Eternity is Only A Lifetime Away

Honesty and Mistakes

Upstairs, Aleka found her way to her room without anyone stopping her to talk or chat. Even if anyone did attempt to talk to the young warrior it would have been futile. Her mind was clouded over with thoughts about what had just happened with Tristan. She knew that they had developed a strong connection and on the roof before the battle, she had felt some powerful feeling rise from the darkest corner of her heart, but surely she should have had more of an inclination about this sort of thing before now?

A lot had been happening, that much was true and Aleka was the first to admit that maybe she hadn't been totally focused on some of the more 'minor' aspects of the situation. She had, on many occasions, pushed her late brother's opinion aside and done what she thought was for the best. She'd ignored Georgie in a way that no best friend deserved and all along, she'd been hell-bent on getting this battle over and done with, destroying Sullivan and his reign, so that she may return to a normal life, where there were no vampires and no need to be prowling the streets at night like a comic strip vigilante.

She never once considered the side effects of letting her beating heart get entangled with one that had been still for over a century.

The soft groan from the bed caused Aleka to snap out of her daydream. She looked over at her dishevelled friend who was slowly coming around from the ordeal she had gone through the previous evening. “How you feeling?” Aleka's voice was hoarse. She was exhausted from the fight, the loss of her brother and the more recent events with Tristan.

Georgie's head quickly spun around and Aleka winced at the fear that was evident in her friend's face. “Aleka...where are we?”

“It's okay, you're safe.” The pale girl moved slowly but casually to the king size bed, curling her left leg under her right as she sat down on the soft duvet.

“I was working in the lab and someone kidnapped me! How am I safe?!” Her friend jumped up, grabbing onto one of the four posts to hold herself up when her dead legs struggled to hold her weight.

“You're safe because we rescued you. Look, I'll tell you everything but please, just sit down for me. It's been a long, testing twenty-four hours and I'm not in the mood to chase you about the castle.” Her friend's eyes widened.

“Castle? We're in a freaking castle?! Aleka, you better start explaining this.” However, the young Asian girl complied with her friend's wishes and sat back down, only she scooted a little further away from Aleka this time.

Aleka raked her fingers through her hair. She dropped her hand to her lap and then took a deep breath.

“You were attacked at the union a few months back. I came to get you, found you in an alleyway with some guy...he tried to kill you.”

“No. I'd remember that. Look, this isn't time for games.”

“I'm not joking around Georgie. Look, the reason you don't remember is because...alright, hear me out before you interrupt me again. The man was a vampire. You were supposed to be his snack, but I stumbled across you both before he could kill you. Long story short, we fought and I killed with...with a pipe. I was freaking out and...Tristan showed up.” Aleka was replaying the memories of the night as she told the tale. She remembered the first sighting of his velvet wings, how gothically romantic the whole idea of him had been. If Georgie wasn't in need of knowing more, Aleka would've happily spent the night reminiscing about that first magical, but terrifying, flight she had experienced with the vampire. “He...he's the guy you thought was the killer back home.” Georgie looked at her friend angrily, clearly not believing her friend. “Tristan brought me here, where my brother was. I don't know how to explain this without sounding like Buffy, but basically, my family are genetically modified to fight vampires. We're human, with the same average life span of everyone else, but we never make it to old age because we die fighting. We're strong, stronger than any normal human, but we use it to protect the people we love.” Her mind filled with thoughts of Darien and how she had failed to save him. “We used magic to erase the memory of that night from your mind.”

“Why should I believe you?” Georgie folded her arms and shook her head.

“Think about it. Those murders? The 'wannabe vampires' weren't wannabes at all. They were real and they preyed on the girls in Bristol, because they knew I'd come out of hiding to fight them. Work it out; the murders went on the decline the minute I returned to our house. Every night, I snuck out of the window and went on a hunt for them, killing them before they could hurt anyone.” Aleka paused to take a deep breath. “The vampire in charge is called Sullivan. He's been after me for months because I'm the only real threat to his immortality. When none of his servants could capture me when I was on the streets of an evening, he kidnapped you and took you to his castle, knowing that I'd drop everything to come and rescue you.”

“So is he dead?”

Aleka paused, the memory of the night still too fresh and raw for her to dwell on. She had to tell Georgie everything though, including this. “No. He, um, he was clever. He doesn't want me dead and I was too busy having a battle of wits with him to realise what was happening. He killed Darien.” Aleka pushed herself from the bed and walked over to the heavily curtained window. She didn't look through the fabric, but instead simply stared at it, chewing on the skin around her fingernails as she fought back the tears, suddenly remembering that she still had speckles of her brother's blood on her clothes and body.

“He...he killed your brother?!” Georgie seemed overwhelmed by everything and who could really blame her?

“Yeah. He wanted to rile me up, increase my desire for revenge so that I became more powerful. It's my power he's after.”

“What power do you have?” Georgie moved closer to the brunette, her eyes wide with awe.

“Nothing special. I'm basically a living, breathing, heart racing vampire. There's nothing extra special about me, other than that.” Aleka needed a bath. The sudden shock of the loss of her brother was kicking in now and she needed his blood off her skin.

“I'd say that was pretty special to begin with. So, we're in a castle of vampires?” Georgie was slowly catching on now.

“Vampires, werewolves, witches...anything else you can think of. It's the rebellion castle. You're safe though. They won't harm you.” Aleka moved to her wardrobe and pulled out two sets of comfier clothes. “You can stay here in this room for now. It's not safe for you to go back to Bristol. They could get you again.” She offered one set to Georgie and folded the other over her arm.

“But what about my things?” Her friend asked, accepting the clothes thankfully.

“Tomorrow, I mean tonight. I'll head back with Tristan. Make a list of what you need or want and I'll grab it and bring it here. I, uh, I think Lilia needs to speak to you to check you over again. Apparently, you hit your head.”

“Lilia?”

“She's a witch.” Her skin was itching now, the brown speckles not coming off easily even with the severest of rubbing from her fingernails.

“A good one?”

“Everyone here is good.” Aleka couldn't stand around any longer. “Look, I need - I need to take a bath. Lilia will probably come in whilst I'm in the bathroom, but she'll take care of you. Have a nap or read or whatever.” Aleka rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her and turning on the water as fast as she could, discarding her bloody clothes on the floor and lathering the bath water with the gloopy liquid from the first bottle that her hand found, the tears burning as they streamed down her face again, her breath coming in short ragged gasps as she washed the blood from her skin.