So I got a review on one of my other stories, and it asked why I wasn't working on any of my other stories. Here is the answer to that: Most of those stories were just ideas that I got, and I never knew whether or not I was really going to work on any of them. Sad, I know, but then, I suddenly got this great idea for this story, and I went on a writing rampage, so here you go...
...drum roll...
Heaven Forbid
NOTE: This story is written in present day, but the first few chapters are going to be written in the past so you can better understand Bella's past.
Present day
"Bella?" He said her name lovingly, "Bella, my dear?"
"Yes?" She kept her face calm, under control, hoping her plastered on smile didn't falter.
He walked through the stone arch and looked her over; his eyes resting on her breasts for a split second before his now black eyes met her own butterscotch colored ones.
She noticed the instant his body changed. He wanted her. He always did.
He took several steps closer, closing the gaps between them. He reached his hand out, caressing her soft cheek.
She had to control herself. Had to make sure her body didn't shudder or recoil one bit.
He would notice.
But after four hundred years of being with him, she had mastered her self control, and she had gotten quite good at retaining her disgust.
Four hundred years ago
It was a cold, blustery winter night on December 7th, 1612. A young Bella Marie was riding her horse in a forest, near Ånnaboda, Sweden. Bella was riding home to her family's quaint cottage from a long trip to the nearest town. She was pushing her horse, trying to get home as soon as possible because there had been rumors going around about a bloodsucking creature lurking around in the very forest she was now riding in.
Getting caught with a thing like that was most likely not to end well, and she didn't want to take her chances.
She was near the center of the forest, only about seven miles away from her cozy home, when the wind decided to pick up.
With the wind howling through the branches of the forest, Bella and her horse were already jumpy, but when a crash sounded nearby, the horse went into a full on gallop.
The sun had disappeared behind the mountains by now, so the forest was pitch black, and Bella couldn't see a thing.
She didn't see the tree branch in front of her, coming at her fast.
It was just high enough that her horse could run under without impact, but Bella hit it going at a high speed.
She was knocked out of the saddle, and was thrown to the ground.
Her horse kept on going, not slowing one its gait.
The wind was knocked out of Bella's chest, and her face was cut and bleeding from the pine branch.
A sharp pain shot up her arm, and she brought her hand up to see what was causing the pain. Her hand was flopping around, her wrist broken.
Bella let out a whimper, her head spinning from the pain and lack of oxygen.
She stood up shakily, taking in her surroundings. She turned in a circle, not knowing which direction to go.
She felt something run down her cheek, not knowing if it was tears or blood, or both.
She heard a branch crack, and she gasped.
She looked around blindly, knowing she was being watched.
Bella had the feeling that she was not just being watched, but stalked.
"He-hello?" She said feebly, feeling a cold wind wisp past her, stopping just as quickly as it had started.
There was a sound, almost like a growl. Bella spun around and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
A man, looking more like an animal, was standing in front of her, his black cloak billowing in the breeze behind him.
He was suddenly not two inches from her face, she could smell his putrid breath playing across her cheeks.
And…his eyes. They were darker than the night, standing out visibly with the forest backdrop.
He reached up a grimy hand, and sifted it through Bella's beautiful silky hair, his hand finding the nape of her neck.
He pulled her forward into him. She could feel his arousal pushing through his pants onto her belly.
She knew where this was going to lead, she heard the stories.
Next thing she heard was a soft whoosh, and the man holding her yelped in pain.
He fell down, bringing Bella with him. She landed on top of the filthy man and he pulled her neck to his mouth.
Bella cried in pain, feeling his razor sharp teeth bite into her neck.
Bloodsucker flashed into her mind.
She thrashed, trying to get free of the man.
"Shit," she heard the murmured curse, and a gunshot.
The man stopped moving instantly, but she could still feel the burning pain of his teeth on her neck. She turned her head to look at the still man she was on top of. His eyes were open, still pitch black, but he had a bullet hole in his forehead.
Bella knew he couldn't have been the one to have shot the gun, so she looked around in a panic.
She saw a man pacing near her.
"Shit shit shit,"
Bella moved silently off of the body of the dead man…or bloodsucker, hoping she could get away from this place.
She didn't make a sound, but nonetheless, the pacing man whirled around to face her, his face sharp.
He walked towards her, but stopped.
"Come here."
It wasn't a request, so Bella obliged.
She slowly made her way to the man who had saved her life.
She stopped a few paces from him.
"Turn your head to the side, like this," he cocked his head to the left, exposing his neck.
She did as she was told.
"Fuck."
She jumped at his harsh words.
He obviously noticed, because his eyes flashed towards her, and he whispered, "Sorry."
He started pacing, putting his hands on his hips, his eyes furrowing in concentration.
Bella stared at him, realizing that he was quite good looking.
Of course, she would never end up with him, and she was disgusted with herself for even considering the fact. At seventeen, her parents had her marriage arranged, and they were planning her to be wed in a short four months.
She shuddered.
She couldn't imagine what it would be like being with a man, who she had never seen before in her life, for the rest of her life. Especially a man her parents had picked for her.
"Okay," the sound of his voice broke her train of thought, and her head snapped up, her eyes meeting his, "you need to come with me."
"What? No! No, I have to go back to my family," Bella started to say.
He cut her off. "You are coming with me. No negotiations."
"But…my family," she pleaded.
"No, you will understand later."
She looked him squarely in the eye, "I am not going with you. I am sorry. But I will not go with you."
She saw his jaw clench, and he took a step towards her.
She backed away.
Next thing she knew, he was holding her shoulders. She didn't even see him move.
"I am truly sorry. I wanted this just as much as you did."
She blacked out.
I must be dead, or I must be going to hell
She cried out, unable to open her eyes.
The pain! Ah, the pain!
She felt something cold on her forehead, and heard a voice, as sweet as an angel, humming a beautiful tune.
Bella cried out again, knowing tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she felt a soft hand mop them up.
She couldn't make out the words surrounding her, she strained hard, wanting to understand, wanting to hear.
She passed out again.
When Bella finally awoke, her eyes fluttered open to find herself laying in a beautiful silk bed, in a ornately decorated room.
She felt different.
She felt her face, smooth as marble, she thought to herself.
Bella looked at her hands and gasped.
Am I dead? She thought to herself, staring at her white hands.
Bella had always been pale, but never this white, so the only plausible explanation would be that she was dead.
Suddenly the door opened, and a short older woman hurried in, carrying a silver tray with a beautiful white china bowl with blue designs on it. There was also a soft looking towel next to it.
"Uh, excuse me?" Bella asked uncertainly.
The lady shrieked and dropped the tray, the silver clanging, and the china shattering, whatever the liquid in it was now a puddle on the floor. The woman hurried out of the room, mumbling something in a language Bella couldn't understand.
"Wait!" Bella yelled running after the short woman.
Bella followed the woman's voice.
Strange, I didn't think I had this good of hearing Bella thought to herself.
Bella rounded a corner, and came face to face with a group of three men and the woman, who was speaking rapidly in a strange tongue.
"Oh!" Bella jumped.
"Miss," one of the men stepped forward, and Bella recognized him as being the man who was in the forest with her.
"Where am I?" Bella demanded.
"She doesn't know yet?" One of the other men, one with black curly hair spoke.
"She just woke," the familiar man said, not taking his eyes from Bella's, "Come with me."
"Huh, funny. Last time you said that I didn't have a choice." Bella said bitterly.
The man walked towards her and spun her around, placing his hand on the small of her back, heading back towards the room she woke up in.
"Get your hands off of me!" Bella slapped his hand away from her side, but she still walked with him.
He walked silently next to her, his hands at his sides, but he kept his eyes on her face.
"What?" Bella spat.
He didn't answer, just smiled.
Bella stopped.
He stopped as well, turning to face her, "Is there a problem?" A smile still played across his face.
"Why should I trust you?" Bella asked, anger rising in her stomach.
"Because you are here, and you haven't been harmed once while in my company."
"How do I know that? I met you in the forest, and then I can't remember anything, except for a little bit of foggy voices, and then I woke up. I don't know if you did anything to me because I can't remember anything!"
"Would you like me to explain to you what happened?"
"That might be convenient."
"Okay, well, if you will step in here and have a seat, I will explain everything."
Well, she had to admit, that was a pretty good offer, so she agreed.
Bella walked into her room, or she at least thought of it as her room, and sat down on her bed.
The man closed the door and walked to stand in front of her.
"My name is Leonardo, and yours is?" He started.
"It doesn't matter." Bella said, glaring at him.
"Actually, it does matter." He said his face dangerously serious.
"Fine. Bella. My name is Bella."
"Pretty name. May I ask why your name is Bella and you lived in Sweden?" Leonardo looked genuinely interested.
"Uh, I think it was because my parents met an Italian couple when they were somewhere. The woman's name was Bella…Wait. You said lived in Sweden. What do you mean by that? We are in Sweden aren't we? AREN'T WE?" Bella's anger turned to panic.
"No, we are not." Leonardo's face was serious, serious enough to make Bella want to cry, but she…couldn't.
Sobs escaped Bella, but no tears came.
"What's…wrong…with…me…" Bella dry heaved.
"There is no easy way to tell you this, but I am going to try and make it as best as I can." Leonardo looked pained.
Bella stared at him, not able to speak.
"I am going to start with when I found you. Okay?"
Bella nodded.
"Okay, so I was running through the forest, and I heard you scream. I ran towards the sound of your heart beat, yes, your heart beat, " Bella started to interrupt, but Leonardo put his hand up, stopping her, "I will explain. So, I tracked you by your heart beat, and I found him," Leonardo's face contorted with repulsion, "on you, so I brought out my gun." He gestured to his hip where a nasty looking gun rested. "I then shot him in the shoulder, but that didn't do what I intended. He fell to the ground, taking you with him, but this is where things went from bad to worse," he shuddered, "that man bit you. And that changed your future forever. No turning back Bella. It was probably the most cruel, selfish thing one of our kind could do."
"You kind?" Bella asked, her lips trembling.
"Yes, our kind. I will explain, just be patient," He started to pace, the familiar pace she saw him do in the forest, "So he bit you, and I did what I had to, I killed him. Then you and I had that argument, I knew what you would become – ,"
"What I would become?" Bella was scared, a feeling in her gut making her want to throw up.
"Yes, so I put you in a trance,"
"A trance?!"
"Yes, now please, just listen," Leonardo sighed, "I then brought you back here, to Volterra Italy, my home."
WOO! Anyone like Leonardo? I do...and just wait...if you don't yet, I hope you will in later chapters... AND lets see if you can guess who the person in the very beginning of the chapter is...who is talking to Bella?
