~ "Celeste where are you? Celeste? Can you here me?"
I woke abruptly from a sound sleep. The blue silken sheets clung to my chilled body. A bead of sweat ran down my face.
That was my mother's voice, I thought. I tried to calm myself down by getting up and going downstairs. I sat down on the couch and watch as moonbeams danced across the marble floors. There was a single window in the ceiling.
Mom you must be wondering where I am…..I wish I could tell her I'm alright…she does worry an awful lot……
Something moved near the steps and I jumped. Then I heard a chuckle.
"Sorry if I snuck up on you," Argento said "We tend to be like cats in that respect."
He sat down next to me.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.
"Yeah sorta," I replied.
"Did you have a bad dream?" he asked. He didn't look at me.
"How did you know?" I asked.
He paused.
"Being a vampire, I guess you could say I can access your conscious without you realizing it. It was kinda hard at first. You had a pretty thick barrier, which took me a while to get through, but I did it," he said. "I owe you an apology. I shouldn't enter a person's conscious without their permission; unless it's an enemy then it's actually quite useful."
"I'm sorry, I really don't understand what you're saying," I said.
"Well, basically I can read your thoughts, dreams and your heart," he said.
"Oh so that's why you said those things when we were back there in woods. So you basically read my heart?" I said "How do you do that?"
"Well that's the toughest ability to acquire. Reading thoughts is easy, dreams are little bit tougher because of the certain barriers set up while people are asleep. Reading the heart means you see a person's most inner desires or fears. You also get a clear view of who a person really is," he said. "And the trick to all this is getting past the barriers."
"So the toughest barrier would be around the heart then, right?" I asked.
"That's right. It also depends on how strong your conscious is," he said. "So about your dream…you're worried about your mom aren't you?"
"She worries a lot, especially about me. I wish there was some way I could tell her that I was alright," I said.
"They know you're…safe," he said. It seemed like he was choosing his words carefully.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I came to them about four months ago and said that you needed special protection for a while. I told them about your family's lineage and warned them that if Nero, Azzurra and I were not allowed to protect you, you would surely be killed. So they trusted me to take care of you," he said.
"Will….will I ever see them again?" I asked.
He smiled slightly. "I'm sure you will," he said.
"Do you ever see your parents?" I asked.
He frowned at this and turned his head away.
Did I say something wrong?
"I…I'm sorry." I said finally after a long pause. "If you don't want to talk about it with me I'm okay with that." I stood up.
Maybe he needs some time alone. I think he might be mad at me for bringing it up, I thought.
"Wait," he said. His hand caught my wrist. I turned to him questioningly.
"Argento, it's okay. I understand there are some things in your world that I will not comprehend so you don't have to tell me everything," I said.
"It's not that Celeste. I think you can comprehend it actually, I'm just….I've just never talked to anyone about my family before so…" he trailed off.
I sat down next to him. His hand was still around my wrist. He gave a deep sigh. Then a silence filled the room. Argento seemed to stop breathing. When he spoke his voice was soft.
"My father was a Nadarian and my mother was Cheliceran," he said "I am actually the only surviving member of my family. Because my parents came from opposing sides they were hunted and murdered. My older brother and younger sister were also found and killed. I narrowly escaped being captured. I'm still being hunted though."
"Hmm…I remember Nero saying something about you being 'The Prince'," I said. "What exactly did he mean by that?"
He gave me a quick smirk. "Well, you're looking at the true heir of the vampire empire." Then his tone changed dramatically. "That's why I'm hunted so much. Not only am I a despicable creature but I'm also next in line for the throne. The vampire society would never allow a half breed like me to rule, not in a million years." He turned away from me again so I couldn't see his eyes.
"I don't think you're a monster at all," I said. "Some part of you was civilized enough to save me when we first met remember? I don't think a despicable creature would do such a thing. And…. I think that you would make a very good vampire king."
Argento turned to me. He seemed slightly surprised.
"You don't think I'm," he paused and examined his other hand in the shaft of moonlight, "strange because I'm a half-breed?"
"You want to know what I really think about you?" I asked.
He arched one of his eyebrows. "I'm listening," he said.
I smiled. "Read my mind then," I said.
He tiled his head but smiled and closed his eyes.
I think you're an amazing person, not to mention very handsome and I am really glad I met you, I thought.
He ducked his head a little and smiled.
"You know you're the first person who has ever said kind, honest words like that to me," he said.
I blushed. I was little embarrassed. "I…well…uh…"
"It's getting late," he said looking towards the stairs.
"Right," I stood up. "I'll just-"
Aregento's hands held mine. I looked down at the floor. I was even more embarrassed than before.
"I'll walk you to your room," he said. He stood up and was at my side. When I reached my door I turned to him and let go of his hand.
"Thank you," I said. I smiled, turned, and went into my room.
Argento closed the door. "No, thank you Celeste," he whispered.
As I lay on my bed I heard a low deep thumbing noise. I suddenly realized it was my heart. I placed my hand where my heart was. It didn't feel like it was beating hard, but I could hear it so clearly in my head.
My heart's never beaten so loudly, I thought. I decided to ignore it and tried to get some sleep.
Argento suddenly halted on the steps and laid a hand on his chest. He eyes widened. "Celeste's heart isn't the one that was beating like thunder," he whispered in amazement "it's mine."