Chapter eleven: The start of Afërdita slowly breaking down in an emotional state.
"Afërdita…" I noticed that this was different because of the tone of voice that it was using, and the aurora that was surrounding me. I sat up and looked around to notice that what I was feeling was right. The sky was red, and the ground was covered with dead and wilted plants. The voice continued to call out to me as a chill went down my spine because it sounded like Afrim's. "H-Hello, who's there?" I stood up and continued to look around. "Show yourself!" I tried to locate the voice, but I couldn't. I continued to look around, but stopped when I saw that there was a door. I slowly walked up to the door as the voice got louder and louder. "Yes, come to me. Open the door, Princess…" I looked at the door knob for a few seconds, and slowly took it in my hand to open it. I was frozen in shock when there were images of blood, motionless bodies, and many more that were disturbing images that I didn't want to see. "S-Stop it… Make it stop!"
"Stop it!" I woke up while saying this as my eyes were wide open, sweat on my forehead, tears in the corners of my eyes, heart beating in a fast rate, and shivering in fear. This caused me to grab the pillow and put it over my head to silence my sobs. This has been happening for days now, and this wasn't helping me because today was the day that I was supposed to meet Dracula. I slowly calmed myself down, and sat up as I hugged the pillow. I continue to look around to see that the sun was barely rising, which made me groan. I didn't want to be in front of people at this state. I got off the bed, washed my face, and put on my normal day clothes. I noticed that there was a weird mark on the nook of my neck. "That's weird…" I continued to look at it for a few seconds because it wasn't a bite mark like I thought it would be. Instead, it was a gray angel wing. I shook it off, covered it with the necklace that Ayanami gave me, and walk out of the room.
"There you are!" I looked at Blume as she ran up to me, but stopped with a shock look on her face. "Are you okay? Your eyes are red." I nod at this, and smiled to try to calm myself, along with her, down. "Y-Yeah, just a nightmare." She wasn't buying it. "Don't worry; I'll be fine." I smiled more as she took it this time. Then she took my hands and said, "now come; you need to eat your breakfast." I nod at this statement, and followed her to the dining room. Luckily, Ayanami didn't go into my mind, which made me thank God for because the scene of my dream was still playing throughout my mind. I couldn't get it out for some reason, which scared me. I tried my best to ignore them at this point.
"Hey, Afërdita," I looked up to see Ayanami, which I tried to stay calm as I nod, as a way to say morning to him, at him and continued to eat. "Is there something wrong?" I pretended that I didn't hear this, and continued to eat my meal. "Afërdita," this caused me to look up at him again as I noticed that he had a slight worried look on his face. "I know there's something bothering you." I looked back at the meal. I didn't know if I should tell him about my dreams, but I guess I don't have a choice. I still told a lie either way. "Don't worry; I'll be fine." I was about to grab my cup of water, but then Ayanami grabbed on my wrist and start to grip on it. I winced in pain at this, which it confirmed my thoughts as I sighed. "Can I at least eat my breakfast in peace?" He stayed quiet for a few seconds, but then he let go of it. After a couple of seconds later of trying to relieve the slight pain on my wrist, I start to eat my breakfast again. Then I went to the garden, which Ayanami followed me in doing so.
"So, what's bothering you?" I turned around to him with a glare aiming at him. "First off, why should I tell you everything that's wrong with me when I can handle things on my own?" He sighed at this. "Then why did you need help when you fought with Afrim?" I was shock at this, but then I continued to glare at him. "You know damn well of why I needed help. Besides, I know when I need to tell someone things when I know what they need to know." I was starting to walk away, but then Ayanami grabbed onto my shoulder as I felt his glare digging into the back of my head. "Do you really think that you can make it through this all on your own?" I bit my lip at this as I felt tears beckoning to come out. "You know as well as I do that you need help; especially when you're at your weakest-" That's when I slapped him across his face, with tears flowing out, as he said this. "I'm not weak, and I don't need help!"
I instantly ran out of the garden and ran into my bedroom after this. The images were still flowing through my mind as I arrived at my bedroom, locked the door, and curled up against the door. I wanted the images to stop and to get out of my mind because I knew that if I see them that I'll go nuts. Then there was a knock on the door again.
"Afërdita, your grandfather has arrived." I slowly took a deep breath, wiped my tears, and calmed myself down before I opened the door. "I-I'll be there in a sec." I whispered, looking down at the ground, as I heard Blume's gasp in shock. "Afërdita, is there something wrong? What happened?" I shook my head at this and turned my back at her. "I-I'm fine; don't worry. J-Just wait for me outside at the door." I heard her say, "okay," and closed the door. This caused me to go to the restroom again to wash my face for the second time. Luckily, this action calmed me down a bit. I went out of the restroom, out of my room, and followed Blume.
As soon as we were nearby the living room, Blume stayed behind. I slowly walked up to the doorway to see a man sitting on a chair, in front of a fire place. "U-Um, hello?" A dark chuckle erupted from the man as the same chill went down my spine. "Hello, Afërdita, my granddaughter." I widened my eyes as he stood up and turned around to look at me. This made me notice that he was taller than me, and looked exactly like the man in the cover of the family history book. I calmed myself down, and said, "so, you're Dracula?" Another chuckle erupted again. "Yes I am, and call me Vlad if you like." I wasn't used to this because he looked younger than any normal grandparent should, but I guess it was a given since he was a vampire. "I-I think I rather call you Dracula for now." He continued to laugh at this. "Should we begin you training with your vampire abilities?" I shook my head at this. "I think I should know the person that I'm going to train with first." He nod at this, and sat back down on the chair as I stood nearby the fireplace.
"So, what do you want to know about me?" I thought about the questions that I was going to ask him. "Is it true about the famous story about you?" He chuckled at this. "Yes it is; I'm surprise that you know about that story." I didn't know if I should be happy or be in shock that he's saying this. "Of course I know it. Everyone that loves vampires, or probably are vampires themselves, knows about that story." I rolled my eyes at this as he continued to chuckle. "True, but not everyone, except for a few vampires, knows that I'm still alive." I looked at him with a serious look. I knew that this was true because no-one believed that he was real or even alive in that matter. Heck, I even thought that he wasn't alive or real. "I have another question though: why is it that I'm part angel while I'm also part vampire? I mean, it's pretty odd combination for a half breed." He looked back at me with the same look that I was giving him, which sent a cold chill down my spine at this reaction. "It's because there's a deal within all the races." I was confused at this. "What do you mean by 'a deal within all races?'" This was making me feel like I was being used and that I have to do something with it.
"You and Ayanami are on contract that will bring peace to the world." I widened my eyes at this as I was frozen in fear. "You see, Ayanami is also a half angel and half vampire as well. The reason that you were made was because there was a war between all races." I was in shock of this because no one mentioned this to me. "Wait, a war between all races? How is that possible when there's a demon king after me?!" I covered my mouth when I finished saying this. I was always told to never tell that to anyone, but why was I telling it to him out of all people?!
"Do you know why he's after you?" I was confused at this. "Isn't it because of my abilities?" He lightly nod at this. "That's partly the reason of it. Though, I do know that he's after you because of your blood because what it'll do if he drinks it." I was even more confused by this. "That still doesn't explain of why he killed my parents when they have no part in any of this." His eyes widened when I said this. "Your parents were killed by him?" I gripped my hands into fist at this, and slowly nod at this.