Chapter 10 : Dull Past
Alastair's POV
At long last she finally fell asleep.
Taking note of the page I was at I closed the book in my hand and with a silent sigh laid back in my chair beside Nikki's bed. My eyes wandered over her sleeping form, the purple duvet clinging to the curves of her petite body.
It had taken almost an hour for her to fall asleep. At first she refused, arguing that she wasn't tired, and so I pulled a chair up beside her bed and stayed with her until she eventually drifted off. Nikki was unwell for reasons unexplained. She needed as much rest as she could get to snuff out that burning fever.
I moved closer, sitting beside her on the edge of the bed. Instinctively she curled around me and mumbled something incoherent in her sleep. A smile pulled at the corner of my lips and I swept a lock of blonde hair from her forehead. My fingers brushed her cheek, her skin soft and warm.
She was truly beautiful, more so than even Lady Marisa.
I always knew she would be.
Nikki sighed deeply in her sleep. It brought my attention to her neck and the red marks fading there. She had finally removed that God forsaken scarf, revealing what I had left against her flawless skin nights before.
I traced the marks along her collarbone with my fingertips. It was a foolish thing for I to have done, but, at the time...
I felt a twinge of pain in my mouth and knew it was my fangs elongating. I couldn't help but remember the sweet taste of skin and the addiction it had been. I could have taken her that night, I wanted to, hell did I want to. Should have.
My eyes dropped to her lips. They were full and pouted; utterly kissable. It was hard to believe that this woman before me was once a misfitted little girl.
I listened to her breathing; it was even and relaxed with the sedative of a lullaby. I leant closer, the bed groaning beneath the weight of our two bodies, and braced myself either side of her head. My nostrils flared as I breathed her in. Her scent was both overwhelming and alluring all at once, something close to freshly peeled apples and rain. Such a fitting scent for someone as innocent as herself. Want her.
My eyes trailed lower, honing in on her neck. I felt the sharpness of my teeth against my tongue and a bloody haze clouded my vision. The only thing I saw, the only thing I wanted, was her. Why couldn't I bite her? I could make her into an immortal again, a Creature Of Darkness. It wouldn't be that difficult. What was stopping me? It wasn't right to deny what was mine anyway. Take her.
My breathing grew harsher, fangs protruding from my lips and aching to sink themselves into flesh -- her flesh. I wanted to turn her, to make her mine. Fight it. My nails dug into the bedding beside her head. Mine.
I bowed my head, mouth lowering to the curve of her neck. My tongue darting out, licking and tasting her sweet skin. As if sensitive to my touch her skin trembled beneath my lips. Her reaction, although being asleep, made it all the more difficult to hold back. Can't fight it.
Attempting not to tear her flesh apart, I opened my mouth wide and inhaled deeply before slowly biting down, the tips of my fangs pricking her creamy skin.
I stopped before any blood was drawn. The haze quickly receded and I removed my hands from the tangled bedding in a rush. I sat up, eyes wide, and stared at the unconscious person below me.
What the hell was I thinking?
I was slipping, losing control again.
In exasperation I ran my hands roughly over my face. The gap was shrinking. The wall between us crumbling.
She was too much of a temptation now.
I stood up from the bed and stepped away, putting distance between herself and I. I couldn't afford to get lost in this love lust; there was too much at stake to lose. Everything put in place to protect Nikki could be ruined by my carelessness. I had to be careful, exercise caution, and most importantly, I had to rebuild that wall she was somehow pulling down, one brick at a time.
Risking one more glance at Nikki I left her room, switching off the light on my way. Darkness blinded me for a few moments before my night vision kicked in, lighting my surroundings with shades of light grey. I walked aimlessly down the frigid hallway, feet moving forward but my mind roaming in an entirely different direction.
I couldn't deny the hunger inside of me. It was a never ending quench that couldn't be satisfied with just anyone. It was almost funny how the one person I truely wanted I wasn't even supposed to touch. It was then that I realised how tight my fists were clenched and quickly relaxed them.
Get in control.
I needed something to replace what I couldn't have. Anyone was better than no one at this moment. Maybe I would meet up with that women tonight, the one with those wide hips and large breasts? I tried to think of her name but the more I thought about it, the more unappealing the thought became.
The immortal life of a vampire was nothing but a nuisance.
Descending the staircase with no specific place in mind, my feet abruptly paused. Through the darkness, my eyes had found an old painting hanging high on the wall across from me. It was large, the colours anything but flashy, and encased in a golden intricate frame that took little attention from the main image.
It was a portrait of the Lord and Lady Whitely.
Sighing, I leant against the railing of the staircase and fixed my gaze on the two people in the painting. "Did you ever consider the danger I could be to your daughter?"
No response. Figured. I wasn't expecting the dead to speak.
My eyes settled on Lady Marisa. Her last words, the ones she whispered in my ear that fateful night, resounded in my mind.
"Please keep protecting her."
I laughed dryly. "How do I protect Nikki and at the same time let her live the life of an average human?" The question floated into the air, melting into the darkness unanswered.
I couldn't relax unless Nikki was in sight and I got irritated when another man showed her attention. Like earlier today, at the cinema. What kind of guardian did that make me?
My mind wondered back to that encounter. No, Draven was different. He was a vampire, and a cold hearted one at that. He ran blindfolded and jumped at whatever chance offered a thrill. It was only fair that I harboured such worry about that kind of creature taking an interest in Nikki. He was something that threatened the safe haven we had built.
Draven hadn't changed at all. Not even after all these years. His eyes still held that ferocious gleam, like wild fire incapable of being contained.
My gaze shifted to the man standing beside Lady Marisa; her husband and most powerful Imperial of them all, Lord Emrik. Briefly taking in the darkness of his eyes, my gaze ran down the slope of his shoulder and to his hand that laid limp by his side. I stared at that hand. It had been years since that day.
There was nothing but a cold shadow draped over the alleyway. Groans bounced off the concrete walls, escaping my mouth as I shuffled on the concrete floor clutching at my stomach.
I found the strength to lift my head just as something fell to the ground no more than ten feet away. The smell of blood was strong in the air, so strong that it was nauseating.
My vision blurred with tears that refused to spill. Like a rag thrown to the side, Adam laid crumbled on the ground, a red liquid spilling from the two holes indented in his neck. I stared at what were once warm brown eyes that now appeared glazed and lifeless.
"Why?" I croaked, shaking with the pain searing throughout my body as I held myself on my forearms.
Slowly, the boy standing over Adam's dead body twisted his head around, a crooked grin on his face. He looked down at me like a cruel owner would to his dog and licked the blood dripping down his chin.
"Why?" he mused, green eyes the colour of dark ivy gleaming as he turned to face me properly. "Because he was precious to you of course."
Teeth clenched tightly, I tried to pull myself to my knees only to be kicked in the ribs by one of his companions. I was flipped onto my side, the breath knocked out of me.
"Draven, this is getting boring. Why are we just playing with him?" Another young vampire who was watching from the sidelines drawled.
Draven ignored him with a wave of his hand and bent down to pick up a scattered book. Flipping through the pages with disinterest he said, "That kid always did like his books, didn't he?" Smirking at the sight of lost life, he let the book slip through his finger and land at Adam's feet. "Guess he won't be doing much reading now."
The pain in my body fuelled my anger. "You murderer. He didn't do anything wrong!"
Draven tilted his head, his small face and pretty boy looks making him look almost innocent. "But he did. He was friends with you."
Draven and his small band were known infamously around the city by vampires of all ages. He was barely 12 years old and already had the crazed lust for blood. He and his band ran tangent through the streets, barely following the laws of the Vampire Council.
Somehow they managed to stay in the shadows, terrorising in silence. The Vampire Council had turned a blind eye to them, giving them one simple warning: one slip up on their part that revealed the supernatural world to the humans would cost them their life. And with that they pretended not to know of their killings.
Cleaning up their messes and keeping their true forms secret allowed them to continue their ruthless actions without any interference. It was after all the Vampire Council, and only the Vampire Council, who were capable of imposing punishment on vampires. And if they judged a crime as unfit, we abided by it. We lived under the council. Any word from another parliament meant nothing.
With a sigh, Draven stepped over Adam's dead body, walking towards me with slow calculative steps. "Don't you see, Alastair? Vampires and humans can't be friends. What would your mother say if she found out you were being friendly with a human boy? You should thank me really. I helped extinguish one worthless thing that plagued your life -- free of cost!" The vampire who had kicked me earlier grabbed the back of my neck, pulling my focus from Adam and to Draven who now knelt before me. "Where's your show of gratitude, hmm?"
I spat on his face. Saliva mixed with blood.
His face flashed with anger but instead of hitting me like I thought he would, he chuckled and wiped the saliva running down his cheek.
"You know, for someone who I heard doesn't feed from the vein very often, you weren't as weak as I expected. I mean, it took all four of us to drop you to the ground," he gestured with open arms to the other three vampires. They all scoffed in response and the one who held my neck tightened his grip, nails digging into skin. Draven sounded almost proud before adding, "Pity you couldn't save your friend though."
Quilt weighed heavy on me. Adam didn't stand a chance. We never should have started talking. We never should have met. He would still be alive if it weren't for me.
I killed him.
I hated this place. I hated life. There was no point phasing out to safety, not when Adam couldn't. I didn't care what happened to me now. I was done.
"Hey I know," Draven suddenly said. "How about I show you how good the taste of blood is? I'll even share your friend to make the experience all the more merrier."
My eyes widened. No.
Reading the look on my face Draven grinned, revealing his fangs. "Here, I'll help you." He pulled himself to his feet and walked over to where Adam's body laid. In one fluid movement he tore off his arm. Blood spurted across the cement like splatter paint.
The scene made me want to throw up.
The young vampire leaning against the wall took a hesitant step forward. "That's going a bit far, Draven, don't you think?"
Draven didn't take any notice, that crooked smile on his face only growing. I wasn't sure if there was anything sane left in him. His steps ate up the distance between us. He was holding the arm out to me, the smell of blood stronger than ever. I was yanked to my feet and my legs struggled to take the sudden weight of my own body. Despite the pain, I struggled and fought against the vampire holding me.
I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't drink Adam's blood. He meant more to me than just food, something these vampires couldn't possibly understand.
"Smells good, doesn't it?"
He was directly in front of me now, the arm oozing with rich red blood and only inches from my face. Draven gripped my jaw and tried to pry my mouth open. He wanted me to beg but I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. I pulled my face from his hands, willing my legs to kick out, praying my body would regain its strength.
Why was I so weak? I hated life. I hated it with every fibre of my being.
Temper getting the best of him, Draven pulled his fist back and rammed it into my gut. But right before his fist made contact with my body, he was flung backwards through the air, colliding with the back alley wall in a crumbling thud. He dropped to the ground, wheezing and startled.
"What the-" the vampire holding me released his grip and wiped around, words ending with a gasp. "An Imperial!" In a matter of seconds, he too was flung back by an invisible force, scrapping along the cemented ground and hissing in pain.
My body trembled as I turned over my shoulder and witnessed the dark shadow looming over me.
"Such pestilent infants," a deep voice rumbled.
Sleek pitch black hair fell past his ears, stopping just above his shoulders. His eyes were the same sinister colour, dangerous but captivating all the same.
Draven pulled himself to his feet and the other young vampires scampered to his side. "Excuse me for we did not mean to offend you, Lord Emrik," he apologised with a quick bow of his head. "We did know know this vampire was of any importance to—."
The Imperial waved a hand that silenced any further talk. "Leave. Before I change my mind about sparing your cowardly lives."
Draven and his band of vampires didn't need to be told twice. Only a suicidal fool would challenge any word of a Noble Blood. Without wasting another moment, they ran off without sparing a last glance and disappeared from sight.
I would never see them again.
Crouching to the ground beside me, the Great Vampire offered me his hand. "My boy."
I tore my eyes from Lord Emrik's hand in the old painting, shaking the resurfacing memories away.
Had it really been so long since that day?
With hands stuffed into the pockets of my trousers, I wondered down the rest of the staircase and sauntered into the living room. My eyes fell on the coffee table and the photos still messily sprawled over it which Nikki had yet to pack away.
A particular photo caught my attention. Carefully, I picked it up. It was the one I had looked at earlier, the one of Nikki when she was only a child with midnight black hair. With a small smile I sat on the edge of the sofa and continued to stare at the photo held between my fingers, my mind wondering back to the past.
I laid flat against the wall outside their bedroom, willing myself to become a part of it. My ears picked up the sound of my name. They were talking about me?
"...Alastair's a good boy. There's no one more capable then him." It was Lady Marisa, her feminine voice gentle and regal.
A yellow light shone out of the open door, shadowing the two figures inside the room. I watched the shadows on the hallway wall instead of peeping through the crack in the door. One lifted their hand to their head, probably to run a hand through their hair, and I heard a sigh. I recognised it as Lord Emrik.
"You do understand that the bloodline will be weakened?" He asked carefully.
"I do not care of such matters," Lady Marisa responded quickly, shaking her head. The curls of her black hair were also shadowed by the light and bounced with each jagged movement. "He is no less a son to me than any other. And what other choice is given to Imperial's now that our race has diminished to only a sparse few? The blood will not weaken extraordinarily."
"Marisa..."
I watched the Lady's shadowed figure glide gracefully across the floor. She stood in front Lord Emrik and raised a hand to caress her mates face, the other resting on her stomach. Softly she pleaded, her face angled upwards to meet his eyes, "A daughter, Emrik. Let us have one. Not just for our sakes."
They were both still for a moment. Then Lord Emrik raised his hand and placed it over hers that was on his cheek. They stayed silent, as if words were no longer needed between them.
I was too young to understand what they were discussing that night. It was only with the passing of years, when Nikki was eventually brought into the world, that the things they spoke of that night became clear.
I laid back on the sofa tiredly, succumbing to memories, and hung an arm over my eyes.
"Therefore we shall conceive a child, a daughter, that will bring meaning to his life. She will be his other half and that way, Alastair will never be alone."
A/N: For some reason I found this chapter really difficult to write but hopefully you enjoyed?
Published 11/10/16