Chapter 8

Anger swarmed through her brain as she paced the marble floor in the bathroom. She didn't want to be tied to anybody let alone by dark magic that he seemed to use. He didn't even care to ask her if it was what she wanted…he just went right ahead and did it without consulting her first. Men are such pigs.

As soon as everything began to sink in she knew that she would never be able to leave him. She would never see the home she once lived in, or solve the mystery of her parent's death so many years before.

She didn't know why but her mind ventured back to that night when she was 13. She was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling when she felt something funny in her head. (Her first vision.) A flash of light blinded her behind her eyes and she saw a shadowed figure enter her home. She watched, frightened, as the shadow crept up the stairs and enter her room. She saw herself asleep in her bed while the figure moved closer. She was watching the whole event from one side of the room. She screamed at her other self to wake up and run but she didn't. It was too late; the shadow grabbed her by the throat and took her with him through the window of her room into the night.

She had come out of her trance gasping for air. She reached for her inhaler and took two puffs. Closing her eyes in habit, she heard a creek outside on the deck. With her premonition too so fresh in her mind, her instincts told her to run as fast and far away from her bed as possible. She scrambled out of bed and climbed outside her window onto the roof.

She drew her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth in fear. Then she heard something she didn't remember hearing from the vision. Her parent's scream. They sounded throughout the house and she froze. The sounds ceased and she waited for the shadow to come for her.

She climbed further onto the roof to find a way to the trees when she heard a siren call out from up the street. The downstairs window broke and a shadow emerged and headed for the woods. She sighed a breath of relief and remembered she had to get to her parents to save them.

Her window ledge was wide so she had no trouble entering back into her room on an awkward angle. She came upon her bedroom door and grabbed the handle to open it when she felt something run between her toes. Looking down she saw the blood of her parents leaking through the bottom of the door.

A single tear left her eye when Mr. Burns, The chief of police, entered her room and embraced her in a hug. He took her outside and placed her in an ambulance telling her that everything would be just fine……

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Nicolae rested his head on bathroom door and spoke to her very softly. "Cara why are you shutting yourself off from me? It hurts me to see you in pain love. Talk to me what have I done that has made you so angry?" He waited and still no response came from the other side of the door. The water from the shower started and he heard her start to cry.

There was absolutely nothing he could do. He wanted to respect her and stay out of her mind, so he decided to let her cry and shower in peace. Nothing broke his heart more than to see her in pain.

When the water turned off and he heard no sound from the bathroom he brushed her mind and realized she was asleep. He opened the door slowly and saw her asleep in the bathroom tub. She had one single bath towel wrapped around her slender body. He gently picked her up and took her to the bed in the center of the chamber.

The towel was taken away and replaced with a pair of soft pajamas he had pictured in her mind earlier. She looked so tired all the time that he wished he could do more for her than be there for moral support. Nevertheless; he wasn't succeeding in winning her heart so he decided to let her have her own time to adjust to the changes that were to come. He laid himself spooned up behind her and watched her sleep deep.

When he felt the sun come close to rising, he compelled her to sleep until he woke her. He needed the sleep of their people so he padded over to the underground chamber of rich soil. He only looked behind him one time to make sure she would be safe.

Special safeguards were placed around the chamber she slept in just in case someone should disturb her or him while the midday sun left them helpless. The ground then opened up and he floated down into its welcoming arms. His mind thought of Elena when he took his last breath and closed the soil over his body.

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Elena's mind was a fog. She couldn't shake the sleep that forced her eyes closed. With a will she didn't know she possessed, she forced her eyes open and looked around the chamber. It wasn't a dream.

This would have been so much easier if it was a dream. She would at least have her life back. She walked over to the bathroom and realized for the first time 16 years she didn't need her inhaler.

She always needed her inhaler when she woke from a deep sleep. That was odd to her so she splashed some water on her face and walked back over to the bed. The colors in the bed spread were a deep crimson and gold. They seemed brighter than she last remembered. Come to think of it she could hear a lot better too. What was that all about?

The thought of Nicolae crept into her mind and she wondered where he was. She missed him…needed him to touch her….and….and….what the hell was she thinking?

She had never needed anyone in her life so much. Why all of a sudden does she need to be with him? The binding spell.

No way, she wasn't going to fall victim to his strong compulsions and charming sexy smile. No way not her. She needed to get out of here. The clock on the wall told her it was half past five in the evening. Goodness Elena, sleep much today?

A closet door was open so she tried to find something to wear that would be suitable for public. A crisp white shirt hung on a hanger and she decided that that one would have to do. It smelled of him. Like woods and warm cinnamon. She loved that smell…the way it warmed her inside…and his hands running up her….NO! She needed to focus and remind herself that the way she was thinking was because of him not her.

The shirt drowned her smaller body and she had to tie it in several knots to keep it wrapped around her body. Fine..Now she needed to find a way out of the chamber.

She padded over to the chamber door and found herself feeling strange like she didn't want to go past the door. She forced the thought aside and busted through the door just when the barrier broke. Nicolae's eyes snapped open and realized she was fleeing.

She made it to the mouth of the cave when she felt him lingering in her mind. Cara, why are you running from me? She didn't answer she just began to run.

The woods were large and the sun shown bright. She wished she would have remembered glasses because her eyes kept watering and stinging in the glare of the evening sun. She could hear water running further into the wood's arms so she ran for her life.

Along the way she could hear noise getting louder and louder. The insects sounded like swarms and she could hear the sap running through the trees. The sound was deafening when Nicolae told her to visualize the sound being turned down.

Grateful she could hear her own thoughts again and she began to cross the river. It was freezing in the late fall weather and the rocks cut her feet whenever she walked on them. Time was running out. The sun would be setting and she knew she was going to be caught by him. He would always find her now that they were bound. She just wasn't ready to be what he was yet. She couldn't be what he was.

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The sun began to set when Nicolae busted through the soil of his underground prison. He sought for her mind only to find that she had closed him off again. With great strength he broke through her barrier and found she was heading out of the woods and into the hills.

He shimmered into mist and flew to catch up with her.

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She ran out of places to run. The cliff she stood on was high but their was a large body of water below its edge. She wasn't sure she could make it but she didn't have a choice now. He would find her and force her into his world just as he had forced her into the binding.

Agony swept through her the further she moved away from him. Tears welled into her eyes and began to fall like streams of salt down her cheeks. She stood in the darkness of the early night and knew what she had to do. The only way to escape him was to jump. If she made it to the water's embrace she would be thankful. If she didn't……well at least she wouldn't be put through the misery of all the pain she has been going through.

She saw her mother's face and smiled. I'm coming mama.

Nicolae made it to her seconds before she flung herself over the cliff's edge. NO!

He followed close behind her changing into the form of an owl. He dove quickly and caught her before she broke the water's surface. Relief swamped through him and he flew her to the soft sand on the bank of the lake. He rested her down gently and changed back into his human form.

Her weeping was uncontrollable and he never flinched when she began to punch him the chest. She screamed at him for the murder of her parents, and for the guilt she felt everyday. From the way she had cowered herself on the roof when she knew it should have been her and not them.

She slowed and collapsed into his arms with pain on her face. Her tears slowed and he just held her. He had felt too much of her pain like a flood gate had opened in her mind. He understood how she felt and spoke softly to her till she stilled in his arms.

Why me Nicolae? I don't want to be like you. I see the plans you have for me and they scare me. I can't be what you want me to be. Why did you have to bind me to you! You didn't even ask me first! Why? WHY?

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