Betrayal & Denial
Her story goes over five days. May 14th - May 19th. This is when she turns nineteen ironically. This is Xanthea's story on how she died.
It was 2004, Xanthea was barely nineteen. Her parents had bargained their life for hers with a group of people, no, vampires that lived in Italy, Volterra. Not only were they vampires but they were the head honcho of all vampires, the government. They were the leaders of all the other vampires in the world and Xanthea was being given to them just like that.
She had never felt so disappointed with her own family in all her eighteen years. Her parents had worked in the fancy castle the Palazzo Dei Priori as a receptionist and 'tour guide' thinking they would be turned into a vampire afterwards.
Of course, that wasn't what the vampires had in plan so they threw suggestions from every angle one of them being their daughter. Their only daughter, their blood, skin and bone, their creation was basically being sold off.
And the only reason they even considered such a trade was because of a powerful vampire under the name of Eleazer who said their daughter could possess great power or something along those lines. From then, Xanthea knew she would never see eye to eye with this vampire, not that she wanted to see eye to eye with any of them.
Xanthea knew that she should have been afraid, frightened by these supposed to be mythical monsters but anger plagued her and tainted her mind and soul.
"Listen sweetie, they will go easy on you, they will care for you like we never could." Her father pleaded pathetically, trying to hold her hand. She shook it off violently. She was disgusted with a man she used to call her father.
They stood outside Volterra, in the heart of the little town, Xanthea's would-be new home. Or tomb, Xanthea hadn't decided yet. Xanthea's so called mother had not bothered to show her face at her departing as she had cut all her long hair off as a sign of disrespect for her. Their family believed if you had short hair it meant you led a poor quality of life and didn't rank high status.
Xanthea's meaning for it however was that she was cutting off her link to her mother who had incredibly long, shiny blonde hair, showing she was no longer a part of her family. She hadn't even said sorry or thank you to Xanthea that if it wasn't for her they would probably be dead but she didn't care, Xanthea felt hollow.
As her father continued weeping a young looking girl with honey blonde hair appeared in front of Xanthea, her bright red eyes outlined in thick black make-up, contrasting greatly with her perfectly pale skin. She looked no older than thirteen but Xanthea couldn't be sure.
It was late evening now, the sky being covered with the navy blue night blanket. Few stars were dotted about but the further it went into the night the more would appear. Xanthea always noticed how Italy had such clear air and skies, something she would never tire of.
"Let us go," The girl spoke so smoothly but no emotion was held in her words or her face as she turned around leading the way. Without even a glance or farewell to her father Xanthea marched after her obediently.
The little girl led Xanthea through many corridors, her shiny black shoes tapping silently as though she wasn't walking in front of Xanthea on the magnificent marbled floors. Once or twice Xanthea thought about making conversation but figured the girl didn't seem like the chatty kind of child so she kept my mouth shut.
Xanthea hadn't realized it but the further inside they went in the building the more fear and anxiety filled her body. She wondered for a second whether the young girl could hear her erratic heart beating when it seemed like she read her mind.
"Your heart beat is irritatingly loud," She said in the same tone as when they were outside. Xanthea could tell she was annoyed though so she breathed deeply trying to calm herself down.
"Um, sorry," Xanthea muttered, words failing her. What was she meant to say to a comment like that?
Her breathing exercise wasn't helping and for the first time since she had been told of this 'arrangement' she wanted to cry. Hysterically too.
Xanthea bit her tongue to stop any noise escaping her lips as they eventually ended up in front of two enormous wooden doors, large, curved carvings all over it. The doors opened immediately and they walked through into a spacious and beautifully marbled room.
The ceiling seemed to stretch up as far as the sky, delicate chandeliers hanging at the top. The young vampire and Xanthea stopped right in the centre of the room, in front of three men sitting at thrones. They all looked pale and had those menacingly red eyes.
Xanthea gulped. Everyone in the room was incredibly pale and had those demon eyes, all staring right at her frail body. The ones on the throne adorned fancy clothing whereas everyone else just wore a black uniform. They were all situated at the edge of the room and all exits, standing like soldiers.
The man seated in the middle throne stood up and in a blink of Xanthea's eyelids he was stood in front of her, ushering her escort - the young girl to stand aside. She did and she stood near a young boy who looked as though he was related to her, perhaps a brother.
"You are brave to have made it this far young Xanthea," He purred, an amused looked in his eyes. He then held his hand out in front of her, gesturing that she do the same. "May I?"
She complied, being completely terrified of the man even though he seemed harmless so far. As his hand made contact with her own; Xanthea struggled to hold in a gasp. His skin was rock hard like the marble floor they both stood on. Not only that, his hand was unbelievably cold, like it was a chunk of ice rather than a hand.
"Ah yes," He said more to himself than to Xanthea. He dropped her hand down gently as he strolled back to his throne. "I shall have some of the guards escort you to your future room. I do hope you settle in well, this place is certainly to die for." Aro smiled innocently, emphasizing greatly on the last two words.
Xanthea couldn't help but feel there was another meaning to his statement but she wasn't given much time to think it over before two men clad in black robes appeared at her side.
Xanthea wasn't your typical short, petite girl but the man standing to her right made her think she was. He towered over Xanthea at a gigantic height of 6'8", his wink in her direction however made her feel more uneasy about him as his red eyes sparkled with mischief under his mop of dark brown hair.
Without her realizing it they were leading Xanthea to her new room, passing all the tasteful décor in the large marbled hallways. The giant shadowed behind her, his footsteps silent yet she imagined them to echo loudly in the wide hallways.
In front of Xanthea was the other tall man but not to the comparison of the other male. Xanthea herself stood at 5'7" so she estimated he was about 5'11" still able to stare her down. He had a kind of pale brown, tousled hair and walked with an aristocratic aura about him.
Eventually, they slowed to a stop at a door with a window near it, overlooking the city below them.
"This will be your room from now on, I suggest you don't go wondering from it unless accompanied by someone," The shorter of the two spoke. His words sounded harsher than what he intended as though it was forced.
The young girl took no notice as she finally got her chance to look over the speaker's appearance. Xanthea's eyes grew wide when her pale blues eyes fell on his stunning face. Just like everyone she had seen so far in the Palazzo today, his face took her breath away.
He was deathly pale like the others, but there was a slight hint saying he use to have sun kissed skin. His eyes shone bright red like expensive rubies in his eye sockets. His features were chiseled to perfection it was like the Gods themselves took it upon their duty to design this magnificent being to precision.
Xanthea found him beautiful.
To stop herself from gaping like a fool she turned to inspect her new room and was shocked to see how spacious it was. It had a large bed in the middle, adorned with green and yellow silk and satin patterned pillows and covers. The rich, deep, green carpet looked fluffy and welcoming to her worn feet.
"Thanks," Xanthea breathed in awe. Her room back home was nothing as fancy. In fact, she didn't even remember her family having ever owning silk or satin.
She turned back to her escorts, trying to find something else to say. Xanthea didn't even know their names. She didn't know his name.
"Good night cutie," The larger of the two smirked, winking yet again. Xanthea blinked in reply not satisfying him with a response as they walked away from her.
No, she didn't want them to leave her by herself. Before she could stop herself Xanthea called out feebly.
"W-what's your names?" She asked, her voice quiet. They turned around simultaneously, amused expressions on both their porcelain faces.
"I'm Felix," The larger of the two said, seemingly glad she had asked. She couldn't help but eagerly look to the other man.
"You may call me Demetri," He answered politely, his voice soft and sweet to her keen ears. Xanthea nodded her head slightly, watching as they once again started walking off. When she could no longer see there black coats she turned back to her room.
She knew then on she would be confined to this room till they thought of what to do with her. Xanthea highly hoped that she would not become their latest meal though, she valued life but a part of her said she wouldn't mind so much if he got to take it.
As she walked into her new room and she laid down on her new soft bed Xanthea let his name roll of her tongue like it was a natural sound for her.
"Demetri," Xanthea said softly to herself, unable to stop the smallest of smiles creeping up her face.
The night was hard for Xanthea. Though she had momentarily forgotten the real reason why she was now in the vampire's coven earlier that night, with all the time she had alone, millions of thoughts rushed at her.
Ideas that she was hallucinating and that all this was a dream entered her mind as she fought weakly against herself in attempts to wake up from such a nightmare.
In a panic she found herself tearing the room apart for an escape, finding the door sealed shut.
The curtains were ripped from their banister as she foamed and raved and swore! The delicate looking chair at the desk in the corner was thrown at the window, a few legs breaking off as tears rolled down her face.
"No, this is not real!" She screamed to herself as she grabbed her now short blonde hair. As she sat on the edge of her bed, she rocked back and forth, her knees bent up to cover her face as she chanted over and over again.
"This isn't happening to me, it's a silly dream and vampires are not real... This isn't happening to me, it's a silly dream and..."
Unfortunately for Xanthea it wasn't a dream and the night was long.
Opinions on whether I should carry on would be muchly appreciated. If you're following Limited Run I will get back on track I promise. I know I've been out of comission for basically a year and I feel so bad about it but despite being a girl, I struggle doing more than two things at a time and exams and the stress of going from GCSE to A Level was hard. But I will make it up to you. Especially when I've finished with all exams and college till September.
