I walked the pews of the corridor in the chateau with a massive smile on my face, euphoric to be the Princess of Romania.
Everyone adulates me. Merely because I am superior to these indifferent peasants.
I am soon to be ascended, which will dish me better respect. These civilians will love me so much that they fear me, and vice versa.
Abruptly, Darcy, my helper but childhood friend spoke. "Ma'am… D-D-Daci-Daciana?" Cried Darcy.
Well, that is rude. I'm busy lusting over myself, and you have the guts to call my name? You know what, Bloak? Fine. I thought to myself.
"What do you want?" I asked sharply.
His eyes widened innocently, putting my vigil down.
"Excuse me, Miss Harrison, but I believe you should see this! I'm utterly sorry if you're enraged at me, but It's important!"He panicked.
He nearly ran into the Sanctuary (the area near the altar) and pointed at something, pure fear in his eyes.
I suddenly remembered all of our time as youthful children, playing dominoes and chess together for hours, despiting that his job is strictly to be my servant.
Darcy's eyes bored into mine. "I'm sorry for what I'm about to do…" He apologised for his forthcoming actions.
What does he see? What could he see? I considered. I was very addled at this point.
"Come here, don't contemplate it!" He said with unnecessary acrimony.
I had to comply out of fear, merely because I'd never seen him act in such ways.
I hesitantly walked into the Sanctuary, curious about whatever lingered in the darkness.
Suddenly, Darcy sprung at me, so, very out of character for him.
So this is what he apologised for? I thought. It wasn't that bad, though it hurt.
He pinned me to the ground, like nothing I'd ever seen before. He looked like an undomesticated grotesque. He reminded me of those people from the Folklore my Grandfather informed me about. He believed that they were real, not just a superstition.
Suddenly, Darcy bit my wrist, and I let out several roars of pain.
What the heck is immoral with him?! Addle Pate is what he is! Does he have rabies?! I presumed very loudly in my dome.
I almost immediately felt changes in my body. An acid-tart feeling ran through my veins at the speed of light. I felt my scalp burn, like F°451.
"Stop!" I screamed in a pathetic attempt to thwart the pain.
About a minute later, he did. I was surprised he even listened to me. He still had that feral look in his lethargic eyes.
That, singlehandedly was the thing I was most afraid of. Him. My servant. My friend.
"Daciana… I told you, I'm sorry I ever had to put you through this. I'm running out of my resources, you know?" He said in a guiltless voice.
It took all of my strength to not yell, not get mad. It didn't work well. I was gone. I ran out of the Sanctuary and ran into my bedroom. I then made sure to lock all of the locks, so that the monster could not harm me once more.
I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. I had paler skin, and my eyes were a whole different shade. I felt chills.
I walked up to the mirror, to see my reflection. I looked like a whole different person.
My eyes widened, I was scared of what I had become. I had been scared of a lot of stuff, I realized.
But this… No. I will never forget this, I can't!
I unlocked the doors and stormed back over to Darcy.
"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" I yelled at him, so loud almost everyone in the castle heard me.
"HOW DARE YOU YELL AT ME?!" He yelled as his lifeless eyes bored into mine once more. He took a deep breath to cool off, then explained. "Daciana, I am sorry for what I did, but it had to be done. You are no longer what you once were. You are what your Grandfather has taught you in the folklore, a Vampire."
My eyes widened. "Gibberish! Quit lying before I smack you. I promise you I will not hesitate."
Days passed of me just sitting in my room, neglecting my health.
Rumours spread that we argued about a variety of things, but nobody heard what it was.
Darcy then busted down my door. "I'm tired of you sitting around mopping all day! You are what you are! A vampire! Live with it."
My eyes widened. How dare he?
"Fine… You know what… You're right."
"I know I am."
"Don't give me that bull crap. I don't care what you think your superiority is, after all, you are just a servant."
Darcy scoffed, then walked away done with my attitude.
I stopped locking myself in my bedroom, and went to living my normal life, occasionally pushing Darcy every now en.
My mother called me into her room.
"Yes, ma'am, mother?" I asked her.
She spoke with a weak voice, "Daciana, I must tell you something quite important."
I walked into her room, my eyebrow raised as I was confused.
I saw her lying on her bed, sweat pouring down her forehead. She looked extremely sick.
"My dear, my time is ceasing." She said as tears fell down her face, "And you must surpass me. I'm in eclipse, my dear."
My eyes drooped, but I can't cry, I can't lose colour, so it looks as if I don't care.
That's not the case.
"Oh, mum…" I said with sadness, "Are you sure? What's wrong?"
She looked at me. "I have stage four cancer. I must depart this life." She said as she cried. "You, my dear, will become more powerful than I. You will surpass me by a mile, I believe you will, truly. The physicians suspect I have a week to live, my Daciana."
Meanwhile, Darcy was outside eavesdropping on our conversation, I saw him out of the corner of my eye but said nothing.
I nodded. "Yes, mother," I said in a depressed voice. "I understand."
I feel much pity for her… I thought.
I hugged Mother, then walked to my room silently. I stared at the air, my mind free of thought.
Darcy knocked on my door, and I was too sad to put up a fight.
"Come in," I said without much effort.
Darcy walked into my room and looked me in the eyes, it hurt him to say this.
"I… I'm sorry this is all happening at the same time. Daciana? Do you realize what this means?" He asked.
"Yes, she's going to die," I said as if I were pointing out the obvious.
He looked into my eyes and raised his left brow. "Yes, she is. Are you okay?"
He asked me as if he didn't know.
Of course I'm no,t okay, my mother is facing death right now! I thought, but did not say it verbally.
"I am okay. Now why are you trying to reunite with me when you quite literally changed my life?" I asked with genuine confusion.
He looked at me once more, but this time pity in his eyes. "Daciana, this is your mother, you've known ever since you were born- twenty-three years!" He exclaimed. "Daciana, you are not okay. Although we might have a feud right now, I will not be blind enough to let my arrogance wash over your grief. Do you understand what I am saying?" He asked.
I looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Why do you care? After all, you're just a monster."
"Just a monster?! If that's the case, so are you!" He shouted.
I winced the second he said that. "I'm not a monster…" I said with hardly any voice, but yet he still heard me, somehow.
"We can face the facts, you are now what I am."
I was so petrified, that my heart pranced. He heard it, as well as I did due to our now sharper senses.
"Hey, no Darciana…" He put his hand on mine in a comforting manner. "It's true, but you don't have to face it yet, I suppose… Just wait a few days, maybe reality will look you in the eye eventually." He said with a reassuring smile.
I nodded, he was right. Unlike the other times…. I thought with a disgusted look on my face, but he didn't seem to notice it, he was too deep in thought.
"Well, how about this, because it's midnight, I'm going to go pretend to sleep, I suggest you do the same so you don't make other people suspicious. Make sure to even out your breathing and look peaceful, that might be hard for you." He said the last part with a sarcastic smirk, he was joking to try to make me feel better.
I nodded, and then we got up in unison. He went to his bedroom on the other side of the castle whilst I went to mine.
I lay there all night, just thinking about what he said. Maybe this doesn't have to be a monster mentality. It could simply just be a lifestyle change and nothing more. Or maybe, perhaps this is a good thing, due to my incomparable power. Is this some sick twisted universe? This is not okay, why did this happen to me? I am supposed to be the princess and soon-to-be queen, why did this happen to me? Is this some satanic joke? I don't know… I don't know what to do! I could hide all day, fake my death, and change my appearance. Or I could just admit it, no, I won't do that. That's absurd. Admitting such a thing? Not. I thought silently through the night.
I lay there until 6:00 and then got up. I changed into my dress, which was as pretty as my gown, just easier to move around in. I ran up to my mother's room and got her some new ice for her head, but she didn't look any better. She looked worse.
I left her room, and then suddenly, Darcy's mum, Helena, ran after me.
"Daciana!" She yelled, panic in her voice. "Darcy just told me what happened to your mother and all, so I decided to put a positive curse on you, white magic! However, it didn't work, due to unavoidable danger coming your way! If you're wondering how I know this… How inhumane it is, I'm a soothsayer, as in a prognosticator." She said in one breath.
I looked at her, then contemplated what I was going to do. "I believe you," I said, finalizing my decision.
What else can I believe? There are no counterarguments. I thought.
The day winded down and came to an end, then I pretended to sleep.
Darcy came into my room. "Daciana, tomorrow, first thing, we have to work on your skills. First, you have to… Feed. For the strength you will need in the battle." He explained.
I looked at him. Feed? What did he mean by that? "Okay." I didn't know what else to say. Once again, there was no counterargument.
Darcy soon went back to his room while I lay in bed.
The fifth day came, and I woke up at 6:00. I met Darcy in the Great Hall, where he explained the basics.
"You have to feed for strength," He explained, "And this may sound unappealing at first, but you have to draw a mortal's blood. How you do this, is that you either bite their wrist or neck, or of course, anywhere, those are just the best spots because they produce the most blood, and you go blood frenzy."
I looked at him, understanding everything he said, odd enough.
The day passed, and I finished doing everything he told me to do.
He even helped me, how sweet of him! Maybe just out of guilt.
Darcy smiled. "You're doing excellent, Daciana. I've never seen anything like how fast you're learning." He said with a smirk, "And I'm sorry I did what I did, really. Now that we can be logical, I just really want to tell you that I'm sorry. And I promise you, on everything I love, including my life, I will protect you." He said truthfully.
I smiled back. "Thank you, I believe you."
After I finished hunting, I went back to my room and pretended to sleep due to the time (24:00).
Through the night, I felt increasingly brawny.
I woke up at 6:00 and then met Darcy once more.
His eyes widened, apparently, my brawniness wasn't just mental.
"I have no doubt you will put whatever is planning to hurt you in its place." He said as he laughed.
I smirked. "Well, I have to learn how to fight." I hurried, I really needed to learn how to fight, because when I was a human, I could not fairly fight.
"Oh, yeah," He went on, "Don't worry about the fight not being fair." He said as if he could read my mind.
I nodded, and then we practised fighting.
"So if it's a human, you'll grab their wrist and throw them over your shoulder as if it's some trashbag or something." He explained. "So try on me."
He then stood in a fighting stance.
I did as he told me to, but he grabbed my upper arm before I could throw him.
"See, that's where most people mess up." He said, "If you don't make your arms available to grab, they can't do that. So try it that way?"
So I did so. Before he could grab my arms I had flipped him over and pinned him to the ground.
"Good job, round two." He said immediately after I finished.
Round two?
This went on for hours and hours, but at 20:00, I went upstairs to see my mother.
She lay sick on the bed but smiled when she saw me.
"You look like you've been working hard. What is it you're doing?" She asked me, obviously curious.
"Nothing important, just basic fighting skills," I explained.
"Who are you fighting?" She asked.
I had to come up with a lie, fast. "Well, ya know, because I'm going to be queen soon, I need to learn self-defence. So many people want me dead, I'm sure you already know this."
This is the exact opposite of what I said earlier. I thought with an amused smirk.
I then ran back downstairs.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you, Daci." He explained, "You are now 35% (more than thirty-five percent) stronger than you once were. Congratulations."
I nodded. "Well, I'm going to go pretend to sleep. 'Night."
"Night." He answered back.
I went to bed and laid there until 6:00.
The next morning, all we did was explain possible outcomes, for hours, and hours.
I got up at 6:00 and ran up to check on my mother.
She lay there, motionless.
"Passive Euthanasia…" Darcy and I said in unison.
I frowned, but went about my day, as I have bigger issues to tackle.
It's amazing how absolutely nobody knows about my vampirism. I thought as I did my daily task.
I suddenly heard the castle door slam shut. Darcy and I both looked at each other, but just suspected it was the gardener coming back in for his water.
Darcy nods and goes down to the Larder to investigate, as he frowns.
Suddenly, the hunter came out of nowhere into the undercroft (a cellar storage room) and he struck.
He didn't hurt me as I applied what I'd learned from the past weak to fight him, but Darcy saw that I was losing, even though I didn't get hurt.
Darcy ran towards me but the Vampire Hunter pinned him down.
"Well if it isn't the creator himself." He said with a weird sadistic smirk.
Darcy got out of his grip by leap punched him, leaving blood everywhere.
The hunter somehow gets back up, like some weird magic, and then pins Darcy back to the ground.
I screamed at the top of my lungs, terrorized by the gruesome sight.
"Death waits for no one, especially not you." He said then laughed at the Hunter.
I couldn't watch this. I had to do something.
I ran up to the vampire hunter and then tore his head off, in what looked like a nanosecond.
The vampire hunter screamed in agony, for what little time he could before his brain stopped sending signals.
Darcy looked at me, and his lifeless eyes looked… Amused?
I shrugged then tore up his body with Darcy, then burned the limbs in the solar's fireplace.
"I guess I should go change," I said after we had our campfire. "I have blood all over my clothes, ya know?"
He nodded then went and told the crowd outside, "She'll be back in just a few moments, please wait."
I finished changing my clothes moments later, then ran outside with a huge smirk on my face.
Darcy looked at me and then smiled back.
"This, everyone, is Romania's new queen! Her brother would be the king, however, he died in the Bender Uprising (1919), with her father. So here is our queen!" He said with excitement.
Roars were heard from the crowd as they chanted "Our new queen!" With excitement.
I was outside, enjoying everyone getting happy at my presence, then came back into the castle with Darcy.
Darcy looked at me, then smirked ear to ear. "We did good, queen Daci." He said, trying to get used to calling me Queen Daci.
I smirked. "It's just Daciana. And I know we did."
"I thank you for saving my life," Darcy told me with a smirk.
"I agree. Thank you, for teaching me how to save your life. I really do thank you for that."
We both smiled, very ecstatic about our new situation.