Vampire Madhouse: Eternal Dawn
Chapter 1: Engagement
Hi there, I don't know if you remember me, it's the girl who gave up being human for a guy. It's Dawn Night, well soon to be Mrs. Dawn Davion…I…guess. Does he even have a last name? It'S been almost six months since I was turned. Trust me the first few days were not easy for me. They were horrible, like hell on earth! The only thing that got me through it was having my angel there to go through hell with me. It hurt him to see me changing, know I was in pain, and being unable to ease my suffering.
Since our escape from Nos' lair, we've been living in a small, two bedroom town house. We've been planning the wedding for months, and still I have no dress, no location, and absolutely nothing is booked. It's hard to concentrate around Davion.
To ensure that the Helsing Organization wouldn't search for me, Nos had a girl, who looked similar and shared the same rare blood type, killed and left in a gutter for them to find. The body was so mutilated; there was no way for them to positively identify it. Since I had been missing for god knows how long, they assumed that girl was me.
I became one of the very few to attend their own funeral. There were a lot more people there than I thought there'd be. Most of the organization attended and of course John, Kat, and Ian were there. Kat was sobbing uncontrollably onto John's shoulder. I think I saw tears in his eyes as well. It made me feel guilty, watching them morn over me when I was right there hiding in the shadows of the trees.
A gust of cold wind blew my way and I wrapped my coat tighter around my solid black dress. I was always cold these days. Even on the warmest of days I wore long sleeved shirts and coats. Davion said I'd get used to it eventually. That day can't come fast enough for me.
I moved my attention to William and Maria. Anna was nowhere in sight. I hadn't seen her since she went to live with her pack. My father was holding Maria at her side for moral support. Maria was her usual self-cold and emotionless. She was the only one who didn't seem upset about my death. True it was not my body they were burying but in a way I had died. Maria was beginning to show signs that she was pregnant again. Her stomach poked out a little. I was happy for them; my dad needed something to keep his mind off my demise. I wished I could comfort them somehow; I wanted to tell them that I was okay, but that was completely out of the question. I knew in my heart that my father wouldn't hesitate to destroy me.
I jumped when I felt Davion's strong grip on my shoulder. I looked up at him with a weak smile, "hi" I greeted in a low mumble. His lips were set in a hard line, his facial features were hard as if he were carved from stone. The wind blew his hair across his forehead. "How are they holding up?" asked his deep voice. I shivered and he pulled me closer to his rock hard body. "Maria seems okay. My dad's seen better days though. And my friends aren't taking this well at all." He looked down at me, his eyes comforting me instantly, "Are you ready to go?" I nodded and we phased out together, his hand in mine.
When we phased in we were back at the town house. To my shock all our stuff was boxed up, lining the walls. "What in the world?" I breathed. He chuckled, putting his arm around my waist, "I was packing." I looked up at him with a blank stare, "Are we going somewhere?" He grinned, "Italy." My eyes widened, "Italy!" Why are we going to Italy?" He stepped around me, going to finish putting his books in a box. "I spoke to Ark; he's agreed to marry us." My knees went weak and I had to lean against the couch to keep from falling. "Does he have the authority to do that?" I asked in a whisper. Davion's smile broadened, "He has more authority than any one else. Who better to marry the princess and the knight that the king himself?" I suddenly felt like I was having an asthma attack. "You mean Ark is…" Lightning flashed across Davion's green eyes, "King of the vampires."
The next afternoon, I pulled on my red leather coat and donned a pair of shades, to go get our plane tickets. There was a young man working the front desk at the airport. As I approached him, his eyes grew larger, "Hello, I need two tickets to Venice, Italy." He was staring at me. After a few moments he blinked awake and started typing at his computer. "Uh the next flight is at ten a.m., tomorrow morning." I sighed, "Do you have any night flights available?" I asked in my prettiest voice. He started clicking away at his keyboard again. "Yes, we have a flight at 8 p.m. but it's completely booked. We do have a few seats open in coach though. This is when being a vampire has it's advantages. I pulled my shades down so he could see my luminescent blue eyes. "I'm sure you can do better than that." Mesmerized by my gaze, he booked me two first-class tickets. I was so pleased with myself I decided to run all the way home; vampire style.
I leapt from rooftop to rooftop, my coat billowing behind me. I was still slow compared to Davion, but I was getting faster as time went by. I got home just as twilight began to set in. Davion was waiting for me on the couch. He was wearing a tux and expensive looking shoes. "I'm back. I got us two first-class tickets!" I smiled cheerfully, flashing the tickets in front of him. His lips pulled away from his teeth in a diviner smile. "Nice work, Love. Go look on your bed; I have a surprise for you." I raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "It better not be anything naughty. We agreed to wait, remember?" He gave me a disappointed look, "I haven't forgotten."
I went down the long hall to my bedroom. As I entered, I took in my surroundings, the cream and gold tapestries and comforter, the off white walls, the boarded up windows, and hard wood floors. This was my paradise. I took a second look at the bed, across it laid a beautiful royal blue evening gown. I squealed in delight. "Thank you Davion!" I shouted happily. I hurryingly slipped on the dress, put on some high heels and fixed my hair.
When I came back out Davion was standing by the open window in the living room. He turned when he sensed my entrance and chuckled in amusement at the sight of me. "Never in all my years have I seen a more beautiful vampire. I've chosen my mate well it seems." I smirked at him, feeling the silky texture of the dress beneath my fingertips. "What was all this for?" I asked. He took my by the hand and pulled me over to the window. He led me out the window and onto the roof. We stood together there, Davion holding me tightly at his side. Above us a crescent moon shone brightly in the clear night. "I just thought I should do this the right way." He went down on one knee. My voice caught in my throat. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black box. He opened it with the flick of the wrist, revealing a diamond ring. "Dawn I love you and I want to spend the rest of forever with you at my side." His smile broadened across his gorgeous face, "Will you marry me?" I was speechless, blood red tears were beginning to fall down my pale face. Since I couldn't find the words I nodded eagerly, making Davion laugh at me. He stood back up, and taking hold of my hand he slipped the ring onto my finger.
I was so happy I threw my arms around him and we laughed together. He gently kissed my forehead, cheeks and lips over and over. Then we danced around on the rooftop until night began to give way to dawn.
The following morning we needed to get in some crucial hunting in before the flight. Mother Nature was kind enough to cooperate with us. The sun was buried beneath hundreds of thick gray clouds; rain poured onto the city streets, just about drowning the early morning commuters.
We threw on our raincoats and went down to the garage where our black Mercedes Benz was waiting. Davioun had bought it with a small percentage of his pirate hoard. I thought it was a waste of money, but he insisted. Now I was thankful we had it. He opened my door fore me then climbed behind the wheel. With the roar of the engine we sped off towards the nearest forest.
Once we were in the dark coolness of the forest, we began our hunt. We split up to cover more ground. He had a taste for big game, like bears, mountain lions, that sort of thing, while I preferred to go after deer and bunny rabbits.
I ran through the trees at full speed, my feet barely touching the ground. In my predatory vision I could see a young doe trying to flee from me. I wondered if she knew how hopeless it was to escape me. I caught up to her quickly but just as I was about to pounce, her little fawn darted out to his mother. I stopped, by body frozen in horror. I had nearly killed this baby's mother. I almost condemned this small creature to death because of my thirst for blood. The mother deer and her baby dashed back into the trees. Once they were out of my sight, I began to move again.
I went slower this time. I needed to be patient, so I could chose the perfect prey. I couldn't let my thirst blind me again. I was finally able to catch three rabbits. They only took seconds to drain, but it was better than nothing. I met up with Davion a few hours later. He had caught an enormous bear. There was still some blood smeared around his mouth. I tapped at my chin, signaling to him that he had missed a spot. He chuckled, wiping the blood away with his arm. Fully revitalized we walked back to the car. On the drive home, I told him about my encounter with the family of deer.
"You shouldn't think so much. Humans have hunted deer for eons. It's survival of the fittest, nothing personal." Said Davion, with his eyes locked on the road ahead of us. I rested my head on the back of the seat. "She had a baby. If I had killed her the baby would've died too." He looked over at me; his eyes still vibrant from the recent kill. " You survived didn't you?" I turned my head away to stare bleakly out the window, "Nope, I'm dead, remember?" He reached over and grabbed my hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed it. I glance over to see his apologetic expression. I squeezed his hand to calm him.
As soon as night fell, we drove out to the airport. Davion held my hand as we came to the gate. A young stewardess smiled brightly at Davion. "Good evening sir." I looked into the woman's eyes to claim her thoughts. I couldn't help myself Who the hell are these people? Super models maybe? They're so beautiful. I wonder if they're together. I wouldn't mind getting to know him I bet I could get him to meet me in the bathroom later. How dare her!" I glared at the woman. Davion handed her his ticket with a polite smile. I shoved mine at her. We boarded the plain and sat down in our comfortable fist-class seats. The take off didn't even bother me.
I sat with my arms crossed angrily over my chest, my nails digging into the leather of my coat. "Don't let that woman's petty thoughts get to you," Davion whispered, low enough that only I was able to hear his exquisite voice. He leaned over and kissed the place beneath my ear, "She's not my brand of woman." He whispered against my skin. I couldn't help but giggle.
At that moment, the stewardess began her rounds with drinks and peanuts. Just as she neared our seats I grabbed Davion and gave him a passionate kiss. Her gray eyes bugged and the tendons in her neck tightened. She hastily shifted her gaze to the floor and went on with her business. Once she'd passed I released him. "Nice" he grumbled sitting back in his chair. "Sorry, but I had to do it. It's a girl thing you wouldn't understand." I whispered with a smile. He returned my grin, "I'm not complaining."
This was the shortest flight of my entire life. It was amazing how time flew by when it no longer held any value. I'm not sure if it was the immortal thing or if it was just because Davion and I were in lover world the entire time.
When we arrived in Italy it was near dawn there so we had to rush to the nearest hotel for shelter. We ended up in a rundown motel with dirty looking sheets and mice living in the walls. I didn't even want to think about what those stains on the sheets might be. We stripped the bed and draped the nasty sheets over the windows to make sure no light could get through. Being allergic to sunlight can be a real hassle. Then I covered the old mattress with one of our own blankets. Davion and I took a long nap then just lay there talking for the rest of the day. As soon as the daylight began to fade, we left that horrid place. We had rented a red Mazda from the airport. We climbed in and Davion took off like a bat out of hell.
How we got all the way to Ark's castle in the Italian countryside without getting in a wreck, I'll never know. The castle looked like something from the middle ages. It had towers on either side of its massive gate. "How can no one know about him?" I asked, "It doesn't look like he's hiding." He took a step forward and electricity began to bounce against his body. "Psychic shield, only vampires can see it. This place is invisible to humans." He went ahead inside and I followed reluctantly behind. The electricity of the shield made my hair stand up on end.
Davion shoved the massive wooden door open. We entered the castle finding it dead silent. I watched Davion move through the numerous rooms as he searched for the king and queen of the vampires.
He came back to the main room a few minutes later. "They're gone." He sounded dumbfounded. "Did he say he was going anywhere?" I asked, leaning against the wall. "Something's not right. They're never both gone. There's always someone here to guard the castle." He said, running his fingers through his hair out of worry.
Just as he said this, the door flew open, allowing a tall woman with long black hair that fell down to her knees, to enter carrying an unconscious white haired man at her side. "Oh my god, Ark!" shouted Davion, rushing to aid the woman. He carefully took Ark from her and carried him to a bedroom just off the main room. The woman and I followed him inside.
Ark didn't look well at all. There was bullet holes riddling his chest and stomach, there was even one on his forehead. Judging by the blue tent of his skin; they were silver bullets, no doubt this was the work of Helsing.
Davion was sitting at a bedside table, looking over Ark's wounds. "What happened, Isabella?" he asked without looking back at us. Red tears began to fall from Isabella's violet eyes, "Ark grew concerned about a renegade vampire in New Orleans. He believed it to be your old friend Alexander." Both Davion and I stiffened. "He's been going on a killing rampage, killing everything that moves. We had to stop him, if he continued this destructive behavior, we'd surely be found out. So we went to New Orleans to destroy him. We were chasing him when a Helsing vehicle showed up. The hunters caught Ark off his guard." Davion looked back at me, his green eyes wide in shock. "Damn Ian." I muttered beneath my breath. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the one who had done this, having moved back to the states shortly after my disappearance.
"What about Exavier? He may have survived our attack as well." Davion asked her, his fists clenching on the table as he looked at his dying mentor. Isabella nodded, "Yes, he did survive, but he's keeping a low profile. He gets all the fresh blood he needs from a safe house in the French quarter." Davion growled in his throat as he got to his feet. "Don't worry Isabella. I'll take care of this mess." He promised, grasping onto her shoulder.
He took me by the hand and dragged me through the door. "Sorry Dawn, but it looks like we'll have to postpone the wedding."
We got back into the car and began driving north. "Aren't we going to New Orleans?" I asked. "Yes," he replied, his eyes focused ahead. "But the airport's the other way." Davion began to accelerate, "We don't have time for planes." Then he phased out the entire car and us.
When we phased back in we were driving down the city streets of New Orleans.