Sickly, Sweet - Book One

Ch. 15 - Temptations

After an hour, I fall into oblivion. Darkness succumbs me like a long lost lover, but it doesn't last, it rarely does.

When the darkness dissipates, I was once again surrounded by a light. Not too bright, but enough to have a sense of safety. I take in what's around me. The room, itself, is elegant with intricate designs lining the walls and ceilings.

There are multiple people around me, dressed elegantly in their gowns and suits. I am an onlooker - an uninvited guest, wearing simple clothes, Obviously under dressed for the occasion. 

It isn't a strikingly handsome vampire with glowing blue eyes that catches my attention, no. It is the woman sitting on an extravagant throne. Her face like porcelain, hair like feathers and eyes blazing with power.

I want to take my eyes off of her but I can't. This is a reality that I will soon face. I didn't think that I would be staring at my own self, sitting with a glittering crown on my head. I succeed my mother for her crown. I am sitting where I don't belong - admired by people I don't know.

Valentine is on the other side of the room with Cassandra by his side. She's grinning but he, he is looking at the Queen with admiration - with respect and I am drawn to his movements. He glides over to the Queen and takes her hand to place a soft kiss on her knuckles.

She gives him a warm and loving smile and I close my eyes to avoid seeing more. Even in my subconscious I feel animosity towards my supposed future. A future associated with the one that made me. I can't deny though the feeling I get in my heart whenever I see him.

After doing so my eyes open and the scene contorts. It feels like a place between wakefulness and dreams.

Fire. Blazing embers burn in the dark night. Bodies, enflamed, run toward me in fear. A horrific scene flashes before my eyes and crawl into my soul. The fiery tendrils rampage through houses and trees, consuming everything in its path.

I run, but my pace is sluggish. Despite my attempts, I couldn't go faster. This always happens - in every dream. I look down at myself. My body, my hands and my clothes were drenched in thick, dark blood.

"Saphira!"

My head quirks toward the source, but my eyes are blinded by red and orange flames. It's a choking mix of smoke and darkness that rolled over every inch of land. Even in a dream I have many doubts and fears.

"Where are you? I can't see you," my raspy voice announces.

"Turn around." The voice that was strong earlier morphs into something soft.

Mistakenly, I turn and enter deaths door. A sharp pain shoots through my body, starting with my heart. My hand curls around a stake that plunges through my heart. I gasp, trying to breathe, trying to take back my life. A shriek escapes from my blood-filled mouth and I choke on the liquid as it runs down my throat. .

The creature that excruciatingly claimed my heart was staring right into mine. I blink to make it all disappear but it never leaves. Valentine's pernicious actions burned me inside out. His dark irises were an endless black hole that had no regard for me. He looked at me like I was nothing.

"They're dead because of you," he growls. "Now it's your turn."

"No," I cough and taste my own bitter blood.
He tightens his grip around the stake and in one swift and painful movement, he pushes it deeper and twists. My screams blend with others dying around me. With the wind under my feet, I fall.