(Samuel's POV)
The ground felt rough on my ass, I realized I was lying on a bed of earth and small rocks poking my body. I remembered. The dark shadows. The forest. The pain. The dampness of the dawn oozed from each limb, my whole body felt frozen in a plaster mold of dew. Shafts of morning light zigzagged through the canopy of trees and burned my face. I had slept, for how long, I didn't know. I felt rested. It was time to wake up. And get my throne back.
Diana's face popped into my head. Shit! Was she okay? I had left her unprotected in a forest. What had happened to me last night? I didn't remember much but the pain. That had never happened to me before. Had it been the bite? Damn! The worry over Diana was a wake-up call. The subconscious pushed through the haze of sleep, I opened my eyes in the blink of a wink. Then I closed them again. Opened them. Repeated this a few times like a child learning to use a new tool. The eyelids didn't work like a curtain. It should have but didn't. The outside world was not revealed to me. This couldn't be! A cold sweat broke all over my body like a sudden rash, the shock, the horror of it was beyond contemplation. It was all black darkness. Yet, the sun was still warm on my face. I couldn't make sense of the contradiction. Had the dark shadows taken over, painting the whole sky into darkness? Into nothingness.
I'd once been a ferox. A Blood Sucking Vampire. I'd felt hollow. Angry. Hungry. Killed brothers, drained humans. All the damn time. But, I'd not been aware. I'd just lived through it all in a haze. With my soul tucked safely beneath a wall, I'd been oblivious to everything and anything around me. Hadn't cared about my actions. Hadn't cared about anybody. It was all about blood. More blood. But, this was worse. This was a nightmare. And, I was awake. How had things sped so fast? I had lost my throne in sleep, I had lost the world in sleep. I wasn't sleeping again!
"Diana," I shouted in a panic. Where was she? I couldn't see her. I tried to stand on my feet but my first step took me down. I'd tripped over something. And, I didn't even know what it was. My eyes weren't adjusting. That was unexpected. Vampires had sharp a vision. As the King of Vampires, mine was stellar. Correction, had been stellar. I should have been able to see even in darkness. But, whatever this was, it was not your common darkness. It had wiped away everything.
Then I heard her silent sniffing. She was crying. Of course, she was. She was devastated. And, I had left her alone, sleeping through a night I didn't even remember. I couldn't believe it! What had she gone through, all by herself?
Was she scared? She'd been blind all her life. My blood had brought limited eyesight but it wasn't that long ago she faced a world like this. Was she adapting? Probably. Much better than me. I cursed when my foot crashed into a rock that I hadn't seen.
"Diana," I shouted again.
"Here," she said. "It is amazing."
Amazing wouldn't be the word I'd use. She started laughing.
"Diana?" She'd lost it. I would calm her down. I took cautionary steps towards her, I wouldn't want to crash down, knock my head and fall asleep again. God forbid where I would find myself this time, on Mars? I felt cursed. I had forsaken the Moon Goddess, she had long ago, forsaken me. What other curses would befall me? I didn't care. I was strong enough to overcome them. I didn't need anyone. I could only rely on myself. Only trust my very own self.
Her shaky voice was coming from a few steps ahead.
"Be careful, don't move," I said. I should have had her come to me. She'd done this her whole life. It was my masculine pride which made that impossible. I was going to take care of her. She was under my protection.
I stretched my hands in the air. After a few futile attempts at grabbing her, I heard her Ouch, and felt her hair, yanked and tangled within my fingers. I had found her. I smiled.
She was anything but grateful. "What are you doing?" she said angrily, trying to free her hair. I pried my fingers loose. "I'm here. It's alright. I'll correct this. Just tell me what happened last night." I patted her hair, smoothly, slowly, up and down. Her hair felt soft in my hands. I hoped it was calming her cause it surely felt awkward. I knew how to kiss her, lose myself in her warmth, but the mere touch on her head, stripped bare of any other emotion but the need to provide relief, was not something I knew how to do. My need to touch women was clad in sexual garbs. Otherwise, why do it? I realized I'd never done it to another woman. I realized I never cared enough to do it. And, apparently, it wasn't working.
"You are distressed," I said. As if that would explain it.
"No, I'm happy," she replied. She'd definitely lost it. Now it was clear. I would be strong for both of us.
"We are not in a dream, right? Like the other time?"
"Diana. It's the dark shadows. They've taken over the world. Did you see anything?"
She avoided my statement. "Oh my God, you're feeling fine? This is a miracle." Her anger was replaced by joy. It was impossible to miss the happiness spreading from her body. "I didn't know whether it would work or not. I was scared it wouldn't. And then there was so much blood. The rock. It did puncture the blackness. But, it also did damage. I was scared of infection, too."
She was babbling. She was probably in shock. What rock? What blood? What had exactly happened while I was sleeping? "I was fine last night just as I'd told you. I slept just to awaken to this darkness."
"What darkness?" she sighed. "It's beautiful. I can't believe this is real. How did this happen? Just pinch me."
"Diana!" I was getting mad. Confused. She was happy with the darkness? I needed some answers. And, fast. "What are you talking about?"
"I can see, Samuel. Not just the colors, and blurred shapes but everything. I can see the rough bark curled around the trees like a wrinkled face, the dew that glimmers on the surface of the leaves like pearls, the sunlight streaking through the boughs, the bugs burrowing deep under the earth. I can see your face yet again," she whispered in awe. Her hands touched my face, her fingers splayed over my nose, cheekbones. "I can see everything. It is another miracle. Two miracles in one night."
See my face again? She'd never seen it. Had she eaten something in the forest that affected her mental state of being? A plant that made her hallucinate?
"Yes, your eyes are green, the same color as the leaves, flecked with the color of nutmeg. Your eyelashes are really long. Too long. Are they real?" she murmured in wonder. "Your hair is black. Wavy."
"You can see?" I asked. The real miracle was that I could speak at all. She was no longer blind. I was.
Shit! I was screwed. I was the Vampire King, expected to save the whole vampire race from dark shadows. And, yet, I couldn't see.
Was the blindness the side effect of the bite? Was it temporary? How I wished it to be so. My heart beat fast, I reined in the fear. I stopped the hail of thoughts pelting in my new darkness. I could do this. I could be calm. Maybe she would touch me now. It was her turn to give relief. Maybe it would help. Just maybe. I moved closer to her, seeking her touch.
She was not aware of my dread. She was laughing, a laughter that mocked my personal terror.
I hated this darkness. I hated my weakness. I felt like I was suffocating. I felt like crying out loud. My ego was the only thing that kept me in check. Was this what Diana had been going through her whole life? How had she born it? Shit, panic was settling in, crawling like little ants. I hated it. Deal with it, Samuel. I remembered mom's words when I was trying to learn hypnosis. You can do anything Samuel. Anything. Move beyond the fear. That is the only enemy you have." I had had difficulty mastering the skill. I'd been scared of failing. But, I had done it. Had excelled at it. I felt like that young child again, facing a large mountain I needed to climb.
I could do this. I'd be alright. Rationality slowly seeped in. I would find out what happened, nothing happened without a cause. Once I knew the cause, I would reverse it.
"Samuel?" Diana said. "What's wrong?" She'd noticed that something was wrong. Finally.
"I can't see." I didn't say any further than that. I was scared of saying more. I didn't want her to get a glimpse of it. My terror. My fear.
I would start climbing up. Soon. Move beyond the fear.
Yes, that's what I would do.
How, damn it?
"What do you mean?" Her question was innocent. Yet, I was close to blaming her. As if she had stolen my eyesight. I held myself back.
"I mean I've turned blind." My tone was sharp. She had to cut me some slack. I was going through my own hell. Apparently, the world hadn't' darkened, just mine had. "What happened last night?" I said once more. "This has to do with last night."
"Nothing. Nothing happened except you had a whole black in your chest. And, now you don't. At least I think so. I can't see colors anymore. How is this all possible?" Her fingers pressed on my eyes. She rubbed them softly as if that was the cure.
I pushed her away. I was wrong. The touch was not comforting. "I don't know. Did you see someone, anyone, damn it! There has to be an explanation. Did you see the dark shadows?"
"No. They were gone. I felt it. We were alone. Oh, no! This can't be happening!" Now, her voice was panicked.
"What's wrong?" I snapped. It wasn't as if she had anything to complain about. She had eyesight. What did I have? A big fat darkness.
"Nooooo...." she said over and over again. My patience was wearing thin.
"Do you have a pimple?" I said. I knew sarcasm wouldn't help, but it felt good to be angry at the Gods, at the whole universe, at her.
"No."
"Then shut up!"
"I have fangs," she said.
Her words didn't resonate. Didn't sink in. Fear was no longer an alien emotion. The mountain had suddenly tripled in height. I put my hand in the air and she came closer, understanding what I wanted. She moved her lips towards my fingers. I touched the tips of her fangs protruding beneath her lips. She wasn't lying. I moved my hands away with the realization. I pushed forth my own fangs. My fingers grazed over them. I knew what I would find. I wasn't shocked. Nothing could shock me anymore. My whole world had toppled down. Beneath my fingers lay no sharp fangs, but perfectly normal human teeth. I had become a human. A blind human. Just like she'd once been.
And, she had become a vampire. One who had perfect eyesight. Just like I'd once been.
We had switched. The question was how and why?
As always, thanks for reading
Alena