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Walking Among Vampires by K. A. Young.
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◇Nova◇
Horrible, it was just horrible. How could anyone like to watch TV? I guess the vampires liked to show the death of humans on a small mirror of light. Korbyn had led me away from this terrible device, offering me a seat in the front room near where we had entered from the back of his mansion.
"I'm sorry, butterfly," Korbyn's voice startled me, placing both of my hands on the soft cushions beside my thighs. "Bronwyn...she's more like my parents and enjoys playing games with vampires. Well, and now that you are here, I guess she's taken a liking to show you the darker side of our species."
The little princess played a cruel joke on me. I don't like her very much to be honest. Korbyn, however, seems genuinely nice almost somewhat...human? I knew that couldn't possibly be true. He's a vampire and the only reason he doesn't want to kill me...is because he's never met someone like me before.
What if he grows bored with me?! My fear began to rise, my heart starting to beat just slightly faster than normal, my palms starting to sweat. Will he kill me then?
"Butterfly?" Korbyn asked cautiously, the right arm he had resting on the top of the opposite couch removed itself, pushing down on the couch and rising to his feet. He edged around the glass table, lowering himself next to me and causing me to involuntarily scoot away from him. "What is it about me that scares you?"
What?
Pulling my hands into my lap and absentmindedly picking at a stray thread from my jeans, I lowered my face away from him. "You could kill me."
"Any being could kill another," Korbyn's voice sent chills down my spine.
Hesitating for a moment, I brought my eyes up to take a quick glance into his sapphire pools and whispered, "I'm living on borrowed time. You should have killed me, but you didn't. I'm afraid of what will happen to me."
"I won't kill you," Korbyn returned, only slightly easing my racing mind, questions burning to be asked and wondering if he held the answers. I had often asked my parents about many different things in this world, but the refused to enlighten me, even what I would assume was something so simple, turned into a long disagreement.
"C-can I ask you something?" I ran my palms over my jeans, trying to get rid of the sweat that had collected in my palms, my face starting to burn.
Korbyn didn't hesitate, "Isn't that why you came back? You're just as fascinated with vampires as I am with humans. By all means, I'll answer whatever I can."
"Why do you hate humans?" I thought that was just too broad of a topic, Korbyn specifically not hating my species, so I narrowed it down, "W-why do vampires hate humans? Is it because we are weak? Did we do something? Why kill us?"
Korbyn paused for a moment, thoughtfully rubbing his chin as he began to explain, "Nova, I think it would be hard to explain to you at the very moment in time. You need to understand the world around you a little better before I answer that particular question."
Of course...just like my parents. I guess I would forever remain in the dark, but ignorance is bliss, right?
"I'm sorry butterfly, I don't want to upset you without you those answers, as you would not like them very much," Korbyn was trying to keep me from hearing the horrible things I had seen on the TV. Shifting next to me, he leaned back slightly and asked, "Let's start with something basic, how old are you?"
"I've lived for the sun to travel around the world eighteen times," I whispered, not quite sure what he mean by how old I was.
Korbyn nodded and said, "That means, you are eighteen years old. It takes one year, for Earth to travel around the sun. That is how age is related in this world."
"The sun doesn't go around the Earth?" This was news to me. This world...moved? Why didn't I feel it moved beneath my feet, surely I would have felt something!
He smiled and replied, "Yes, it moves very slow, so you wouldn't feel a thing," he paused, eyeing me before asking, "Excuse my rudeness, but how do you not know these very simple things?"
Now I felt stupid, in the presence of this vampire prince and here I was asking completely stupid question. "I-I..." feeling tears start to well up, I kept them at bay as I whispered, "I-my parents wanted to protect me from this world and everything that was evil within it. They only knew what their parents told them and it seems a lot of things that should be common knowledge, have become precious information."
"Your articulation is spot on, butterfly," Korbyn smiled at me, his fangs flashing briefly, my body scooting just a little further away. Every time I saw those lethal weapons, it reminded me that he was just a monster. A beautiful monster.
"Umm-" I began, but stopped myself, feeling I was about to ask something rude.
"Yes?" He asked, encouraging me to speak my mind.
Looking up at him, I asked, "H-How old are you?"
"Well, that is a very good question, now isn't it?" Korbyn chuckled softly. He stood to his feet, reaching his hand out for mine. My breathing quickened, unsure of what he was going to do, but he did say he wouldn't kill me. Reaching my arm out, the palm of my hand made contact with his, pulling me from the safety of the couch. I stood in front of him, my hand leaving his while I nervously brushed my left arm with my right hand.
Korbyn answered my question, with a question of his own, "How old do you think I am?"
"You look younger than my parents, and they would be fifty five years old by your sun and earth logic," I replied, trying to remember exactly their age. It wasn't at the top of my list in terms of things I kept up with.
"Well, I'm much older than that," he answered, "But my physical appearance is that of a human around the age of twenty nine."
"Oh," I whispered, figuring that was a little over than ten years difference from my own age, "How old are you really? I-I know vampires are immortal...but how long have you been walking this world for?"
The vampire prince stated, "A little over one hundred and fifty years."
I think my jaw might have touched the floor. He was laughing at me and it must have been from the silly expression on my face. I could never imagine living that long, yet there must have been vampires that had lived a lot longer than he did. Wait, how old did that make the princess then? He said she was his younger sister and she looked younger than myself.
"Bronwyn, however," Korbyn must have sensed my unspoken question, "is actually thirteen years old. She is a very young vampire and was given the choice to live with myself or my parents when she became a teenager."
"When will she stop aging?" I was intrigued at how this immortality thing worked.
Korbyn motioned toward the stairs, the beautiful flooring it was made from captivated me. I moved past him slowly, coming to stand at the bottom landing, his own presence found right behind me. "It really all depends on the vampire themselves. Each slows down at their own rate, some earlier or later than others. I don't know how long Bronwyn will continue to age physically, but she has to learn to behave if she is to continue to stay with me."
"Behave?" I asked, Korbyn nodding as I began to climb the extravagant staircase.
"She takes after my parents and with her age, she is very unpredictable and enjoys toying with others. Hence, the reason why she decided to attack you with giving you a bad experience with the TV," he finished, my feet coming out even on the top landing, my eyes looking down the right hallway and then the left.
"So...TV can be enjoyable?" I was uneasy, wondering where we were going.
Korbyn lightly gestured toward the right hallway, leading me down a vivid purple carpet. Doors passed by me on either side, my head spinning in order to take in everything at once. This place was so much bigger than the underground bunker and much brighter, the lights holding their electrical glow.
"Of course," he came to stop in front of a door at the end of the hallway, but turned to the one on the left, taking the handle into his hand and opening the door inward. "It is a very enjoyable form of entertainment. It can be relaxing and sometimes, you can even fall asleep watching it. I'll show you another time, when Bronwyn isn't so bent on burning bad first impressions on you."
When he reached his arm around the corner, touching the wall, the room ignited to life with such gorgeous lights. There was a very large light fixture hanging from the center of the room, many lights decorating the circular edges, my eyes transfixed on the tiny orbs of light.
"It's so beautiful..." I was in awe, my voice trailing off.
"It's all yours," Korbyn startled me with his offer, my head turning to him as my eyes widened.
"I-I...what? Mine?" Had I heard him correctly? This was my room to stay in. This room alone was bigger than the entire underground bunker. This one room, put my entire home to shame and I suddenly felt self-conscious, but I don't know why. There shouldn't have been a reason for me to feel this way, but I did.
Korbyn stated, "Yes, feel free to make yourself at home here."
"T-thank you," I placed a stray strand of my light brown hair behind my left ear and felt heat rise in my cheeks, "I really appreciate this..."
"Just promise me one thing," his voice came from behind me as I entered the lavish room, the bed much bigger than I needed. I turned in the center of the room, Korbyn's hand lingering on the door handle as he stood in the center of the frame. "Don't leave this room until I come and get you in the morning."
"Why?" I was nervous, but curiosity awakened from within me, wondering exactly why I should stay in the safety of this room, not that I really wanted to leave it.
Korbyn slowly shut the door, "Like I said, the night is made for monsters, which you are most certainly not. Stay inside, butterfly."
Until next time! <3