Destruction

23. Inside The Box

Zachary

Tears stained her face as they feel from behind her porcelain white eyelids. Small whimpers felt her trembling lips as her arms wrapped protectively around herself.

It felt like someone had an iron grip around my heart, the sight of her in such turmoil and in such a vulnerable state was horrific.

What could she possibly be dreaming about?

I wanted to wake her up, but one of us should get some sleep. It hurt how little I knew her, but she already held such a large portion of my heart.

If I thought watching her cry was torment, the sounds of her screams where enough to drive me crazy.

No matter how much sleep she needed, it was better to be sane and tired rather than refreshed and scared shitless.

"Mon chéri, come on my love you need to wake up." To say it hurt me to have to wake her up would be an understatement, but it would have been a thousand times worse to let her carry on dreaming. "Shh, you're safe, you just need to wake up."

Her eye lashes fluttered slightly as she attempted to focus. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, don't hate me mummy."

What was she dreaming about?

I felt so helpless around her, she was my everything and I'm pretty sure that I'm her nothing. But I still wanted to protect her from everything, even if those things are her dreams.

"You're ok, you just need to wake up." I sat there stroking her hair and I couldn't help but think about how right it felt. To have her cuddling closer for comfort, I knew that this was how I wanted to spend every single moment of my life.

Alone with Athena.

"Zachary." Her voice was roughened by sleep. "How do you know Sebastian?"

I felt all my muscles tense. Sebastian? Why would she be bothered about him. All he is and ever will be is a pain in the backside.

"Through work."

Short and sweet, and hopefully blunt enough that she wouldn't dare to ask anymore questions on the subject. I hope.

"Work?" Her eyebrows drew together causing a frown line to appear, it was so small and so adorable that I instantly wanted to lean across and kiss it away.

"Of course, even vampires have to work mon aimé."

"And your work has something to do with the fact that you are considered a Lord?"

Where had she heard that? More to the point who had told her, vampire high society was a very complex system and very fragile, as we were only now finding out. I didn't want to lie to her, not when we would have to talk about it eventually.

"Yes, being a Lord does effect heavily on my work."

Her body locked up, she turned away from me and folded in on herself.

"Ahhhhhhhhh, it's not fair, why the hell does it have to be me! Who the hell didI piss off?" Her eyes connected with mine over her shoulder. "Please just tell me what I did wrong and then I can go back and try and earn their forgiveness. Maybe then I won't have these horrific memories haunt my dreams and then I won't have to live in fear of my friends."

Her hands suddenly grabbed my shoulders forcing me back against the wall.

"Do you know what it's like to be despised by your own friends? To know they'd sooner stab you in the back than help you open a door? To know that my own parents would be disgusted with what I'd become! A blood sucking monster."

"I beg you Zachary, go back in time and let me die, make it so that I never knew you, make it so that my friends can live in the comfort that I died a warriors death, make it so that I can finally be with my parents again, make it so that I never had to meet you."

It hurt to know that I'd managed to hurt her so completely but I had no idea what to do, Athena had just opened up her heart to me and showed me the deepest darkest emotions that lived there.

All the hate, the fear, the envy, the self loathing, it reminded me of Pandora's Box. Once the lid was open everything just came flying out desperate to be free, all apart from hope which remained in the box.

She felt as though she lived in a world without hope, a world that would forever challenge her and never leave her at peace. A world where she would constantly be fighting, with herself, with her friends and with me.

"Athena listen to me." I grabbed her face between my hands. "I may be a very old, powerful and stubborn vampire but I cannot turn back time and even if I could I would never make it so that I hadn't met you."

"You may feel as though you've lost everything, and that is because you have. You've lost everything from your old life and now you feel alone, but mon ami you don't have to be alone when I am right here." I took one of her hands in mine, placing it on the left side of my chest. "Vampires hearts don't beat, but if mine did there is no doubt in my cold heart that it would beat for you."

"My love, you're only alone because you don't let me in. I too once lived in a world without hope, but then I went out very early one night to find the most beautiful girl on the floor and suddenly it was as if I was seeing the world for the very first time. You are my hope Athena and one day I hope to be yours too."

I placed my lips very lightly against hers, sealing the unspoken promise with a kiss, my promise to myself that I would always be there for her, that I would never lie to her, that I would always be honest and true.

"Zachary." Her hand on my heart tensed slightly. "This is important, who is Sebastian?"

Her eyes were still full of tears but also with apprehension and determination.

"He's the leader of The Enforcers, the Kings personal guards."

"If they're your Kings personal guards why are they here." Her words came out slowly and slightly shakey, as though she feared she already knew the answer and hoped it wasn't true.

"A few years ago the Queen gave birth to a child, a beautiful baby girl, there was great joy within the community as it's very rare for vampires to have children and for the mother and child to both be healthy after the birth."

"A few months went by before the attack, their have always been humans that have known of our existence, Hunters we call them, anyway they stormed the castle just as the sun was starting to rise. They killed maids and butlers and guards alike they even killed the queen, but probably their worst crime of all they took the beautiful baby princess, you see a maid had been caring for her at the time."

"The Hunters assumed she was a human child that the maid was going to consume, the brutally murdered the maid as a punishment and gave the child to one of the Hunter families to raise, vampire children age exactly the same as humans until their eighteen birthday when they're full grown and go through the change."

"But that doesn't explain why Sebastian is staying with you?"

"He's staying with us because their have been rumours that the princess is still alive and that she fights along side the Hunters. Sebastian is trying to find her before she starts the change, so that he can take her back to her father."

"What will happen when he takes her back to her father?"

"Well it depends really, but i doesn't matter right now. What matters Athena is that you don't tru-"

The sound of footsteps banging on the concrete stairs caused us both to focus our attention on the currently locked door.

I whispered a silent prayer to what ever god was listening, before I turned back to stare at Athena.

"Show time!"

Happy belated Christmas!!!

I hope you enjoy the update and this will probably be my last update of 2013 so I look forward to posting again in the New Year.

Thank you as always for reading!!

Bye for now

x