"I wasn't born. I was created."
Damien looked at me like he thought I knew exactly what he was talking about. I mean aren't they the same thing? He was created by his parents to be born. Right?
"What do you mean? " I asked him.
"I can't die. Period."
"I know that. I know only a wooden stake can kill a--"
Damien took a hold of my shoulders, "No, Alexis. I can't die even from a wooden stake because," He ran his hand through his hair, turning away from me, "because I'm not just a Vampire."
I gasped at the new found information. That thought had never crossed my mind, because he acted just like any other Vampire. There wasn't anything unusual about him, except for the fact that he just survived what a normal Vampire would not have. If hes not fully a Vampire, then what else is he?
"I'm only going to tell you once so listen carefully, " He started but paused as he watched my focused face expression.
"... Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked me.
"What? You said pay attention so that's what I'm doing."
"Oh okay, so um take a seat."
I had a feeling what he was going to tell me was very important so I made my way over to the sofa and took a seat as he too sat down on the love seat to my left, facing me.
"My mom... She was a Angel. I don't know for what reason, but she was banned from the heavens. That's all my so called father told me. Her magical powers were taken away from her, but she held a really high title, so it would have taken days for her magical powers to completely dissappear. She found the Vampire world as her new home because it wasn't as populated as the human world and she liked the peace. It didn't take her long to realize how lonely the life here would be, so with any remains of her magic that she still carried, she made me. Damien Skyer. I don't know what I am since I was taken away from her at such a young age, before she could explain that to me. But I do remember how she always use to call me her little angel because of my wings..."
"Your wings?" I gasped.
He nodded, taking off his dirty shirt, "Yeah. You don't see them because I keep them hidden, they haven't been out since..."
"Since you were brought here by your father?" I asked him softly.
His eyes glared at the wall next to me as he snapped, "He's not my father."
His suddenly raised voice made me flinch, for which he apologized for.
"Sorry," He said, "It's just he's not my real father. I can't believe I'm telling you this, like I said, I wasn't born or made out of love at all. That man just wanted to use me as his son, someone who could never die. Someone who had abilities that other Vampires didn't. Someone who was capable of making this Kingdom reach the top and keep it there. That's why he adopted me and turned me into a vampire, but he was surprised that my angelic side didn't die. He told me to keep my mouth shut and never tell anyone. He never cared about me, he only wanted what was best for his subjects. He never deserved to be called my father."
The way he described this man who everyone calls his father, it made me hate him just as much as Damien's eyes showed how he held a burning hatred towards him. I tried to shake away the sympathetic expression on my face, knowing how much he would hate that.
"But to answer your question, no, I showed them to somebody who was... really close to me."
I was fighting back the words which were already in my mouth because I didn't want to seem like a nosy person who wanted to know everything, but I couldn't stop myself from saying, "I want to see them."
He raised his eyebrows," You're gonna get scared."
"Why? Are they scaring looking? Dark as the night?"
He laughed, "quite the opposite, actually."
He stood up, throwing away the dirty shirt on the floor. He walked towards the night stand, pouring himself a glass of water from the jug. I stood up and walked closer to him, it was now or never.
"Then show me."
"Where were we? Oh yeah you wanted to know how I survived that." He smirked making a scowl to appear on my face, "I knew that wooden leg of some chair wouldn't kill me, but I still acted dead."
My eyes widen. That was all an act? That was all a show to fool me. But why?
I took the glass of water away from his reach because it was becoming kind of annoying how he was acting so dramatic as if he loved the suspense hanging in the air around me.
"Get to the point. That was all an act?!"
"Yeah. It was. When that girl stabbed me, I knew I was going to heal in a bit but I wanted to see something," Damien watched my expression carefully, "I wanted to see if you were one of them. I wanted to see if my death would effect you at all. I have to say, I was really surprised when you attacked her. I--"
"So you just layed there while that hunter and I were fighting? You were just going to watch the show play out if she killed me, weren't you?"
For some reason, that thought bothered me. He didn't do anything when she tried to snatch the gun from me. What if she succeeded and shot me right in the head? I wouldn't be standing here talking to him right now.
In an instant, Damien closed the distance between us. His face was dangerously close to mine as he cupped my cheek, forcing my eyes to look into his mesmerizing ones.
"I would have knocked her out the moment she left even a tiny scratch on your body." His voice turned serious but then he smirked again, "Oh and I also wanted to see if you still had it in you."
"Had what in me?"
"You wanted to see my wings, didn't you?" I chose to ignore the way he tried to change the subject because I really did want to see his wings.
I nodded, making him sigh,"It's been a while since they've been out, so I'm not sure if they're still there."
"Well you won't know if you don't even try."
"But like, what if it hurts to get them out again. You really want me to go through that pain? " His eyes turned suspiciously innocent, and I knew he was just trying to avoid showing me.
"Yes. I'm sure you'll survive. Now come on."
" Okay, hold on. Let me go eat something, I mean I need some energy to change, right?"
The way he was having a hard time trying to hide his smile, I knew he was just messing around, he just didn't want to show me.
I grabbed onto his arm before he could turn to walk out of the room.
"Show me."
I guess giving him the puppy dog eyes worked because he sighed, "fine."
He closed his eyes as I watched his face carefully. His facial features relaxed for a minute before he opened his eyes again," I need to hold onto someone's hand to make this work."
Sure he did. But I decided to go along with it, taking a hold of both of his hands with mine. He brought our collapsed hands up until they were leveled with my chest, intertwining them.
I felt a strange kind of electricity running through our hands as they were glued together, making my stomach turn. His eyes rested close once again, this time with determination. Seeing his relaxed state, my own eyes shut closed and they didn't open until I heard a chanting flap of wings.
I quickly opened my eyes before I could even prepare myself for the surprise waiting for me. Damien's golden orbs held mine until I decided to finally look behind him to find a few white feathers peeking over his shoulders. I dropped my hands to my side and with shaky legs, I walked around him until I was given a wonderful view of his pure white wings.
They were the most magical things I've ever laid my eyes on. They seemed to capture the attention of even the sunlight that was shinning bright on them, making them twinkle with every move made by Damien. I've never seen a pair of wings so big and breathtaking, they were facing down, almost reaching the back of his knees. The different colors of wings I found beautiful on birds as I was let out of that prison, were nothing compared to this piece of art in front of me. This stood out like a single blinking star in a night filled with dark clouds.
It made me want to protect it from being covered by that darkness. Without thinking twice about what I was doing, my hand reached out and gently touched the creativity. The smooth texture could be felt by me as I gently ran my hand though them. A sigh left Damien's lips, the sound hanging in the air. The way he turned his head to the right, looking at me from the corner of my eyes before gently shutting them, told me he liked how it felt to be touched on the most sensitive part of him.
"They're beautiful," I couldn't stop myself from whispering the words which were being repeated in my head numerous times.
Damien turned around slowly to face me, he took a step closer so there was barely any space between us. As cheesy as it sounded, time stood still. We were looking at each other in a stance that nobody wanted to break away from. All I had to do was move forward just a couple inches and there wouldn't be any barrier of distance between us. As if reading my mind, he started to lean in to minimize that distance, never looking away from my eyes.
"Stop."
I dont know what made me stop him from continuing. The memory of what happened last time when he kissed me rushed to my brain. He regretted it right after. He walked away like it meant nothing to him. I can't repeat the same mistake I made.
His confused eyes searched my face for any kind of evidence that would explain why I didn't want to kiss him.
"Why?" He asked.
"Why kiss me when you're just going to walk away?" That earned me a surprised gasp from him, "I know you didn't think kissing me was worth your time, so why are you doing it again? To remind me how much..."
I couldn't continue. I didn't have the guts to tell him how it felt when he walked away. He will think his actions effected me more than they should, I didn't want him thinking I'm growing any sorts of feelings for him because that's not true at all. Even I couldn't describe what I felt towards him, but it was just a mere attraction because he's the only male who have been this close to me in all these years. It was nothing else.
He looked at me as if he couldn't believe a word I said.
"You think I walked away because... Because there's something wrong with you? Because I didn't like kissing you?" He forced me to face him by holding onto my shoulders, no matter how much I wanted to run away from embarrassing myself more, "You're right. There is something wrong with you."
It was my turn to look at him in disbelief as I became certain that a pained expression was clearly shown on my face.
"There has to be something wrong with you for you to think like that, for you to think that you're not good enough. Why did that thought even cross your mind, huh? And I'm not just saying this to make you feel better. It's the truth, Alexis. Believe me, I've kissed plenty of women before, but the kiss we shared... It doesn't even compare. I never knew such a simple gesture could make me feel so..."
He seemed to be experiencing loss of words, like he didn't even know how to describe that kiss. It made me feel a little better that I wasn't the only one who's mind stopped working at that moment we shared.
"That's it." He suddenly frowned, "I don't like talking about my feelings, so I'm not saying any more. But God, Alexis I can't..."
He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at my lips which made my cheeks warm up as I felt all tingly on the inside.
"You can't what?"
"Nothing."
Before I could blink once, Damien closed the distance between us quickly as his hand found its way over to my face, his fingers grazing my jawline.
But before I could be granted by the most awaited moment, a knock interrupted it. Somebody knocked impatiently on the door.
"Sir, there's someone here to--"
The maid was cut off by another female making her presence known as she said in the most confident tone, "No need to knock, I'm --"
A girl who looked no older than 21 came into my view as she opened the door of the King's bedroom. The first thing I noticed was her height being the same as mine. We didn't look exactly alike, but she had the same shade of brown colored hair as me, except hers was styled perfectly in a high bun with tiny silver clips holding it in place. Another thing we had in common were the baby blue eyes, which stood out on her pale face.
We could definitely be mistaken as sisters, due to the resemblance between us.
A long red dress covered her body which didn't look too fancy but it still captured one's attention by just the right amount of formalness added to it. It hugged all her curves and fell patternlessly around her heels. She looked like she was from a high society, holding a title just as high because of the way she walked into the room like it was her own.
My confusion that was caused by the sudden appearance of this girl soon got erased as Damien whispered one name.
"Katrina?"
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-J.S