Chapter 9 – New Ally

Xenia felt the warmth of the sun crawling on her skin, sending a tingling sensation through her body. Slowly, she opened her eyes to the soft morning light streaming down from the small gaps among the numerous leaves above her. The shimmering mist that lingered among the emerald greens gave the trees an amorphous appearance.

"I'm dead…" she murmured to herself. She must be dead – the vampire must had sucked her dry. She tried to move, but her body ended up twitching by the effort she made. Fatigue enfeebled her, she felt numb and heavy. Then she began to acknowledge the dull pain. It was not the searing pain she remembered from the confrontation with the vampire, it was a vernal pain as like under the pressure of a gentle weight.

"Am I dead?" she wondered out loud, wishing for an answer.

"You're alive." Said a voice, deep and seductive yet full of ennui.

She laughed, her senses drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness.

"I'm alive…" she echoed the voice, finding it funny as she chuckled to herself softly. Then her wit jerked back into place abruptly and she gasped. Suddenly cognizant of another's presence, she shot straight up, startled, whipping her head to the direction of the voice so hard that she almost broke her neck. Pain did not ignite with her movement as she expected, but it burned with more intensity.

There sat a man under the shade that the trees provided. He sat cross-legged, facing a little away from her so that she could still see his face. He had dark hair that fell to the nape of his neck; his angular feature similar to Dale's but sturdier and broader than him. The man, or rather, the boy was about the same age as Dale, but she sensed the ambiance of mellowness about him and tasted the ancient wisdom that seemed to seep out from his being. Compared to Dale, who she saw as an annoying, cocky, and trouble-making jerk, the boy before her now seemed much, much older. The stranger was not looking at her, his eyes were half closed and focused on the ground before him. She couldn't help but gawk at the beautiful being that sat a little away from where she was, enchanted by his extraneous beauty. Stupid, stupid girl… she cursed, trying to remind herself that he might be a threat to her life. Xenia gritted her teeth and concentrated to free her body from its rigid state. She dared not take her eyes off him as she balled her hand into fists, her muscles tensed, preparing for a possible fight at the same time trying to push back waves of admiration that rushed over her at the sight of him. She almost laughed when she noticed the absence of fear. After the previous lethal encounter with a vampire that tried to kill her, she was prepared to die.

"You are also a vampire aren't you?" she glowered and asked with strained voice.

"Yes, but I have no intention of hurting you. I am Ivan, and Dale is a close friend of my, he asked me to watch over you while he's gone searching for food and water to aid your recovery." He said, his voice velvet rich but emotionless. She was almost charmed by his voice, but fought back the urge to surrender to his seduction. In fact, she realized as she observed him carefully, that he was not at all trying to dazzle her like Dale did. It was easy to see from the way he held his gaze down and avoided eye contact with her. He wasn't trying to do anything, or else she would be already at his knees begging him to sink his fangs into her neck. Gosh, stupid vampire charisma! She rolled her eyes with the thought, letting out an annoyed sigh. Still she wasn't ready to let her guard down, she learned now not to give her trust to a stranger so easily, especially not a vampire. He seemed to have sensed her doubt and mistrust.

"Trust me or not to trust me, you will have to choose. But no matter what you think, you will have no danger from me. But if you try to run, I'll have no option but to be rude. Dale wouldn't want to see you running away from him again."

Xenia shrugged and relaxed a little. If the vampire was up to anything, he was not being conspicuous; it seemed that she was safe from him. Still she decided not to fully trust him, after all, he could be playing with her just for his own amusement. Then it struck her; she had been so occupied with Ivan that she forgot her puzzlement over how she was still alive. It was then that the feeling hit her. It was fear. When she was confronting the previous vampire and Ivan, she fought mindlessly, no longer caring about her own life. But now that she was safe from harm, she shuddered at the memory, for she had come so close to death and it chilled her to the bones. Now that she thought back at the confrontations with both vampires, she could not help but tremble from the fear that was too slow to come. Xenia hesitated before asking the question.

"Care to tell me how I'm still talking to you now? And how am I not hurt? How long have I been asleep?" she asked.

"I don't know the details, but Dale saved you from Akzorr. You've been out for just a whole night, and I think you should ask Dale how you're not hurt at all."

"Wait, I've been out for just a night? And who the hell is Akzorr?" she tilted her head to one side, her eyes widened with shock and disbelief while her brain processing to absorb the information.

"Akzorr is the captain of the royal guards and the one who attacked you. As I said, you should ask Dale the details, he hasn't told me the story yet."

"Did you just say guards?" Xenia tensed at his words, scanning her surrounding with wide eyes.

"It's morning, they won't risk coming out. Even at night they dare not come near, they fear Dale far too much to encroach. Have not fear."

She relaxed with a sigh, her eyes flashing back to him, curious and suspicious.

"They fear him…" She exclaimed, hoping that he wasn't some kind of power-crazy wanted murderer in this land.

"Why?"

"Well," he said quietly, closing his eyes.

"There are only a few things that can kill a vampire – sunlight, another vampire, and magic. And Dale is born with magic," he held up a finger to stop Xenia from interrupting. She closed her mouth reluctantly, holding back the numerous questions. He continued.

"His mother was a powerful human sorceress, perhaps one of the few legendary figures to ever exist in human history of magic."

"Oh, just great – yesterday there were vampires, and today there's magic! What's next? The end of the world?"

Ivan scowled, she thought she saw, but the expression came as quick as it went and she found no trace of annoyance on his face.

"She became pregnant with them before she was turned, and so he… somehow inherited her magic, and I'm not sure that 'inherit' would be the word for it. It's a mystery that his brother shows no sign that he possesses magic ability."

Xenia frowned, "Them? His brother?"

Ivan shook his head regretfully, "I've said too much. It's his story to tell, not my. If you wish to hear the full story, ask him to tell you. But don't expect him to, he has a… heartbreaking past… it upsets him to talk about it."

She pouted with disappointment, but said no more, instead beginning to cogitate about Dale. She thought of the things that she learned about him these few days, and perhaps she was wrong about him somehow; he, to her surprise, was the one to save her life. She didn't understand why he would bother, why he cared… maybe there was something there she didn't see before, maybe what she saw wasn't really him but a shell. Those who had a sorrowful past or a miserable life often acted normal and optimistic around others, they became a completely different person when with those who knew not their dark past and life, they tried to alter the reality, to transform themselves. She knew because she had a friend like that. And Xenia never learned about the truth about her friend until it was too late. She shook her head vigorously, tears welling in her eyes as she recalled the death of her; she had never been able to forget the guilt she felt when her friend died, she loathed herself for not being able to help, for not able to find out the truth earlier… The death of her friend cast an enormous shadow over her, a shadow she had long been trying to ignore, to escape from.

"Dale… he's really intrigued by you." A voice disturbed her thoughts, pulling her back to the present.

"Huh?"

"Haven't you noticed?"

Heat rushed to her cheeks and she fought the blush. She didn't know why her heart began to flutter at his words, her own feelings toward Dale were still ambiguous and she didn't dare to explore them, refusing to allow herself to be entangled in a new conundrum.

"You seem quite comfortable around a vampire." He commented with a hint of admiration. She shrugged, suddenly remembering what the nature of the being she was talking to was. It scared her to realize that she was quite herself before both Dale and Ivan, the vampires. It was strange really, this was a mistake, for she was violating the law of nature by contradicting her natural instinct. A human who was conscious of a vampire's present should have felt extreme fear, not the feeling that she had. Irritated by her lack of fear and qualm around Dale and Ivan, she wanted to hit herself in the head to wake her dormant instinct.

"Yeah, well, you are his friend and all." She said, rolling her eyes again.

"There's no proof, how do you know if I'm lying or not?"

"Okay – enough with the freakin' questions, jeez, you vampires are all alike, you're really getting on my nerve. Oh yeah, I just remembered, I have a whole bunch of questions for you, so what -" She shut her mouth as he held up his hand, motioning for her to stop.

"I'm not a child you know, stop interrupting me like that!" Before he said anything, she snapped at him angrily for what she regarded as his boorishness.

"I'm sorry, but if you have any more questions, I think you should ask Dale." He said, she saw only apathy on his face and in his motions, but she knew that he must had became impatient with her.

"Dale would never tell me anything, he's such a jerk!"

"Hey! I heard that!" Dale suddenly emerged from the woods, making her jump.

"Enough with the 'materializing' thing, you scared me! Jeez, what a show-off." She complained and scowled at him. Dale laughed.

"Hey, Ivan." He greeted the silent figure a few feet away from them, never taking his eyes off her.

She began to notice now the rapture that rippled through his body as he watched her with eyes fierce with fervor. He seemed to be trying to hide the ardor that rushed in his blood, but he continued to tremble. Dale stepped toward her and took her hands in his. He held her hands with tenderness, she could almost feel the relief and joy he was emanating.

"Okay," she said, pulling her hands away as she blushed crimson. "You're creeping me out."

He laughed softly, and she for the first time appreciated how sweet and dulcet his laugh was, it melted her heart.

"You have no idea, Xenia… you don't know how relieved I am…" he said, his eyes sincere and hesitant as if he was conflicting inside whether to tell her his feelings or not.

"Yeah right, like you really care." She rolled her eyes, but underneath her annoyed look, flowers of exaltation were blossoming.

"I brought you food and water, you're probably hungry aren't you?" He asked her, his blissful expression suddenly gone, replaced by a haughty grin. The vampire held out a bundle that she hadn't notice him carrying before and dropped it into her hands. Xenia could feel the ephemeral happiness departing, and she began to feel annoyed at his cavalier attitude toward her, it was as if she was worth no more than a penny. She shot him a sharp look and walked away from both vampires, finding a place underneath one of the many trees to settle down without saying a thank-you.

"Such an attitude." Xenia heard him grumbled behind her.

"Such a brat!" She spat the words, twisting around to make a face at him. He ignored her with a smirk and crossed his arms before his chest as if challenging her.

"Jerk!" piqued, she returned fire.

"Bipolar!" he yelled back.

"AAAAAGH!" the girl snarled, she was almost tempted to throw a rock at him, but decided to be lady-like in front of Ivan, and so she pushed down the anger and turned her back on the two vampires.

She untied the knot on the bundle and unwrapped the cloth. There was a water skin and copious exotic looking fruits. She recognized some of the round, golden fruits as the fruits that he brought her a day ago. The pleasant and sweet aroma of the fruits drilled into her stomach, making it growl. Feeling the intense hunger all of a sudden, she grabbed what she could reach first and bit down hard on it. Dale must had seen her horrible eating manners because she hear him say with sarcasm, "What a fine young lady."

"Shut up!" She yelled at him with her mouth full, not really caring her how she presented herself in front of them – she was too hungry and tired to care.

She must admit that it tasted heavenly, not anything she would ever get to have a taste of in her world. If I every get back, she thought as she gorged down the fruits before her, I would import this stuff and make a fortune. She imagined herself living in a huge mansion consummated with gold, counting wads of money she made selling these delicious and foreign ambrosias. Xenia almost laughed at the idea – she really wasn't much of a saleswoman, she just wanted to go back home and finish school, and find a nice job that would earn her enough to buy a little house with many pets. But that didn't seem possible right now, so she decided that she would have to wait a little longer among the dark woods. Quickly she finished the food and water; wiping her lips and chin with the cloth that was used to carry the fruits, she folded it beside her and lay down on the soft, green patch of grass under the tree.

"Thank you." She whispered to Dale, knowing that he would hear with his keen vampire sense of hearing. She could feel his gaze upon her as she whispered the words, but ignored him and closed her eyes. The moment she fell asleep, she found the fiend's blood-red eyes staring at her with forbidding menace from flames that burned in the hell of forever darkness.