This is the first Underworld piece I put on the internet- and the first one I'd let anyone else read- back three years ago. Goddess, it doesn't seem as though it should be that long. I had a lot of really great friends that wrote stories back then, too- some of them are in my fave authors list- and I remember always telling them I was going to rewrite this someday. Reword it. Make it better. Though I haven't read the fiction, or watched the movie, in a long while, this story still makes me smile, and I'm glad I took the time to look it over once more. I hope you enjoy it. Thankyou for reading.
The Lady Mage
Preview:
Selene receives a moment of peace, and a bit of closure for the life and lives that were so cruelly stolen from her.
Last night, I had a dream- one both comforting, and disturbing. The sun was up, and I was in it- bathed in its warmth and light for the first time in two-hundred years. Yet it did not burn me. I felt as though my being in the sun was the most natural thing in the world. I belonged here in its light.
I was warm, sitting in the middle of a vast, grassy meadow. A visual Utopia surrounded me, and I took only seconds to recognise where I was. I was home! I was back on the farm I had been born on, in a field I had played in with my sister when we were little. We would run through the gate, then sprint across the meadow, arms out, enjoying the tickling feeling of the tall grass and wheat on our skin. Everything was peaceful here, and for those few precious moments, I could forget about blood, about the lycans, about the vampires.
About a certain hybrid, and about being the hunted.
It was spring- at least, it seemed to be- and the trees were becoming lush and green, the grass tall enough to tickle my elbows as I sat. Flowers were blooming, birds were chirping. I was so sure I had forgotten how flowers looked in sunshine, or how the birds sang to the heavens. Not many think to sing in the dark depth of night.
Once I had recognised the field, remembered where the latch gate was, I felt compelled to stand- to get up, and to run home. It was nearing noon, I thought, and I should be at home helping Mother to make lunch. I should be helping my sister to call in my nieces to eat, then taking them back out into the yard to play once they were fed. And so, I stood.
Running to the gate, barefoot, dressed in a simple cotton nightgown, I disregarded the latch. I climbed over the gate just like I had when I was young, and then ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the large house at the end of the tree-shaded lane. The house with its stables, its barn, its well, and its flowers blooming wherever Mother thought to plant them, beckoning me- called to me. As I neared, I could hear children's voices. My nieces! They were playing nearby, but I could not see them as I ran for the end of the lane. I wanted out of its darkness, and back into the light- I wanted to get home to see my family once more!
But before I could reach the end, the sky grew dark, and the moon appeared- staring down at me over the house like a big, accusatory pupil in the sky. Thunderclouds rolled in, filling the airspace, making the house seem haunted. Lightening flashed within the clouds, giving silent warning to the great storm to come. And yet, I could hear no sound but for the horses, panicking in the stables. Something was in the stables.
Before I could blink, I was in my old bedroom. Everything was exactly the same as it had been, from the wild horses on the tapestry to the braided rug on the floor. Turning, I could see myself in the bed, sleeping, mortal. Outside, I hear my father scream, and though I tore to the window to look out, I could not see him no matter how hard I looked. Seconds later, my mother's scream pierced through my eardrums. I rushed to the door, flinging it open, flying down the hall to her and Papa's room. Their door was pushed open, and I paused before peeking inside- suddenly very afraid of what I might see inside.
Blood was everywhere. It stained the sheets and the rug, painted the walls, ceiling, furniture, and floors. Inside, two dark figures- shadows in the corner- but my mother was not there. The figures were speaking softly to one another, but for my life I couldn't hear, understand, what they were saying. They turned without warning, heading across the hall to my sister's room, but I hardly took notice until I heard her screams. I turned, fled to her doorway. Her room was like Mama's- rich, red blood painting the walls, floors, sheets. It dripped from the ceiling into hundreds of little puddles on the floor.
It was a stomach-churning sight, but my sister was not there.
It was then that I knew I was dreaming- really knew. I was watching the night I became a campire, the night Viktor stole away my mortal family, my mortal life, with a touch of his fangs to our skin.
I knew what would happen next. The twins, my beautiful, darling, little nieces. Soon, I would hear them. The shadowmen were walking back into the hall, heading for the girls' room. I realised then that they were Viktor and Kraven, and the thought of it put me in a rage- who were they to be here- to do this to them?! Who was Viktor to slaughter those two innocent children, and then decide that only I was worthy of life?! Who was Kraven to follow along behind him like a lost puppy, smirking, enjoying himself and the show?!
As I knew would happen, twin screams came from the nursery. I'd seen them butchered, broken, bloody, once; I was not sure I wasnted to see it again. Yet my feet moved of their own volition, carrying me to the open doorway. Inside were the shadowmen, staring down at the single, bloody bed. My eyes took in the mess, the gore, but my nieces were not there.
The shadowmen turned, now moving towards my room, the last one on the hall. Again, I followed, morbidly fascinated. My doorway was open, and I could see myself standing in it, backing away from Viktor and Kraven. Viktor halted in the doorway, and though I could not see, I could remember the look on his face the first time he saw me. How he had looked confused, then sad, almost remorseful as he watched me. I could not hear what he said to Kraven to make him leave, or what he said to me in the bedroom, but I could vividly remember how it felt when he bit into my neck seconds later- draining away my old life, then bleeding me a new one from the vein in his wrist.
And then, it was all gone. I was in my room, alone, sitting on the bed, staring at the tapestry on the wall across the room. I somehow knew that time had either gone backwards or forwards because the air tasted different, smelled different. Before I could think about how I missed the tapestry, how I missed my room, my bed, my family, the door creaked open. Two little faces appeared in the crack, peering inside the room.
My nieces.
My nieces, with their long, dark hair, and their grass-green eyes, they bodies were whole and alive, instead of torn and broken. They spotted me on the bed, and rushed to my side. They were in their nightgowns, and their feet padded softly on the braided rug.
"Selene?" Rebecca reached me first, her hands held out for my own, which I gladly gave to her. "Selene, can we stay with you tonight?"
Rachel crawled onto the bed. "We had bad dreams, Selene, and Mama won't get up." she murmured, coming to lay against my side. "Please, can we stay with you?"
"How could I say no to you?" I pulled both of them up into my lap, enjoying the feeling of holding their little warm bodies to me. I had to hold back the tears from my eyes, cuddling them both in my arms. "Now, tell me what this bad dream was about, hmm?"
"There was a man." Rachel mumbled, sleep aready trying to reclaim her.
"A mean man." Rebecca continued, laying her head against my neck. "He wanted to hurt us, Selene."
"He hurt Mama and Nana."
I clutched them tighter as they shivered against me. "What did he look like?" I asked them softly.
"He was old." Rachel whispered.
"He had blue eyes, and big teeth."
Viktor.
"Dreams are just dreams." I murmured, resting my chin on Rebecca's head.
"But they're still scary sometimes." whispered Rachel. "You're so cold, Selene. Why are you so cold? Are you sick?"
"No, Angel, I am not sick." I answer gently, turning and laying them down against the pillows. "But you two will be if you don't get warm. It's cold tonight." They lay still as I tucked them under the blankets, thankful for a moment with them- be it dream or not. I gave them each a dozen kisses goodnight, then laid down beside them, promising to watch over them until they fell asleep. They laid there, curled together against me, and I took turned rubbing each girl's arm as I reimprinted their faces to memory.
And the last thing I can remember before my visions stopped, and I came awake, was the soft sound of Rachel's voice.
"We love you, Selene."
Opening my eyes, back in reality, I felt a comforting sense of calm. The stress I had fallen asleep chewing on seemed to be gone, and I was no longer worried about having to run from the Death Dealers or the lycans. For a moment, I didn't have to care about anything else in the world. I didn't have to think about where we would be running tonight, where our next hiding place would be, who's veins our next meal would come. I was comfortably numb to the fear and anxiety, so I lay beside a sleeping Michael, smiling whether I wanted to or not, at what I decided I was going to concider my last memory of my nieces. I had been given the gift of saying goodbye to the two, precious little girls that I had loved as though they were my own- I didn't care if it was just a dream. It was closure.
And that was enough.
The End.
Like it? Good? Bad? Please, review. The Lady Mage