The Awakening of the Vampire Princess

The Awakening of the Vampire Princess Ch.28

         Catherine jumped onto her feet, like a feline cat. There was an unfathomable grace in her movements that made them fluent. When she walked it looked like she was dancing or spying on someone. It was weird how someone that obnoxious could be that graceful. It definitely didn’t suit her.

      Both of her feet were shoulder length apart and she inhaled the sweet air around her. In actual fact, al of us had to skip dinner so no aromas could interfere with her concentration. It was kind of sucked since I was very hungry. Ignoring my grumbling stomach, I tried to concentrate on what she was doing.

       The wind blew her raven black hair from her face, her lovely features striking me once again. Catherine was unearthly beautiful if nothing else. However, that beauty was marred by her awful personality. Even I could admit that.

       She spread her arms out, as if she was anticipating a hug from a lover. Her features relaxed further and you could hear a faint purr in the air. Catherine’s chest rose and fell rhythmically and her nostrils flared.

      “Hand me the shirt,” she barked out and Kyle quickly jumped to his feet and handed her Amber’s blood soaked shirt.

      Catherine grabbed it carefully, sniffing the blood caked surface. Her eyes opened up and the moon illuminated her eerie eyes. I still couldn’t determine their colour. Yet a shiver made its way up my spine. She looked almost...excited about smelling her blood.

      I felt a warm hand creep up my shoulder and froze when I felt David’s presence behind me.

      “Relax,” he coolly instructed me. I obeyed but shook his hand off my shoulder. His presence disgusted me.

     “Don’t tell me what to do,” I snapped in the same fashion.

     “You were scared,” he pointed out and I glowered at him.

    “I wasn’t.”

    “Were to.”

     “Was not,” I vehemently denied.

    “Shut up both of you or you’ll pay,” Justin whispered in our ears, his hand snaking up both of our arms and holding us in a steel grip.

       I suddenly noticed how Catherine’s body seemed to shake every time we spoke and quietened immediately. My instincts were telling me not to utter a word, much less have a fight with David. They were screaming at me like that every time Catherine was anywhere near me.

         “She’s near,” Catherine finally stated after what felt like an eternity.

        “How near is near?” my mom asked worriedly.

        “She’s still in the country.”

       “Could you track her down exactly?”

        “I could, but if I were you I wouldn’t want to,” Catherine said, still gazing in the direction of the town.

        “Why?” the question bubbled up inside me and I had to ask. I wanted to see Amber. I wanted her to finish our plan. I wanted everything to go back the way it was before. I knew that was a lot to ask for, especially now.

       “One,” Catherine said, holding up her index finger, “she’s surrounded by very powerful people—exiles. Two,” she added her middle finger, “you’re nowhere near ready to face her. And three,” she added her thumb, “Amber is going to come back, according to Priscilla at least.”

        Everyone froze, myself included, at the information that was just dumped onto us. It took us time to process Catherine’s hard and definite words. It was hard to believe what happened to Amber. It still felt like a dream to me. I couldn’t believe who she was hanging out with now.

      Exiles.

      That word floated in the air and everyone knew the danger of it. Amber was toast if she ever returned. For the first time I prayed she didn’t because that would mean death for her. It didn’t matter that she was vampire royalty. Not when she decided to associate with exiles.

       They were people that were banished to other realms yet somehow managed to wrangle free out of them—out of prison. They were extremely dangerous and evil. That’s why if you even associated with them and plotted with them, it was punished severely. Most certainly meaning death.

        Now that definitely wasn’t a pretty thought.

       “Could you be mistaken?” Rebecca asked, her face was unusually pale. Catherine smiled grimly and shook her head.

      “No. They have a certain scent that surrounds them. I’m a hundred percent positive.”

     My mom broke down sobbing. Tears leaked out of her eyes and ran down her oval face. Her body shook with tremors and all I could do was stare.

     “My baby, my precious little baby girl,” she sobbed, holding her head in her hands. I opened and closed my mouth. Then I repeated the action several times looking like a fish. I was at a loss for words because she was right.

      I looked numbly at the ground when I heard an agitated warning.

      “Someone’s coming,” Catherine said, sniffing again once more.

      “Friend or foe?” Justin spoke for the first time. His face was a myriad of emotions. Before Catherine could answer she fainted and the rest of the world grew black. It felt like I fell into a black vortex of nothing at first and then all conscious thoughts left me.