Hello!!! I had lots of fun typing this candle. You are either going to love it or hate it completely. Though the end marks the beginning of a character. Review please!!!!! ~Luna
Mrs. Velandre looked at me with worry through the mirror, still placing the compress on my bruised neck,
"You weren't using my charm, were you?"
"I didn't think it was necessary all the time. I'd never imagine that he would attack me that way," I replied looking down with shame.
Mrs. Velandre guided me back to my room where she sat me on the bed and gently leaned me back against the pillows, the compress never leaving its place. Slowly my eyelids began falling and the tiredness consumed me.
When I opened my eyes again, the clock read 2:30am. My room was really quiet without the music I used to sleep but it didn't really strike me as odd seeing as I had fallen asleep earlier. I got up wanting some water, I could've asked for someone to bring it up but I didn't want to bother anyone. The sound of my door opening echoed around the empty house. I walked down the the several flights of stairs, making my way to the kitchen without a sound. Arriving at the kitchen without a problem, I took a glass and filled it with water. I drank slowly as I watched random things in the kitchen. The house looked bigger without the maids running around cleaning, without the sweet smell of Bella's cooking and the sound of the gardeners hollering to one another. Once done, I placed the empty glass on the counter where in the morning the maids would clean. I made my way back to my room, for some reason I felt too awake and the thought of sleep didn't appeal to me much. I took the first step on the staircase and my barefoot made contact with something liquid.
My face contorted at the gross feeling as I curiously wondered what the substance was. Yet I didn't have much time to think it over because next thing I knew two strong arms had made their way around my waist. They pulled me against a build body and I felt the person's warm breath against my neck. My immediate thought was a burglar but then again to get inside this house with all the cameras, guards and alarms was nearly impossible.
"Now, now Princess, no scream no bite, do scream and I do bite," instructed the person nuzzling against my hair, I knew that voice and placed a face on my captor –Matthew.
I felt weak for some reason, nothing like what I felt earlier today. My body was trembling, he never placed a hand over my mouth so I could've screamed, Mrs. Velandre or Solomon would be there before he could do anything but my body didn't respond to any command. Slowly I moved my hand to my neck, making Matthew chuckle.
"Are you looking for this?" he asked me holding my charm in front of my face, "Well, you won't be needing it anymore," with that said he crushed it in his hand.
My eyes widened and I unconsciously let out a small whimper. He cooed me holding me tighter, his face coming down from my hair and into my exposed neck. My breathing increased, somehow I was thankful I wasn't facing him or I would've been worse. At the moment, all I did was look up the staircase and pray that someone would come down. We didn't move at all, he was just nuzzling against my neck and breathing as if I was the most divine incense in the world. The liquid I had previously stepped on had made its way down the last step and reached my feet once more. Matthew's hands moved up my waist and beneath my shirt, I screamed in my head, and I was sure the tears would come now.
"Please don't," I whispered grabbing his hands with mine. For a moment, I thought he would comply, for he stopped moving them and I breathed deep silently thankful. Though, I should've known better. Next thing I knew his hands were enveloping me completely. I screamed and as promised, he bit down on my neck, making me scream louder. I could feel my blood leaving me, my heart rate increased and the tears were unstoppable. I yelled for help, but Matthew growled and bit harder making the pain almost unbearable. I wondered what had triggered this, was he still mad at the pet comment? Did he have to go so far? I manage to question Mrs. Velandre's and my parent's location in my pain crazy mind but an answer never came, yet a solution came to my mind.
"Vindico Sin," ¹ I hollered trying to break free from his grasp; those were the two words needed to activate the collar, normally I wouldn't have used them but I was desperate and he was crazy.
I waited for his pain to come, for him to let go of me but that never happened, he simply stopped biting to chuckle at me.
"Baby, that doesn't work anymore," Matthew replied to me before licking off the blood on my neck.
I had to think of a way to immobilize him even if just for a second, just enough for me to call the Pet Control or get my parents. Thinking fast on something irrational, I turned to look at him his arms had never let go of me. As expected, Matthew was smirking triumphal at me, my blood dripped from the sides of his mouth and his eyes glinted dangerously in the darkness of the room. I was sure he knew I was scared, was this to prove me wrong when I said I was the owner. Getting back on escaping more that feeling sorry for myself, I got on my tiptoes and before Matthew had a chance to ask I crashed my lips on his. His body immediately tensed before slowly relaxing again. He kissed back forcefully and more tears fell when he brutally bit down on my lip. Once I was sure he was relaxed, I simply kneed him right between the legs with all the strength I could muster, vampire or no vampire he was still a man. Matthew let go of me and I didn't think twice on running up the stairs, but as I was finishing that flight I regretted it. There, lying on the floor, were Clarissa and Beth. Their faces contorted in pain and shock while their ripped out necks were bleeding ferociously, their blood making its way down the stairs and previously to my bare feet. As a reaction, my body jerked in revulsion. Nausea instantly dominating me yet I continued running.
This is the moment where my mind started making me see things; I saw the shadows of the house become deeper and the feeling of being watched never subsided. It never occurred to me –for my mind was deep in turmoil –that Matthew had already gotten up and was stalking me in my shadows. I ran instinctively to Mom and Dad's room, I felt lost and I needed the safety only a parent can give. The room was both quiet and dark nothing unusual.
"Mommy, Daddy?" I whimpered lowly trying to awake them without frightening them from the beginning, though I continued trembling nonstop. On the table next to me (in the entrance hallway to the actual bedroom) was the phone. I took it and pushed the talk button hoping to get Pet Control fast but the dead tone received me mockingly. I threw it on the ground angrily before walking further into the room. I stopped in my tracks, taking a deep breath I gagged –it smelt like death. Did death even have a smell? I didn't know but at the same time I did. My heart thumped inside of me at an alarming rate.
"Mom! Dad!" I yelled in a whisper trying at the same time to find the light switch, I was desperate. Finally, I had found the switch and pulled on it. To my heart's slim hope, my parents lay normally in bed; Dad having an arm around Mom while they slept contently in their warm comfortable bed without worries. I sighed in relief and a small almost invisible smile formed on my bruised lips. I neared them eager to tell them the problem, and then everything would be resolved. Dad would just get up, call the guards, move the police, the Pet Control; they would catch Matthew and charge him with high treason for killing Beth and Clarisse. I would never have to see him again and as for me, I would be taken to the hospital for a checkup for the bite and afterwards I'd go to Alaska and continue my life without any memories of this horrific night or the one who caused it. I shook mom's shoulders but she didn't respond, my heart once again ripping. I gulped and shook her again, nothing.
"Mom! Wake up, please!" I pleaded with despair, moving to sit next to her to try to awake her, yet she didn't, the only movement –cause by myself as I shook her –was that her hair fell backwards revealing two distinct holes on her neck.
My tears went down my cheeks again; I turned to my dad and found the vampire's bite on his neck too. I cried and cried and cried, crazy and disoriented I ran out of the room not paying attention to where I was running. First, Clarissa, Beth, now Mom, and Dad, it was possible he had killed everyone in the house. He was toying with me, torturing me, letting me see that he was in control now, not me. Suddenly, my bare feet made contact with the same liquid that had covered my feet earlier, I didn't want to think of what it was or better, who it belonged to, yet I –in the state I was in –slipped on the liquid form on the ground and fell down the stairs. It didn't give me time to register it, I simply felt myself falling and next thing I knew I was rolling down the stairs, the edges piercing through my body making the pain come sporadically in different places, I was dizzy by the rolling but my dizziness ate me away when my head smacked against one of the steps. Finally, I arrived at the end floor; I was in too much pain to even try to get up. I felt blood accumulate in my mouth, the metallic like taste filling my taste buds, I opened my mouth to let it flow out, last thing I wanted was blood in my mouth. At the moment, the thoughts of just lying here, falling asleep and wait until Matthew decided to kill me off seemed just about right. However, I didn't feel like dying, slowly I blinked a couple of times to see if things had slowed down to a stop. Thankfully they had, I saw the small pool of blood on my lips and the awkward position I had fallen to. I wondered if I had broken anything, I wondered if Matthew was watching me, laughing, then sighed he probably was. I sat up slowly; nothing seemed to hurt more than the flesh wounds. I got up completely and had to hold myself up; apparently, my body wasn't going to take much more of this. Suddenly and almost out of nowhere, Matthew was standing in front of me, holding my frail body frame up. How I was going to get past him again, I didn't know but I wasn't going to stay. He bent down and licked away the blood that was running down my chin and lips; I scrunched my eyes closed in disgust. He then moved to my ear whispering,
"Run."
I looked at him uncertain, the first time in the whole night that I had looked at him in the eyes. He disappeared right there, but I didn't stay wondering, if not took out running the best I could; always having to grab something before I fell from lack of coordination, body help and the dizziness that was eating me away in my insides. In my almost crazed state, I entered Mom and Dad's Study locking the door behind me. I stared at the door thinking that Matthew would just blow it off, jump inside and grab me. However, it was my mistake to watch the door instead of the glass wall behind me. The instant I turned a shriek escaped my lips, on the other side of the glass was Mrs. Velandre, looking at me weakly a worried smile on her lips just at it had been hours earlier when Matthew attacked me. I quickly ran over to her, pressing my hand against the cold glass where she placed hers, she was the first person I saw alive that didn't want me dead or at least toying with me.
"Titi, I'm so scared," I cried, the tears freefalling down my cheeks; I was aware that I sounded childish but I didn't care, the fear was far much, "Matthew… he- he- he bit me, titi, and he killed Mom and Dad!"
Mrs. Velandre nodded understandingly, her sad smile still in place. She seemed to be in pain herself, I knew she couldn't do anything against her prince not even to protect me but being at least in her presence gave a much needed sense of safety. For a moment, I wondered why she was on the other side of the glass and not inside the house but those thought fled when she turned back and then back at me. She looked at me in such a worry that it worried me to no end, I read her lips as she hollered for me to run. I was stuck in place shaking my head, how could this be happening? We were fine earlier, I had gone to the Mall with Matthew and we had helped each other and then I planned on taking him to Alaska and all was fine but now it seemed my happy go-lucky life had made a drastic change to the worse. I felt cornered and trapped –helpless.
She hollered at me to run once again and this time my body reacted, I ran to the door but the sound of snarling halted me to a stop. I turned around and everything seemed to go slow just for me to watch in gruesome detail. My brain simply registered Matthew's body colliding with Mrs. Velandre's. The impact was so strong that the glass shattered and both entered the room. I fell with the impact and slowly crawled backwards and away from both the exit door and Matthew. His body was still latched to Mrs. Velandre's; I couldn't see well what neither of them were doing but I distinctively heard Matthew's snarls and growls. Mrs. Velandre looked at him with pure rage before looking rather surprised and then she looked at me sadly before mutely telling my once again to run. Mrs. Velandre let out a sound that I couldn't describe but it sent a shiver down my spine and made the hairs of the back of my neck stood up. Matthew took a step away from her and her body fell limply to the floor a pool of watery blood pilling around her body. He watched her scrutinizing before letting fall something out of his hand. I quickly looked at the floor and regretted it. The nausea returned to my body but this time I couldn't hold it in, I puked right there, the sound making Matthew turn to me, I think… I didn't look I was too busy trying to erase the images off of my mind because what Matthew had thrown to the floor was nothing else than Mrs. Velandre's ripped out heart.
When I had emptied my stomach's continents, I looked up to Matthew to see him still standing in front of Mrs. Velandre's corpse though he was looking at me. He didn't seem so composed anymore; there were three deep scratch marks along his left cheek, coming from the back of the cheek up to the edge of his lips. His shirt was ripped and shredded.
Slowly almost tauntingly, he neared me, this time I wasn't running away. I didn't have anything left in me, and I was proud; if I was going down I wasn't going to be thrown down running. He grabbed me by the arms with great care almost lovingly. I was so scared my breathing came in short gasps and my heart wanted to break its cage. Matthew hugged me tightly but with care if I didn't know better I'd say he didn't want to make me fell more pain; then he lowered himself to my lips again and kissed me. This kiss contrary to the one shared before was warm, soft and caring; of course, I didn't kiss back no matter how loving it felt I'd be kissing my parents' killer. When he broke away, he gripped my arms just a little tighter and pushed me out the window. I didn't notice I was falling until I felt that sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach just like a rollercoaster ride. He stood there, at the edge of the window watching how I fell from the second floor. I closed my eyes just after seeing the starry night sky and my body made contact with the cool pool water.
I gasped for air and opened my eyes wide. I couldn't believe it! Just then, as I was thinking over all that happened, Clarissa, Lisa and Beth entered my room with today's breakfast.
"Good morning, Miss. Sarytza. It's currently 8:30am," greeted Clarissa as Lisa placed my breakfast but I didn't even look at it. The nauseating nightmare I had experienced was still vividly replaying in my mind.
Before Lisa could tell me what was on the plate I asked them to take it away.
"Do you feel sick?" asked Lisa taking the tray away once more.
"No, I'm just not hungry," I replied getting up, "Though could you bring me some ginger ale?"
Beth nodded and left, Lisa following suit with the tray of food. Clarissa eyes me suspiciously,
"Your mother is waiting for you."
I looked at her oddly, as I made my way to the bathroom, thinking a nice cold bath would sooth my mind and body. Clarissa sighed smiling,
"You two are going to Victoria's Secret to buy your clothes for your Alaska trip."
I awed in remembrance. I climbed inside of the bathtub and ran the water. I sighed contently at the cool water running over my body. Though when I opened my eyes again, my mind played a trick an instead of seeing the water I saw blood coming down the faucet. Trying to calm myself, I closed my eyes again and opened them, happy to see water again. Fifteen minutes later I came out a got clothed. I had to dress a little better today because I was going with Mom so I got a long grey blouse with some black leggings.
My ginger ale was waiting for me on my nightstand next to Lula; for noticing my jellyfishes, I remembered I had to buy more food for them. I drank it down slowly, while grabbing my purse and placing my bangs to hid the healing cut on my forehead. I headed downstairs and unconsciously smiled when I saw the maids running around and Mrs. Velandre playing the piano at the lobby.
"Miss. Moonlight, good morning! How do you do?" greeted Mrs. Velandre cheerfully looking at my better-looking make-up covered neck that held Mrs. Velandre's charm. I didn't reply, I just stared at her grinning. She smiled back a little uncertain before getting up, offering herself to bring my mother.
I couldn't stop smiling, I was so glad of having everyone back safe and sound. I watched the pool and the cleaners through the glass door as I waited for mom to come . I heard the footsteps and turned around with a cheerful smile, I was more excited of seeing my mother alive and breathing,
"Ready to go?"
Yet my smile fell down to a frown when I saw Matthew on the small stairs instead of my mother. I didn't know how I was to act, I just had a nightmare where he killed everyone. We locked eyes and didn't break away. My heart picked up its pace if only a little. For the oddest of reasons, he was all I could see at the moment. I remembered the way his fangs had pierced my neck without remorse and then I remember the way he kissed me just before throwing me out the window. A knowing look graced his features, while mine were decorated with question. Mother entered the room accompanied by Mrs. Velandre, the both stared at us s why still held our gazes locked.
"Excuse me dears," interrupted my mother to which I replied with a simple yes without breaking my lock with Matthew, "We should get going. Ivelisse will be accompanying us."
I simply nodded in understanding our gazes never moving from each other. Mrs. Velandre watched us with interest, wondering internally what had happened to create this atmosphere between us.
"So…" interrupted my mother once again eyes darting between Matthew and me, "Ready to go, Luna?"
I nodded and this time broke our gazes to move to the door. Mom and Mrs. Velandre walked before me to the door and were out the door by the time I was passing beside Matthew. He hadn't moved nor his gaze.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to me as I brushed past him. Those two words made me look back him with astonishment. Matthew didn't turn to me but I knew he was looking at me through the reflection of the glass door. I smiled lightly; I guess he was apologizing for the attack before going to bed.
"Yeah," I replied lightly as I turned and walked out of the house.
I was out the door before I could hear him finish,
"…for everything."
See, I had no idea about it and I would never find out. In my nightmare when I had cried for help I had done it for real, Matthew had arrived to my side in less than a second. He saw my pain contorted face and from there on saw through my expressions my whole nightmare. He had heard me when I told Mrs. Velandre that he had killed my parents, he saw my body quiver and my tears fall down my cheeks. Somehow, through his resentful mind –not to say heart –it pained him to see he was the source of all that unconscious pain. Matthew was never a bad person nor what humans may consider an evil vampire. Simply circumstances led him to be how he was now, because before this he would have never even dreamt of hitting woman, human or vampire. Seeing through my nightmare the monster he had become shamed him, even more when he was aware all I had ever done was try to help him, to befriend him… to defend him, and he was pushing all his anger and recent to the person that was less blamable.
Matthew didn't move from his position until he heard the car sped off. He promised himself, that at least with me he would never be that monster again.
Vindico Sin – vindico means punish in Latin. Sin is well a sin so together it would mean punish the sin.