Chapter 19: Remorse and Rage
AN: OMG OMG OMG. I?m so sorry I haven?t updated in two weeks! First it was the damn writer?s block I got halfway through the chapter and THEN, to make it even better, once I?d finally finished the chapter, my computer crashed! I got some weird virus thing that completely screwed up my hard drive. But it?s fixed now and I don?t have enough energy to write much more except to say:
Thank you for all the reviews!
Send in ideas for the sequal! And
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Father Dimitri was not an infrequent visitor to the Valerious castle, but when he went to open the front door, Boris had to concede that he had never seen the priest with an unconscious girl in tow.
"Good evening Dimitri," he politely said, closing the door after them. He was trying hard not to stare at the girl, who was, by all appearances, solid white. He could not help noticing the slight pregnant swell of her stomach. "Do you need help?"
Father Dimitri nodded. "If you have a spare room in which I can put Destiny, I will be able to explain better. One without windows, as we?ve gotten into a bit of vampire trouble, to put it lightly."
Boris cursed mentally. Vampires were a source of never-ending trouble, though he was interested to know how this ?Destiny?, as she seemed to be called, had gotten mixed up with them. His father was not going to like this one bit.
A moan startled him out of his thoughts. Father Dimitri had stopped and was trying to maintain his hold on Destiny as she writhed and squirmed, trying to escape a menace only she could see.
"Let me help Father," Boris offered, and took Destiny into his arms. To his surprise she was not unconscious, as he?d previously thought. Her eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, pupils dilated so large that they almost obscured any trace of blue in her iris. He could feel her trembling violently in his arms.
They reached a medium-sized, windowless room in the interior of the Valerious castle where Boris carefully placed Destiny on the carved wooden bed. Father Dimitri shut the door behind them. Seating himself in one of the room?s armchairs, he motioned for Boris to join him.
"Now I will tell you what I know of her."
back to Destiny
I wrenched myself from the hold of Dracula?s mind and sat bolt upright, gasping for solid breath. The first thoughts to pass through my perplexed mind were that a) I was on a bed b) in a stone room and c) Father Dimitri was talking to someone I didn?t know. They turned towards me and I studied the stranger.
He looked not much older than I with wavy brown hair, soft brown eyes, and a roguish sort of charm that clung to him like a lady?s perfume. I liked him on sight. Father Dimitri rose as I eased myself off the bed.
"Are you well now Destiny?" he asked, concerned. I nodded silently, not quite trusting my voice yet. It felt as though I had been screaming for eternity.
"Good," he said. He motioned to the stranger, who stepped forward. "Destiny, this is Boris Valerious. I believe he will be able to help us." I frowned slightly as I offered my hand.
"Valerious? Was there an ex-werewolf running around your castle two weeks ago?"
Boris gazed at me in shock. "How could you know?"
"I helped his escape Dracula through the portal by which Dracula was banished in the first place. I hope he did not cause too much trouble?" I anxiously awaited his answer.
"I received word only yesterday that he was settled safely in England, if that will ease your heart. And now, more importantly, how are we going to get you to Rome?" He looked towards Father Dimitri.
"Well, the easiest way would be to go through Budapest," he began thoughtfully, but I quickly cut him off.
"NO!" The two men looked at me in surprise. I fidgeted under their stares. "I mean, um, there are way too many vampires that frequent Budapest. It would be the most dangerous city to pass through. Word could easily get out to Dracula about where I was. What about by sea?"
Boris frowned and shook his head in dismissal. "No, we?d be downright naked out on the open sea. Sitting ducks, if you will, and we?d stand no chance against his speed if Dracula caught up with us." His tone implied that such an observation was obvious. He thought me a child and I resented it.
"Think you that I know nothing?" I demanded, hands on my hips. When he didn?t answer, I continued. "If you are so knowledgeable, then why don?t you tell us the route to take. I noticed you haven?t proposed one yet!" Hormones, fear, and resentment had combined to make me snappish.
Father Dimitri laid a hand on my shoulder, as much to restrain me as to calm me. "Calm yourself child," he said soothingly. "We will find a way to Rome. Just have patience."
"I?ll have patience if he," I pointed an accusing finger at Boris, "loses some of his arrogance. Just because your noble family has been fighting Dracula for 300 years or however long does not mean you know everything about him and his brides!" The force of my anger weakened my hold on my mental walls, lessened the protective barriers I had been shielding my mind with.
?DESTINY!? Dracula?s voice was so loud in my head that it was a wonder Boris and Father Dimitri didn?t hear it as well. I screamed and sank to my knees.
"Get out!" I shouted, mentally as well as verbally. "Leave me alone!" I was fighting a losing battle, pitting my mental strength against his, yet I desperately tried to keep the presence of Boris and Father Dimitri form him. In this at least I succeeded before I blacked out from the effort of staving off his power.
A faint clink, not unlike the sound or ceramic against ceramic, woke me. Sitting up slightly in bed, I looked around curiously for the source of the noise and spotted a young woman setting a bowl and plate on a small table.
"Oh," she said, noticing me, "You?re awake. Are you feeling all right? No headache? Nausea?"
I shook my head to both counts. She was pretty in a dark way with long brown hair, dark brown eyes, a plush mouth, and tan-ish skin. She was wearing black pants and boots with a white shirt and brown vest.
"I?m Nonia, Boris?s sister." She came over. Nonia did resemble Boris some. She looked to be a few years older than I was.
"Destiny." I sat up and would have gotten out of the bed had Nonia not rushed over and stopped me.
"Don?t," she warned. "Boris filled me in on your situation and I have strict instructions to make sure you don?t over-strain yourself." That did it. I rose and stalked out of the door before she could stop me.
"I?m not going to fall to pieces just because I?m pregnant," I said furiously to myself. "Why does everyone think that? Ergh!" I stopped in the middle of the hall, suddenly realizing that I had absolutely no idea where I was going, meaning that I was both a) lost and b) had no destination to begin with.
There were many portraits on the walls and an equally numerous amount of weapon racks. The Valerious family obviously went fully armed whenever possible. Having nothing better to do, I wandered down the length of the hall, inspecting each portrait and weapon rack. Most of the paintings featured tough looking knights and noblemen who?d clearly seen a lot in life. And there were women too, with firm, determined faces and sharp eyes.
One painting in particular caught my eye. It was one of the older paintings and featured a pale, black haired man in rich clothing, though not the style I was used to. His eyes were the same inky pools but his face was softer. Of course, this painting was before Dracula had been killed.
I reached up and gently ran my fingers over his painted features. "I?m sorry for running, my lord," I whispered. "And I know that you cannot hear me, but please forgive me what I had to do." A single tear slipped down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away, not noticing the pair of eyes watching me from a doorway.
I drifted over to one of the large windows, relishing the warmth of the sunlight upon my face. The town had taken some damage from last night, but they would survive, so long as I left quickly. I would need to talk to Boris about that, and soon. We would have to leave at dawn, when the vampires would have to sleep, and travel both day and night whenever possible. I?d better find him now.
A few staircases, some locked doors and many wrong turns later, I heard voices coming from a room on my right. Quietly, I snuck over to the open doorway and listened.
"Are you sure?" That was Father Dimitri.
"Positive, and it really confuses me. If she?s running from him, why would she be apologizing to his portrait?" Nonia sounded both concerned and suspicious. My stomach knotted in fury as I realized they were talking about me! Behind my back!
"What if ?" But Boris wasn?t able to finish his sentence because I chose that moment to storm into the room, practically shaking with anger.
"How dare you!" I demanded of them, not even paying attention to their surprised and slightly guilty faces. "If you are going to speculate about me, at least do it to my face so you don?t jump to absurd conclusions!" There was a moment tense silence before Nonia stood and walked over to me.
"Destiny ?" she began, but I cut her off.
"What were you talking about?" My voice was now deceptively pleasant, more dangerous than outright anger. All it would take was one wrong word to set me off and they knew it.
Apparently, Boris either didn?t care or did not fear my wrath. He would soon learn. "Why were you talking to a portrait of Count Dracula?" he asked, eyes hard. "Why were you apologizing for running from him?"
"Why should I not talk to it?" I shot back. We stood across the table from one another. "I lived in his fortress for six months did I not?"
Nonia paled, but did not say anything. That is, until she looked at my stomach, put two and two together, and got four. (AN: two plus two equals four offspring. Get it? Keke)
"It was him," she said in a strangled whisper. Father Dimitri and Boris turned to look at her, puzzled. Matching her gaze unflinchingly, I nodded slowly, face impassive.
"It was who Nonia?" asked Boris.
"Dracula," was all she could say, but Boris noted the direction of her gaze and his face turned as dark as a thundercloud. Storming around the side of the table, he grabed my shoulders and shook me, nod hard enough to injure me, but hard enough to piss me off.
"How COULD you!?" He yelled. "How could you let that happen!?" That absolutely did it. I grew my wings, something none of them had ever seen, and slapped him with them, sending him sprawling.
"Shut up and don?t you dare make accusations Boris Valerious! You don?t know what I had to go through! You were not there! You have NO IDEA!" Father Dimitri made the sign of the cross over himself. In the back of my mind, I realized that it was because I had started to glow for some reason.
"I may love him, but before you dare judge me on that, I?d like to see YOU be kidnapped, fed on by Dracula, changed into an angel, be captive in an ice fortress, find out you?re pregnant, try to KILL yourself, summon a demon, free a werewolf, and be denied the DEATH you sought before you even considered running away! DO NOT JUDGE ME!"
Having nothing else to say to that noble pig, I turned and ran, all the way back to my room, where I locked the door and promptly burst into tears. How would I ever get to Rome now?