I leave my room and walk down a corridor that isn't used often. I can tell mostly by the dusty photos on the wall and faded surroundings. Also I am one of the only people who know about it. Is it secretive? A little bit. But is it hiding something dangerous and or threatening? No.
I reach a door that is locked with obsidian stone. So other vampires can't open it. I take out the key and open it. Inside, Is my secret hobby. Even Aaron doesn't know about it. He knows I have this room, but he doesn't know what is inside.
I paint to create what I can't see for myself. Almost all my paintings are of the sky, or have the sky in it. The walls of the room are swirls of blue, almost like an ocean. I have canvases and paper sprawled out everywhere. Paint brushes and paints. The room is small, and cluttered. But it is my space. Technically everything inside the palace is mine, but this is something no one knows about. And something about having a secret thing no one knows about makes it more mine. We don't have many resources from Above, to get materials such as paint. Thats why not all my paint is paint. I sometimes create it myself, using blue dye. I'm always sure i don't have any paint left on me when I leave. I take out a paper, and start adding splashes of colour. I draw a shadow of a girl, sitting upon a rooftop looking out at the stars.
Year 1915
"Time to go inside, Kalila!" mom smiles at me. I was outside, playing with Aaron and some of his friends. I sigh.
"But mom! Night time is my favourite!" I whine.
"I'm sorry sweetie. But Kris and Rachel need sleep, and we can't be disturbing any of our other neighbours, right?" Kris and Rachel are some of me and Aaron's school friends, they were out playing with us. They are humans. I sigh in frustration.
"Okay... Goodbye! See you at school tomorrow," I smile at them. They smile and wave back at me. I give each of them a hug good bye and go inside. They also leave, making their way to their own houses. I noticed how Rachel had kept trying to mask her yawns as it was getting later. I guess they do need sleep.
I tell Mom that I am going to my room and run upstairs. Once I am in my room, I open the window and feel the breeze in my face. I squeeze my small 7 year old body through the window and jump onto the roof. Its dark, so no one will see me. I sit at the edge, dangling my feet over the side. When I spot the first star, I whisper,
"Star light, star bright.
First star I see tonight.
I wish I may, I with I might,
have the wish I wish tonight!"
I close my eyes tightly, and make a wish. After a while, I open them again and smile.
I stare at the stars now appearing, and look for the shapes. My dad showed me all kinds of stars, and I always loved coming outside to see them even though mom told me not to. Knowing I shouldn't be out for long, I crawl back inside and lie onto my bed.
~
I stare at my now finished painting, and crumple it up. Its too close to my past, Ive worked hard to keep these memories away. I put all my paints away. At least i'm calmed down now. Painting always relaxes me. I painted like crazy the first few years we were down here. Then, not as much.
I make sure that there is no extra paint on me before leaving the room.
Once I walk out of my palace, I take a minute to look around. Everyone seems to be walking to a destination or know what they are doing. This is good. In Subterranean, all my vampires have a some freedom. They have choice. I allow them to choose what to wear and who to love. As long as they don't affect me negatively, they can be happy. Happy. Now that is a word thats never used in the same sentence as me unless there is a big NOT in between. When we had first started building the Subterranean, I hadn't wanted anyone to be happy, because I wanted everyone to feel like I did. But Aaron talked me out of that idea. He said that "Your people will come to respect and love you more if you allow freedom." Which I did not agree with. Do I care if they love me? No. Being feared by everyone is way better, I think. But he did have a point, less people would betray me if a gave them less of a reason to. Yes, I want them to fear me. But if I ended up killing everyone, I wouldn't have anyone left to fear me. Realizing that I started to stand there unladylike, just staring off to space, I blink and continue my way to the lowest floor.
Sadly, I know I am going to have to try again. We need the humans, to stay strong. I'm going to go down there again, and this time I know the boy in the sixth cell will fear me. And answer me. It is intriguing that I can't even see the hint of nervousness in his eyes. Even Aaron tends to be a little bit uneasy around me. Humans should be even more so.
I go to the fourth and last level of my Underground city, take the keys from the guard and walk straight there, not bothering with the other ones. The first two have already gotten their first drainage of blood, and are lying on the floor.
I walk in and see him sitting down. He looks a little less energetic than before. "Hey," He looks over at me.
"Will you answer my questions today?" I ask.
"Sure. If you answer mine." He flashes me a smile.
Do you know what? ill agree. He will be dead soon anyway, and i'll be getting my answers quicker. "Fine. I'm going first." I say. "Why do you die after a few days in here?" I ask.
"Uh...What? How comforting, thanks for telling me i'm about to die." Theres the sarcasm again. I will myself to stay calm.
"Answer." I say, a bit aggravated.
"Well, I can't really answer, since it depends on what you are doing... Like, people don't just die." He stares at me, waiting to see what i am going to say.
"Well, they do. Why is this?" I speak in my powerful queen-like tone of voice. I feel like i'm starting to seem annoying, but not as annoying as he is being.
"Mabye they aren't having proper care. Now let me ask you something." He shrugs.
"Was that an answer that you would tell a queen? I guess it was the first so I will let it slide. Go."
"Why are we here?"
"We need your blood." I say.
"Why?" He asks, confused.
"Question for a question. How will our humans stay alive longer?"
"I can't really give advice until I know the situation," Why is this so difficult? Can't he just answer?
"If I tell you everything about the situation, you have to tell me how to resolve it." I reason.
"M-kay."
I tell him how we are vampires, and we need human blood to keep us strong. I also tell him that I am queen and can kill him in many painful ways. He doesn't seem fazed. I leave out any personal information. Just the generic summary of our life.
"Okay, lets say I believe all that. Which I don't, by the way. First, what are you feeding them?" He asks.
"Feeding them? I read that a human can last for over a week without food. You don't need it." I tell him. He is a human himself, isn't this obvious?
"What? You mean to tell me you are surprised they are dying... And you aren't even feeding them?" He asks in disbelief. He shakes his head, almost disapointed.
"What? Whats wrong with that? We give them water." I assure him.
"I just can't believe how dumb you are to t-" I cut him off right there.
"WHAT the hell did you just call me? Did you hear anything I said? I am a vampire. The Queen. You can NOT just call me dumb." I snap. I glare at him with my ice blue eyes/
"Okay, okay, geez." He holds his hands up. "Its just that you need to feed people, especially if you're draining their blood." He didn't even look at all nervous of me as he said this.
"Explain why. Is it not true humans can last a over week without food?" Maybe our resources are wrong.
"No, they can. But they are more weak. Like you know when someone volunteers to donate blood?"
"No," Humans drain themselves of blood willingly? Why? I don't want to sound too dependent, so I restrain myself from asking.
"Well, right after, they are given a sweet juice and cookie. Because they need to get their energy back from the loss of blood."
I guess that is reasonable. Like we can survive without human blood, but we are weak. They need something to boost their energy.
"Okay. I will keep that in mind." I nod.
"Wait...Can I ask you more questions? About vampires," He studies me, like he is unsure if he should believe this information i have told him or not.
"No. Your going to die soon anyway."
"But aren't you trying to make us humans last longer? Maybe I can be your little experiment," He smirks.
"You know, not many people can smile like that when i'm around." I try to keep my face looking menacing.
"I guess i'm special," He shrugs. I choose to ignore that. Now that I have a little more information, I'm done here.
"Well, my work here is done." I say. I turn, about to leave the room.
"I have more information, If you want to come back." He tells me. I turn to look at him.
"Now why would you want me to come back?" I ask, puzzled.
"Cause' you're the Queen of vampires. I'd better get on your good side." He gives me a smile.
Hello readers, i'm so sorry I didn't post yesterday!! I went on a trip to Ottawa with my class and got back late. But better late than never, right?
Okay about the story... Don't be a silent reader and let me know what you think! Vote, comment, and share :)
~Shanshan