Kindred Hearts
By: Marcie Black
Prologue
Loneliness…Heartache…If only I could end these sorrows. My motionless heart feels so much hunger to supress these emothions I am not supposed to be able to feel. It surrounds me. More than the thrill of feeding off men who plagued me to this life of misery. Along with my other sensations I feel, more than anything, need. The need to find the one that once loved me more than, a not so eternal life…
I do not sleep. All the day I wait for the night. My thoughts haunt my mind with feelings I can not control. If only… If only I would have known this so many years ago…
Chapter 1
Once so loved. So treasured by my family. I was said to be the most strikingly beautiful of my kind. My family traveled all over our country. We moved during the days, so I was already accustomed to the hours of darkness…
We sold many things to make our living. Flowers, charms, fortunes, among others. I, on the other hand, did not work the sales, I was a performer. I spent all my waking moments on the trail reading, and then at night, I would dance. Some villagers did not approve of my pastime, others, men mostly, thought I was some sort of a god. Though, I never pretended to be as such, I was certainly complimented.
I remember so vividly that winter. I was around 19 years old and we were traveling what seemed like an endless trail. Freezing, we walked to keep our blood flowing through us. It started to snow, and we must have gotten lost. We did, after a couple hours, find a town. It wasn't one we had been to before, which was surprising, because we have been to so many around this particular area. We settled in at about half past three.
My family went on there way to make sales. There were a few of us who stayed behind to gather things for camp. I was to gather brushwood for the fire, this was always my job, I liked it because I could be alone. If I would have known what my future entailed, I wouldn't have gone off alone, maybe not even at all.
I wrapped up and went out into the forest. I know this seems strange to do, seeing as I was a young woman by myself, but we didn't think like everyone else. I had only made it a few steps when all of the sudden I felt nervous, like someone was watching me. I looked around me and no one was there, so I kept on. I gathered all the twigs that I could fit in my scarf and headed back to camp. Night was settling in so I walked faster.
"If you run, they will assume you are prey."
A whisper came behind me. No one is there. What did they mean? Who was talking to me? Was I hearing things? Questions filled my head, it frightened me, but if they were right, whoever they were, I wasn't going to be anyone's prey. I kept my steady pace and finally made it back to camp.
When I got back, there was no one. So eerily quite I felt as though I should hold my breath. What was going on? Where was all of my family and friends? More and more questions filled me as examined our camp. Then all of the sudden, a man's voice said "their not here." This man sounded as though he was right beside me. I could almost feel his breath on my neck. I turned towards his voice. He was standing about 25 paces away. Startled by his presence I said nothing.
"Your family, I know where they are." He spoke again.
Realizing that I wasn't moving or even breathing and took in a sharp, cold breath of air and replied "Where"?
"I will take you" he said, the sound of his voice was smooth and comforting, like he could say anything and it would be the most beautiful sentence I would ever here. I followed him.
After about 10 steps, I become conscious to the fact that I was walking with a man whom I have never met before, without asking questions as to why he would know who my family was, or where they were, or how to find me. I was surrounded in thought when he broke through and asked "what is your name", "Syeira", I replied almost instantly, as though he had forced it out of me. Why was I so willing to talk to this man I had never met before. Usually I was more withdrawn in talking to new people, especially men. I did not want to be rude and not ask for his name, so I said not so formal way "and yours"?
"I am Dhampir Vetalas." His name resonated in my head, what a name!
After a few minutes I managed to ask "how do you know my family?"
He replied, "I know everyone that lives here, and I don't know them or you, I presumed that was who you were so frantically searching for when I came upon your camp. Also, everyone is at the early winter ball." A ball! How splendid! I was excited to hear this; I had never been to a ball. All of the sudden I realized how well dressed Mr. Vetalas was and what I looked like. At that moment I was not so excited, in fact I was nearly heartbroken. I didn't have any of my decorative clothes on and I did not want to be laughed at, when Mr. Vetalas said "Would you like something to wear?"
Could he read my thoughts? Never the less, I was not going to a ball with my traveling clothes on and I replied
"I do not want to intrude; I will go back to camp and wait for my family there." I lied. I wanted to go badly, but I did not have anything to dress in.
"The ball is at my home, and everyone is invited. Please come. There are many things there that you can wear." he said. Without a thought, I agreed.
We walked up a small hill and behind the trees I could see the most magnificent castle.
"You live here?" I said, trying not to sound thrilled, though that is only one of the many things I was feeling.
He replied "Yes, this is my home." As we walked in, I could hear the most wonderful music coming from the ball room.
I was starting to sway when Mr. Vetalas said "this way". I followed him up a large flight of stairs and down a long hallway. I should have been thinking about how this looked, being that I was an unattended virgin with a man leading me to take off my clothes, but I was not. In the light of the house, I could see Mr. Vetalas very clearly. What I did not notice in the darkness out side was how handsomely charming he was.
He looked as though he was only a few years older then me and nearly a foot taller then me. His hair was as black as the dead of night, his eyes the brightest green, and his skin so creamy and smooth. As I was admiring him, I didn't notice that we had stopped walking.
"I will leave you now."
I did not want our walk to end.
"Right in here is where you find some dresses and shoes. Follow the music and you will find the ball. Do enjoy yourself. Good night."
I was surprised and saddened that he spoke like he wouldn't see me again. But as he was throwing this ball, he had a responsibility to attend to his guests. I opened the door as he walked away and was taken aback by the room. It wasn't an ordinary bedroom, yes it had a vanity and a bed, but it was so much more than that; the furniture was carved by either the most involved carpenter or by some sort of divinity. On the right, was the wardrobe. I went into it and it seemed to be as big, if not bigger, than the room. It must have had hundreds of dresses and pairs of shoes in it. Where did all of these come from? Now, with Mr. Vetalas gone, I was starting to realize the nearly magical situation I was in, and it was like I didn't care or comprehend that I hadn't seen my family yet.
I was like a little girl pretending to be a princess in the most beautiful house and room I had ever been in. So much more then my humble tent and blanket on the ground. How would I go back to that after seeing such majesty? I glanced over all the exquisite dresses and right then I looked at the end of the closet and on a mannequin I saw it; the most enchanting dress. Not a dress, but rather its own class of clothing. It was mostly red silk with an intricate black lace around the bust. It was the kind of dress that would cost more money than I would want to know about. I put it on and it fit perfectly. The shoes to match were right next to it on a pedestal, also my size. I looked in the mirror and was entranced by the dress. Could this be a wonderful dream?
"I never want to take this off" I said to myself. I went to the vanity and put on a little bit of rouge and then brushed out my hair and put it up. I probably wasn't in there for 20 minutes, but I could have stayed in there all night admiring myself. I felt so vain, but I had never in my life experienced such leisure. I walked out the door and I could hear the music down the hall, so I did what Mr. Vetalas said and followed it. It lead me to another hall. The music was louder and all of the sudden I looked down and saw everyone dancing in such perfect rhythm. As the music stopped and I walked down the stairs, and it seemed that everyone was looking at me. At that moment I wished that I had some sort of mask to hide my embarrassment. I reached the bottom of the stairs and everyone moved into a large circle.
I walked to an area with no one around. I was surprised at myself because I was not looking for my family, but rather for Mr. Vetalas. I did, however, have a feeling, that he already new I was in the room. Right then a nice looking man asked me to dance. Loving to dance, I agreed, and we went on the dance floor. No one else was dancing but us. The entire time I was dancing, I kept getting the feeling that I was being watched. That everyone was trying to figure out who I was, then, the song ended and I bowed and continued on my search.
"You dance beautifully" said Mr. Vetalas from behind me.
"Thank you". I replied, feeling as though there were butterflies in my stomach.
"I see you found something to wear" he said.
"Yes, thank you for letting me wear it, it is the most exquisite thing I have ever seen, much less worn."
He then looked at me with such thought and intensity, that I felt I couldn't breath.
"Would you come with me?"
I was so infatuated with him at this point I would have done anything he asked. I followed him to a balcony right off the ball room. We were overlooking the darkest forest when he said.
"Your family has left." He said.
"To camp?! I must go" It was like I was waking up when he said this. I turned around and started off when he said,
"No, they have left this city." He replied, it was like a knife in my stomach. What was I to do without my family? What could be worse? And then…
"They have sold you."