❦ ^Amelie's room
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ʟɪɢʜᴛ. ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴀs the first thing I thought when I felt myself stir awake. Light.
My head was pounding like a nasty hangover and my eyes, even though they were closed, burned. I wrapped myself up in my sheets, silk and soft like I was floating in the clouds. How could this be my dorm bed? It wasn't my dorm bed.
I opened my eyes to find a blinding brightest burst through my vision and I pulled back scrambling in the sheets. Once my eyesight settled, I looked over my surroundings. This was 100% not my dorm room. No. It was a room fit for a princess. Colours of cream, white, silver and gold swirled around me with hints of grey, in front of my lied two sheer, white curtains hanging between pillars, leading to a small living room. The bed I was in was huge with soft white sheets and gorgeously fluffed pillows.
Then I remembered.
I had died. I had slipped and felt death itself grip me by the hand and drag me into the dark, numbing void of nothingness. Was this heaven?
I reached over to my bedside to find my glasses lying in perfect condition, however as I slid them on my whole world became blurred. That wasn't right. I took them off to see everything clear as day. Placing them back on, everything went into a havoc-ing blur. What in the Spiderman?
Scrambling out of bed, I stood to my feet only to fall and slam into the floor. Looking down at my body, I realised my attire from last night had been changed. Instead of the tight, red dress, I wore a simple nightdress made from white satin, spaghetti straps that kept falling down my bare shoulders, with a neckline trimmed with lace. Who would wear such fancy clothes to go to bed?
Just as I used my hands to pull myself up, I heard a door slam open and a scurrying of footsteps run my way.
"Miss!" a voice urgently called after me. The slippered feet stood before me and I looked up to see a woman with gaunt skin, brown-green eyes and honey brown hair tucked into a bun at the back of her head, messy bangs fell across her forehead and to the sides to frame her face. Her face was sick with worry as she bent down to help me up. She was strong but looked only a few years older than me.
"Go get her something to eat!" she ordered, what I assumed were the other women in the room, and helped me back into bed.
I could hear and feel everything. The way the silk sheets tickled every individual hair on my arms, the covers warming the pores in my feet. Outside there were birds chirping from miles away, a squirrel gnawing at a nut. All my senses were on hyper mode.
"You should have called as soon as you woke." The woman said kindly. "How are you feeling?" I looked the woman in the eyes to see nothing but a stranger.
"Who... Who are you?" I managed to get out. My throat burned.
"Pevensie." She answered. "Your Lady-in-waiting."
"My what now?" I didn't have time to get an answer as the doors opened and three other young women came rushing in with a tray of food.
"You must be feeling slightly disorientated right now, you've been asleep for over week!" Pevensie lightly chuckled and walked over to the tray to plate me up some food. She walked back over carrying a plate of toast with scrambled egg and an array of fruit to the side with yogurt drizzled on top.
"It'll feed your stomach for now." She poured a cup of tea, "And this should subside your cravings but I'm sure you'll want His Royal Highness, Vincenzo, with you for the real feeding."
I stopped dead at his name. "Vin...Vincenzo?" Pevensie looked at me with a soft smile. "H-He's here?"
"Why, Miss, he lives here. You are in the castle after all." I'm... I'm where? The confusion on my face made Pevensie stop pouring the tea and look at me with realisation. "Yes," she mumbled under her breath, "He did say you'd need some explaining. I'll go fetch him. I'm sure he will be glad you are awake –"
"N-No!" I stumbled out of bed to stand but found myself slammed against the floor. What was wrong with me?
"Oh, Miss!" Pevensie cried out and ran over to me. "Are you alright?" she reached down but I didn't want her to touch me. Instead, I grabbed onto the bedside table to pull myself up. The corner snapped – and I mean, snapped – off. I stared back at my hand in awe and shock horror. Did I do that? First the glasses, then my balance, and now this? What was wrong with me?!
"I...I don't understand." I whispered in horror. "H-How..."
Pevensie grabbed under my arms and helped me back to bed. "It's all apart of the changes, Miss. Your body will get used it to."
"Used to what?"
"Being a vampire of course." I could have screamed. Could have. But the sound was stuck in my throat as everything in me froze. Did I hear her correctly? Pevensie frowned. "His Royal Highness must be needing to explain that also. I'll go get him." She rushed off. I didn't have time to stop her. Didn't have the voice. Vampire. I couldn't be. There was no way.
But there was.
I had fallen straight to my death. No one could have survived the fall I took; I had felt death grab me as soon as my head hit the ledge. The only way I could have been brought back was remaining dead... but living. A vampire.
I couldn't drag my eyes from the wall as I processed everything I could manage. I didn't hear the doors open until he stood in front of me. My reflexes instantly grabbed for the knife Pevensie had gave me for breakfast. It was a butterknife but, nonetheless, still a knife.
"Aren't we tired of these games now, my love?" Vincenzo said softly with am amused smile as he looked at the knife in my hand. I didn't answer. "How are you feeling –"
"Stay away!" I exclaimed as he took two steps forward. He took one long one back to where he previously stood. Concern struck his gorgeous features as his eyes examined my face worriedly.
"Pevensie said you have awoken and needed explaining. I only want to talk, my love."
"Stop calling me that!" I snapped. "I am not your love, I will never be your love. Stay. Away!" Vincenzo only smiled kindly and took a gentle step forward.
"Let me help you, Amelie." Why did my whole body melt when he said my name? He made it sound so beautiful I wanted to cry. God, what was wrong with me?
"You did this." I hissed, my eyes burning. "You did this to me!" I didn't want to cry, not in front of him. He didn't deserve to see anything but my utter hatred for him.
"You died." Vincenzo whispered. His whole demeanour went soft as he looked to the floor. "I had to save you."
"I would have rather died than have anything to do with you. You've made me a monster!" I snapped.
"You gave me no choice –"
"No, you gave me no choice! You've given me no choice since this whole mess started!" I was furious. No, I was beyond furious. I was livid.
"Amelie –"
"If you come any closer, I'll scream." I warned.
"Fine, it's what they're all expecting anyway." An amused smirk rested on his lips.
"You bastard!" I grabbed a slice of toast and through it at him. He caught it with no effort. "Get out of my room!"
Vincenzo stood slightly as I heard the doors open again and a clicking of heels came our way.
"Honestly, both of you have woken up nearly half of the castle with this noise." I knew those eyes, those smooth, raven locks, that refined British accent.
"Enrica?" I gasped and blinked a few times to make sure it was her. "What are you –"
"You really like to make an entrance, don't you, sister?" Vincenzo sighed.
"Sister?!"
"Sister."
"Sister." Enrica sheepishly waved. She was Vincenzo's sister?! Oh god, it all made sense. Her pale skin, her ridiculously always cold hands, how she always seemed to pop up out of nowhere. She even said her older brother was overprotective, and I bet Camden wasn't just 'looking out' for her, he was her bodyguard. Enrica was a certified princess. A vampire princess.
"How could you –"
"I told you to stay in your room until I had sorted everything." Vincenzo said to his sister.
"And having everything sorted is your soulmate screaming at you as if you've grown two heads?" Enrica raised a brow. "Besides, she's my friend."
"She wouldn't be your friend if you didn't disobey the rules." Vincenzo snapped.
"How could you have expected me to sit at the side-lines?! Besides, I had Camden." Enrica argued back.
"Under my commands due to your foolishness!"
"He was still with me!"
"What about the party? You never informed him of any of your whereabouts constantly and you disrespected him in several ways by acting like such a child! You need to grow up, Enrica." I felt like I was watching something I shouldn't. Two siblings arguing as if they were regular people.
"Says you, Mr chain a girl to your bedpost. Really?!"
"One time! I said that once!"
"Guys!" I cut them off. Both turned to me realising I was still in the room. Enrica could see the disturbed and still shaken look on my face as she turned to Vincenzo and sighed.
"Brother, she is afraid. Let me talk to her." Vincenzo was about to object when Enrica placed a hand on his shoulder. "Friend to friend. Girl to girl. Tell Mama and Papa she has awoken." I noticed how in her accent she pronounced them as 'mum-mah' and 'puh-pah'. Vincenzo tensed for a moment as he looked at me with a glare I couldn't fit an emotion to. Disappointment? Concern? Desire? It was confusing. However, he turned and left, letting the doors slam on their way out.
Enrica turned to me with a sheepish smile, "I guess you would like an explanation."
The next several minutes were overwhelming. Enrica explained how the night Vincenzo found his 'soulmate' a.k.a. me, he only told their parents of the news, but she had overheard. She explained how she knew Vincenzo was acting manic and wanted to get to know me on a sisterly level, a kinder level where I didn't associate her with Vincenzo's mania. And so, she snuck out on her own to find me and introduce herself. Once Vincenzo found out, he was furious and so he sent Camden to be her bodyguard.
I asked her why she never told me until now.
"I was afraid." She admitted. "Vincenzo being without you drove him insane and I knew things would only get worse. So, I wanted you to stay with me in case things went severely wrong."
"Things have already gone severely wrong." I mumbled and fiddled with my hands in my lap.
Enrica took one of my hands and smiled lightly. "I know, but you can blame Camden for that. I was having a great time dancing with this guy and suddenly Camden pops up in a rage and drags me back here. Trust me, if I were there, I would have snapped both Jaqueline and Nathan's necks."
"Thanks." I sadly chuckled at the memory of it. It was stupid how I was still upset on the whole situation at the party, but I was. "Why didn't you talk to him though. About the way he acted to me?" how could Enrica sit there and be my friend knowing of her brother's vicious and terrifying behaviour to me.
"Vampire heirs get soulmates..." she began to explain slowly. "It's a strategy of stability for the throne but also a gift to Vampire Court from the Gods above. Once the heir finds said soulmate it is like something clicks into place and suddenly you become their lifeline. The longer you are away from them, the more the mania starts to kick in. I am in no defence for Vincenzo's extremeness but, at times, he really couldn't help it. You mean way too much to him than you can start to comprehend, Amelie. Believe me on that."
"But what if Vincenzo is wrong? So many girls have done the ritual before, so why me?" it didn't make sense. What was there about me that made him believe I was the one.
"There are things about the ritual that only Vincenzo knows, and how the ritual got out, no one knows, but trust Vincenzo's judgment. He has been looking for you for centuries and you should have seen the way his whole aura lit up when he had finally found you."
I looked down at my hands. They were awfully pale, so dead they could pass as a corpse's. I didn't even want to look at myself fully yet. I was too scared to. To see what a monster I had become.
"You should have seen him that night." Enrica muttered and I knew what she was referring to. "The way he carried you in, the desperation in his eyes." I couldn't imagine it, my dead body limp in Vincenzo's eyes as he burst into the castle. "Everyone saw it. You were covered in his bitemarks, limp like a ragdoll, but we all thought it was too late." I swore I could see a tear in her eye. "Not Enzo, though. He waited day and night by your bedside, talking to you – a constant apology. He read to you, would hold your hand, and beg the Gods to let you live. I've never seen him so... distraught." Her voice was barely a whisper as she reminisced the past days. I held my breath as she continued.
"He called the physician everyday to see if you had made any progress in your transformation. It was only yesterday morning did he tell Enzo you would wake a vampire." I couldn't imagine it. Being asleep for so long, all the things that had happened to my body during this transformation.
"I know this is really hard for you, Amelie, but please... don't be too hard on yourself or anyone here, and if you need anyone to talk to, I will be right here. I promise." I didn't know what to believe or who to believe, but all I knew was that there was no escaping this and that I was truly a vampire.