A sharp knock at the door woke me up. For a moment, I blinked into the darkness and wondered if I had imagined the knock. But after another sharp three raps tapped against the door, I sat up in the bed. I hesitated, wondering if I should pretend nobody was here. After all, everyone in this building no doubt probably hated me for my family name.
“Who is it?” I finally braved a call.
“Kitchen,” A female voice bellowed with great irritation.
“Oh,” I said and turned on the lamp. It was only when I opened the door that I remembered I was still dressed extremely inappropriately. I blushed, trying to pretend I was fully clothed, and moved to the side to allow the woman in. She was a plump woman wearing an old fashioned apron and uniform that I hadn’t seen on a person in a long time. Her hair was brown with grey strands making their way into the mix. And she appeared very flustered and very… human.
The woman wheeled in a trolley that had dishes covered with silver lids. When she entered, she eyeballed me with immense disapproval before lifting the lids of the dishes morosely. “By request of Mr. and Mrs. Eastmund, I have here scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, strawberry shortcake French toast, oven home fries with peppers and onions, and – she says – all Americans love bacon. For refreshments, I have orange juice, milk, coffee, and water. Anything else I can fetch for the likes of you?”
I blushed even deeper by the obvious scorn the woman had for me and for having to serve me. It did intrigue me that she referenced what I assumed was Xander and Aveline’s last name. I noted that it was a shared name, so perhaps being mates was actually being married. Who knows? I quickly shook my head to indicate that I was more than fine being left alone to starve if it meant this woman would go away.
The woman instead reached for a stack of books I hadn’t notice on the bottom of the trolley. She moved towards me and dropped the stack into my arms which I had barely put out in time. I considered the fact that she probably had hoped they’d fall on my toes.
“As also requested, I have fetched you literature that you don’t deserve to read. Please ring me whenever you are finished with them, so that I may place them back to where they belong,” She promptly turned and began to leave without further explanation.
“Wait!” I called, “What’s your name so I can send these back to you?” The woman only huffed with distaste and continued to disappear out the door. I blinked, unnerved by the woman, but then looked down at the stack of books in my arms.
When I sprawled them onto the bed, I started picking through the titles which began to bring me great fascination. Social Science of Vampirism- A Look at the Spiritual Bond, A History of Immortals, The Biology of Vampyre, Civil Rights and Laws as Passed by Royals, The Tyranny of Vampire Hunters, and then I spotted a title that I believed the woman meant as a stab towards me: Human Slavery; Unethical or Simply Natural? Still, I couldn’t believe books like these existed and not one human being had actually gotten their hands on one. It made me wonder if I was technically even allowed to be reading these.
I shrugged, quickly scrambling to the walk in closet in order to properly dress myself in a pair of jeans and a loose white lace off-shoulder top. Then I started digging into the still steaming and absolutely delicious breakfast I had been given, avoiding the strawberries and coffee which were two things in life I found I would probably never like. I spent my time eating while trying to decide which book to begin reading first. I decided the most logical route would to start with A History of Immortals, so that I could at least know the past before I began trying to understand the present society, coteries, and bonds.
It isn’t uncommon to become completely immersed in a book, not wanting to move except to breathe, use the bathroom, and other basic functions needed only to survive. That’s what became of me when I began to delve into the past of vampires that I had never known existed. Apparently, vampires began in a small community thousands of years ago when magic, the spiritual world, and the human world were hand in hand.
A greedy man who led the community wanted wealth beyond what he had and planned to strike a deal with a very dangerous demon, but when the man called the demon and saw its true face he rejected the demon and his wealth. The demon then cursed a plague on the community that affected hundreds and hundreds of people. The symptoms were strange: sensitivity to the light, blood drying in their veins, the whites of their eyes darkening to black, and their teeth sharpening like razors. Within days, people were withering away and dying.
Then, a coven of witches decided to cast away the curse and heal the sick, afraid the illness would spread and kill all of mankind. They called upon the heavens, twisting the curse through their magic, and begged for life. The spell worked and all the sick and dying became normal and healthy once again.
It was the Raene family, a man and woman who had previously been ill with the plague and was cured, that gave birth to the very first vampire. The child had almost all of the symptoms of the plague, but it was different. It was so beautiful that the family felt a need to protect it. It was strong, intelligent, with heightened senses, and most of the time it wore the face of a human. They named her Eve, after the first. It was only evident that the child wasn’t human when she began to grow at a rapid pace until one day she stopped aging ever again. And they found her even more so unnatural when she fed on the blood of humans to survive. She could walk in the sun, but she also had other powers thought to be the result of the magic the witches used to cure the plague. She could see human thought, sometimes images of the future and the past, and control people’s minds through eye contact.
Hundreds of other vampires came after Eve from other survivors of the demon plague. Of those vampires, only a handful had the witch power similar to Eve’s but not to her extent. All of their names were listed in the book and they were known as the first of the Royal bloodlines. The book explained how the Royals could mate with humans and birth their own bloodline, but that they also found they could turn humans into a form of what they were. It was thought to be the only solace given to the vampires whose loved ones passed away while they lived on forever.
These forms of vampires known as the turned ones were weaker, though some were stronger than others. They were unable to walk in the sunlight, had less control over their blood thirst, and all lacked the powers of the witches. The Royals were able to teach them how to link their selves similar to how a Royal bloodline is linked. The book didn’t go into details about the bonding process, but rather continued to explain without much detail how the Royals built a skeleton society as a means to control the increasing population of the turned.
A lot of it was dates and names, events about progress, laws being passed, and the struggles the vampires faced. It was similar to the construction of human society, the government, and country growth. And then it turned extremely dark when the Royal bloodlines began to be killed. I read as over centuries members of the Royal bloodline were extinguished until the bloodline was listed as extinct. More and more family names were listed as completely vanquished until the most horrible revelation occurred only 17 years ago, when I must have been about 2 years old. The ruling bloodline, all the way back to Eve of Raene, had been destroyed against all odds. Of the Royal bloodlines left were the Roslind, Vassily, and Thron which consisted of only a select few vampires. The book ended with information about how Roslind was voted in as the ruling Royals and the procedures the vampires were taking to preserve their bloodlines and grow in their society.
By the time I had finished, I had breezed through hours and hours of the day (or night) alone. I lowered the book, looking off into the distance and trying to process what I had learned but failing pretty much miserably. All the names and events were just spinning in my head and my mind kept going over the creation of vampires repeatedly. I couldn’t believe it was true; witches and demons and vampires. It made me wonder what exactly else was out there.
The kitchen maid appeared again, looking absolutely livid at having to present me with what she detailed as Italian sausage and mushroom lasagna with béchamel sauce. Something that was far too delicious for someone as undeserving as me. But she left it with that amazingly frustrating huff of hers just after snatching the history book I had told her I’d finished reading before storming away.
After eating the lasagna, I glanced at the other books left behind for me. I was in the process of deciding which one to read next when the door opened loudly and in walked Xander with a giggling Aveline carried in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist. I automatically looked away, feeling the blush rising up to my face.
“See? I told you we could trust her,” Aveline exclaimed, causing me to look back up. She had detached herself from Xander and was moving to sit on the bed next to me. She looked at the books I had spread out and looked back up to Xander. “I didn’t tell them to give her these two.” I blinked, looking at the books as well.
For a moment, nobody moved or said anything. And then I more like… sensed Aveline reaching to snatch from the collection of books before she actually did. I lunged for the book first, not even knowing which one I was reaching for, and grabbed The Tyranny of Vampire Hunters from just under her hand. Then I was on my feet and across the room opposite of Xander and Aveline, holding it behind me. The speed in which this was all done was actually very impressive. It was so impressive that both Aveline and Xander appeared to be completely stunned.
“Maybe a not-so-harmless Monet after all,” Xander said slowly, his stance changing from carefree to defensive. I, meanwhile, was shocked. It wasn’t as though I had grabbed the book and ran faster than the eye could see, but it was fast enough that I couldn’t remember taking a single breath between just before to now. Either way, the reaction to my newfound speed had to be postponed because Xander was starting to look very dangerous.
“I want to read all of them,” I said quickly, my heart starting to begin its steady climb in its own speed. I held the book to my chest, hugging it protectively and looking from Xander to Aveline, who was still only sitting on the bed in confusion. “You said I could read some books.”
“Not that one,” Aveline responded calmly. “Don’t you trust us?”
“No,” I replied sharply, but instantly hesitated. “Well… not right now. Not when you’re looking at me like that.” To make my point, I looked directly at Xander, who had steadily become more and more serious looking after I had snatched the book from under Aveline’s nose. I couldn’t make out what his expression meant, if he was going to attack me or if he thought I was a threat. I preferred the Xander from the day before.
Once I realized that, I realized what exactly I was doing. I was holding the comfort and somewhat safety of my life at risk over a book I didn’t have any clue was actually about. One that I didn’t know existed until not even half a day ago. I let out a breath of air, deciding it really wasn’t worth it, and held out the book in front of me. Aveline made to come grab it, but Xander jumped forward and stopped her.
“Don’t go near her, Aveline,” He ordered sharply, “We’re not going to pretend that didn’t just happen. She’s probably been faking it this entire time.” Now I realized what his expression meant. I was a threat. I was something he wouldn’t let his mate be hurt by. Only, I wasn’t a threat. I wasn’t a destroyer of their kind. I wasn’t a Monet except in name.
I was trembling now, not sure how to take back what I’d just done or how to prove I was innocent. I opted to just put the book on the table next to me and with amazing amount of courage I turned around so that I was facing the wall. Then I put my hands on the wall. It was the only way I could think of to show I wasn’t holding any weapons or anything. That’s how the police did it, right?
Suddenly, I was pushed against the wall only firm enough to know I wouldn’t be able to fight back if I tried but not hard enough to hurt. I could feel what had to be Xander’s strong body pinning me against the wall, grabbing my wrists and maneuvering his legs over mine to make sure I was completely trapped. I gasped, not sure what was going to happen to me, and closed my eyes firmly. “Xander!” Aveline called, obviously distressed at her little tiger being rough handled.
“What have you really been up to before you came here, Elysia? What do you really know?” Xander asked me with a dark tone covering his voice. I remembered Aveline asking what I had been doing before I came here as well. I wasn’t sure what they were expecting me to say besides the norm.
“Nothing,” I answered, trying to shift uncomfortably.
“Are you sure? Mother didn’t try to teach her little progeny some tricks? Namely how to infiltrate and kill an entire coterie successfully?” Xander shot the questions out accusingly, pulling my wrist down to press my arm behind my back painfully. I yelped in surprise, wincing.
“I went to school and learned how to count,” I screamed almost angrily, the accusations sounding completely ridiculous to me. “My mom died of cancer when I was 16. She was normal! She didn’t teach me how to do anything except… except tie my shoes and… and put on clothes… and…” I thought of my mother then, teaching me how to lovingly fold the edges of an origami dove, knowing it was my favorite. And then I began sobbing hysterically.
It was behind my tears that I heard Aveline speak up quietly. “Xander, she’s harmless. I’m sure it’s just unused potential,” She said to him, trying to coax him away from me. “If she was trained, why would she accidently reveal herself over a book? Come on, let her go.” There was a moment where nothing was done, only the sound of me crying like the baby I was. Then Xander suddenly moved off of me, pulling me from the wall at the same time and turning me to face him.
“Calm down,” He said softly, wiping at my tears a little less softly but almost guiltily. He brushed at my hair, which had begun to get a little messy and grabbed my shoulder to look me up and down. “Are you hurt?” I hesitated, assessing my body for any immense pains that indicated wounds, but there was only a small ache from where my arm had been pressed against my back. I shook my head quietly, not looking at him. He moved his finger under my chin and made me look up at him.
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m as bad as him,” He stated, his eyes casting to the side darkly. Aveline was suddenly there, grabbing his face and pulling him to look at her.
“You’re not like him, Xander Eastmund,” Aveline said with anger, “You are kind and protective. He would not have apologized for that. She’ll be okay, she’s not hurt. Are you hurt, little tiger?” She asked me once again, looking at me almost desperately. I shook my head quickly, a little confused. “See?”
Xander looked at her sullenly and then was gone. I had only seen it before when Jacobi had disappeared in thin air. It was still unsettling. Aveline stared at nothing for a moment and then sighed dramatically, “Men!”
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Sorry for the boring chapter! (At least the first half of it.) Ah, the need for background information.
I dedicated this one to RJ City just because she's cool and um I just wanted to use the dedication button. :3 Nyaaa~