No reviews again! Well, I should get used to it, I guess. I'm still going to write this story; I enjoy it. I'm depressed right now. Layne Staley's (Alice in Chains) death has really affected me. So this chapter's gonna be pretty gory. Anyway, here's Chapter Two: What We Are…
[Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just made for fun!]
Chapter Two: What We Are…
[In England…year 1640…]
After I'd been dressed in fairly expensive clothing, Olivia asked me to follow her. Cautiously, she led me to the dining room. Thomas was already there, gazing at a painting.
"Sir, I've brought her. 'Tis bathed and dressed as you asked."
At the sound of Olivia's voice, he looked toward us. Thomas slowly smiled.
"Thank you, Olivia. Go now, please."
Olivia curtsied, then turned towards me. She smiled and left. Thomas walked to the chair nearest me and pulled it out.
"Annalí, don't be shy. You may sit down. The food shall be brought soon."
I thanked him and sat down at the chair he'd generously pulled out. I felt the dress sway as I sat. I was not used to such a fancy dress! It was quite beautiful, crimson red in color, with white trim around the cuff. The material was very soft, and rather easy to move in. In all my memories, I'd never worn a dress as exquisite as the one I was wearing.
"It was imported, from Italy I believe. Quite nice, isn't it?" He chuckled at my wide eyes. How had he known what I was thinking!
"I was guessing you'd be thinking of the dress, considering you'd probably never worn anything like it for some time. I'm not a mind reader, you know." We both laughed lightly, but I noticed his eyes flicker again.
The door leading to the kitchen opened, and a servant came in. She had long, dark hair and violet eyes. They shown with the same softness a mother would have, yet she couldn't have been more then 17 years. She was carrying a tray with what I believed would be our food.
"Thank you, Chloe. What shall we be eating tonight?" Thomas asked.
Chloe grinned. "You're welcome, Sir. Tonight's entree is roasted chicken with potatoes. I hope you enjoy it. Nice seeing you, Miss Annalí."
I smiled. "Thank you, Chloe. 'Tis nice to see you, too." Chloe curtsied, then left.
"Well," Thomas began, "shall we eat?"
I nodded politely, and we started to eat.
///…After dinner…///
When both of us had finished eating, Thomas motioned me to follow him. We were currently going down a hallway and entering a large room, the parlor. Thomas stared at a painting, then spoke up.
"You see that young lady there, Annalí?" He asked me, pointing to a young girl in the painting, "The one with the blue dress?"
I nodded.
"She's your mother."
I gawked at him for the second time that night.
"My…my mother? How…"
"Perhaps it's time I explain things to you, Annalí. Please sit down, this may take awhile."
I walked over to an armchair and sat down. I was still in shock that the painting contained my mother! I hadn't seen her for so long! Not since…not since she and Father died. Thomas was sitting in a chair in front of me, seemingly collecting his thoughts.
"Do you believe in evil…Annalí?"
I was taken back by his question. I thought it would be obvious; any Christian knew evil existed.
"Yes, Sir, I do."
He acknowledged my answer, and contemplated his own.
"And your mother and father…do you know who they were?"
"Well…I know of their names. My mother was Claudia, and my father, Sebastian. They were of the surname Gutiérrez. And they were killed in a fire when I was aged seven years. That is all I know."
"So you don't know their past…" He paused, mulling over the words he would use.
"Well, I shall start from the beginning. I was a good friend of your family, your father in particular. We'd been schooled together as children and had met Claudia at the same time. She was very beautiful; you truly are a mirror image of her magnificence. They'd fallen in love quickly, and her secret soon came out. What she did not know, was that I shared the same secret. We were both…damned, in a sense. She and I were destined to roam the Earth, praying on the living. But one night, she changed our destinies. Your father became one of us. It was then, that I informed both that they were not alone."
He stopped, noting my reaction to what he'd said thus far. And to say the least, I was intrigued. I knew not what this secret was, but I was amazed at the complexity of it. They'd been damned…whether he'd meant this literally, I was not sure.
"Please," I begged, "go on…"
His eyes darkened as he spoke. "Your family…and I…we were not living. Yet we were not dead. We craved only one thing, the provider of life. Blood. And so you see, we were indeed forever damned to Hell. We enjoyed hearing the tortured screams of our victims, feeling the blood warm our skin. You must have figured this out already. We were vampires."
My eyes widened. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have believed him. Who would? He and my family couldn't have been vampires! Yet, his tone of voice, the seriousness of it; I couldn't doubt him. And I didn't. He drank the blood of the living…like me. I slowly stood up, my eyes never wavering from his. I turned to run, fear easily distinguishable on my face.
"Please, don't go!" He yelled, his hand reaching out to grab me. I screamed, and ran as fast as I could. I was closer and closer to the main entrance, now screaming out any prayers I could remember. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough as I ran right into something. How could this be!? I had run right into Thomas! But he had been behind me just moments ago!
"Please, Annalí, I will not hurt you—"
"You evil demon!" I spat at him, my voice hinting at anger, my eyes showing fear.
"Annalí, please. I promise to you, I will not hurt you. I showed you the painting of your mother, how else would I have that had I not known her? Please, just listen to me. "
I distrusted him…but I'd rather stay here and risk death then go back to the paltry life I had lived not even a day ago. I looked into his eyes and he smiled. Not an evil smile, far from it. It was the kind of smile a mother gave her child. My body relaxed and I nodded my head, signaling to him that I would hear what he needed to say. He put his arm around my shoulder and I walked with him back to the sitting room.
"As I said, " he looked me straight in the eyes as he said the next part, "we were vampires. " He hesitated momentarily to watch my reaction. I made none.
He continued. "We knew of no others in our area. The village we'd lived in was quite small. It was too dangerous for three grown vampires to hunt there. We would normally feed on two to three people a night and that was just for one of us. It was too risky, too suspicious. So we were forced to move. Within a few days, we had arrived at our destination. London, England. Soon after, you were born to this world. You were very precious to them, but more so than a normal child was. You were of noble birth, born to two vampires. Not only that, but your mother was a direct descendant of a royal vampire from the 14th century. This meant that, whilst you weren't a vampire, if you were to be converted to one, you'd be extremely powerful.
"Annalí, I must ask you something. Would you allow me to make you one of us? "
I swallowed. To become a vampire…should I do it? I'd be extremely powerful, for once. For once in my life, I would be in control. I made up my mind. I had no other option. If I were to say no, I'd be sent back to the hellhole Thomas had saved me from. I looked down and slowly nodded my head.
"Come with me, Annalí. Let me make you whole!" He grabbed my hand and twirled me around the room. He stopped, suddenly, and pulled me to him. I looked into his eyes and saw myself reflected in their murky depths. His eyes were glowing, once again. I saw him open his mouth and I felt a surging pain in my neck. He had bitten me. I could feel him sucking my blood out from me, and I felt weaker and weaker as the moments passed. My legs collapsed beneath me and he grabbed me, continuing to drink. I silently wondered if he was killing me, but I knew even this was better than being a slave. Finally, he stopped. I barely had any blood left, my pulse growing faint. I barely saw the blood, my blood, dripping from his lips. I could sense it. I was dying.
Before I could part with the mortal world, Thomas made a gash in his neck with a knife nearby. He pressed my lips to it and urged me to drink. I obeyed, feeling the warm blood flow into my mouth. I continued to drink and I became alive once again. Thomas had to roughly pull me away.
"No more! " he said, "That's all for now. We'll hunt later. First, you must rest. Allow your body to change."
I nodded and followed him up the stairs to my room. As I entered, I noticed the shades were drawn. To prevent sunlight, I suppose. I parted Thomas good night and went to bed, feeling more awake than I ever had. I was to fully become I vampire when I awoke. And as I would see, I would reach ultimate power.
[End: Chapter Two]
My longest chapter yet! I hope someone out there enjoyed it, at least a bit. Next chapter might be delayed a bit, but probably no more than a week. Please review!! See ya!
--Ari
