The flight was long and boring. The highlight was falling asleep… I’ve never liked flying; I find it worse than trains... all that hustle and bustle, people shoving and pushing in case they’re late… it’s all very drab and vulgar. What really excites me is sailing, touching the briny blue of a crisp ocean. The smell of fresh salt hitting your nose. The call of the seagulls as they swoop and swerve in the blinding light of the sun. The soft and gentle touch of the water as it splashes in your face.
I love sailing. Whenever we go to the beach in the summer, they stay in a hotel somewhere, I hire a boat and go sailing. It was the best type of freedom for me, it was always alone obviously but I never felt saddened about it… those were one of the happiest moments of my life. One time whilst I was out sailing I came across some dolphins, they swam alongside me for a while before diving deep and out of sight. They say these animals are smart… but did they realise they were next to a child that was half monster? Did they sense that I craved for the blood pumping through their veins? I made a mental note that I must go sailing again soon, just for old times’ sake really. I would have to take Dante with me too… I think he would enjoy it anyway.
Shaking my head I returned to my senses, we were passing security when I glanced at the guard; he was eyeing both me and Aurora suspiciously. Noting that I was staring he soon shifted his gaze and began to talk to the guard next to him. We certainly weren’t in England anymore… that was for sure. I asked Aurora where it was that we were supposed to be actually going, she informed me that it was somewhere near Serbanesti. She said that her family migrate a lot over the centuries but this place felt more like home to them than anywhere else… plus it was supposed to be secluded too… so that was an added bonus as well.
Once finally on the road, conversation was kept to a minimal. I had so many questions, doubts, worries and wonders… that I just couldn’t put them into words,
“How come you don’t have an accent?” I finally managed to ask her
“We don’t have accents anymore” she replied “They died out with time. I used to have such a strong Romanian accent when I was young, but having to migrate everywhere… it just died out. Now we all tend to sound very British… maybe American… it’s very odd”
“Oh” was all I mustered to say. So it wouldn’t be hard to talk to them then, which was good.
“I can tell you’re edging for conversation child, out with it” she smirked
“Oh, I just have questions that’s all… but they can wait if you want”
“No, go ahead… I don’t mind”
“Ok, so go over who’s who?” she sighed and laughed but managed to explain all the other royals to me. She told me the oldest Ivan had brown hair with green eyes, was 5”9 and was both skinny and muscled. She also informed me that he was very kind to all but since he was the eldest; he had responsibilities to them all so he had to be stern too. He had several women after him… but in all the years that he has been around, he had never settled down… he had never found his mate.
Adrik, she told me had black hair with mixed blue/green eyes. He was 5”7 and very skinny. He was known to be the joker of the family and a fool in the eyes of their father. Unlike Ivan, Adrik had managed to find a mate about 260 years ago in Italy. Her name was Vanessa and a very talented chef. She had ginger hair, freckles and bright green eyes, her physique was slim yet she was beautifully busty which complemented her figure greatly. Neither of them had decided to have children yet as she wanted to explore the world with him whilst she was still ‘young’ and fresh.
Next came along the twins in the family, Nina and Nikki. Nina was born two minutes before Nikki. The pair are almost inseparable yet complete opposites. Nina was bubbly and friendly whereas Nikki was withdrawn and quiet. If you fought one, then you fought the other… that was the rule they lived by apparently. The two have sworn that until they find mates that accept them both for who they are, and their bond… then they will become inseparable, they were always happiest that way anyway according to my mother. Now Nina has light brown hair, one green left eye and one blue right eye. She is 5”6, skinny yet curvy and enjoys dancing. Nikki on the other hand has long black hair that reaches to her shoulders, one green right eye and one blue left eye. She is 5”7 and extremely skinny, she prefers to write and keep herself to herself.
The next child that was to come along was Daniil; he has light brown hair, bright green eyes, is 6ft tall and is really quiet, conserved and respectful to others. Daniil has just recently found a mate. Her name is Dixy apparently. They only met in the last thirty years or so, so she is till new to this world… much like I was. But Dixy is blonde, brown eyed and very proud. She apparently brings him out of his shell that he has sat in for most of his life. Daniil was one that loved to lounge in the library all day reading the vast amounts of books that littered the shelves.
Rosa is much the same as Daniil, she is very quiet and spends most of her days in the gardens either painting or doing some photography. Rosa loved cameras; since they were invented she became fascinated with them. Trying to capture the world as beautifully as she can… she tends to keep herself to herself. She has once since stated that she is not looking for love in anyway… but should it come along, she would welcome it with open arms. Rosa has dark blonde hair which is complimented beautifully by her dark, sapphire eyes. Her figure is slim and she stands an average 5”6.
Alexei is meant to be very proud that he is of royal blood and has no problem flaunting that fact. He is stern with newcomers to the kingdom but very respectful. He stands a tall 5”9 and likes to dress very fashionably. He is the MOST stylish out of the ten born. Much like his sister he had blonde hair and blue eyes. When he is not checking up on fashion he likes to take a stroll along the grounds, hunt or just ride on one of the horses.
Tristan had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He stands 5”7 and is bubbly, friendly and described to be full of life… how ironic. He was however very mischievous and had a record to be a bit of a womaniser. Aurora told me that she thought that he was only like that because he hadn’t experience love yet… I expect that Dimitri must be like that then… he has countless amounts of flings yet I have yet to see him with just ONE woman.
Last but not least there was Soraya; she was the only child out of them all that considered herself to be spiritualist. She always dressed in very formal or fancy clothing when around the house, but would more or less be barefoot everywhere she went, Aurora considered that to be the only odd thing about her. Soraya had brown hair, was 5”5 and had beautiful and shiny green eyes. Apparently she was always quiet and controlled. She hardly ever thirsted for blood, but when she did she was a killing machine.
I told her that I wanted to find out what my grandmother and grandfather were like for myself. I couldn’t take anymore of her talking to be honest, as horrible as that sounds. I slouched even further down into my seat and looked out the window. We were still not even half way there yet… this was ridiculous. She told me that I may as well take a nap as we had such a long way to go still.
“Do you have a blanket or something?” I asked her
“Sure”
“Well where is it?”
“In the boot”
“Can you get it please?”
“Sure” she called to the driver and asked him to pull over for a second. Once the car had come to a halt, she jerked the door open, darted to the boot of the car and pulled out a navy blue, cotton blanket… well it looked like one of those snuggie’s really, but if it kept me warm then who am I to complain? Once the blanket was in my possession and we were back on the road, I snuggled down in the seat once more, wrapped the blanket around me and pulled the top of it until it was nestled under my nose, closed my eyes and began to drift into a peaceful sleep.
My mind whirled images of those throughout my past. I was not afraid nor was ashamed like I usually felt. Instead I observed each person that appeared before me with intent curiosity… they all seemed so distant to me now. An illusion of Serena came before me, her face was pained and she looked very much distressed. I reached a hand out to her but she cowered before it. Smiling to reassure her she came toward me, I held my arms to her so that I may bring her into a warm embrace… she seemed so fragile that it pulled at my heart. Once in my arms I closed my eyes and sighed. I would have been afraid of her if this were a few months ago… but knowing it was my entire fault I knew that I had to forgive and forget. Sure there were scars on my legs… all of my own doing…and this was just a dream, but it felt good to be rid of all that built up pain.
I released her from the embrace and she smiled at me, she took a step back and began to walk away. Just at that moment I heard the most terrifying of cackles, I spun around to see none other than my doppelganger staring back at me
“So you can forgive that bitch can you?” she smirked “Well I cannot” in a blur she had grabbed Serena by the neck, broke her arm and let her slump to the floor in pain. She cried my name twice, pleading me to save her, yet my feet were glued to the floor in terror. My doppelganger reached down and snapped her leg now, blood spurted from the clean break that she had made, a piercing scream rang through my ears… what the fuck was going on!? She crawled down on all fours now, pinned Serena down and began to lap at the blood that spilled from her leg, whispering what she was going to do next. She made Serena stare at me to plead for forgiveness… she did just that before my doppelganger drove her fist right through her chest and tore out her heart… oh my god.
I looked down at Serena’s corpse with bulging eyes as bile rose to my throat. What the hell just happened?
“Oh I enjoyed that” she muttered as she wiped the dried blood from her lips.
“What the fuck just happened? Why the hell… what!?”
“I told you, you may forgive her but I shall never do that… shame it wasn’t the real one really. But in our mind, it’s the best I can get”
“What are you!?”
“I thought I had established that. I am you”
“You can’t be. I would never do that… not ever” as she walked toward me, the body of Serena slowly faded into nothingness. Thank goodness that wasn’t real… as much as I had despised her, no one would ever deserve that to be done to them.
“You know about the Doppelganger prophecy yes?”
“Yes” she nodded and began to pace around me, thinking and musing to herself “Why?” I asked her
“It’s about us you know. We are meant to save both races… you the human side… I the vampire… something mother forgot to mention was that our father Daniel was no ordinary Mortal”
“What do you mean?” I turned til I faced her and grabbed her arms “Tell me… please”
“Daniel was known by everyone as ‘The Key’, he would be the one that would bring the doppelganger into the world and train him or her to fight and rise against the opposing threat that doomed both the humans and the dark beings” she shook her head “But the slayers decided that they wanted to keep hold of their so called power over our kind, so they made it sure that he would die before we were conceived… they were too late. Daniel knew sooner or later he would die, that’s why he made no fight to escape”
“How can you know this?” I questioned her
“I will show you” she closed her eyes and a red flash blinded me.
The next thing I knew, I was standing in the middle of a street in the middle of winter. It looked so beautiful and peaceful wherever I was. A frown creased my brow as I glanced upon both of my parents, laughing and giggling… I knew they couldn’t see me and neither could I help them or stop what was going to happen. Daniel stopped in the middle of the street, took Aurora’s hands and smiled greatly… it tugged at my heart to know my mother would have to become cold and callous once she set eyes on his dead body.
Right on cue, a gang of about ten hopped out of nowhere which made her scream. Daniel urged her to flee, yet she shook her head and began to cry, pleading that she could not leave him. He grabbed her by the elbows and pushed her away which made her stagger as she broke out into a run, there my father stood… standing proud, I began to cry myself… seeing him like that and unable to help him… it broke my heart. This is what my father looked like, it was to be my only every memory of him and I was to watch him die right before my very eyes
“You will not stop the prophecy” he muttered to them, yet they all laughed and mocked him. He held out his arms and pleaded to die quickly. Without further notice they rammed a metal stake right through his human heart… goodbye dad.
A flash of red brought me back to her, she too was crying.
“It’s rare I ever feel emotion in here… that job’s yours” she smiled weakly
“It’s ok to cry you know”
“I know… just seeing our father like that… well it makes me think on just how lucky I am that I now have company” I pulled her in close to me so that I could hug her. A warm tingle flowed through me and I wanted her to be filled with it too… she could use some happiness in her “Don’t” she muttered as she pulled back “I’m meant to be the dark one… it’s yin and yang with us”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t be happy”
“It does, and can you give me a name rather than calling me doppelganger all the time? It hurts to not be known”
“What name do you like?” I chirped
“Tatiana” she replied shyly
“Well then Tatiana, I’m Victoria… it’s very nice to meet you” I muttered as I held out a hand, she took it and we both instantly laughed. This Doppelganger thing isn’t too hard.