A Study of Poisons

TWENTY SIX

        My body laid down on the bed that sat in the middle of my room. Muscles ached as I refused to move at all. These past couple of weeks have been destroying my ease, from Sabien to Alex. My fear has only risen.

A knock caused me to rise to my feet, at I marched down to the side of my room. I wasn't really in the mood to be handled by any Vampires. So when I saw Natalia's face I nearly fainted to the ground.

She looked rushed and caught off guard, playing with her fingers as she pushed the words from her mouth. "Delia come on, something is wrong." Was all the said before I grabbed my sword off the side of the wall. Adrenaline kicking in my blood stream as I considered the worst. Alex's mind had gone lost, no. It had been too soon. I wouldn't let that happen to him. Not right now.

We came around the corner of the stairwell as my heart battled on. There was so much fear that hung up in the air.

My skin jumped under my skin as I recognized the figures standing in the office. "Surprise!" Natalia said every part of my being didn't move. I was at a loss of words. They decorated the room they best they could with copy paper to spell out Happy Birthday over the windows. The moonlight slipped through the sheets.

"Oh, a birthday party." I realized, I wished they didn't. Like I really wished they didn't.

Nat grabbed my hands and turned me to her, her eyes softened the mood. The others however didn't look like they wanted to be there either. "I felt guilty for you being here on your birthday and the others wanted to do something for you since you always help us." That last part had to have been a lie, there was no possible way that Nelo and Holstein cared about me. Maybe Alex, but that probability was still low.

"But that's my job." Was what I said.

Nelo jumped for the opportunity to create conflict, "Quit being humble and accept the compliment you stiff." He laughed and so did I. Natalia's arm reached out for me as a box jumped between her fingertips. A slim box.

"You got me a present?" I asked her, she smiled at me.

The girl's eyes flashed me a look. It was mesmerizing, like it touched my mind in some way. It made my skin go cold as I just watched her, warming to her. "It's just a little something I pulled from my jewelry box that I thought you'd like." She nodded off to me. There was a sense of discord between the look in her eyes. My instincts told me not to take it from her, but my guilt warned me that if I didn't I would feel completely suffocated by the feeling.

I took the box and opened it. The prettiest set of jewels looked up to me. A bracelet with eight red diamonds, blood jewels. It had to have been something from her personal collection. It was far too valuable. "It's very pretty, but can I take this?" I asked her.

Nonchalantly she added to the edge of our conversation, "I have nearly a thousand royal jewels. You can have at least one." Cocky much.

"Thank you Nat." I said instead of complaining.

I still didn't understand why they would do this for me, but I just let it slide as Nat took in my hands. The cold of her touch prickled me as it swarmed my every being. "As vampires we don't really celebrate our birthdays but this is special for you since your life is different from ours." Then again, her eyes flashed at me. A dangerous feeling. I knew it wasn't something normal. I felt like just like I had ten fingers and ten toes.

Nelo came to joke with me again as I attempted to shrug it off. "You get old quick is what she means."

"Nelo, shut up." Nat pulled him away from me.