Chapter 8: Message of Terror

Months passed and Dante and I's relationship flourished as beautifully as ever. I had thought everything was going quite well. I was beginning to become okay with myself again, beginning to let go of things in my past I could not control or change.

It was already mid-November when we got the message.

I was sitting on the sofa, thinking to myself about my past and what it had done to me. How it had tortured me…I couldn't wrap my head around the events that had taken place and why they had taken place at the time they had. Maybe my life was so plain and ordinary that something just had to happen, something had to throw my regular routine out of whack. I needed this, and I knew it.

Dante opened the front door slowly, walking with a very slow, steady pace as he read a small letter. I swung my head around to watch him, creasing my forehead, worried as to what the message was telling him.

He stopped walking as he reached the middle of the main hallway. He looked up into the air, sighing as he hung the letter at his side.

He looked over at me, his eyes turning sorrowful.

"What is it?" I asked now, curious as hell as to what it was. Tell me already! I hated when he kept things from me, especially when I could tell it was upsetting him.

"We must depart from this place as soon as possible, yet again," he said, solemnly.

"Why? Let me see the letter!" I was angry, everything was just starting to go well. I was finally starting to feel content with the way things were and then something else has to ruin it! I felt like a little kid whining but hey, this is my life we're talking about!

Dante walked over to me, handing me the letter. It was written in very elegant script.

Dearest Dante,



I cannot allow this madness to go on any longer. You must rid of that wretched girl who is interfering in our affairs. If you do not get rid of her soon, there will be consequences, you understand this. I pray you do the right thing.

She must either be one with us, or be dead as one against us. We cannot allow another human interference. You know what happened the last time that event occurred. Think of your brother, you do not want to end up like him.

Do the right thing, I trust you.

Vincent

I was deathly confused. Brother? Dante had never said anything at all about a brother. And apparently this brother of his had been in the same situation as we are at the moment.

It's not like I'm against the vampires, I'm in love with one for god sake. The thing I do not agree with is the killing of innocent people just for the taste of their blood.

"What brother is Vincent talking about, Dante? And why has he waited this long to send you this message? Are they coming after me? What's going on??" I was almost in a panic now, not knowing what to do, wondering if we should leave now, wondering where we would go. Would we be safe? Would I be safe? What was happening?

Dante sat next to me now, taking my hands in his once again, as he's always done when he had something serious to explain to me.

"I'm sorry I never told you about him. I was waiting for the right time," he looked at our hands now. I took my hand out from underneath his and raised his chin to look at me.

"Just explain, I'm not angry, more confused with everything that is happening right now…as I always am," I ended my sentence sounding a little 

annoyed because I never knew what was going on, I never knew how he felt or what was going on in that beautiful head of his.

"My brother, Charles, fell in love with a beautiful human, as I have. She had bright blonde flowing hair, unbelievable blue eyes, and the kindest heart I'd ever had the pleasure to meet.

Vincent found out of their love. My brother was trying to plead with Samantha to become his wife, to become one of us, but that was not a life she wanted for herself. She wanted kids, she wanted a normal life, and as one of us, she knew she could not ever experience that.

Charles was heartbroken but he would try to stay with her for as long as he possibly could before putting her in danger. Vincent became angrier. He did not want any human knowing of us and knowing of what we were capable of. He sent Charles a letter…just as he has with us, telling him of the dangers he would face if he kept this human in his life.

The couple in love did not care of the evil that awaited them, they remained together, promising to spend eternity with one another, even if that meant they had to spend it in the next world.

Vincent showed up at Charles' door, not amused. He killed them both quickly, as if no one would notice, no one would care. Of course I cared, Charles was my brother! He was my only family left in this world and I could not deal with the fact that my ruler and my king had betrayed me. Samantha promised not to reveal us, she promised to love Charles, yet that was not enough for Vincent. He would abide by the rules of our people no matter what, no matter what situation, even if that meant killing one of his most loyal friends.

We must leave, Victoria, if you truly want to be with me, we must leave as soon as possible. I will not lose you as Charles lost Sam. I will not have you killed in front of my very eyes."

I felt terrible. I felt as though all of this was my fault, every single little bit of it. If I hadn't existed, he would be fine, my town would be fine…my mother would be fine. But nothing was fine, nothing! I hated myself right now, I hated that I was ever born. But I would never tell Dante that. I couldn't make him feel worse than he was feeling right now.



We would have to leave everything. We would have to leave his beautiful home, the nice seclusion we had, everything. It would all be lost and it was all my fault.

Dante grabbed me by the shoulders now, looking into my eyes. "Don't you think all of that, don't you think this was your fault. It's all over now, Victoria, we cannot just sit here and play the blame game, we must move quickly and we must have a plan."

How did he know what I was thinking? Did he really know me that well? We'd only been together for a few months…although I guess he had been with me for years now. I guess it wasn't a surprise he knew everything that was running through my mind.

"If we must leave, then let's do it now before I become even more upset with myself and do something really terrible," I said, looking right back into his eyes. I wasn't kidding either, I'd wanted to kill myself before, and this just gave me a reason.

"You're not doing anything, I'm going to protect you and we're going to be fine. We will have our life together, one way or another, Victoria, we will be together for all eternity, if that is what you want, you shall have it. And you shall have me."

I knew he'd keep me safe. But I had an option. Should he just get it over with and turn me now? Or should we wait and see how this all plays out? I was dreadfully confused and I had no idea what I should do. This was a terrible decision to make by myself and I thought I already knew what Dante would want.

"Should we just get this over with now or later?" I finally asked, afraid of his answer. I didn't think I was ready yet. I hardly knew anything about vampires except all of the stories…and I was finding more and more that those very stories were all false.

Dante looked at me with confusion in his jade eyes. "What are you talking about, my love?" He asked, looking concerned. I got the feeling he thought I meant him killing me himself.

"Should you turn me now or later?"



He pulled away from me now, looking around as though he was thinking very hard. I was wrong. He was just angry. He stood up now quickly, looking down at me with harsh eyes.

"Victoria, I want you to get one thing straight," he started, I'd never heard this tone of voice coming from him before. To be honest, I was quite startled. I didn't think I said anything that would bother him this much. "I will only change you if you want to be changed. If it is what you want, then it is what you will get. But I will never make that decision for you. If you would like to stay human, I understand, I will never pressure you and I want you to make your own decision. Got that?"

"Yes," I said, looking down. I think I wanted to be changed, but then again, I didn't want it. I didn't want to be a monster, but if being a monster meant that I could spend all of forever with Dante, I'd take it. I'd take all of it. I sat there, looking at my hands, folding them and unfolding them, thinking and thinking about what I really wanted. If I gave up being a human now, I'd never have kids, I'd never have a normal life, and I'd be eighteen forever. Oh well, I never really wanted kids anyway. I wanted to be changed…but would now be the right time? That I did not know yet.

"Are you ok? You look like you're very much in thought, my love," Dante said, catching my attention, making me look up at him. I could tell he knew what I was thinking. Could he really read my mind? Or did he just know me that well?

My stomach ached with anxiety. It twisted and turned until I grabbed around myself, trying to muffle the sounds. I felt sick. I felt worried, I felt hurt. Everything Dante was trying to avoid me feeling, I felt, all at this very second.

I grabbed him, wrapping my arms around his waist as he stood in front of me. I couldn't help but to break down, once again. I honestly didn't even know why I broke down. Wasn't he what I wanted? Didn't I want to spend all of forever with the one I loved? Why was I feeling so broken and confused?

"I want you to change me," I heard myself saying. I felt as though I was watching myself in a movie. I was standing beside the couch, watching myself cling onto Dante's waist, telling him to change me into one of the monsters that killed everything I ever knew and loved.



Dante uncoiled my arms now, putting them back on my lap as he sat beside me. My eyes burned with tears and I felt them dripping down my face and onto my hands. I wiped them all away, putting on a brave face so he thought I was serious. I was serious, but I did not want this event to occur right now. I knew I wasn't ready. But if it would make matters easier, I'd have to just suck it up and deal.

"You're not ready right now, I can see it in your eyes," my angel said, looking at me with certainty. "I may not really be able to read minds, but I'm guessing I come pretty damn close to reading yours and I know that you are not ready, I will not go through with it until I see the certainty within you. I cannot and will not do something that you are not ready for. Especially something as big as taking away your humanity."

I felt myself go limp. Damn me and my inability to lie. I could never lie without smiling or crying. My emotions always took hold of me, making it impossible for me to trick anyone, even myself. If I told myself I was ready, then I would be ready. But every time I told my mind I was ready, it would whisper back to me, "don't fool yourself, you know you're not ready." It was quite annoying.

"I know, but if it would help the situation at all, I would rather you do it now than later. I know I want it, but I just don't know when I want it. So if you would just do it now, I wouldn't have to choose. I am very indecisive, as you know and I would prefer if you just made the choice for me. Is it a wise thing to do to change me now?"

Dante raised an eyebrow, as if my response was unexpected. I really did want to be changed, but I couldn't make the decision on my own, I needed some help.

"Of course I would love for us to spend our lives together in eternity. I have waited I don't know how long anymore just to meet you. But I finally have you and I don't want to pressure you in any way to become one of us. I want you to want it. I want you to want it at the time it will happen. I cannot make this decision for you, I've told you this. I feel as though I have already taken enough from you. I cannot take any more without your consent. And also, I do not think it would help our situation very much right now. Yes, you would be changed, but I would rather fight Vincent than turn you into something you do 

not want to be at the moment. Once it is done, there is no going back, Victoria, you understand this."

"I know, but we wouldn't have any threats anymore, we could live peacefully, we could be together without anyone trying to interfere anymore. We would have no worries. It would be fantastic."

Dante smirked a little. "It would not be your definition of 'fantastic' for a few months, if not more, my love."

"And why is that?" I asked, curiously. I thought he had said in his story it only took over night for him to realize what had happened. He had to have been fine within a month.

"I was never like normal humans, Victoria. There was something else to me. When I was changed, I was still myself, I wasn't the blood-thirsty children that everyone else turns into. You basically have the mind of a child, you thirst for blood and you will do whatever you can in your power to get it. I had more willpower, I wanted something different for myself. In fact, Vincent appointed me to head of the 'child vamps' we called them. I was to watch over them, to make sure that they were following our rules. No one could ever find out about us and I was one to make sure that that held through.

I have a hidden power inside of me, as does Vincent. We are the most powerful of our kind. Which is why I would like to wait until you are ready to change you. I honestly do not think he will be attacking me any time soon. He would know the consequences of his actions."

I was in very deep thought at this moment. Why wasn't Dante still with Vincent then? Why wouldn't he just give up me and live out his powers? He could have such a great life. He could be a ruler, as Vincent is. He probably needs help anyway, from the look of things.

"Why did you leave? Why don't you go live out your powers with Vincent? Why have me holding you back?" It was getting a lot easier to talk to Dante, to ask him the exact questions that had been running through my mind. Usually, I rethought things, but now, I knew he had heard much worse than what I was pouring out to him.



Dante kissed me lightly on my forehead now. I loved when he did that. I could always tell he was about to say something really compassionate and sweet right after.

He finally started, "I would rather die next to you that live out all of my eternity knowing that I could have made it work."

I felt myself blush. My cheeks burned and I felt butterflies fluttering in my stomach. If he couldn't be with me, he would rather die. I felt the same way. I needed him now, and if he left any time soon, or any time ever, I would certainly take my life without thinking twice about it. He was my life now. He was everything to me. If I couldn't wake up seeing his smiling face next to mine, I would certainly die. I couldn't even begin to think of my life without Dante now. Every time I thought of my life before him, I became terribly depressed. I was nothing before this man, and now I was everything. I knew who I was, finally, and I knew what I wanted. And what I wanted was to be with him forever.

As I was thinking all of this, he began to smile. His face lit up as if something inside of him had been switched on.

"I want you to think thoroughly about what you want. And I do not want you to rush it. Take as much time as you need, my sweetheart. I will always be waiting right next to you, even if death takes hold of both of us."