
"Sweetie, I know what you are thinking in your mind right now. You might think that I'm lying or just making things up. Just do as I say and you won't regret it!" Brent insisted.
Irene giggled. "Okay, fine. I'll do as you say..." she replied just to silence him.
When the dream ended, Brent materialized in the middle of the room and joined Irene in the bed.
Hours went by.
The night finally gives way to a new day.
Irene woke up at 7:30 in the morning and remembered her dream about Brent. A bright smile appeared on her lips thinking that her desperation about her financial status somehow echoed in her dream.
Although she doesn't believe in her dream, especially what Brent had told her in her dream, she will still go to the basement and try to find out if there's a secret drawer on the wall behind the closet.
Anyways, nothing to lose if she will do it.
But first, she needs to prepare some breakfast because she was starving.
While she was on her way to the kitchen, she was amazed that she was dreaming of Brent two times already. In her dreams, he appears so hot and so real!