Sickly, Sweet - Book One

Ch. 17 - Innocent Victims

"Will you calm down? We're going to the edge of the Cove, no one will know you're there. Besides, were you not the one who requested your own death?"

"It's different," I interject. Maybe I don't want to die anymore. I may have just been overdramatic and trying to get out from under him when I made that deal.

"Well, sweetheart, you'll be in here for another twenty minutes, so, I suggest you sit tight and at least act like you're excited." His voice was laced with impatience and irritation. Despite negative repercussions, I wanted to fuel a crackling fire.

"If you think I can pull a smile through all of this, you're just as insane as I thought you were," I say through gritted teeth.

"There are things that are not fair in this world, sweetheart, but it's your view on everything that matters," his voice was smooth and low. He was saying this from the depths of his so-called dead heart. "Perspective is what drives us. Why do you think creatures of our world live so long?"

I couldn't speak. Not even a small breath escaped my mouth. It was true and it was sincere. They were right, Valentine did have a unique way of looking at things, especially of the underworld.

"I always thought it was because you kept sucking on life and blood," I sneer.

He shrugs and hits the gas pedal as we enter the grimy vicinity of Talmira Cove. The faster we go through, the better. "In a way, you're right. They say the reason we live is tied to the lives whose blood we take. When we feed, we don't merely take their lives. At times, a drop of their soul or a second of their memory is interwoven in the very frabric of their blood, making us feel what they feel. It makes living worth it and killing useless."

Of all these years, I've been looking at everything completely obscurely. I did not allow myself to think differently and and find the good in everything. Instead, I closed myself off - I closed my eyes at the beauty of what's around me.

My gaze falls past the thick windows and onto the sad envronment of the cove. Talmira is and always has been a forgotten city - a place of the exiled. It was a melting pot of outcasts and criminals. My heart pools with pity for all of these hungry vampires for their condemned souls and restless minds. Maybe there is a way out, maybe they can be redeemed.

I shake my head and stare back at faces whose eyes follow the acceleration of our vehicle. Men and women of all species and creed watch with bloodshot eyes and scowls - their pale skin faint under the light of the moon. I could do nothing but frown at their poor conditions. For the first time, I chose to see them as lost children seeking refuge.

"There are so many of them," I whisper. We had gone past the town, heading towards the mountainside.

Valentine exhales. "There was a time when Talmira had rolling valleys and lush landscapes. When it was still thriving with life," he says, looking down and closing his eyes. "It wasn't always like this. Only one house stood above ground for miles and that was mine."

The car comes to a stop in front of a dark, stone manor surrounded by endless trees that stood guard to the estate. His voice held a melancholy tone. "Talmira did not exist until I took refuge here. Everything was built around my home, making it the birthplace of the unknown."

"And you have lived here all this time?"

"Yes, and no," he turns off the engine. "I travelled, unlike the residents here, I wasn't bound by law or magic. I could go as I please, but I always returned - it isn't much, but it's the only home I have left. Although the council deemed it as a town for the exiled, I chose to stay."

I place my hand on the door to prepare to open it. I turn to him. "You surprise me," I confess. "I guess there is more to you than I choose to believe."