THE FIGHT TO CURE
Nikolett entered her father's quarters, Sirius padding in behind her. She made sure to close the door quietly and slowly approached her father's bed. "Who's there?" Came a quiet, though raspy voice.
"It's me." She said, just as quiet. She looked down at him and smiled kindly. He was getting worse by the hour, now and soon he would be gone. 'Oh, I hope I'm not too late.' She thought as she glanced over at Sirius who was guarding the door. He looked up at her and his ears fell back. He was just as worried as she was. But it wasn't worry for her father. It was worry for her. He didn't know what would happen to her when he drank from her. She smiled at him and turned back to her father. "I've got something that should help." She whispered. She raised her wrist, the palm of her hand facing upward, and bit hard into the vein. As she did this, she heard the big black dog whimper loudly, mostly because she had hissed loudly in pain.
She moved her bleeding wrist to her father's mouth, where it immediately started to drop onto his lips and flow into his slightly open mouth. Every few seconds, she would move her wrist ever so closely, until his lips made contact with her skin. She hissed louder every time he used his fangs.
She noticed Sirius get to his feet, his hackles sticking straight up. Someone was coming. "Keep whoever is it busy." He yipped as a response. He opened the door with one of his paws and went into the hallway. But, a few seconds later, he came flying back in and landed hard at the foot of the bed. "Sirius!" Nikolett cried out as she looked to see if he was alright. The dog quickly got to his feet, but then he fell back down. "Oh, God!" Was all she said as she saw Ivan slowly enter the room.
He saw Nikolett sitting on the bed, her father still drinking from her. "No!" He said. He rushed over to her and pushed her away. She flew into the opposite wall and clutched her wrist tight. "You stupid girl! How could you do this? We were to be married… You could have had this entire kingdom to rule! But, you go and do this!" She stared at him as his eyes began to glow yellow and one set of fangs grew in his mouth. He hissed loudly at her as she let her two sets of fangs grow. He would have attacked her, but Sirius jumped in front of her. "Out of my way, mutt!" Ivan growled and shoved the dog out of the way. Sirius whimpered loudly and lay still.
"I knew it was you!" She hissed.
"Of course. Everyone else is stupid enough to no believe I could do anything so terrible. So, as soon as I'm finished with you, I'll poison the old fool again and make sure nothing like this happens again."
"Why would you do this?"
"Because he doesn't embrace the old ways anymore. He treats the humans like equals when we should be treated as superiors! We should be feared!"
"But, we are. We can't rule the day and the night. Besides, the humans have rights too."
"I'm sure they do." He said, sarcastically. "And we can rule the night and the day. With you as my queen, we can." He grinned evilly at the thought. But, his grin faded as Sirius jumped on him, his teeth bared. Ivan pushed him off, but Sirius jumped back up and grabbed Ivan's arms with his teeth.
Nikolett finally stood back up, still clutching her bleeding wrist. She walked over to the bed to see if her father had recovered, but when she approached the cut in the curtains, she saw that he was gone. "Father?" She asked. She heard no reply. "Father?" She asked again. There was an answer this time when she heard a loud growl and saw Ivan fly out into the hall. "What?" She asked.
She heard a loud whimper of pain and soon heard Sirius begging to be let go. "Please!" He cried out. Nikolett rushed to the other side of the room to find him, but it was too dark.
"Damn!" She quickly pulled her wand out of her pocket with her non-bleeding hand. "Lumos!" She cried out. A little ray of light filled the large room. She saw her father looming over battered and bruised Sirius. "No!" She cried out and as quick as light, she had moved from where she stood to sitting next to Sirius, her arms around him. "Father, you can't! He helped to save you!" She said.
"He is still a wizard."
"That shouldn't matter. Mother was a witch and you loved her. He is a wizard and…" She paused.
"And?" Her father asked her.
"And?" Sirius asked, wrapping her wrist up in a torn piece of cloth from his robes. (She didn't heal as quickly as vampires usually did. She didn't get that trait from her father, though she wished that she had.)
"And… I love him." She finished wrapping her arms tighter around him. "I love him and I will not allow you to deny it." She watched as his teeth and eyes returned to normal.
"Love? You love him?" She nodded. "And does he return this… love?" He asked, looking at Sirius.
"Yes. I do." He said. "Also, sir," he began. "I want to marry her… if you will allow it and she accepts." Her father looked at Nikolett with a pair of angry eyes. Her red eyes had returned to normal when she saw Ivan fly out of the room and, now they were staring right into the elder's. She was muttering something, also, but neither her father nor Sirius could hear her. She closed her eyes as a light fog emitted from somewhere around her and drifted over to her father. It surrounded him and made him have a slight glow. When the mist disappeared, his eyes became kind. "What did you do?" Sirius asked.
"It was a vampire spell to make him feel what I feel." He gave her a puzzled look. "Don't worry. It's only temporary." She said as she looked at her father who now had a look of understanding on his face.
"You really love him?" She nodded. He turned to Sirius "And you… You really helped saved me?" Sirius nodded as light commotion was beginning to fill the hall. "My daughter…" He began, but screams that came from the hall made him stop.
"He's dead!" Said a man's voice. "Ivan is dead!" Nikolett and her father hurried out into the hall. Sirius began to follow, but he thought otherwise… for a few seconds anyway. He poked his head out of the door to see Ivan impaled on a spike that protruded from the wall. It had gone right through his heart. But, he now saw that Ivan's body wasn't the center of attention anymore. All of the other vampires were admiring their king and how well he seemed to look. And it was true. He looked much better than he had in centuries. He even had color in his cheeks, but that would go away when Nikolett's blood cleared his system.
Nikolett slipped away from the crowd and back over to Sirius. "By the way," she whispered. "I would love to marry you." She said, smiling widely. Sirius smiled back.
"Alright." He said as he father spoke up.
"Nikolett, bring him out." Her father said. Nikolett gave him a confused look. "It's all right." He reassured her. She nodded, grabbed Sirius' hand, and led him in front of those who were gathered.
They hissed loudly at him as he approached. "A wizard!"
"He's the one who killed Ivan!"
"He must be destroyed!"
"Enough!" The king roared at them. They quickly fell silent. "Many of you know that my daughter has a secret, but most of you do not know what it is… My daughter, Nikolett, is… half-witch." There was a loud gasp. "Yes, but I have treated her as though she was a full vampire. But, because of her smart thinking, I am well again…" He turned to Nikolett. "My daughter, I know I have put so much pressure on you about ruling someday. And I have come to a conclusion about it."
"Father?" She asked, uncertainly. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders.
"You deserve a life of your own… I give you my consent… to marry… this…" He winced slightly at the though. "…wizard."
