11
Only Memories to Keep Warm
Verona watched as the love of her life faded into the shadows. She felt as if she had just lost everything. She had realized that she had been living a lie. She was so mad at herself. How could I have been so blind? What am I going to do know? She knew that she would probably never see Gabriel again. Was there ever a chance that he would come back for her? The rain started to fall harder. Each drop felt like a bullet hitting her body. The air seemed to grow colder as the count grew nearer.
"Aleera, go find Gabriel and bring him back to me. I will deal with Verona." Aleera nodded with a smile and then flew into the darkness. "Verona, Verona, Verona, what have you done." The count walked up and stood in front of her. Verona slowly rose to her feet and stared evil in the eye. The count walked closer and put his hand on Verona's cheek and said, "I have given you everything your heart could ever desire, a castle, immortality, my love…" The count drew closer for a kiss and Verona pulled away. "No, all you have done for me was led me through a lie. You don't have a heart. What kind of love can a monster like you offer?"
The count slapped Verona and knocked her to the ground. "Watch your mouth! If I were you, I would choose my words wisely. He could have never loved you like I have. He would have loved you for a few weeks and then left you for someone younger." Verona stood again. There was now fresh blood running down her face from the impact of the count's hand on her face. She gathered the strength to say, "That's exactly what you did to me." "Excuse me?" Verona could hear the anger mounting in the count's voice. She knew that she was walking on thin ice, but she couldn't back down now. "You did the exact same thing to me when you picked up Aleera. Did you ever think that that could have hurt? You may have lost all of your feelings, but I still have feelings." Verona grew angry as she remembered how hurt she was when the count had brought home another woman. It was like she had been rejected. "But I gave you eternal life. You will live forever with me." "No, you gave me an eternal curse. We aren't living some dream life. Look at us, we have to drink the blood of others to stay alive. That's no life…I would rather spend one lifetime with Gabriel than live an eternity with you."
The count had had enough. He knocked Verona back to the ground, "You will not speak unless I tell you to speak! You have gone too far this time. Now you can spend your last days locked in the tower." The count grabbed Verona's arm and transformed into the hell-beast that he really was. He flew high into the air taking Verona with him. He flew her to the highest tower in the castle and threw her inside. "Here is where you stay until you decide you want to be my wife again, until then Aleera is in charge of you." The count laughed and flew into the darkness.
Verona watched as the count flew away. Once she was sure the count was gone she transformed into her hideous form and tried everything to escape. She tried to bust the door open and then tried to pull the bars off of the windows, but nothing worked. The count had taken her to the tallest tower for a reason. It was by far the strongest in the castle, and he knew that Verona would be weakened from her lack of feeding.
Verona changed back to her human form and sat by the wall. The air was getting colder as the rain slowly turned to snow. If the count was trying to make her suffer, he was succeeding. She had never felt so cold in her life. After a while icicles started to build up on the windows. It did not take long for her to wish for death. There was nothing she could do now. Her fate was in the hands of the son of the devil. All Verona had to keep her warm was the memories of Gabriel and the love that they had once shared.
Thanks for the reviews. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will be longer.