Authors Note: sorry its a day late guys. the website wouldn't let me post it for a stupid reason. well, here is the next chapter. enjoy.
It's been a year since I escaped from her, but for some reason it feels like it has been longer.
I began to think back to the day it happened. Erik, Christian, and I were tasked with hunting down a dark witch in Ireland. Evidence indicated that she was responsible for the kidnappings and disappearances of five children, three woman, and one man. There was also evidence of her killing a priest in a sacrificing ritual. We were sent to eliminate her and to retrieve the missing victims if possible.
After arriving in the small town of Dingle, we quickly rented a room and scouted the entire town, pretending to be idiotic tourists. We got a decent amount of information on legends and warnings to stay away from the beach at night and to at all cost, avoid the forest. I remember how it got quickly dark in that town and watched as people were heading back to their homes. When we got to our lodging, we quickly took out a map and were talking of a plan to scout the woods for the witch's lair. Trying to come up with an idea to lure her out so that she didn't have the advantage.
That night I remember hearing a soft tune on the wind, a flute. It was calming and comforting. However, my instincts where alarming me that something was wrong and I snapped out of it. Sure enough, there was. A movement below me caught my attention and I saw a little boy that looked to be the age of eight, walking in the street towards the forest. I called out to him many times but he didn't answer and when I looked back towards the guys, they were unresponsive. I even smacked them across the face, leaving a hand print, but the just kept staring off into space.
I knew it wasn't a good idea to do solo missions and I knew Id get in trouble, but I couldn't let that boy just become one of the missing victims. I quickly left the guys a note and taped it to Christians face before leaving. I ran after the boy and when I caught up to him, I was already deep into the forest. Everything was dark and I couldn't hear anything. Not even the animals or the wind, just the sound of the flute. A for sure sign that evil was here nearby.
I followed short distance from him and watched him enter a little hut that seemed to blend into a hill, like one of those hobbit homes from lord of the rings. As soon as the door to the hut closed, the music stopped and I herd voices. Creeping closer, I hid just below the window sill. I peeked up and through the window, seeing two woman in front of the little boy. He was tired to the chair. I could easily tell which one was the witch, she wore a green floor-length dress with a black shawl, she was mixing bottles of liquids together. No doubt making some kind of potion. The other woman was unknown to me, she was beautiful do doubt, But she had this air of danger surrounding her. She was helping the witch and telling her what bottles to mix. I found that odd at the time, cause in the report, there was no mention of a second witch in the report.
I looked around for another way into the hut, when I found none, I knew that I had to just make it up as I go on this one. I took in a deep breath and positioned myself in front of the door, I kicked it open and grabbed the first thing I saw. I chucked a thick iron chain at the two woman, startling them both. I quickly bolted towards the boy and untied him, shaking him out of his trance he looked around and then at me with terrified eyes.
"I am here to save you," I told the boy as I scooped him up and sprinted out the door and into the forest.
I ran as fast as I could with the boy, but with the extra weight, it was still a bit of a struggle. Dodging trees and rocks, I prayed that we could get back to town safely. Taking in my surroundings as I ran. All of a sudden I herd this feral growl from my left, thinking it might have been a lone wolf or worse, the witch's familiar, I forced my legs to move faster. I refuse to let this boy die.
I could just see the dim street lights of the city when my body was slammed for the side, holding the boy close to me so I would take most of the damage. I felt as we flew a couple feet in the air before gravity slammed my body back on the ground. I groaned as I got up and stood in front of the boy.
"Are you okay?" I whispered.
"Yes," I herd him whimper.
I was scanning the forest in front of us searching for whatever hit me. I could still hear the growling and I felt like I was being circled and that I would pounce ant second.
"Good, now run. Don't look back. Run to the hotel next to the bar, Room Nineteen. Tell them Rose sent you. Now run." I said sternly.
At first, I didn't hear anything, and I began to wonder if the kid was gonna try to be brave. But then I heard a whisper of thanks and when I slightly turned my head toward him I saw him running towards the town. At that moment I herd a snarl and I jerked my head back to the forest, watching as the unknown woman I saw earlier emerged from behind a tree.
Her auburn hair was flying through the wind, her indigo eyes shined brightly in the dark, her fangs were showing, and the moon light bounced against her pale skin.
I paused in confusion, is she a Moroi? A Strigoi?. What is she?!
I watched as she kept walking towards me and the feral look on her face sent chills up spin. All of a sudden, she was gone. I whipped my head around to try and see where she went, I took a step back and was met with a hard force. I turned around saw her there, smiling. She back handed me so hard that I fell to the ground, hitting my head against a rock.
The next thing I knew, I woke up in a dimly lighted cave. Scanning around the room I saw a curtain where I assumed was the entrance. I tried getting up but found that my legs and arms were bound together.
"Finally awake I see. I have been waiting for quite a while child." a woman's voice said from the dark.
I turned my head into the direction of where I heard the voice from, but I couldn't see anyone. I couldn't stop the way my heart began to race as I felt a strong negative energy from her.
Watching as the woman stepped out, I wasn't surprised that it was her. Glaring at her, I choose not to play her little game. Instead, I focused on trying to find a way to escape.
"There is no point in trying little one. But I do like you the fire in your eyes." She was pacing in front of me and was watching me with a mischief look in her eyes. "Your stunt earlier cost me my test subject, but it seems like fate gave me a better one. I've tasted your blood and you have a strong line of Fae DNA that you might live through this. Oh I am beyond excited! You will be the first Dhampir that have a great success rate to survive this." She laughed and then flashed right in front of me, grabbing my chin and shoulder.
Fear crept into my heart as she tilted my head to the side, exposing my throat more. I tried to wiggle free from her grasp. I tried everything I could to get away, but it was of no use. She was too strong and all she did was laugh. I felt her tongue lick my neck and the bitch actually purred.
"I hope you get staked."
I gasped in pain as her fangs pierced into my skin, Soon the world around me disappeared and all I could feel was a burning sensation. Its hard to believe that this was the way I was going to die, I always thought id go down in an epic battle. I screamed in agony as the burning increased. I felt like I was surrounded by flames, as they burned away my existence. Suddenly the red flames I saw in my mind turned black and they wrapped themselves into my skin, spreading along my body, feeling it engulfing me. My eyes flew open as I felt something touch my lips, spilling a coppery iron taste liquid down my throat.
The flames stopped their carnage and receded a little, seeping into my skin, my essence, my soul, becoming one with me. My body went limp and I barely registered that someone caught me as my world went black.
I was startled awake to someone humming and someone retying my wrist together. I shot up off whatever I was laying on. I turned to my captive and saw the same woman. She was sitting on a bed that looked like it came from medieval times. She wore a smile a parent would give an adored child.
"My, look at you! You are a beauty!" she exclaimed happily.
I a snarl emit from my throat and I flinched in surprise. Did that really come from me? It sounded so feral, like an animal.
"Oh I am so happy that you lived. You know, you gave me quite a scare earlier. I didn't think you would make it. However you did, and I even gave you a good amount of my blood to help the transformation speed up. Giving you my blood also helped destroy that bond you had and replaced it with a new bond. Daughter, come here." she spoke firmly.
To my horror, my body moved of its own accord and kneeled in front of her. She grabbed my chin and made me look up at her face. She looked so happy with herself, I just want to wipe that look off her face and kill her.
"What is your name?" She demanded.
"Rosemarie." I growled back
"Hmm. How unfitting. I shall rename you. After all, you have been born into a new being. I shall name you Morana, meaning, goddess of winter and death. For you will be the bringer of death to all who appose me." She said lovingly.
I narrowed my eyes at her spoke with hate. "What is your name? I would like to know so that I may write it on your tomb stone."
"What a rebellious child," she chided. "My name is Celeste. However, you are only to call me mother or my Queen. Now, come up here and sit with me. I can imagine you must be thirsty."
As if on cue, my throat started to feel parched and dry. Like I've gone days without water. Again my body moved by itself, standing up and siting neatly beside her. I hate being controlled like this! This is obviously because of the bond the bitch placed between us. She turned to me and and grabbed my head with both her hands and placed my lip to her throat. My eyes widened in shock and understanding
"Drink." she commanded
Without thinking, I opened my mouth and sunk my fangs into her throat. Relishing in the taste of her blood. The blood thirst taking over, I sunk my fangs in deeper and gulped down every drop of it. I could hear her chuckling in amusement and that snapped me out of the trance. I quickly let go and moved away from her, glaring at her.
"Well now that you have had your fill, I should let you rest. You have much to figure out and we can start tomorrow after sunset." She got off the bed and walked to a stone door and knocked on it twice. It opened and she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her and leaving me in a room that had one lite candle stick as a source of light.
I laid down on the bed, and thought of what just happened. It's obvious that I'm no longer a Dhampir, seeing as how I just drank blood and it tasted good. But what am I?Looking down at my hands and noticed that my finger nails were like claws. Sharp and pointed. I also noticed that my skin was deathly white. Am I a Strigoi?.. No, I cant be, she doesn't look like or act like a Strigoi. So she, well we, have got to be something else, something new. Sighing out loud, I brought the rope that tied my hands together to my mouth and gnawed on it till it fell to the floor.
Letting my mind wounder a bit, I began thinking of Erik and Christian. Are they looking for me? Are they are okay? I wounder if the little boy got to them safely. Then I began thinking of how many days have passed since my capture. I sat there thinking for hours in the dark about everything that has happened in my life up to this point, until I could hear voices coming from the door. I decided at that moment that I was going to try a surprise attack and escape.
Hiding behind the door I waited till it was thrown open and two figures jumped in the room. I watched from the darkness as they scanned the room.
"The fucker lied to us! I told you that we shouldn't have trusted him. Now we will never find her!" The figure on the left said. I arched my eyebrow in confusion.
"Shut up. She was here, I can smell her scent. But it has smells like that it has been mixed with something. I can definitely smell that woman's scent in here as well. We will find her Christian. I swear it." The other replied.
Upon hearing Christian's name, I slowly walked out from behind the door and into the light. Daring not to hope to be getting out of here. For all I knew, it could be a trap.
"Christian? .. Erik?.."
Suddenly I was slammed against the wall with Erik's hand around my throat, lightly squeezing it. Looking at him, anger filled his eyes and he bared his teeth at me, growling viciously.
"Erik it's me, Rose." I managed to breathe out.
I watched as his face grew passive and his eyes fade from anger to confused. Keeping his hand at my throat, he leaned towards me and sniffed me. He even took it a bit further and licked my skin just under my ear, before he purred in happiness. My throat was released and I was engulfed in the arms of my partner.
"It is you. Thank gods we found you!" he exclaimed
"Rose...what happened to you? You look..different." Christians hesitant voice reaching my ears.
"I'd love to explain Sparky, but can we escape out of here first?" I asked with a smile.
At Christian's nod, Erik picked my up bridal style and started running out of the room and down tunnels. After a good fifteen minutes went by, I could smell the crisp chill of early morning. As we neared an end of a tunnel, I could see an opening to outside. Suddenly, my body tensed as I herd this god-awful shriek and a voice filled with anger call out, "Morana!"
"Erik, run faster. Run." I begged. My whole body trembling with fear and desire to run back to Celeste. I grabbed tightly to Erik's shirt and buried my face in his chest. When we passed through the entrance and got a good couple yards away form it, my body was finally able to relax.
"Good you found her. Now let's hurry, the portal won't last long and she has almost broken through the barrier I put over her den." A raspy mature voice said from my left.
I didn't bother to look up and see who the new guy was. I just didn't care. All I wanted was to stay with Erik and Christian.
My eyes went wide when I felt a presence of pure madness and for some reason my skin felt like it was tingling as the morning sky was getting brighter. My eye sight began to become tinted with red and I felt this rush of immense strength, I didn't know what was happening,i was freaking out. I whimpered in fear as Erik help me tighter.
"We are almost there Rose. Soon we will be safe and indoors. I promise." He whispered back.
Those were the last words I heard before my eyes caught the first rays of the sun and my mind went blank, the need for carnage was all I could think about. I felt like I was being trapped inside my body as another being just took over, only letting me see what it was doing. I watched with horror as my hand raked its claw-like nails against Erik's chest, blood flowing thickly into his shirt.-
Jolted back from my memories and into the real world by the sound of a door slamming, I quickened my pace to my apartment. When I got there, everyone was in the main room all dressed up and looking sharp, looking straight at me with pointed looks.
"There you are! We are gonna be late if you don't go hurry and change. Atali, maybe you should help her. You know her sense of fashion is a little out dated." Christian smirked.
I raised my hand a gave him one of my favorite gestures as I walked to my room and closed the door.
Getting undressed and going to my closet, I picked out a black pencil skirt that started at my belly button and stopped mid-thigh. Slipping on the shoes I had on earlier, I then stood back in front of the closet. So many shirts, so little time. I reached for a plain red shirt when I caught sight of a beautiful peach colored halter dress. I quickly undressed again and put the dress on. The dress was perfect. The straps were tied behind my neck and it had a short V-cut that barely showed cleavage. In the back it showed the upper half of my back but that's it, and the hem came down just above the knees. Happy with that way it looked, I spun around in front of the mirror and watched it flow is an elegant twist. I slipped on a pair of pink high heels that had a black bow on them and put on a black choker that had a little silver dream catcher danging from it.
I walked out of the room and coughed to get the rest of my group's attention. "How is this?"
Christian blushed a little when his eyes connected with mine. "I guess I was wrong after all. Who knew that you could actually look like a lady."
I narrowed my eyes at him and then looked at Atali. She just smiled and gave me a wink before lacing her arm with Christian's and walking out the door. Not much of a talker is she.
I shrugged and stepped over to Erik, lacing his arm with mine. "You ready to go?" I asked.
He looked at me another second before nodding his head and leading us towards Adrian's house. We were already half way there when a fun idea struck me and I suddenly felt as light as a feather. Turning towards Erik with a smile that I knew would always get me into trouble.
"Let's have fun tonight okay wolf boy? Race you there." I said with the hint of mischief.
Letting go of his arm, I sprinted down the halls towards our destination. I could hear the sound of my heels hitting the floor echo around me. I turned around to see if Erik was keeping up and to my surprise, he was. He had the silliest smile on his face and his eyes sparkled with amusement.
" I'm going to win Tsvetok, I always do." He bragged. He was only a couple feet behind me.
I laughed out loud and speed up a bit, knowing that if I got caught, that I would most likely be scolded. But I was having too much fun to care at the moment. I saw a couple nearing ahead and not wanting to crash into them, I ran around them not caring to see who they were. When I touched the door handle of Adrian's door, I beamed with victory and turned around to rub it in Erik's face.
When I saw that he was smiling with happiness and pride instead of pouting, it kind of ruined the whole point of winning. But I smiled back anyways, he was probably happy to not hear me whine about losing to a fair game that I always accused him of cheating at. I knocked on the door and we waited to be let in.
The door swung open immediately, we walked in and one of Adrian's butlers led us to a large dinning room where all our friends were. Everyone was seated and all talking about the up coming weddings and vacations.
"You know, we should all take a group vacation to Hawaii. I've never been there and I hear the beaches are amazing." I say with longing.
"I agree. We have never gone on a group vacation before and I think it would be really fun. The food there is amazing, the spa's are to die for and the privet beaches are great for sun bathing." Mia sighed happily with her hands on her checks and her eyes closed, as if she was remembering a past romance.
Eddie just rolled his eyes at his Fiancee and began talking about how extremely crowded places like that were and that it would be a pain. Adrian and Christian agreed and started talking of other places to vacation.
"Rose, it has been a long time since I last saw you."
Turning my head to the left, I watched Sonya sit in the seat next to me. I smiled at her and nodded my head in agreement.
"Yes, it has. How have you been since the transformation? I hope that they aren't giving you a hard time?" I spoke softly, I wanted this conversation to be for our ears only.
She chuckled darkly before responding, "They can no longer touch me. I've cast a spell that when they cause me discomfort or pain, they feel it twice as much."
I laughed so hard that I chocked on the wine I was sipping on. The rest of the table paused in their conversations to see if I was okay, waving at them that I was fine, they went back to talking.
"Oh Christian! I haven't seen you in so long!"
I tensed when I heard her shrill of a voice. I swear that woman's voice is like nails on a chalk board, even more so with my more sensitive hearing. I watched as Tasha lifted the skirt of her dress and ran to the other side of the table, throwing herself at Christian. I watched her be all motherly towards him and gritted my teeth together in annoyance.
Christian was collective as ever and just gently pushed her off him. He gave her a pointed look that conveyed his displeasure of her presence. I guess he hasn't forgiven her either. She sat in the empty chair next to him as if nothing had happened and began talking to him about her life, I didn't even bother listening, because I was distracted by the big Russian that followed her. I studied him from the corners of my eyes as I half listened to Sonya, watching him sit down next to that snake and listened to her talk to Christian.
My eyes couldn't get there fill of him. The way his lips would curl into a smile, his eyes sparking with amusement, even the way his fingers delicately held his wine glass. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breathe to calm my nerves, I was filled with the arousing scent of his after shave instead of the crisp air coming from the opened window, or the smell of the food that was being brought out to us. Sighing in defeat, I reached for my glass. However, before I could reach it, a hand grabbed mine and I looked at Sonya questioningly.
"Your aura...You still love him." She whispered.
