The Vampire Rose

Chapter 13:

Chapter 13:

            A beautiful stone castle loomed before me. It was surrounded be wrought iron gates covered in grey stones from bottom to middle. Ivy grew in intricate designs up the stone and wound around the iron bars. With the snow gone, flowers opened their petals to catch the suns rays. The Morning Glories that grew on the ivy flashed in different colors of purple, yellow, and pink. The castle itself had to be over three hundred feet tall. Two guards stood at the castle gates, their faces expressionless. The kind of reminded me of the guards that stood outside Buckingham Palace. I had the sudden urge to run up to them and make faces at them and see how they would react.

             Alex swept his arm forward, and smiled.

            “What do you think?” he asked, pulling me close to his side. “Does anything jog your memory?”

            Indeed it did. I had just, in fact, had a dream about this place. I looked through the gates, and sure enough, there were the stables. I wanted to run over to the stables, and the comforting security I knew that would come from within.

            “Yes, looks some what familiar,” I said instead. “What does the name mean?”

            He pressed his hand against my back, urging me gently forward. I tried to ignore my racing heartbeat.

            “The name, ironically enough, means rose,” he explained. “Guards!”

            The guards standing at the gate seemed to come to life... literally. I could hear the creak and groan of stone against stone, and then the guards took heaving and heavy steps towards us.

            I had to admit I was taken aback.

            They are gargoyles, I heard Alex in my mind. They can only move and turn human during nightfall, or unless they are ordered to by the one they owe allegiance to.

            I thought gargoyles were the stone demons on the side of old buildings, I replied back, somewhat hesitantly because telepathy felt new to me... foreign.

            In the human world perhaps, he said.

            I looked at the men coming towards us. They certainly looked real enough..

            They bowed when they were a few feet from them.

            “Your Majesties,” they chorused together. They came up from their bow together, in sync... it was weird.

            The tallest one, with bleach blonde hair that reached his shoulders, suddenly broke out in a huge grin, completely startling me.

            “Welcome home, Addy,” he shouted jubilantly, and came forward and swooped me into a huge  hug. “It is so good to have you home, my friend.”

            I was lifted off the ground by the force of his hug, and the breath was nearly choked out of me. Unable to accomplish anything else, I awkwardly patted the giant’s back.

             “Good to be back,” I gasped out.

            “Darrion, let her go!” Alex said, swooping me from the giants arms and into his. “She doesn’t remember you!”

            “Oh,” Darrion nodded vigorously, his blonde hair bobbing in front of his face. He flicked it back with fingers that looked as though they could do some serious damage. “Charlotta said something about that. Said she didn’t seem to know anything when her jaklobere happened.”