Chapter 54

(Note: this happens while I'm asleep. I'm going back a bit to say why I'm breathing like that.)

I awoke to complete darkness. My clothes had changed from rags to a long elegant pink and purple dress with sleeves reaching my elbows and openly flowed to my mid-forearm. My hair was in a ponytail and I couldn't see out of my right eye.

A light flashed and I shielded my eyes. When it dimmed, a man with short brown hair stood in front of me. He wore a white button up shirt with a gold necklace and gold belt. His pants were black and so were his shoes. The purple coat he wore had a popped collar and rolled up light purple sleeves and a red inner lining.

"Sophia," he said in a sweet voice as he grabbed my hands and held them to his chest. "I can't believe you're finally back!"

"Who are you?" I demanded, quickly swatting his hands away from mine. "Where am I?"

"Sophia, dear…" he cradled my cheek. "It's me."

Swatting his hand away again, I turned and ran from him. Who was Sophia?! Where am I? Who exactly is that man and why is he after me?! All those questions ran through my head, including one more important than the others.

Where the heck was Dark?!

"Ally!" I heard Dark cry out to me. I stopped and looked around me. He was to my left, reaching his hand out to me. Immediately, I ran for it, outstretching my hand as well. I grabbed his hand and he began to pull me into his embrace, but stopped.

"Dark?!" I asked worryingly, looking into his amethyst eyes. They looked pain filled and unusual. My eyes trailed slowly down to his chest and gasped loudly, backing away from my love, tears falling from my eyes. My hands covered my mouth to prevent myself from screaming out loud.

The man had stabbed Dark in his back. Dark fell forward, hitting the ground with a lifeless thud.

"No!" I cried. "DARK!"

"Now, where were we, my Sophia?" the man walked towards me, stepping over Dark's body.

"Get away!" I backed up. "No. Stay back! GET AWAY!"

My eyes shot open and I sat up, panting like crazy. I still had no idea where I was or who that man was. My vision was partly blurred and tears streamed down my cheeks.

I felt a pair of strong hands on my shoulders. "Ally?! What's wrong?!" a voice rang through my ears.

I shook my head and backed away from the person. My hand shot up and I extended my fingernails to their throat. My eyes were blurred with tears and I couldn't see them at all.

"Get away from me!" I yelled. I heard a door open and the sound of a few people coming in. "I don't know who you are or who this 'Sophia' character is, but I know I'm not her!"

"Ally! What are you doing?!" the voice said again.

Then it hit me. The person called me "Ally", not "Sophia". I used my other hand to wipe away the tears from my eye and looked at the person. I retracted my fingernails and stared at him for a moment before falling into his arms, bawling like crazy.

"I'm so glad you're alive, Dark!" I cried out.

He wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me closer. "And I'm glad you're alive, too, sweetheart."

I looked up at his eyes and he looked back with soft amethyst eyes. I just loved his eyes so much. Without thinking, I closed my eyes and pressed my lips to his. He pressed harder and hugged me closer.

When I realized other people were around by the sound of gasps, I broke out kiss and blushed hard. After a bit, a sudden pain in my side made me wince and bend over in pain, clutching my stomach.

"Ally!" Dark put his hand on my back. "What is it?"

"Sudden pain…" I hissed. "…in my side…"

I didn't notice Emiko coming over and lift my shirt partly. "Sure enough, when she sat up, she reopened her side wound. Towa, go get fresh bandages, a bowl of water, and some towels."

"You got it!" I heard Towa's voice say before she left.

Both Dark and Emiko helped me lay back down. Dark sat down on the chair and never let go of my hand as Emiko and Towa worked on my side. Meanwhile, I noticed who else was in the room: Brianna was there and so was Midnight and Krad. I was guessing everyone else was in the living room. I winced as Emiko used a wet towel to wash my cut and I tightened my grip on Dark's hand.

"It's okay," my love told me. I looked up at him and smiled. He always knew what to say during times like this.

"And… we're done!" Emiko said as she tied off the bandage. I slowly sat up and let my shirt fall over my side. "Thanks, Emiko," I said.

"Not a problem!" she smiled back.

My stomach growled just then. It was just regular hungry, but I looked at Dark and he held up his wrist I fed from earlier. Sighing, I put my hand on his and lowered his hand. "It's just regular food hungry, not vampire hungry."

"Oh," he smiled sweetly and I almost fainted from the sight of it.

"Well, it is about dinnertime, so everyone wash up. Dark, please help Ally out of bed and to the living room." With that, everyone left behind Emiko.

Dark held out his hand and I took it willingly. He lifted me to my feet, but I almost fell due to lack of balance. Luckly, just as I was about to go face first into the carpeted floor, Dark caught me.

"You're such a klutz," he chuckled.

"Oh, shut up, womanizer." I chuckled back.

He straightened me up and we were looking face to face now. No one around. The thief then wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his warm loving embrace. I wish it never ended.

"You know very well that there is only one girl in this world for me," his whispered in my ear. "And it's you." I pulled away enough to look in his eyes. They were so deep that I needed a map to navigate myself through it.

He cradled me cheek and pulled me into the best kiss of my life. It shot chills down my spine and warmed my soul. It felt like fireworks on the Fourth of July in America.

He pulled away and put my arm around his shoulder. "Let's get going, my love."

"Yeah," I agreed and he helped me to the living room, where everyone was waiting.