A/N
"Some people say the eyes are the windows to the soul. So instead of asking a person how they feel, make eye contact. One look can tell a life story."
-me
Yeah i totally just made a quote up.
This chapter has a lot of inner monologues... which is my way of saying the characters think a lot cause i'm trying to sound smart and all, so there will be really long paragraphs, but important secrets are revealed, so pay attention. Please comment and tell me what you think, guys! :)
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Stella's POV.
After Annabelle said she wanted to stay with Jace I was so angry I might have compelled her to think I hated her.
Okay fine, I did, but I felt bad about it instantly. That might have been too harsh on her.
All I wanted was to hide my pain from her. I couldn't do the same to Jace because his mind was blocked, but his mind was usually blocked around me so I didn't focus on that.
I focused on not letting Annabelle know how much her words had hurt me, I wanted her to see hatred where there had just been anger and pain. Anger because I had gotten so good at being cold hearted, then she came out of nowhere and made me feel hurt about something that was insignificant.
So what if she wanted to spend the night with my brother? She was probably just attracted to me because of how alluring us vampires are to humans, it's in our nature.
We are the predators, they are the prey, and that is how we lure them in for the kill. I had always been okay with that, and I should have known that was the reason she was attracted to me. I suppose I was surprised at the fact that I wanted it so badly to be something else. It actually hurt to know she only felt attracted to me because I was a vampire and she was human.
Maybe I should've read her mind instead, but I didn't want to read her mind. I was afraid I wouldn't like what I would find there. She was making me weak. I shouldn't have cared, but I did.
Maybe she was more attracted to Jace, maybe I did go too far when we were in the pool together, or I scared her when I growled at my brother, and she saw the monster I was.
With deadly fangs and irises dark as night, sometimes I even scare myself.
None of those things should have mattered to me, but they did. I was hurt because of what she said, and I wanted to get away, so I ended up at the beach somehow.
Being near the ocean had always calmed me. I usually ended up in the same place when I felt insecure. There was just something about nature that made me feel at ease, as if I wasn't Stella Trueblood anymore, I didn't have any problems, I was invisible, and only nature could see me.
The ocean was my favorite part of nature because it was connected to everything on Earth, and somehow when I was in in it, I was also connected to the world, and it accepted me without asking.
I could feel the wet sand beneath my feet as I walked near the shore so I decided to take a swim, since I still had my swimsuit on. The only thing I liked about being a vampire was that breathing was not necessary, so I could hold my breath underwater for long periods of time. Deep breaths still calmed me, but we could go days without breathing, maybe even more. I had never tried to test it because breathing gave me the same relief it gave humans. I'd only hold my breath when I came here, and I loved it because I can go snorkeling without the snorkel or the goggles since my eyes are more perceptive than the human eye. I can see perfectly underwater.
I lost track of time as I kept swimming, following different schools of fish. There were all kinds of fish down there, with different bright colors and patterns. Watching them was so peaceful. I could easily lose track of time, but I only noticed I had been swimming for a long time when I saw an anchor.
At first I thought I must have been swimming for so long I was near another island, because there were never any boats near ours. Human boats were teleported to the other side of an invisible wall that served as a portal. It was put there to keep humans from finding us, because those that knew about us were usually hunters. Vampires had to ask permission to come in and out of the island, so I would've known if there were any coming that day.
I surfaced to see how far away from the island I was, and then my eyes widened in surprise. I wasn't very far, I could see the castle clearly. It only took one sharp intake of breath through my nose for me to know what was going on. Humans. Probably Hunters. Only they could find a way to infiltrate the island, but why they would do it now didn't make sense to me because my father was somewhere in europe, and he was usually the target of these attacks.
I looked around for more boats, but there was only one. It was huge, but not big enough to contain the amount of humans it would take to get past our guards, or small enough to be fast enough to get away if their mission went wrong.
It seemed like they hadn't thought this through, and it surprised me because hunters were young and mortal, but they were not stupid. Most of them were singers or sirens who had learned to use their abilities without being turned. They were good at what they did, at killing vampires, and they were not to be underestimated, so why would they plan such a sloppy attack?
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Annabelle's POV
"Stella's missing."
Those words kept repeating themselves in my head over and over again as I just stood there in shock. The initial shock lasted about a minute, it consisted on the sound of my heart racing while a distant Jenny shook my shoulders to get my attention. She kept asking if I was okay.
I couldn't form any thoughts to answer her, I could only feel. First worry, then fear, and finally panic, which made me get up and bolt toward the door as Jenny yelled, "Anna, where are you going?!"
I ended up in Jace's room. At first I thought he wasn't there, and I was about to turn and leave when I heard him speak.
"I'm out here." He said. He was outside in the balcony, staring down at the beach, and he was visibly tense.
I walked out and stood behind him, keeping my distance. His head was lowered and he didn't bother to turn and look at me.
After a very long pause I finally managed to say something, "Stella's missing, are you going to look for her?" I said.
He didn't answer. Why was I even expecting him to help? Maybe he didn't even care about her, maybe he wanted her gone, I thought.
I only realized he could hear my thoughts perfectly when he suddenly turned around with fury written all over his face and exploded at me.
"Of course I'm going to look for her! She's my sister! How could you possibly think I would want something bad to happen to her? She is the only person that has ever been constant in my life! I've known her since forever so why on Earth would I want her gone now?!"
His voice boomed with power and authority, but mostly anger. He seemed sincerely shocked that I would think something like that, and I instantly regretted it.
I didn't know what to say, but I mustered some words, "I'm sorry... I didn't know... You were just standing there doing nothing, so I assumed..." I trailed off.
He narrowed his dark eyes at me and all of a sudden his tone was arrogant as usual, "Of course you did, you're human, what could you possibly know about caring about someone?"
I glared back at him, "I thought it was the opposite, your species is the one that seems to know nothing about love! Or maybe it's just you."
I was so angry at his stupid remark, but then I realized having an argument with him wouldn't get me what I wanted, I wanted Stella to be found unharmed. That was my priority.
He seemed to catch on to that thought because he had opened his mouth to yell back at me and then he closed it and said, "The only reason I was in here doing 'nothing' was because I was concentrating on sending out a message to all vampires in the island to start looking for her and to kill all trespassers."
He noticed my confusion and added, "Through their minds. The same way I could speak to you through yours. It's harder when it's more than one person, but it seems even harder today for some reason." He seemed worried.
"I'm going to look for her myself." He added after a pause. Then he started to climb over the railing of the balcony. My eyes widened, he was going to jump.
"Wait, I want to help!" I blurted out.
He looked like he was about to ignore me, but then he turned and said, "That might not be such a bad idea. Hunters always want to save humans, and you are human, so you can be like... my hostage."
He suddenly smirked as if he had an idea, "Here's what's going to happen. I'll pretend to want to kill you if they don't tell me where Stella is, and you'll beg them for your life, but be convincing or I might really kill you."
Before I could process his words, he picked me up bridal style and jumped over the railing with me in his arms. We were free falling five stories before I could analyze what was going on.
Thankfully he landed on his feet with cat-like grace, barely making a sound. He put me down while I regained my composure from the sudden fall, and started sniffing the air. His head whipped over to the left after a couple of seconds. He seemed to be staring at a woodsy area in the distance where the sand of the beach ended and there were grass and trees instead.
It looked like a forest, and you could also see mountains even further away, but it would take us too long to walk there. The vampire prince told me to get on his back, and for the first time I was glad he could move at the speed of light, because I had a really bad feeling about this.
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Stella's POV.
I reached the shore in less than a minute, swimming as fast as I could. When I was out of the water, I tried to catch their scent, which was going to be easy since I had already memorized it from the boat.
It was, I caught on to their scent instantly. Turns out they were in the woods, they must have been hiding there.
What were they thinking? A surprise attack? From the forest? Even if they had managed to wait in there until we were asleep, they were still highly outnumbered.
I suddenly heard a piercing sound coming from the castle, high-pitched like a dog whistle. It was a very irritating noise, but it would wake any vampire up. It was the alarm.
I scoffed, it was about time one of the guards noticed that boat in the distance. It was a pretty big boat, which again made me think about what was going through their inferior human hunter minds when they planned this.
I didn't want to wait until the guards realized the hunters were hiding in the woods, which wouldn't even be long since their smell was so alluring, they were singers after all. So I looked at the boat in the distance to assess my chances.
It could fit about fifty people, maybe less, but hunters were highly skilled.
Then again, I was the most powerful vampire alive, wasn't I? I could use their powers just by being near them. I could easily take a bunch of humans, definitely more than fifty, hunters or not, so I decided to take care of them myself. This island and all the people in it were my responsibility when the King, my father, was gone. I wanted to punish them for even trying to make a fool of me, no matter how badly planned their ambush was.
It took me two seconds to reach the forest area, and as I stood in front of it, the smell of their blood made my fangs extend and I knew my eyes were brighter than usual. They were so near, and they were singers, about thirty of them, but no sirens. The thirst was driving me crazy. The smell of thirty singers was worse than that of one siren. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to kill them, and now that the monster inside me had control, I was going to savor it.
There was only one problem. I had barely managed to take five steps into the woods when a deep, rich, and strangely spine-chilling laughter stopped me dead in my tracks.
I knew it was that of a man, but I couldn't see him.
"Look who it is," He said, his voice even richer than his laughter.
I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke, "I never thought it would be this easy to get you alone. I would not have brought these many hunters with me if I had known you would come to me willingly," he sighed, "and to think I was going to have fun killing most of the people, if not all, in your precious little castle to get to you, Miss Trueblood. You sure are a buzz kill."
He paused, and I could feel him studying me, but I couldn't see him.
"I've only seen you in pictures before," he continued, "and I didn't think you could get more beautiful in person. You look like an angel, I'll give you that. You almost make me not want to do what I am about to do."
He was suddenly standing right in front of me, and not because he had moved quickly, but because he had literally appeared out of thin air. He was blurry at first, and I had to squint my eyes to see him, but then he was standing right in front of me in full focus, it reminded me of how you focus a blurry image on a camera before you take a picture, and what a picture it was.
I couldn't retain my shock, and not only because he had appeared out of thin air, but because I recognized him. The young man standing in front of me looked like he could have been in his twenties, but I knew for a fact that he wasn't. He was almost as old as the vampire King, my father, and that is very, very old. The man standing in front of me was the notorious Dorian Servaux.
I had never seen him in person, nor hoped to. He was the master of pain and fear, his ability was to torture. He could make you see what you feared the most or feel the most intense physical pain you could ever imagine.
From what I had heard about him, he was the definition of the word twisted.
He used to hold a very high position in the vampire council, who were like senators to us, but he ended up hating my father and all vampires involved with him for rejecting his proposition to let humans know about us so we could take over their world and use them as our slaves.
He tried to rebel after his proposition was turned down, so he was kicked out of the council and banished from all vampire affairs.
He still managed to get a fair number of followers though, so even talking to him without warning the council was made to be considered high treason. Talking to this man was punishable by death. And he was not only pure evil, but looking at him as he stood in front of me made me wonder if the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" was made specifically for him.
He was breathtakingly handsome, and you would never have guessed there was something wrong with him by simply looking at his gorgeous face and his winning smile, you had too look deep into his bright grey eyes to know there was something dark behind them.
"Surprised?" He chuckled, "I made a friend who has a very special ability."
I eyed him with confusion so he smirked and added, "It's how I appeared out of thin air. I was standing here the whole time, you just couldn't see me. He can basically make you see whatever he wants you to see, an illusionist, like me. Except my illusions only work if you fear them or they cause you pain, his just work. You're surrounded by hunters right now, by the way, but I'm sure you know that because of their smell, you just can't see them, can you? Don't even try to run away because you're an easy target when you can't see your attacker."
He smiled like he found this amusing, "Neat trick, right?"
I couldn't speak. This was Dorian Servaux, the Dorian Servaux. The man that had inspired the famous character of Dorian Grey, from Oscar Wilde's popular novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray", a story about a beautiful young man who never ages, but a portrait of him shows his true identity. The portrait is as ugly as his soul. I always wondered why the character's last name was not similar to Servaux, but I could see it now. Those gray eyes were so bright and beautiful, yet so evil, and definitely his most prominent feature. Dorian Gray, because of his gray eyes.
His smile grew wider, "Is that fear I see in your eyes, or are you actually admiring my good looks? Don't worry, angel. I don't compare to you. That is why this is going to be so hard for me."
I knew what was coming next, but I thought I could prevent it. I had acquired a power that served as an armor against psychic attacks, but for some reason I couldn't feel it around me. I couldn't feel the sense of safety it gave me when it was working. I tried using telekinesis to push him away, but I couldn't do that either. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and then the fear set in as I realized I couldn't use any of my abilities. I was like an ordinary vampire, but normal vampires still had inhuman strength and speed. I tried bolting toward him, but he simply moved out of the way and smirked.
"I thought you would try to attack me, and I was right," he sighed,"so you leave me no choice."
I felt a ripple in the air, and I could almost see him hurling energy at me in waves. I then fell to the ground, writhing in pain. I had thought his ability was to make you feel the worst pain imaginable, but what I felt in that moment was way worse. I could never have imagined pain like that. It was every bone in your body breaking at the same time, repeatedly, while your skin stung as if it was being corroded by acid or set on fire.
I tried to scream, but to no avail. I didn't even have the strength to scream. I wanted to die. He stood over me as my body convulsed, and I somehow managed not to break eye contact with him. I stared directly into his eyes, glaring. I would not show him weakness.
He pursed his lips and made a "hmmm" sound, like he was studying me, then finally said, "You're stronger than I thought you would be. Stronger than anyone who has ever undergone this amount of pain, actually. I like it. You will be very useful, Stella. You see, I do not wish to kill you. I want you to join me. This is just a preview of what might happen if you make the same mistake your maker did."
I noticed he did not use the word father, he'd clearly said maker, but that was impossible. No one knew that the King was not really my father, that he was merely the one who turned me.
"And yes, you heard right, I did say maker, because I know you who you are, I know you are not really related to King Godric, his blood does not flow through your veins or your brother's veins. And yes, I said the King's name also, I said it because I can. Because he is my father, not yours, and that throne is rightfully mine, real royal blood flows through my veins. You are just some human siren scum he found and decided to rescue because you had such a strong scent. He didn't even do it because he cared about your human life being a living hell, he did it because he knew you would be powerful. He used you, and I now see he was right about how strong you would be. But me, I would have never used you, I felt sorry for what happened to you, Stella, I know what your real father did to you, I know how much it hurt, I know all of your worst fears, I know you more than anyone. I actually do care about what happened to you, I can see it like I lived it myself, and I feel horrible about using pain to subdue you so you'll listen to me, but you left me no choice."
As he said that the pain began to die down, and my body stopped convulsing, but I was so weak I couldn't move and so scared I couldn't speak. I just lied there on the ground helplessly. My eyes still looking into his twisted gray ones.
He actually looked like he pitied me then, "I'm sorry, angel. That might have been too hard on you. I didn't mean to leave you speechless, you were just so strong, I had to turn the notch up all the way. I hope this doesn't last too long. I'm sure you will regain your voice and mobility in about an hour or so, but while you are still here, I guess you must be wondering why none of your abilities worked. You see, I found this amazing siren, and I knew she had a lot of potential like you did, so I turned her. It turns out she can do something very useful when faced with such a gifted vampire as yourself, she can subdue your abilities. You are as good as a regular vampire when she's around. Isn't that amazing? She can choose which abilities she blocks, too. Let me show you."
He turned to look at something, or someone, behind him and said, "Natalie, darling, could you let the girl use her brother's mind link ability?"
I jumped at the name, the first movement I had managed to make. He seemed genuinely surprised at that and said, "Huh. You just moved, good for you, that is usually almost impossible to do during the first hour after an attack. You can talk to me now, Stella, through my mind."
My first thought was, "Natalie?" but I didn't direct it at him, I directed it at the person behind him, even though I couldn't see her.
He must have noticed I was looking that way, because he said, "Oh yeah, I knew you two had a history, but don't be mad at me, she came on her own accord."
My eyes watered then, and a few tears ran down my cheeks, I couldn't form a mind link with her if I couldn't see her, so I tried to speak, but no words came out. I just mouthed her name again.
Dorian gave me a worried look and wiped my tears away, "Don't cry. I told her it was not a good idea to let you think she was dead, because I knew this day would come, but she insisted and it was her decision, not mine, so I helped fake her death. Don't cry, you're making me feel bad. Shouldn't you be happy? She's alive. You never lost her. She was just gone for a while."
I glared at him profusely for his fake kindness, "Thirty years is not a while," I snarled in his mind, "Thirty years was an eternity! You have no idea how slow those thirty years felt... And you're telling me I have been beating myself up for thirty years for something that was never true?"
I tried to put as much venom into those words as I could, but the last sentence came out as a question anyway, it touched a nerve. It felt like I was throwing salt into an open wound, or more like re-opening it. I started sobbing then, I couldn't help it. I thought I was over Natalie's death, but nothing hurts more than losing the one you love. I was never really over it, I was just shielding the pain. I let myself grow cold hearted so I would never be capable of love again because of her, and yet here was no other than Dorian Servaux telling me she was never really dead.
I couldn't believe him, but there he was, kneeling next to my unmoving body, telling me she had been alive the whole time, and looking like he was being completely sincere.
I thought the pain I had felt a couple of minutes before had been the worst pain imaginable, but it wasn't. This was. The pain of my heart breaking all over again. The pain of re-living Natalie's death and knowing it was all a lie.
But then I realized something.
This was Dorian Servaux, he was an expert in pain, and he knew all the memories that hurt me, including Natalie's death. He could easily have been making this up just to make me feel hurt, so I called him on it.
"I don't believe you. Let me see her." I said through the mind link, but my voice still managed to break somehow.
"Why don't you just read my thoughts, you know I'm telling the truth."
And I did know, but I also knew he was an illusionist, he could make me believe anything as long as it caused me fear or pain.
"How do I know you're not using your ability?" I said.
He turned to talk to the person, or imaginary person, behind him and said, "No, Natalie. I know you want to talk to her, but not today. She has been through enough, and it seems our time here is up." He said that last part as he looked at something behind me.
Then he turned to me and said, "You'll know the truth eventually, but not now, your mind wouldn't take it well in your current state, and you're about to faint anyway. Just think about joining me, will you? Natalie did, your Natalie, and you know she was a good person. If she trusted me, why shouldn't you? You'll be with her again, I promise, and you will still be royalty in the end. I won't tell anyone your secret. I'll pretend you're my sister when I take my rightful place as King. It is a good offer, think about it."
Before I could analyze what he had just said, especially the part about me being about to faint, I was hit with another wave of intense pain, and this one was so strong that I blacked out.
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Anna's POV.
I climbed on top of Jace's back like he was giving me a piggyback ride, and then I felt the air whip my face. We were suddenly standing before the forest.
He slowly put me down and turned around to hold my shoulders so I wouldn't fall while I waited for my head to stop spinning.
"Can you walk?" He asked, and I nodded.
He let me go and grabbed me firmly by the wrist, then he whispered, "Remember you have to pretend to be my hostage."
"Should I scream?" I whispered back.
"No, just look like you're scared."
I put on my best hostage act, but I didn't have to pretend much because I really was scared.
He pulled me closer to the forest, but something stopped him. Or more like someone, because one second he looked like he had bumped into something and the next he was being pushed about ten feet back, dragging me with him.
We both fell to the ground with a thud
Jace immediately let go of my wrist and said, "What the hell?" in an alarmed tone.
Then he took a deep breath through his nose and his eyes started turning into a darker shade of green.
He spoke quickly, "It's a human singer, I can smell him. His ability must be invisibility, but I can take him. Get as far away from me as possible and stay there." He kept looking at something or someone directly in front of him, but I knew he was talking to me, so I did as he said.
I watched him get up as he kept looking at the invisible person.
Then he snarled, "I can smell you, dumb human, you might as well and show yourself and be a man, you bloody coward!"
In his anger, his voice sounded like he had a slight British accent, but I barely noticed that in the moment, my attention was focused on him and whatever he was looking at. He got into a crouching position, like he was about to pounce on someone, but he was sent staggering back again, like someone had given him a blow to the chest. This time I could see what hit him. It was like a transparent ball of energy.
The blow seemed hard, but Jace got up in one swift move like he didn't even feel it and darted at the person so quickly all I saw was a blur, but I heard the thud of him colliding into someone, and I knew he had hit his invisible attacker.
The next moments were the strangest thing I had ever experienced in my life, Jace kept fighting an invisible opponent, and I only knew the opponent was real because I could hear the sounds of Jace's blows colliding with something and see clusters of energy being thrown at Jace every once in a while.
After a while, the orbs of energy started getting smaller and missing. I could see in Jace's face that he knew he had the upper hand, probably because even though he couldn't see his opponent, he knew he or she was human, and humans can't move as fast as vampires can or have their inhuman strenght. I didn't have time to feel relieved at the fact that Jace was winning though, because the most unexpected thing happened.
All of a sudden I wasn't standing on the beach in front of a forest anymore. I was in the desert. All I could see were miles and miles of wasteland, and a couple of cactuses here and there.
Then I saw Jace. He seemed even more confused than I was, turning in circles like he couldn't believe what he was seeing, then he turned to me and seemed surprised to see me there.
"Annabelle, can you see this?" He said loudly, like he thought I couldn't hear him.
I nodded, unable to speak because of the strangeness of the situation. Had we just teleported into the desert?
"I don't think we teleported," he said, "I would have felt it. This is an illusion. I saw the image of the beach fade like a mirage."
"But everything feels so real", I said as I knelt to touch the dry earth and grab a handful, "Look, I can touch it."
I showed him the dry earth in my hand, and then he simply said. "No, you can't."
He sounded so sure of himself that I believed him for a second, and that was all it took for the earth in my hand to disappear. I gasped in surprise.
He smiled triumphantly, "We're dealing with an illusionist, a very good one. That must be the reason why the human singer I was fighting before seemed to have two abilities. Invisibility and manipulation of wind. He was invisible because of the illusionist, his real ability was air-bending. The illusionist can't be human though, he's too good. No one has perfect control of their ability until they are turned, so he must be a vampire."
Then I had an idea, "Are you saying we're still standing on the beach?" I asked.
He nodded and his pursed lips turned into a smirk as he caught on to where I was going with this.
"You were standing directly in front of the forest, try walking that way and see if you bump into a tree or something. It seems the illusion falters if we don't believe in it, and you definitely won't when you notice there is something else there." I continued.
He seemed to be about to do as I said when I heard a thud and his head whipped to the side like he had just been punched in the face.
"Not you again." He growled as he tried to hit the person back, but missed. A ball of what I then knew was air hit him in the stomach, and he fell to the ground. Then I realized I could faintly see the silhouette of a person standing near him. The attacker was was definitely a man.
"Jace, can you see him?" I yelled.
"No, I can smell him."
I tried speaking to him through my thoughts so the attacker wouldn't know I saw him, "Can you hear my thoughts?"
"Faintly." He replied with his real voice, "I can't put thoughts into you head, and your thoughts sound like whispers when they're usually clear," he said as he kept sparring with his opponent, "There's something blocking my ability."
I tried to think really loud, wondering if my thoughts worked the same way my voice did so I could yell at him in my head.
I concentrated hard on my thought and directed it at him, "I can see the human you're fighting! The illusionist must be focused on making him invisible to you, he doesn't see me as a threat! Maybe if I distract him..." I yelled through my mind.
"I can hear you, there's no need to scream at me." He said as he landed a blow on his opponent.
"I'm not talking, I'm thinking." I said through my mind, again directing the thought at him but not as loudly.
He looked at me in surprise and that left an opening for his attacker, "To your left!" I yelled, panicking when I saw the silhouette draw a sharp object like a sword.
The next thing happened in a blur, the silhouette became clearer when I screamed because I must have distracted the illusionist, and Jace took that chance to land a swift blow to the hunter's stomach. The blow was so quick and hard that I actually saw Jace's arm sink into the hunter's stomach almost all the way up to his elbow. At first I thought his punch had gone right through the human like it would go through a ghost because the hunter was still a little transparent, but then the gory image became clear as the hunter fell to his knees and Jace drew his blood covered arm out of the former invisible man's torso.
The man fell limp to the ground like a rag doll. That was when I actually processed what had just happened. Jace had literally punched a hole into that man's stomach.
The man was clutching his stomach and spurting blood through his mouth, and he wasn't even a man, he was a boy. He must have been around eighteen. Jace kneeled next to the boy's body, looking somber like he actually regretted what he had just done, and snapped his neck in a swift move, probably so he wouldn't suffer.
Then he turned to me and said, "You might want to turn around. I need to drain his his blood while it is still fresh so I can be stronger than the vampire doing this."
I was still shocked because of what I had just witnessed, so I barely heard him, but I got the message when I saw his fangs pop out and his eyes turn into a brighter shade of green. I thought it was ironic how beautiful a vampire's eyes looked when he was about to kill someone. It was probably another way to trick us humans and lure us to our deaths. I covered my ears with my hands, turned around, and shut my eyes tight.
When I opened them, I was back at the beach, and the sky was darker than last time I had seen it. How long had we been trapped in the mirage?
I heard Jace say, "You can turn around now."
So I did. I was surprised to see the body was gone, but I knew that what I witnessed had really happened because the sand was stained with blood, lots of it. Jace must have hidden the body so I wouldn't have to look a it. That was kind of sweet of him in a twisted way.
Jace sniffed the air like a dog, probably looking for more hunters. Then his eyes widened in surprise and he said, "They're all gone. There were about thirty of them and at least one vampire, but I can't smell them anymore."
He disappeared and I turned around to see him closer to the shore of the beach, looking in the distance, "The boat!" He said in an alarmed tone, "They're getting away!"
My heart sank. What if Stella was in that boat? Jace turned and he must have noticed my expression because he said, "Don't worry. I can use my mind link now, I ordered all vampires in this island to go after that boat. We'll get her back."
No. There was something wrong, I could feel it in my gut. Stella was still in the island, and she was badly hurt. My body turned and started walking toward the forest on its own accord. I wasn't even thinking, I was feeling, and I could feel her there. After walking about ten feet into the forest, I gasped. I could see her not too far away from me, lying on the floor.
"Stella!" I ran toward her body and knelt beside her, her eyes were shut and her skin was unnaturally pale. She looked dead. I started shaking her gently and tears started streaming down my face when she wouldn't wake up.
Jace must have heard me scream because he was suddenly stranding right beside me. He pried me away from her and picked her up bridal style as I continued to kneel on the ground crying.
"Is she..." I couldn't finish that thought. I couldn't bring myself to say she was dead.
He held her closer, pressing his forehead against hers, "No... She's dreaming. Wait, not dreaming. She's having a nightmare, she's afraid."
I got up and watched as he tried to talk to her, "I can't put my thoughts in her head, I can't speak to her through the mind link. Stella? Stella can you hear me?" He said loudly in her ear as he shook her gently.
He paused, then added, "She can't hear me. She's alive but she's in some sort of coma. I wonder what happened to her... I know for sure those couldn't have been vampire hunters, they were working with vampires. This is undoubtedly the work of a vampire." He paused and pressed his forehead to hers again.
"She's having horrible nightmares, we have to wake her up," He said with a strained look on his face.
Without thinking, I walked over to her, and ran a hand through her silky blonde hair. I took her appearance in. There was no physical damage to her body, but she looked broken. She reminded me of a painting I once saw of a sad angel.
I kept stroking her hair to try and comfort her and said with a shaky voice, "Stella? It's me, Annabelle. If you can hear me, please wake up, please Stella." I said as my vision got blurry from the tears.
Then I heard Jace gasp. "She heard you! Her nightmare changed, she's thinking of you now. She feels... relieved?"
I smiled sadly and was about to keep talking to her when a man interrupted me.
"Your majesty, sir, we are so sorry about the inconvenience, the boat got away, it disappeared."
I turned to see about five men that must have been vampire guards--because they were too good looking--standing behind me, facing Jace. The one giving him the bad news seemed a little scared, which was funny because he looked like a very tough guy.
"Don't worry," Jace replied with an uncharacteristically nice tone of voice, "We found Stella, they left her behind. Go tell all vampires to be on alert because these humans were working with vampires, probably rebels, try to contact my dad as soon as possible and tell him he has to come back, it's an emergency."
The scared guard seemed surprised Jace took it so well. "Yes, sir." He replied, and he darted back to the castle in a blur.
The other guards were about to leave, when Jace pointed at a younger one with blonde hair and said, "You.." He paused to read his mind, "Dylan, take Annabelle back to the castle," He gestured at me, "leave her in Stella's room."
Then he darted back to the castle with Stella in his arms and the rest of the guards followed. I was left with the blonde one, he gave me shy smile and walked over to me.
Dylan must have been around my age, maybe a year or two older. But being the youngest wasn't what made him stand out. He was breathtakingly beautiful. He had fair hair similar to Stella's that framed his face perfectly, perfect, angular, bone structure, tan skin, and his eyes were a golden hue. I couldn't decide if they were light orange, amber, or yellow, but they were definitely gorgeous, warm and inviting. He smiled at me again, and my hear skipped a beat. This boy had the same angelic features Stella did, except his gaze was kinder and gentle, not as cold and piercing as Stella's could be. He was perfect.
"So... Is it okay if I pick you up, or do you prefer walking, my lady?" His voice was as beautiful as I expected it to be.
"I... Uh... You can pick me up, walking would take too long," I stuttered.
He smiled again and gestured for me to get on his back as Jace had done earlier.
We were in front of Stella's room in less than a minute. Dylan had run, well, more like flown up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. He put me down in front of Stella's door and held me while I regained my composure.
"Here we are," He said, "Jace is in there with her, I can feel them."
His polite smile turned into a frown and he furrowed his eyebrows, "She's not well."
"Do you have an ability?" I asked.
"Yes, I can heal people," He replied.
I brightened up, "Great! Maybe you can help her."
I grabbed his wrist as I opened the door and pulled him in with me before he could answer. Stella was lying on her bed, looking like sleeping beauty.
Jace was sitting on the bed next to her, when he saw me he said, "Annabelle, it was about time. Come here, she's having nightmares again. This is a sad one, I don't really know what it's about, but she's in pain."
I darted over to the bed and lied down next to her, leaving Dylan standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"You can go now, your services are no longer needed," Jace said nastily, referring to Dylan. I sighed, knowing the old Jace was back.
Dylan was about to leave when I called out to him, "No, wait!"
I turned to Jace, "His ability is healing, maybe he can help her."
Jace frowned, but stood up from his place beside Stella and gestured for Dylan to sit there instead. Dylan complied, and when he was close enough he started waving his hands over Stella's body, like he was scanning her. I eyed him with confusion.
"I'm checking her aura for chakras, it's easier to pass my healing energy through there," He said without looking at me.
He closed his eyes, deep in concentration, and then placed one hand on her forehead and the other on the back of her neck.
"This was a psychic attack," He said, "there was physical pain, but it's gone now. There is no damage to her body or her mind, the nightmares are an aftershock of what she went through, she was tortured. She's too tired to wake up, but she's not in a coma, she's just weak. I can't help her, she needs to sleep it off. Give her blood when she wakes up, she will be weak, and probably scared or distraught, maybe a little distant. She won't want to talk about it."
He moved his hands away and opened his eyes, there was worry in those golden eyes.
He turned to Jace and said, "I have only heard of one vampire who can do something like this."
Jace's eyes widened in surprise, maybe fear, whichever it was, it was surely an expression I never expected to see in his face.
"You don't think..." He trailed off. They seemed to be having a mental conversation, Jace's face was a mixture of anger and worry, then it went blank and he darted out of the room.
Dylan turned to me with a somber look on his face, "He said you should stay with her tonight and talk to her because you voice seemed to soothe her earlier. Be careful in the morning, though, she might try to bite you."
He gave me a small smile, "Good luck, Annabelle. Yell my name if you need anything, or dial #327 on the phone, that's my room number."
I nodded and he gave me a small nod back, then he held his hand out to me, expecting me to shake it, but I hugged him instead.
"Thank you for your help, Dylan." I said as I continued to hug him.
He seemed taken aback and stuttered, "I...Uh... You too, wait no, I mean, no problem. It's my duty."
I chuckled and let go. He gave me a reassuring smile and said, "You care a lot about her don't you? She cares about you too, I could feel it."
With that, he left, and I turned to Stella just in time to see a single tear stream down her face.