With wolves around me, I had little options. The thought of a dagger flashed through my mind but was quickly cancelled out by an attack from a black wolf who caught the one off my arm. I cursed under my breath and blasted the sand-coloured wolf away from Rini as it launched itself at the back of her neck.
"Bloody Hell these things are strong," I gasped under the weight of one of the brown wolves. I brought my right knee up so it was almost touching the wolf’s stomach and lit up the dagger. Though burning the side of my leg severely, I shot the wolf right through its stomach and it was bleeding all over me. A few other wolves tackled me and I was too busy wrestling them off to care about the cuts in my clothes and skin. Sure I was worried about turning werewolf, but it was the last thing running through my head. Rini’s voice echoed in the now silent forest, followed by deep growling and a soft wining.
"Souta-kun," Rini whispered again, sitting up slowly as he backed off. He nodded at her briefly and dashed off into a bush not far from me. A few agonising grunts later, Souta had joined us again and was wearing only black pants. I had to admit, for a werewolf, he did look good. His body was well toned and perfectly tanned. His hair hadn’t really changed all that much, but his jaw line had hardened and his eyes were colder. However old he was now; he looked five years past it.
After much argument between the two - with me hanging upside-down in a tree just for the rush - Rini told me to go back to the castle, saying something about me loving one of the "bloodsuckers" there. With a glare I dashed off on foot. The long sleeves of my training kimono trailed behind me as I ran, ignoring the streaming tears from the wind and the pain in my leg. I dashed right up to the gate, jumped it, and ran through the doors that I forced open with telekinesis. I ignored Seth and Mira and Miranda and found myself in a strange part of the castle. I scratched my head and looked around. I wasn’t even sure if I was in a hurry or not.
"You seem lost," Lucifer’s voice said suddenly.
"Um . . . yes, I am . . ." I replied, looking around.
"Relax. You’re in the wing with my bedroom in it. How’s the fight?" he asked casually.
"Um . . . it turns out we know them . . . rather, we know one of them, the leader. Rini and him are . . . talking. She told me to come back here, though I’m not sure why . . ." I trailed off.
Lucifer exited his bedroom. "Probably because you’re bleeding horribly from your right thigh," he told me, spitting on his hand. I winced when he touched the burn, but soon felt a tingling sensation spread across my skin. "You’re going to leave her to it, then?"
"Souta and her were close. Unless she really pisses him off, he’ll protect her from them," I told him as I watched my leg heal.
Lucifer nodded. "In that case, go relax. Kyle is organizing books in the library at the moment, he’ll be done soon," he said, turning back to his room. I opened my mouth to ask him about what Seth said, but changed my mind and continued to my room.
The soft purple curtains were drawn, scented candles were lit and placed around the room, the tub was filled with steaming, bubbling water and there was soft music playing. I let my kimono slide off my shoulders, unstrapped my weapons and slipped into the faintly scented water. Wonderful memories of the dance flashed through my mind.
With my black and orange dress flowing behind me, I worked on my makeup. I went for a reddish-gray cats eye and an orange lip ring. My earrings alternated in colour to match my dress. I waited in the kitchen with Kyle while Seth had gone to retrieve Rini from her room. Kyle was dressed in a black tuxedo with an orange corsage and tie to match my outfit. Rini showed up and stared at me for a moment. "Oh no, Honey, you’re not trying to scare them," she told me with a tut. I glared at her and the next thing I knew, I had black and orange cat eyes and was covered in glitter. "Big difference," I grunted and picked up another wrap.
Five minutes later, Kyle was leaning into my neck. "It’s time," he whispered, taking my arm. We followed Seth and Rini into the Great Hall where crowds of people watched and applauded us as we walked. I was in a daze while Lucifer made his speech and I soon found myself in Kyle’s arms.
"May I have this dance?" he asked close to my ear.
"I-I can’t dance," I stuttered.
"Stand on my toes, nobody will notice," he whispered back and gripped my lower back with one hand and my free hand in his other. I glanced at Rini as we twirled, watching Seth try to match Kyle. He was graceful, yes, but Kyle shone. The music that night varied in genres’ and time periods. After dancing until one o’clock in the morning, Kyle told me I needed my rest and escorted me out of the room.
He shut the door behind me and watched as I attempted to reach the zipper on my back. For ten minutes I struggled and eventually, after recovering from a small fit of laughter, Kyle helped me. He had the zipper halfway down my back when Rini opened the door connecting our rooms. She stared at us. Kyle had his hand on the zipper and was trying to work it down to the bottom, his other hand was on my stomach and I was holding the top of the dress up. Rini blinked and walked back into her room. I laughed and slipped off the dress. I pulled on a tank top and jumped onto my bed. Kyle sighed and pulled off his jacket and his shirt.
"Finally," he said, "that outfit was getting annoying!"
I laughed and watched him roll his shoulders and flex his muscles as though he hadn’t in days. "Are you afraid of vampires?" he asked.
"Should I be?" I asked back.
"Yes," he growled, his eyes turning black. His form flickered and appeared on the other side of my room, then flickered again and was at the foot of my bed. He crouched down, growled from deep in his chest and flickered again. He reappeared on me, pinning my arms above my head and my legs to the bed with his knees. His fangs brushed against the skin on my neck.
I let out a small whimper. "You see, now?" he growled softly.
"Yes," I breathed. I felt my heart hammering in my chest and I knew he could hear it. He licked my neck softly and breathed deeply. He pulled away slowly then, in a flash, had his lips pressed to mine. I gasped slightly when he pulled up again.
"Goodnight," he whispered, kissing me softly again. He rose up slowly and paused. "Have I ever sung for you before?" he asked.
"No," I replied, slipping under the covers.
"Hm, you would have thought I would have," he said, laying down beside me. Propped up on one elbow, he stroked my hair and opened his mouth. A wordless melodic sound filled my head and sent it into a spiral. I shivered and listened to the sound fill my thoughts. I drifted off to sleep quickly, noticing that there was a second voice matching his an octave lower, very faintly.
I wonder where Kyle is right now, I pondered as I soaked. As if on a cue, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" I called.
"Kyle," he replied.
"It’s open," I told him, slouching into the foamy water. He opened the door and peered in.
"I could come back later," he said.
"It’s fine, I’m about to get out, just give me five minutes," I said, reaching for the soap. Kyle nodded and shut the door. I used strongly scented soap to overpower the stench of wolves that had covered me. Now that I had been around the flowery aroma of vampires for a while, I could see what they were talking about. Werewolves smelled of herbes and roots, strongly scented herbes to vampires. To a human the smell was rather pleasant, but to a vampire it was overpowering. I grabbed my fuzzy bath robe and climbed out of the tub.
Kyle was sprawled on his back on my bed with dark red, almost black rims under his eyes. I draped my kimono over my chair to be mended and steam dried my hair. Kyle started awake when my hair tickled against his face. I was straddling his hips and leaning over his face staring intently. His cool, soft hand cupped my cheek as he stared back, looking as though he was having trouble remembering how to open his eyes after every blink.
I stared for a moment, checking for changes. "What?" he asked softly.
"Seth said something to me a while ago, he said that I was changing you. He wouldn’t explain it though . . ." I trailed off.
Kyle frowned and slumped back onto the bed with his arms spread out like a T. "I see, so he mentioned that . . ." he muttered. I stared back expectantly. After a while, he explained. "Vampires are basically corpses with no souls. We are granted the ability to live almost like humans by a thing called the Silent Soul. The Silent Soul has lived in the same body for over two millennia, possessing the first vampire ever born, and it’s the soul that gives us our powers, but relies on us to keep it going, by taking a single life once a year. Now, when a vampire falls in love with a human of any sort, he or she risks losing most of their immortality. What I have been experiencing recently is a minor form of that, I require an hour of sleep at night, and my heart is beating slightly again. One beat every minute," he told me without taking his eyes off the ceiling.
"Oh," I replied. "Is there a way to fix this?"
"Yes, Lucifer is working out the ceremony as we speak," he said.
"One more question, who has the Silent Soul possessed for over two millennia?"
He glanced at me. "I would have thought you would have guessed. It’s Lucifer. He was the one who changed me, he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father," he whispered.
I nodded and pressed my ear to his chest. Sure enough, there was a faint thump. "OK, I lied, I have two more questions. Why does it only happen when vampires fall in love with humans?"
"Because we’re not meant to love what we should kill."
"And finally, will I get to witness the ceremony?"
"It would be safer if you didn’t. I won’t be able to control myself for a few days after it’s finished. I will be chained up until I can think straight again."
Remembering my bath robe, I stood up and wandered to my closet. I frowned at the limited selection. I turned to Kyle. "Pick something for me, would you? I don’t care what I wear right now," I asked, watching him examine my closet.
"Wear your belted jeans and belted belly top," he told me, nodding at my outfit that was dangling with belts. He stared at the roof as I slid off my robe. It felt nice to let the damp robe fall off of me at last. I pulled on my underwear and then my skin tight black jeans, listening to the jingle of metal. The shirt was long sleeved and exposed most of my stomach. It had belts across my chest and in rows across my arms. The shoes were simple black flats.
I turned back. "I should probably go check on Rini," I muttered, kissing him softly. "Get some rest, you look horrid - no offence," I started to walk away. "I’ll be back soon, hopefully."
This outfit did not make it easy to run, so I settled for my psi ball for means of transportation. If they had killed Rini, we’d be under attack right now. I could hear them talking in the silent forest not too far from me. Jumping off my ball I resorted to trees for transport, jumping from limb to limb until I was close enough to see them.
"I had always had the feeling she would fall for a leach," Souta’s voice said.
"He’s a jerk, it always creeps me out when he gets so close to her neck and she doesn’t even flinch, it’s like she wants to be bitten," Rini replied. I chewed on my lip to keep from blasting them all with fire.
"Still, I can’t believe her-"
"Are you here to sass Amaya, or was there a better reason?" Rini interrupted.
"We don’t want to be ruled by a leach, the world should be ruled by someone more competent, a werewolf," he growled.
Rini nodded. "Are you going to continue your attack on the palace?"
"There’s no point, Amaya’s probably told them it was us. We’re heading back to the village, the others have already left. Oh, and thanks for healing Smith, that was some wound in his gut," he added.
"Take me with you," she demanded.
Souta looked shocked. "Why?"
"I hate vampires. The only thing they’ve done for me is give me new clothes, the chance to kill my ‘father’ and a room almost identical to my old room!" she exclaimed.
"What about your Amaya, how’s she going to take this?"
"Knowing her, she’s listening to us right now, but I don’t care! I can’t stand another minute of this place!" she screamed.
"I thought I smelled something funny, I thought I might have been catching the scent of one of the guards," he pondered aloud. I panicked and used my invisibility and shut my eyes, relying on my other senses to find my way around. They ignored me, thank god, so I opened my eyes and jumped away.
Why should I care if she leaves, she hates my boyfriend. Let her go off with her stupid werewolf friends, I thought angrily.
Kyle met me halfway to my room looking much better than before.
"I had a feeling that you were angry," he told me as he caught me in his arms.
"How?" I asked.
"When you’re angry, the temperature in and around the castle raises about five degrees," he explained, carrying me off to my room. He placed me down on my bed and sat on the ground in front of me.
I stared down at him, he stared back. "Do you know when the ceremony is yet?" I asked.
"Tonight, but stop trying to distract me. What happened?" he asked sternly.
"I went back down and over heard Rini and Souta talking. Rini is going with Souta back to the village, she believes the same as they do, that a werewolf would make a better king," I growled.
Kyle nodded. "I see. Seth isn’t going to take this well . . ." he trailed off. I nodded and stood up.
"I’ll be back in a few minutes. If she’s leaving, I’m helping," I told him, walking to the door joining our rooms. I knocked that aside with telekinesis and pulled a trunk out from under bed at the same time. It flew open and the clothes from her closet folded themselves and arranged themselves neatly inside, along with her makeup and smelly bath products. Her jewellery went next and the trunk was finally full. Kyle was watching me from my room and stood up to help carry it. I shook my head at him and made my way down the hall, out the front doors and down to the clearing.
The first thing Rini and Souta saw was the trunk flying out of he black tunnel of trees, followed by the glimmer of my belts and then my eyes.
I eyed the trunk expectantly with my arms crossed as I stood in the dark tunnel.
"Amaya?" Rini asked cautiously. Souta snorted. Neither of them could fully see me, just my glimmering eyes, my silhouette and any bit of metal on me. I eyed the trunk again and waited for her to leave. I knew I was interrupting something between them, but I really didn’t care.
"Goodbye, Rini," I told her and spun on my heal to leave.
"Wait, Amaya!" she yelled. I paused, but didn’t look back. "I’m sorry."
I nodded and walked off again. They could bite my ass for all I cared.
Mira and Miranda didn’t question the firm look on my face as I passed through the doors. Seth didn’t ask me where Rini was, and Lucifer wasn’t anywhere to be found, nor Kyle. I ran into Adelais on my way to the training room made for me. He followed me into the room and watched as I destroyed every object in the room.
When I finally ran out of things to burn, he spoke calmly. "I understand you are angry, but I have a lesson for you that can’t wait for much longer. I am fully aware of the fact that young Miss Rini won’t be joining us, but there are others who could train her as well," he told me. I looked up at him with a clear mind for the first time since we met. Adelais had silvery-green hair that was pulled back into a braid that reached his mid back. His left ear had a thick silver hook through it shaped like a snake baring it fangs. His eyes were silver, almost as though he was blind, and there was a small smile on his face.
"Well?" I asked impatiently.
"Occlumency, it is something that is necessary for you to learn at the moment, the ability to look into others minds," he explained calmly.
"When do I start?" I asked.
"Soon, I will contact you when it’s time. You’ll know," he said, and then left. I stared at the place were he stood only moments ago, then started to put out the small fires remaining. I decided to not think about what he said too much.
Since it was close to midnight now, I decided to attempt to fall asleep. Kyle was still nowhere to be found, but I assumed that he was with Lucifer preparing for the ceremony. I heard the clock in the tower strike twelve and Kyle’s scream tore through my spine. He never told me it would hurt. Ten straight minutes passed and the screams ended. I shuddered and tried to remove the sound from my head, and with noone to comfort me, I decided to go out for a run. Nobody here sleeps, so nobody should care. I pulled on my kimono, which had been repaired, and took off down the halls barefoot. The soft pattering of my feet was soothing, but not enough. The doors were pulled open by Mira, who seemed to know that I was going for a run, and I burst outside into the cold rain.
The sky feels as I do, I thought as I tried to let the rain wash the memory out of my head, also to no prevail. I jumped a cliff to enjoy the thrill of a free fall momentarily, but the ground came too soon so the thrill went away. As I continued to run, I heard a branch snap ahead of me to my right, but I ignored it, nothing could be worse than this sound. Boy was I wrong. The brown wolf from before tackled my side as I ran past and knocked me into a tree. This time, I had no weapons.
"Back again, are we?" I hissed. It growled back and tried to snap at my neck. I threw a shield into play and the wolf was knocked off of me. "You don’t want to mess with me right now," I informed it before lunging at its shoulder. There was a sickening crunch as it hit the ground and it hollered out in pain. It staggered to its feet, looking weak, and stared into my eyes.
"Lucifer should like a word with you, I reckon," I hissed, striking its broken shoulder with my foot. It cried out again and passed out from the pain, as I’d hoped for. I draped the thing over my shoulder and made my way back to the palace again. Mira and Miranda hissed as the stench of the thing filled the entrance room. I ignored them, stood in the centre and yelled, "Lucifer!"
Lucifer flitted his way from the basement/dungeon and stood in front of me. Eyeing the wolf, he waited. "I went out for a run, this wolf attacked me again - probably for blasting it in the gut with fire earlier today - and I knocked it out. It’s broken shoulder should heal soon enough," I explained. Lucifer nodded and beckoned me towards the dungeon. He shielded my eyes as we walked through the first hall way and let me see when we got into the next room. It was a long stone wall with a set of shackles for your hands and feet. I could feel the thing on my back transforming back into a human and felt it’s muscular, broken arm fall off my shoulder, dangling limply against my arm. Ignoring the fact that he was naked, I placed him on the floor against the wall and waited for Lucifer. He pulled a pair of old pants from the floor and put them on the man, then attached the shackles.
The man had long brown hair that fell in his face, it was dirty and knotted. His muscles were desirable to any regular girl, but I found them to be a nuisance in battle. There was a large scar across his stomach that I realized that I had created, it was shaped like my blade. There was a pop as his shoulder was moved back into place by Lucifer for a clean heal.
This man . . . I thought . . . he’s fairly familiar . . .
He moved and groaned softly. Lucifer and I watched as his eyelids fluttered open to reveal stunning green eyes. I almost gasped. I’d seen him in the village when we were leaving, he was one of the people who held Souta back from Rini as we left.
He noticed me and glared in recognition. "You," he growled. "Where am I!?"
"You are in the palace dungeon," Lucifer replied calmly. "Hello again, Raz."
Raz’s head whipped around to stare at Lucifer in shock. "You," he growled again, his eyes narrowing.
"Do you know how to say anything else, or is that all they taught you in your village, how to say ‘you’ and ‘where am I?’" I asked him sarcastically.
He faced me again. "Because of you that girl is coming with us to the village. It’s your fault she met Souta!" he screamed.
"SHE MET HIM BECAUSE SHE KNEW A WOMAN IN A VILLAGE WHO SENT US TO TWO OLD HAGS WHO HE WAS LIVING WITH!" I screamed back, twice as loud. I dropped my voice to a hiss. "She was the one who wanted to leave the castle in the human world. If SHE hadn’t been so intent on leaving, she wouldn’t have met him."
Raz growled at spit at my foot, missing. I laughed in his face and turned to stalk out of the room. Lucifer reached for my shoulder, saying something about how I shouldn’t go through that room, but a yell drowned him out, coming from the next room. I pulled open the door and realized why I recognised that yell, it was Kyle, chained to the wall in diamond shackles. He was thrashing and yelling with a crazed look in his blood red eyes. I screamed and cringed into the wall behind me, getting lost in the thought that he didn’t recognise me. I felt tears escaping my eyes and I felt myself being pulled out of the room by gentle, cool hands. The next thing I knew I was shaking in my bed with a pillow crushed up against my chest.
He didn’t recognise me, he didn’t recognise me, I repeated over and over in my head. If those shackles weren’t there, he would have crashed through the iron bars and killed me. Killed me!
I shivered and realized that someone was rubbing my arm slowly. I glanced over my shoulder to see Seth sitting on the edge of my bed with an apologetic look on his face. I burst into tears and buried my face in his shirt.
"I won’t tell anyone about this," he whispered, rubbing my hair gently. I cried myself out ten minutes later and Seth tucked me into my blankets. I was so far into my dreams that I didn’t hear him shuffle out.
*
I awoke late the next day. The sky was still covered in thick dark clouds but the rain had stopped falling. I slipped out of my bed feeling horrible and barely noticing that I was wearing the white slip from under my kimono. My head started to spin as I took a step forwards and I clutched the side of my bed for support, placing my right hand on my forehead. My throat was dry and aching, my head was heavy and my body felt weak. There was a hot bath drawn for me already, but I didn’t bother questioning it.
After climbing out, I pulled on a pair of blue pajama pants, a white tank top and a white, fur-like robe with faux fur lining the hood and hiding the zipper up the front. Too lazy to fix my hair, I pulled on the hood - which was far too big and covered my face until halfway in front of my eyes - and zipped it up. It lightly brushed the ground and the sleeves - also fur lined - went past my fingers. There were pale cherry blossom petals that looked as though they were falling around the wrists and the bottom of the jacket. I also pulled on a pair of white and pink toe socks and wool lined boots.
As I shuffled down the hall I noticed the snow that was falling over the courtyard outside the window. Glad for the warmth of the coat, I continued to shuffle until I found myself in front of the door to the courtyard. I felt the need to go out there, so I trusted my gut and pushed open the door and stepped into the winter wonderland outside.
The flowers that were alive yesterday were collecting snow in their dying petals, the shrubs that served as walls were blanketed on top and even a bit on the sides. The winding path was icy and the grass was covered in snow as well, almost a foot of it. Carefully, I followed the path into another section of the garden were there were two benches and a small pond. Sitting in one was a boy I had never seen before. He had hair like Kyle’s, blonde on top and darker at the bottom. It was shaggy in the back, but his bangs were tamed to hang over his left eye and past his chin by an inch, joining up in length with the rest of his hair in the back, getting shorter as it went back. His eyes were different, though, a rich hazel colour. His skin was flawless and he had four piercing’s that I could see, one in the left side of his nose and three in his right ear. He wore loose black jeans and a dark gray trench coat-like jacket that joined on his chest by a thick strap but was open in the front otherwise. He wore a white muscle shirt underneath. I hadn’t realized that I was staring until he stared back. His eyes were soft and kind.
I blushed when I realized that I probably didn’t look too good right now, my hair was messy - what you could see anyway - and my nose was red to match my bloodshot eyes. I cast my eyes to my feet. His rich laugh filled my ears, soft but not fake. "You are sick, correct? There’s no need to be embarrassed by the way you look, it’s fine in my opinion," he told me with a smile. I looked back up at him, but I couldn’t find my voice. "Judging by the look on your face you are wondering who I am?" he asked, I nodded. "I’m Kyle’s younger brother, my name is Cain."
"I-I’m Amaya," I stuttered back. I wasn’t sure if I was cold or nervous. He gestured to the seat beside him.
"What brings you outside if your sick?" he asked.
"I’m not sure, I just felt like I should go out here," I replied.
"Bizarre. I doubt I’m the reason," he joked back. I shrugged.
"How come I’ve never seen you around before?"
"I just arrived here at one in the morning. I was out in the human world gathering weapons from the best blacksmith we know of, his name is Raidon," he told me.
I looked up at him in shock. "Raidon-sensei?" I said mainly to myself, though Cain cocked his head to one side in confusion. "He’s been my ‘father’ for as long as I could remember. I only left because Princess Rini wanted to go on an adventure and is now siding with wolves . . ." I growled softly at the memory.
"He wasn’t your real father, though?"
"No, I’ve never met my parents, Rini’s my twin sister, she was adopted by the king before we killed him not too long ago," I explained, followed by a shiver.
"I see, let’s get you inside, this weather couldn’t be good for your cold," he said, offering his hand for help. I took it gratefully and let him lead me through the castle - Cain leading me by my elbow for support - until we were in one of the towers. There was a black leather sofa on one side of the round room and a table in the middle with a few chairs. The walls were made entirely of stained glass. There were candles that sat on most of the surfaces to suffice for light when there was none.
"I’ll just light the candles," he said, pulling a lighter from his pocket. I shook my head and snapped my fingers, lighting each of the candles like a wave. Cain nodded in amazement and pulled out one of the plush chairs for me.
"Is this your room?" I asked when he sat down.
"Yes, but I don’t use it often," he replied. "That is quite a luxurious coat you have on," he noted.
"Just something that I found in my closet this morning," I said with a grin.
"Well I guess that answers my question about whether or not Lucifer was taking care of you."
"Yeah, he is," I decided to change the subject away from me. "So do you know about what Kyle is going through right now?"
He nodded. "He has to undergo a ceremony to strengthen his bond to the soul," he said apologetically.
I stared down at the table. "It’s all my fault . . ." I muttered.
"How so?"
"He took his chances by loving me, and now this is happening . . ."
Cain nodded. "So you’re the woman he’s been thinking of," he noted.
"How do you know what he’s thinking?" I asked.
"We are blood relatives. I can see his thoughts when I wish, and he can see mine. I can see them clearer though, because my given ability is to read and project people’s thoughts, or my own when I want to," he explained.
"What’s Kyle’s?"
"He hasn’t told you?" - I shook my head- "Kyle is a tracker. I know we have boring abilities, but they come in handy. Now I noticed that you lit all the candles in the room with the snap of your fingers, but you aren’t a vampire, so it’s not your ability. How?"
"I have a variety of telekinetic abilities. I have pyrokinesis, telekinesis, clairvoyance, invisibility, a shield and a psi ball that allows me to fly. It’s all bundled into one package that’s stuck in my messed up brain," I explained.
Cain looked thoughtful. "You’ll have to demonstrate sometime - if you don’t mind," he said.
"I can demonstrate a few right now, if you want," I said.
"Alright," he replied. I started off with invisibility, only my shining purple eyes were left visible where I sat. Then I moved onto the shield, which was less fun and produced a green dome around us. For pyrokinesis, which I had decided to demonstrate again, I snapped my fingers - creating friction on my thumb - and producing a flame that flickered just above my thumb.
"I can’t show you what the psi ball can do in here, but I can show you it," I told him, producing a purple ball in the palm of my hand above my head with little black swirls inside the core and a lime green ring floating around it. After a moment I released it and it shattered into millions of sparkles that changed colour at whim.
"Fascinating," Cain whispered in awe. "Now imagine how enhanced those abilities would be if you were a vampire."
"I haven’t given it much thought, really," I said softly.
"When Kyle recovers, you should ask him about the experience. I was bitten one day after Kyle, so I recovered only one day after him, give or take some hours," he said, glancing at his watch. "Well, I must be going, Lucifer wanted to discuss the weapons - virtually useless to us, I might add," he said, getting up. We parted ways in the entrance hall and I made my way back to the courtyard for some peace and quiet.
*
The next day Lucifer visited me at noon to tell me that Kyle was calm enough to visit, so I cautiously made my way to the dungeon. Cain was just leaving as I showed up. He said hello and continued on his way.
Kyle was slumped on the floor with his wrists still chained to the wall. He looked up when he heard us enter and at long last recognised me. He had dark rims under his eyes and his hair was messy, but he looked the like the same old Kyle to me. "Kyle . . ." I whispered. He cast his eyes to the floor, obviously remembering what he had done. I felt a tear escape my eye, but a yell from outside caught my attention. Lucifer and I rushed to the front door and down the path. He let me go off into the forest to see what the commotion was about.
Rini and Mira were wrestling - Mira was winning, and Souta was growling at Miranda.
"Rini," I half screamed, half growled. Mira and Miranda backed off at the sound of my voice to let me at them. Rini was dressed in a simple black dress that worked for fighting as well. I was still dressed in my pajamas and my robe.
"Go back to the castle, Amaya," she yelled, "I think you love one of the bloodsuckers there!"
"No!" I yelled back.
"We just want Raz back, then we’ll leave," she growled.
"Wait here without killing each other and I’ll talk to Lucifer," I told her and took off for the path again. Lucifer met me halfway up to the castle. "It’s Rini and Souta, they just want Raz back and they’ll leave," I explained. Lucifer nodded, flitted off to the castle and returned with Raz in shackles on his back in a half a minute. He passed Raz to me and I ran back to the traitors. I felt my legs quivering under his weight, but I ignored it.
"Thank you, now we shall be off," Rini spoke for Souta, who was in his wolf form.
"I hope you realize that you’ve put Seth into a state of depression," I yelled as she walked away. Raz had broken the shackles and was walking beside her.
"Tell him sorry," she replied and disappeared into the dark forest. I spit and walked back to the castle in rage.
Mira and Miranda followed behind me silently. I pushed past all people who tried to stop me, including Adelais, and nearly smashed my bed when I took a running jump at it. With a frustrated yell I tore one of my many pillows in half and whipped it across the room, then threw off the robe and went to take my anger out on cheap furniture in my training room. I yelled with every blast and soon the room was filled with blue flames that licked my skin harmlessly - because I was the one who created it. With a gasp, I collapsed to the floor on my hands and knees, gasping for breath. The world around me spun sickeningly.
"Amaya?" said a voice that sounded like Kyle’s. He looked around the corner. "Amaya!" I groaned as he swept me off the ground and out of the room. I felt a soft, cloud-like fabric under my body and his cold hands trying to cool my fever.
"Kyle, I heard you yell, what’s wrong?" Cain’s voice this time. I heard his soft gasp. "Is she alright?"
"It’s just a flu I believe, she’s running a high fever, but her breathing is shallow and her heart is pumping rapidly, then slowly at random moments," Kyle explained professionally.
Cain laughed in a strained way. "Leave it to the book worm," he muttered, sitting beside me. I couldn’t open my eyes enough to look at him though, but I felt his cool hand rubbing my arm while Kyle worked on my forehead, neck and collarbone area. I groaned slightly and rolled over onto Kyle’s lap by accident. I drifted off into sleep.
*
The next time I awoke I could hear Kyle, Cain and Lucifer arguing. I tried to lift myself, open my eyes and talk to them but my body felt as though it was filled with bowling balls, so heavy I couldn’t move. My eyelids wouldn’t even open.
"There has to be another way," Kyle begged. "I don’t want her to have to go through that!"
"There’s no other option, she will die if we don’t!" Lucifer argued back.
"You know what it’s like, Kyle. This curse is hell!" Cain told him.
"I know, but there has to be something else we can do!"
"There isn’t. If we had have known about this within the first week we could have cured her, but now there is only one option besides death," Lucifer whispered.
"Dammit!" Cain cursed. "I should have recognised the signs, but I thought it was just a cold!"
Kyle sighed. "Fine, but I bite her," Kyle explained.
"Cain and I will inject venom into other areas then," Lucifer agreed. The next thing I knew I felt Kyle’s fangs in my neck and needles going into my wrists and at one point, into my heart. The most was injected into a wound made by one of the werewolves. My breathing was shallow and my heart was racing, but I couldn’t do anything about this.
A burning pain started to spread from the wounds of Kyle’s fangs and the needles and I felt my heart race faster and faster. Eventually the pain was too much and I blacked out, but forced the scream away with me.
*
The burning pain was still there, worse than ever when I woke up again. I had no idea how long I was out for, but I felt like it was almost over. My heart was rapidly beating faster and faster until it felt like it was going to explode if it pumped once more. Then the burning faded from my body, creeping away from my hands and feet first, then everywhere else. Soon I was able to curl my fingers and wiggle my toes, which still had socks on.
"She’s awake," Cain whispered. Kyle’s breath caught, and I heard Lucifer talking in the entrance hall. Wait, how could I hear that far away? Kyle squeezed my hand and his skin no longer felt colder than mine. When my eyes finally fluttered open, I was staring into Kyle’s brilliant face, more beautiful than before.
"What happened?" I asked calmly in a melodic voice that confused me.
"You had werewolf blood mixed in with yours, it was changing you. The only way we could save you was to . . . turn you into a vampire . . ." Kyle whispered ruefully.
I glanced down and my body and saw flawless white skin, long slender nails and absolutely no scars. Cain gestured to the mirror on my vanity. With one fluid movement I was on my feet and almost gliding over. In the mirror I saw a girl who looked like me, but far better. My hair was shiny and perfect, my eyes were a reddish-purple, and my voice. My voice was melodic, entrancing even. Then I started to notice other things. The dust on my makeup, the grain of the wood on my floor, every crease and wrinkle on my bedspread.
"I’m sorry, this probably sucks, doesn’t it?" Kyle asked softly. My eyes shifted to his face and I noticed his beauty more so than I had before. I finally clued into what he had just said.
"Are you kidding, this is wonderful! I’ve never felt better! Although it is a tad bit distracting, seeing all this detail," I told him happily.
He looked shocked. "You’ll get used to the details and other perks. I’m sorry I had to do this though," he said again.
I growled from deep in my chest. "Quit apologising, it’s bugging me," I said just as a distracting tingling sensation spread through my body from my throat.
"Time to hunt," Kyle said, taking my hand, pulling me out to my balcony and jumping it, all five stories. "You want help?" he asked in his regular tone. To prove to him I wasn’t weak, I jumped it as well and landed lightly on one foot first, then putting my other down and ended up in a graceful - though unnecessary - crouch. The world had passed me like I was walking when it should have flashed past me. Kyle’s eyebrow was raised and he bore an expression of pride.
The next thing I knew we were tearing through the forest on foot. Kyle took a few strides like he was sprinting, then changed to a regular run. I caught up to him and soon passed him while launching myself forward in bursts. It was like I was jumping branches like I had before, only on foot and a million times faster.
"Quit holding back!" I commanded.
"I’m not!" Kyle replied in awe.
We continued to run when I remembered something. "What am I hunting?" I asked.
"A human, we’ll be at the border in ten minutes," he replied while struggling to keep up.
"Ten minutes!?" I said in shock.
"It’s much easier to get to the border on foot on this side," he explained and we continued to run in silence.
The border was upon us faster than I would have thought and we were quickly on the other side where I let my instincts kick in. Two kilometres to the north there was a stray hiker, ten kilometres to the north-west there was a hobo, I wrinkled my nose as we got closer to it. Kyle let me lead as I found my way to the hiker, who was looking back and forth at a couple of paths as though trying to figure out where to go.
Standing just behind him I leaned to his left ear. "They went right," I whispered and sunk my newly formed fangs into the pulsing artery in his neck. The blood that gushed into my mouth tasted even better than it smelled and I was soon finished with the lifeless man. I took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from my mouth and turned to Kyle who was watching me intently. He nodded and we ran back to the castle in silence.
"Bloody Hell these things are strong," I gasped under the weight of one of the brown wolves. I brought my right knee up so it was almost touching the wolf’s stomach and lit up the dagger. Though burning the side of my leg severely, I shot the wolf right through its stomach and it was bleeding all over me. A few other wolves tackled me and I was too busy wrestling them off to care about the cuts in my clothes and skin. Sure I was worried about turning werewolf, but it was the last thing running through my head. Rini’s voice echoed in the now silent forest, followed by deep growling and a soft wining.
"Souta-kun," Rini whispered again, sitting up slowly as he backed off. He nodded at her briefly and dashed off into a bush not far from me. A few agonising grunts later, Souta had joined us again and was wearing only black pants. I had to admit, for a werewolf, he did look good. His body was well toned and perfectly tanned. His hair hadn’t really changed all that much, but his jaw line had hardened and his eyes were colder. However old he was now; he looked five years past it.
After much argument between the two - with me hanging upside-down in a tree just for the rush - Rini told me to go back to the castle, saying something about me loving one of the "bloodsuckers" there. With a glare I dashed off on foot. The long sleeves of my training kimono trailed behind me as I ran, ignoring the streaming tears from the wind and the pain in my leg. I dashed right up to the gate, jumped it, and ran through the doors that I forced open with telekinesis. I ignored Seth and Mira and Miranda and found myself in a strange part of the castle. I scratched my head and looked around. I wasn’t even sure if I was in a hurry or not.
"You seem lost," Lucifer’s voice said suddenly.
"Um . . . yes, I am . . ." I replied, looking around.
"Relax. You’re in the wing with my bedroom in it. How’s the fight?" he asked casually.
"Um . . . it turns out we know them . . . rather, we know one of them, the leader. Rini and him are . . . talking. She told me to come back here, though I’m not sure why . . ." I trailed off.
Lucifer exited his bedroom. "Probably because you’re bleeding horribly from your right thigh," he told me, spitting on his hand. I winced when he touched the burn, but soon felt a tingling sensation spread across my skin. "You’re going to leave her to it, then?"
"Souta and her were close. Unless she really pisses him off, he’ll protect her from them," I told him as I watched my leg heal.
Lucifer nodded. "In that case, go relax. Kyle is organizing books in the library at the moment, he’ll be done soon," he said, turning back to his room. I opened my mouth to ask him about what Seth said, but changed my mind and continued to my room.
The soft purple curtains were drawn, scented candles were lit and placed around the room, the tub was filled with steaming, bubbling water and there was soft music playing. I let my kimono slide off my shoulders, unstrapped my weapons and slipped into the faintly scented water. Wonderful memories of the dance flashed through my mind.
With my black and orange dress flowing behind me, I worked on my makeup. I went for a reddish-gray cats eye and an orange lip ring. My earrings alternated in colour to match my dress. I waited in the kitchen with Kyle while Seth had gone to retrieve Rini from her room. Kyle was dressed in a black tuxedo with an orange corsage and tie to match my outfit. Rini showed up and stared at me for a moment. "Oh no, Honey, you’re not trying to scare them," she told me with a tut. I glared at her and the next thing I knew, I had black and orange cat eyes and was covered in glitter. "Big difference," I grunted and picked up another wrap.
Five minutes later, Kyle was leaning into my neck. "It’s time," he whispered, taking my arm. We followed Seth and Rini into the Great Hall where crowds of people watched and applauded us as we walked. I was in a daze while Lucifer made his speech and I soon found myself in Kyle’s arms.
"May I have this dance?" he asked close to my ear.
"I-I can’t dance," I stuttered.
"Stand on my toes, nobody will notice," he whispered back and gripped my lower back with one hand and my free hand in his other. I glanced at Rini as we twirled, watching Seth try to match Kyle. He was graceful, yes, but Kyle shone. The music that night varied in genres’ and time periods. After dancing until one o’clock in the morning, Kyle told me I needed my rest and escorted me out of the room.
He shut the door behind me and watched as I attempted to reach the zipper on my back. For ten minutes I struggled and eventually, after recovering from a small fit of laughter, Kyle helped me. He had the zipper halfway down my back when Rini opened the door connecting our rooms. She stared at us. Kyle had his hand on the zipper and was trying to work it down to the bottom, his other hand was on my stomach and I was holding the top of the dress up. Rini blinked and walked back into her room. I laughed and slipped off the dress. I pulled on a tank top and jumped onto my bed. Kyle sighed and pulled off his jacket and his shirt.
"Finally," he said, "that outfit was getting annoying!"
I laughed and watched him roll his shoulders and flex his muscles as though he hadn’t in days. "Are you afraid of vampires?" he asked.
"Should I be?" I asked back.
"Yes," he growled, his eyes turning black. His form flickered and appeared on the other side of my room, then flickered again and was at the foot of my bed. He crouched down, growled from deep in his chest and flickered again. He reappeared on me, pinning my arms above my head and my legs to the bed with his knees. His fangs brushed against the skin on my neck.
I let out a small whimper. "You see, now?" he growled softly.
"Yes," I breathed. I felt my heart hammering in my chest and I knew he could hear it. He licked my neck softly and breathed deeply. He pulled away slowly then, in a flash, had his lips pressed to mine. I gasped slightly when he pulled up again.
"Goodnight," he whispered, kissing me softly again. He rose up slowly and paused. "Have I ever sung for you before?" he asked.
"No," I replied, slipping under the covers.
"Hm, you would have thought I would have," he said, laying down beside me. Propped up on one elbow, he stroked my hair and opened his mouth. A wordless melodic sound filled my head and sent it into a spiral. I shivered and listened to the sound fill my thoughts. I drifted off to sleep quickly, noticing that there was a second voice matching his an octave lower, very faintly.
I wonder where Kyle is right now, I pondered as I soaked. As if on a cue, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" I called.
"Kyle," he replied.
"It’s open," I told him, slouching into the foamy water. He opened the door and peered in.
"I could come back later," he said.
"It’s fine, I’m about to get out, just give me five minutes," I said, reaching for the soap. Kyle nodded and shut the door. I used strongly scented soap to overpower the stench of wolves that had covered me. Now that I had been around the flowery aroma of vampires for a while, I could see what they were talking about. Werewolves smelled of herbes and roots, strongly scented herbes to vampires. To a human the smell was rather pleasant, but to a vampire it was overpowering. I grabbed my fuzzy bath robe and climbed out of the tub.
Kyle was sprawled on his back on my bed with dark red, almost black rims under his eyes. I draped my kimono over my chair to be mended and steam dried my hair. Kyle started awake when my hair tickled against his face. I was straddling his hips and leaning over his face staring intently. His cool, soft hand cupped my cheek as he stared back, looking as though he was having trouble remembering how to open his eyes after every blink.
I stared for a moment, checking for changes. "What?" he asked softly.
"Seth said something to me a while ago, he said that I was changing you. He wouldn’t explain it though . . ." I trailed off.
Kyle frowned and slumped back onto the bed with his arms spread out like a T. "I see, so he mentioned that . . ." he muttered. I stared back expectantly. After a while, he explained. "Vampires are basically corpses with no souls. We are granted the ability to live almost like humans by a thing called the Silent Soul. The Silent Soul has lived in the same body for over two millennia, possessing the first vampire ever born, and it’s the soul that gives us our powers, but relies on us to keep it going, by taking a single life once a year. Now, when a vampire falls in love with a human of any sort, he or she risks losing most of their immortality. What I have been experiencing recently is a minor form of that, I require an hour of sleep at night, and my heart is beating slightly again. One beat every minute," he told me without taking his eyes off the ceiling.
"Oh," I replied. "Is there a way to fix this?"
"Yes, Lucifer is working out the ceremony as we speak," he said.
"One more question, who has the Silent Soul possessed for over two millennia?"
He glanced at me. "I would have thought you would have guessed. It’s Lucifer. He was the one who changed me, he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father," he whispered.
I nodded and pressed my ear to his chest. Sure enough, there was a faint thump. "OK, I lied, I have two more questions. Why does it only happen when vampires fall in love with humans?"
"Because we’re not meant to love what we should kill."
"And finally, will I get to witness the ceremony?"
"It would be safer if you didn’t. I won’t be able to control myself for a few days after it’s finished. I will be chained up until I can think straight again."
Remembering my bath robe, I stood up and wandered to my closet. I frowned at the limited selection. I turned to Kyle. "Pick something for me, would you? I don’t care what I wear right now," I asked, watching him examine my closet.
"Wear your belted jeans and belted belly top," he told me, nodding at my outfit that was dangling with belts. He stared at the roof as I slid off my robe. It felt nice to let the damp robe fall off of me at last. I pulled on my underwear and then my skin tight black jeans, listening to the jingle of metal. The shirt was long sleeved and exposed most of my stomach. It had belts across my chest and in rows across my arms. The shoes were simple black flats.
I turned back. "I should probably go check on Rini," I muttered, kissing him softly. "Get some rest, you look horrid - no offence," I started to walk away. "I’ll be back soon, hopefully."
This outfit did not make it easy to run, so I settled for my psi ball for means of transportation. If they had killed Rini, we’d be under attack right now. I could hear them talking in the silent forest not too far from me. Jumping off my ball I resorted to trees for transport, jumping from limb to limb until I was close enough to see them.
"I had always had the feeling she would fall for a leach," Souta’s voice said.
"He’s a jerk, it always creeps me out when he gets so close to her neck and she doesn’t even flinch, it’s like she wants to be bitten," Rini replied. I chewed on my lip to keep from blasting them all with fire.
"Still, I can’t believe her-"
"Are you here to sass Amaya, or was there a better reason?" Rini interrupted.
"We don’t want to be ruled by a leach, the world should be ruled by someone more competent, a werewolf," he growled.
Rini nodded. "Are you going to continue your attack on the palace?"
"There’s no point, Amaya’s probably told them it was us. We’re heading back to the village, the others have already left. Oh, and thanks for healing Smith, that was some wound in his gut," he added.
"Take me with you," she demanded.
Souta looked shocked. "Why?"
"I hate vampires. The only thing they’ve done for me is give me new clothes, the chance to kill my ‘father’ and a room almost identical to my old room!" she exclaimed.
"What about your Amaya, how’s she going to take this?"
"Knowing her, she’s listening to us right now, but I don’t care! I can’t stand another minute of this place!" she screamed.
"I thought I smelled something funny, I thought I might have been catching the scent of one of the guards," he pondered aloud. I panicked and used my invisibility and shut my eyes, relying on my other senses to find my way around. They ignored me, thank god, so I opened my eyes and jumped away.
Why should I care if she leaves, she hates my boyfriend. Let her go off with her stupid werewolf friends, I thought angrily.
Kyle met me halfway to my room looking much better than before.
"I had a feeling that you were angry," he told me as he caught me in his arms.
"How?" I asked.
"When you’re angry, the temperature in and around the castle raises about five degrees," he explained, carrying me off to my room. He placed me down on my bed and sat on the ground in front of me.
I stared down at him, he stared back. "Do you know when the ceremony is yet?" I asked.
"Tonight, but stop trying to distract me. What happened?" he asked sternly.
"I went back down and over heard Rini and Souta talking. Rini is going with Souta back to the village, she believes the same as they do, that a werewolf would make a better king," I growled.
Kyle nodded. "I see. Seth isn’t going to take this well . . ." he trailed off. I nodded and stood up.
"I’ll be back in a few minutes. If she’s leaving, I’m helping," I told him, walking to the door joining our rooms. I knocked that aside with telekinesis and pulled a trunk out from under bed at the same time. It flew open and the clothes from her closet folded themselves and arranged themselves neatly inside, along with her makeup and smelly bath products. Her jewellery went next and the trunk was finally full. Kyle was watching me from my room and stood up to help carry it. I shook my head at him and made my way down the hall, out the front doors and down to the clearing.
The first thing Rini and Souta saw was the trunk flying out of he black tunnel of trees, followed by the glimmer of my belts and then my eyes.
I eyed the trunk expectantly with my arms crossed as I stood in the dark tunnel.
"Amaya?" Rini asked cautiously. Souta snorted. Neither of them could fully see me, just my glimmering eyes, my silhouette and any bit of metal on me. I eyed the trunk again and waited for her to leave. I knew I was interrupting something between them, but I really didn’t care.
"Goodbye, Rini," I told her and spun on my heal to leave.
"Wait, Amaya!" she yelled. I paused, but didn’t look back. "I’m sorry."
I nodded and walked off again. They could bite my ass for all I cared.
Mira and Miranda didn’t question the firm look on my face as I passed through the doors. Seth didn’t ask me where Rini was, and Lucifer wasn’t anywhere to be found, nor Kyle. I ran into Adelais on my way to the training room made for me. He followed me into the room and watched as I destroyed every object in the room.
When I finally ran out of things to burn, he spoke calmly. "I understand you are angry, but I have a lesson for you that can’t wait for much longer. I am fully aware of the fact that young Miss Rini won’t be joining us, but there are others who could train her as well," he told me. I looked up at him with a clear mind for the first time since we met. Adelais had silvery-green hair that was pulled back into a braid that reached his mid back. His left ear had a thick silver hook through it shaped like a snake baring it fangs. His eyes were silver, almost as though he was blind, and there was a small smile on his face.
"Well?" I asked impatiently.
"Occlumency, it is something that is necessary for you to learn at the moment, the ability to look into others minds," he explained calmly.
"When do I start?" I asked.
"Soon, I will contact you when it’s time. You’ll know," he said, and then left. I stared at the place were he stood only moments ago, then started to put out the small fires remaining. I decided to not think about what he said too much.
Since it was close to midnight now, I decided to attempt to fall asleep. Kyle was still nowhere to be found, but I assumed that he was with Lucifer preparing for the ceremony. I heard the clock in the tower strike twelve and Kyle’s scream tore through my spine. He never told me it would hurt. Ten straight minutes passed and the screams ended. I shuddered and tried to remove the sound from my head, and with noone to comfort me, I decided to go out for a run. Nobody here sleeps, so nobody should care. I pulled on my kimono, which had been repaired, and took off down the halls barefoot. The soft pattering of my feet was soothing, but not enough. The doors were pulled open by Mira, who seemed to know that I was going for a run, and I burst outside into the cold rain.
The sky feels as I do, I thought as I tried to let the rain wash the memory out of my head, also to no prevail. I jumped a cliff to enjoy the thrill of a free fall momentarily, but the ground came too soon so the thrill went away. As I continued to run, I heard a branch snap ahead of me to my right, but I ignored it, nothing could be worse than this sound. Boy was I wrong. The brown wolf from before tackled my side as I ran past and knocked me into a tree. This time, I had no weapons.
"Back again, are we?" I hissed. It growled back and tried to snap at my neck. I threw a shield into play and the wolf was knocked off of me. "You don’t want to mess with me right now," I informed it before lunging at its shoulder. There was a sickening crunch as it hit the ground and it hollered out in pain. It staggered to its feet, looking weak, and stared into my eyes.
"Lucifer should like a word with you, I reckon," I hissed, striking its broken shoulder with my foot. It cried out again and passed out from the pain, as I’d hoped for. I draped the thing over my shoulder and made my way back to the palace again. Mira and Miranda hissed as the stench of the thing filled the entrance room. I ignored them, stood in the centre and yelled, "Lucifer!"
Lucifer flitted his way from the basement/dungeon and stood in front of me. Eyeing the wolf, he waited. "I went out for a run, this wolf attacked me again - probably for blasting it in the gut with fire earlier today - and I knocked it out. It’s broken shoulder should heal soon enough," I explained. Lucifer nodded and beckoned me towards the dungeon. He shielded my eyes as we walked through the first hall way and let me see when we got into the next room. It was a long stone wall with a set of shackles for your hands and feet. I could feel the thing on my back transforming back into a human and felt it’s muscular, broken arm fall off my shoulder, dangling limply against my arm. Ignoring the fact that he was naked, I placed him on the floor against the wall and waited for Lucifer. He pulled a pair of old pants from the floor and put them on the man, then attached the shackles.
The man had long brown hair that fell in his face, it was dirty and knotted. His muscles were desirable to any regular girl, but I found them to be a nuisance in battle. There was a large scar across his stomach that I realized that I had created, it was shaped like my blade. There was a pop as his shoulder was moved back into place by Lucifer for a clean heal.
This man . . . I thought . . . he’s fairly familiar . . .
He moved and groaned softly. Lucifer and I watched as his eyelids fluttered open to reveal stunning green eyes. I almost gasped. I’d seen him in the village when we were leaving, he was one of the people who held Souta back from Rini as we left.
He noticed me and glared in recognition. "You," he growled. "Where am I!?"
"You are in the palace dungeon," Lucifer replied calmly. "Hello again, Raz."
Raz’s head whipped around to stare at Lucifer in shock. "You," he growled again, his eyes narrowing.
"Do you know how to say anything else, or is that all they taught you in your village, how to say ‘you’ and ‘where am I?’" I asked him sarcastically.
He faced me again. "Because of you that girl is coming with us to the village. It’s your fault she met Souta!" he screamed.
"SHE MET HIM BECAUSE SHE KNEW A WOMAN IN A VILLAGE WHO SENT US TO TWO OLD HAGS WHO HE WAS LIVING WITH!" I screamed back, twice as loud. I dropped my voice to a hiss. "She was the one who wanted to leave the castle in the human world. If SHE hadn’t been so intent on leaving, she wouldn’t have met him."
Raz growled at spit at my foot, missing. I laughed in his face and turned to stalk out of the room. Lucifer reached for my shoulder, saying something about how I shouldn’t go through that room, but a yell drowned him out, coming from the next room. I pulled open the door and realized why I recognised that yell, it was Kyle, chained to the wall in diamond shackles. He was thrashing and yelling with a crazed look in his blood red eyes. I screamed and cringed into the wall behind me, getting lost in the thought that he didn’t recognise me. I felt tears escaping my eyes and I felt myself being pulled out of the room by gentle, cool hands. The next thing I knew I was shaking in my bed with a pillow crushed up against my chest.
He didn’t recognise me, he didn’t recognise me, I repeated over and over in my head. If those shackles weren’t there, he would have crashed through the iron bars and killed me. Killed me!
I shivered and realized that someone was rubbing my arm slowly. I glanced over my shoulder to see Seth sitting on the edge of my bed with an apologetic look on his face. I burst into tears and buried my face in his shirt.
"I won’t tell anyone about this," he whispered, rubbing my hair gently. I cried myself out ten minutes later and Seth tucked me into my blankets. I was so far into my dreams that I didn’t hear him shuffle out.
*
I awoke late the next day. The sky was still covered in thick dark clouds but the rain had stopped falling. I slipped out of my bed feeling horrible and barely noticing that I was wearing the white slip from under my kimono. My head started to spin as I took a step forwards and I clutched the side of my bed for support, placing my right hand on my forehead. My throat was dry and aching, my head was heavy and my body felt weak. There was a hot bath drawn for me already, but I didn’t bother questioning it.
After climbing out, I pulled on a pair of blue pajama pants, a white tank top and a white, fur-like robe with faux fur lining the hood and hiding the zipper up the front. Too lazy to fix my hair, I pulled on the hood - which was far too big and covered my face until halfway in front of my eyes - and zipped it up. It lightly brushed the ground and the sleeves - also fur lined - went past my fingers. There were pale cherry blossom petals that looked as though they were falling around the wrists and the bottom of the jacket. I also pulled on a pair of white and pink toe socks and wool lined boots.
As I shuffled down the hall I noticed the snow that was falling over the courtyard outside the window. Glad for the warmth of the coat, I continued to shuffle until I found myself in front of the door to the courtyard. I felt the need to go out there, so I trusted my gut and pushed open the door and stepped into the winter wonderland outside.
The flowers that were alive yesterday were collecting snow in their dying petals, the shrubs that served as walls were blanketed on top and even a bit on the sides. The winding path was icy and the grass was covered in snow as well, almost a foot of it. Carefully, I followed the path into another section of the garden were there were two benches and a small pond. Sitting in one was a boy I had never seen before. He had hair like Kyle’s, blonde on top and darker at the bottom. It was shaggy in the back, but his bangs were tamed to hang over his left eye and past his chin by an inch, joining up in length with the rest of his hair in the back, getting shorter as it went back. His eyes were different, though, a rich hazel colour. His skin was flawless and he had four piercing’s that I could see, one in the left side of his nose and three in his right ear. He wore loose black jeans and a dark gray trench coat-like jacket that joined on his chest by a thick strap but was open in the front otherwise. He wore a white muscle shirt underneath. I hadn’t realized that I was staring until he stared back. His eyes were soft and kind.
I blushed when I realized that I probably didn’t look too good right now, my hair was messy - what you could see anyway - and my nose was red to match my bloodshot eyes. I cast my eyes to my feet. His rich laugh filled my ears, soft but not fake. "You are sick, correct? There’s no need to be embarrassed by the way you look, it’s fine in my opinion," he told me with a smile. I looked back up at him, but I couldn’t find my voice. "Judging by the look on your face you are wondering who I am?" he asked, I nodded. "I’m Kyle’s younger brother, my name is Cain."
"I-I’m Amaya," I stuttered back. I wasn’t sure if I was cold or nervous. He gestured to the seat beside him.
"What brings you outside if your sick?" he asked.
"I’m not sure, I just felt like I should go out here," I replied.
"Bizarre. I doubt I’m the reason," he joked back. I shrugged.
"How come I’ve never seen you around before?"
"I just arrived here at one in the morning. I was out in the human world gathering weapons from the best blacksmith we know of, his name is Raidon," he told me.
I looked up at him in shock. "Raidon-sensei?" I said mainly to myself, though Cain cocked his head to one side in confusion. "He’s been my ‘father’ for as long as I could remember. I only left because Princess Rini wanted to go on an adventure and is now siding with wolves . . ." I growled softly at the memory.
"He wasn’t your real father, though?"
"No, I’ve never met my parents, Rini’s my twin sister, she was adopted by the king before we killed him not too long ago," I explained, followed by a shiver.
"I see, let’s get you inside, this weather couldn’t be good for your cold," he said, offering his hand for help. I took it gratefully and let him lead me through the castle - Cain leading me by my elbow for support - until we were in one of the towers. There was a black leather sofa on one side of the round room and a table in the middle with a few chairs. The walls were made entirely of stained glass. There were candles that sat on most of the surfaces to suffice for light when there was none.
"I’ll just light the candles," he said, pulling a lighter from his pocket. I shook my head and snapped my fingers, lighting each of the candles like a wave. Cain nodded in amazement and pulled out one of the plush chairs for me.
"Is this your room?" I asked when he sat down.
"Yes, but I don’t use it often," he replied. "That is quite a luxurious coat you have on," he noted.
"Just something that I found in my closet this morning," I said with a grin.
"Well I guess that answers my question about whether or not Lucifer was taking care of you."
"Yeah, he is," I decided to change the subject away from me. "So do you know about what Kyle is going through right now?"
He nodded. "He has to undergo a ceremony to strengthen his bond to the soul," he said apologetically.
I stared down at the table. "It’s all my fault . . ." I muttered.
"How so?"
"He took his chances by loving me, and now this is happening . . ."
Cain nodded. "So you’re the woman he’s been thinking of," he noted.
"How do you know what he’s thinking?" I asked.
"We are blood relatives. I can see his thoughts when I wish, and he can see mine. I can see them clearer though, because my given ability is to read and project people’s thoughts, or my own when I want to," he explained.
"What’s Kyle’s?"
"He hasn’t told you?" - I shook my head- "Kyle is a tracker. I know we have boring abilities, but they come in handy. Now I noticed that you lit all the candles in the room with the snap of your fingers, but you aren’t a vampire, so it’s not your ability. How?"
"I have a variety of telekinetic abilities. I have pyrokinesis, telekinesis, clairvoyance, invisibility, a shield and a psi ball that allows me to fly. It’s all bundled into one package that’s stuck in my messed up brain," I explained.
Cain looked thoughtful. "You’ll have to demonstrate sometime - if you don’t mind," he said.
"I can demonstrate a few right now, if you want," I said.
"Alright," he replied. I started off with invisibility, only my shining purple eyes were left visible where I sat. Then I moved onto the shield, which was less fun and produced a green dome around us. For pyrokinesis, which I had decided to demonstrate again, I snapped my fingers - creating friction on my thumb - and producing a flame that flickered just above my thumb.
"I can’t show you what the psi ball can do in here, but I can show you it," I told him, producing a purple ball in the palm of my hand above my head with little black swirls inside the core and a lime green ring floating around it. After a moment I released it and it shattered into millions of sparkles that changed colour at whim.
"Fascinating," Cain whispered in awe. "Now imagine how enhanced those abilities would be if you were a vampire."
"I haven’t given it much thought, really," I said softly.
"When Kyle recovers, you should ask him about the experience. I was bitten one day after Kyle, so I recovered only one day after him, give or take some hours," he said, glancing at his watch. "Well, I must be going, Lucifer wanted to discuss the weapons - virtually useless to us, I might add," he said, getting up. We parted ways in the entrance hall and I made my way back to the courtyard for some peace and quiet.
*
The next day Lucifer visited me at noon to tell me that Kyle was calm enough to visit, so I cautiously made my way to the dungeon. Cain was just leaving as I showed up. He said hello and continued on his way.
Kyle was slumped on the floor with his wrists still chained to the wall. He looked up when he heard us enter and at long last recognised me. He had dark rims under his eyes and his hair was messy, but he looked the like the same old Kyle to me. "Kyle . . ." I whispered. He cast his eyes to the floor, obviously remembering what he had done. I felt a tear escape my eye, but a yell from outside caught my attention. Lucifer and I rushed to the front door and down the path. He let me go off into the forest to see what the commotion was about.
Rini and Mira were wrestling - Mira was winning, and Souta was growling at Miranda.
"Rini," I half screamed, half growled. Mira and Miranda backed off at the sound of my voice to let me at them. Rini was dressed in a simple black dress that worked for fighting as well. I was still dressed in my pajamas and my robe.
"Go back to the castle, Amaya," she yelled, "I think you love one of the bloodsuckers there!"
"No!" I yelled back.
"We just want Raz back, then we’ll leave," she growled.
"Wait here without killing each other and I’ll talk to Lucifer," I told her and took off for the path again. Lucifer met me halfway up to the castle. "It’s Rini and Souta, they just want Raz back and they’ll leave," I explained. Lucifer nodded, flitted off to the castle and returned with Raz in shackles on his back in a half a minute. He passed Raz to me and I ran back to the traitors. I felt my legs quivering under his weight, but I ignored it.
"Thank you, now we shall be off," Rini spoke for Souta, who was in his wolf form.
"I hope you realize that you’ve put Seth into a state of depression," I yelled as she walked away. Raz had broken the shackles and was walking beside her.
"Tell him sorry," she replied and disappeared into the dark forest. I spit and walked back to the castle in rage.
Mira and Miranda followed behind me silently. I pushed past all people who tried to stop me, including Adelais, and nearly smashed my bed when I took a running jump at it. With a frustrated yell I tore one of my many pillows in half and whipped it across the room, then threw off the robe and went to take my anger out on cheap furniture in my training room. I yelled with every blast and soon the room was filled with blue flames that licked my skin harmlessly - because I was the one who created it. With a gasp, I collapsed to the floor on my hands and knees, gasping for breath. The world around me spun sickeningly.
"Amaya?" said a voice that sounded like Kyle’s. He looked around the corner. "Amaya!" I groaned as he swept me off the ground and out of the room. I felt a soft, cloud-like fabric under my body and his cold hands trying to cool my fever.
"Kyle, I heard you yell, what’s wrong?" Cain’s voice this time. I heard his soft gasp. "Is she alright?"
"It’s just a flu I believe, she’s running a high fever, but her breathing is shallow and her heart is pumping rapidly, then slowly at random moments," Kyle explained professionally.
Cain laughed in a strained way. "Leave it to the book worm," he muttered, sitting beside me. I couldn’t open my eyes enough to look at him though, but I felt his cool hand rubbing my arm while Kyle worked on my forehead, neck and collarbone area. I groaned slightly and rolled over onto Kyle’s lap by accident. I drifted off into sleep.
*
The next time I awoke I could hear Kyle, Cain and Lucifer arguing. I tried to lift myself, open my eyes and talk to them but my body felt as though it was filled with bowling balls, so heavy I couldn’t move. My eyelids wouldn’t even open.
"There has to be another way," Kyle begged. "I don’t want her to have to go through that!"
"There’s no other option, she will die if we don’t!" Lucifer argued back.
"You know what it’s like, Kyle. This curse is hell!" Cain told him.
"I know, but there has to be something else we can do!"
"There isn’t. If we had have known about this within the first week we could have cured her, but now there is only one option besides death," Lucifer whispered.
"Dammit!" Cain cursed. "I should have recognised the signs, but I thought it was just a cold!"
Kyle sighed. "Fine, but I bite her," Kyle explained.
"Cain and I will inject venom into other areas then," Lucifer agreed. The next thing I knew I felt Kyle’s fangs in my neck and needles going into my wrists and at one point, into my heart. The most was injected into a wound made by one of the werewolves. My breathing was shallow and my heart was racing, but I couldn’t do anything about this.
A burning pain started to spread from the wounds of Kyle’s fangs and the needles and I felt my heart race faster and faster. Eventually the pain was too much and I blacked out, but forced the scream away with me.
*
The burning pain was still there, worse than ever when I woke up again. I had no idea how long I was out for, but I felt like it was almost over. My heart was rapidly beating faster and faster until it felt like it was going to explode if it pumped once more. Then the burning faded from my body, creeping away from my hands and feet first, then everywhere else. Soon I was able to curl my fingers and wiggle my toes, which still had socks on.
"She’s awake," Cain whispered. Kyle’s breath caught, and I heard Lucifer talking in the entrance hall. Wait, how could I hear that far away? Kyle squeezed my hand and his skin no longer felt colder than mine. When my eyes finally fluttered open, I was staring into Kyle’s brilliant face, more beautiful than before.
"What happened?" I asked calmly in a melodic voice that confused me.
"You had werewolf blood mixed in with yours, it was changing you. The only way we could save you was to . . . turn you into a vampire . . ." Kyle whispered ruefully.
I glanced down and my body and saw flawless white skin, long slender nails and absolutely no scars. Cain gestured to the mirror on my vanity. With one fluid movement I was on my feet and almost gliding over. In the mirror I saw a girl who looked like me, but far better. My hair was shiny and perfect, my eyes were a reddish-purple, and my voice. My voice was melodic, entrancing even. Then I started to notice other things. The dust on my makeup, the grain of the wood on my floor, every crease and wrinkle on my bedspread.
"I’m sorry, this probably sucks, doesn’t it?" Kyle asked softly. My eyes shifted to his face and I noticed his beauty more so than I had before. I finally clued into what he had just said.
"Are you kidding, this is wonderful! I’ve never felt better! Although it is a tad bit distracting, seeing all this detail," I told him happily.
He looked shocked. "You’ll get used to the details and other perks. I’m sorry I had to do this though," he said again.
I growled from deep in my chest. "Quit apologising, it’s bugging me," I said just as a distracting tingling sensation spread through my body from my throat.
"Time to hunt," Kyle said, taking my hand, pulling me out to my balcony and jumping it, all five stories. "You want help?" he asked in his regular tone. To prove to him I wasn’t weak, I jumped it as well and landed lightly on one foot first, then putting my other down and ended up in a graceful - though unnecessary - crouch. The world had passed me like I was walking when it should have flashed past me. Kyle’s eyebrow was raised and he bore an expression of pride.
The next thing I knew we were tearing through the forest on foot. Kyle took a few strides like he was sprinting, then changed to a regular run. I caught up to him and soon passed him while launching myself forward in bursts. It was like I was jumping branches like I had before, only on foot and a million times faster.
"Quit holding back!" I commanded.
"I’m not!" Kyle replied in awe.
We continued to run when I remembered something. "What am I hunting?" I asked.
"A human, we’ll be at the border in ten minutes," he replied while struggling to keep up.
"Ten minutes!?" I said in shock.
"It’s much easier to get to the border on foot on this side," he explained and we continued to run in silence.
The border was upon us faster than I would have thought and we were quickly on the other side where I let my instincts kick in. Two kilometres to the north there was a stray hiker, ten kilometres to the north-west there was a hobo, I wrinkled my nose as we got closer to it. Kyle let me lead as I found my way to the hiker, who was looking back and forth at a couple of paths as though trying to figure out where to go.
Standing just behind him I leaned to his left ear. "They went right," I whispered and sunk my newly formed fangs into the pulsing artery in his neck. The blood that gushed into my mouth tasted even better than it smelled and I was soon finished with the lifeless man. I took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from my mouth and turned to Kyle who was watching me intently. He nodded and we ran back to the castle in silence.
