The first thing I felt when I started coming to my senses was someone gently caressing my cheek, sending goosebumps down my body. That felt so nice that I didn't even want to open my eyes. I was so immersed in that feeling that it took me a whole minute to understand that someone was talking to me.
"Come on, love, open your eyes." It was said in oh so familiar British accent that I instantly recognized who it was.
I opened my eyes and met Nik's piercing gaze. His expression didn't give anything away but I could say that he was worried. He brushed a strand of hair that fell on my face and rested his hand on my cheek. When he noticed that I was awake he suddenly bit into his wrist and put it to my mouth.
"I couldn't find any injuries but I still can see that you are hurt, so I need you to drink some of my blood just to make sure that you'll be okay," he said offering me his blood which I took gratefully. As soon as his blood touched my tongue I closed my eyes and couldn't help but let out a small moan. I've never tasted a vampire blood before but I always thought it would taste like... well... blood. I think I heard him chuckle but I'm not sure. His blood tasted divine, I can't even describe it, it sent tingles of pleasure down my body. I took a few gulps and instantly felt relieved. The pain that I was feeling since I woke up was gone. I stopped drinking and looked at him gratefully.
"Thank you, it really helped a lot," I said gently squeezing his hand, but then I finally remembered what had happened and without even thinking engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so glad that you are okay, when I saw you lying there desiccated, I was afraid that I was too late," I said into his neck hugging him tightly.
"It's okay, love, I'm alright, the witch wasn't able to finish her spell in time. All thanks to you," he said while caressing my back. I broke the hug feeling a little embarrassed of my own reaction but then I finally understood what he'd just said.
"What about the witch, I'm pretty sure she was still alive when I passed out?" I asked, then quickly stood up and finally looked around. I realized then that all this time he was sitting on a bench with me half siting half lying on his lap. I felt my cheeks getting hot which he definitely noticed if his knowing smirk was saying anything.
"I took care of her don't you worry, sweetheart. What I want to know is what happened to you? You are definitely a witch as I saw you ripping those vampires' hearts out but it looked like it hurt you," he said staring closely at me. I didn't feel any remorse about the witch that he "took care of", knowing that she was probably dead. She had it coming.
"I... It's a long story really, I'll tell you everything I promise, but I think we should go back to the exhibition. Ms. White must be worried," I said looking at him with pleading eyes. I wasn't trying to avoid the conversation as it really was late and my teacher was probably worried sick because of my disappearance.
He looked at me for a moment and nodded before standing up from the bench and offering me his hand. I thought for a moment that it was too easy to convince him to postpone the conversation but then brushed it off and took his hand and we both headed back to the exhibition.
"We definitely are going to talk about this tomorrow," he promised when we came out of the alley. I wondered if the attack had happened somewhere nearby or he'd just carried me closer, when we appeared right in front of our destination.
Our arrival went unnoticed to my surprise. Even Ms. White hasn't noticed that I was gone for so long, probably too busy with everything going on. But as soon as she saw me, she took me aside and told me that the exhibition was closing and it was our time to leave. I haven't even had a chance to say goodbye to Nik as we were leaving, but when I turned around to look at him he looked too deep in his thoughts.
The rest of the day went in a blur. I distracted myself calling home and chatting with Elena and Jeremy, but still couldn't stop thinking about Nik. I have never felt anything like this before. To be perfectly honest I've never felt attracted to a guy (or a girl for that matter) I even thought that there was something wrong with me, especially considering my past.
When all of my friends and even my baby sister started dating, I didn't feel interested. I was always busy with school, witchcraft, martial arts and art classes, along with all the other things that my mom signed me up for, like ballroom dancing and cooking classes. More than that, I had so many secrets, so much supernatural stuff going on in my life that even if I started dating someone, I would've been forced to constantly lie and keep a huge part of my life from them. I never wanted that.
But all of that aside, no one ever caught my interest. Caroline even told me once that most of the guys at our school had a crush on me but were too intimidated by my personality to ever ask me out. Well I guess I shouldn't have kicked Tyler Lockwood's ass that day on a party, when he was hitting on me while being totally wasted. Anyways, now I felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. It was an amazing feeling. The thoughts of Nik gave me butterflies in my stomach.
Oh my God, it occurred to me that I've never kissed before. I've never even wanted to. And now the only things I could think about were his kissable lips, pretty blue eyes, curly golden locks and his smirk that made my knees weaken. The fact that he was a vampire made everything even more appealing. The image of the dark veins under his eyes, the blue color in which stood out even more when his whites turned red, and his fangs, burst into my thoughts. It wasn't scary at all, in fact, it was kinda hot.
Deep in my thoughts I didn't even pay any attention to Ms. White's chattering. All I could make out was that she was extremely pleased with how the things were going.
The next day I was looking forward to seeing Nik again. Time just got away and the next thing I knew I was at the exhibition again, wandering aimlessly through the halls. I was wearing beautiful yet simple white lacy dress and my crimson red hair was let down in loose curls. I wasn't wearing any jewelry except for beautiful set of tiny silver earrings in my ears which were pierced in several places. My cheeks flushed when I realized that I got dressed up for him. I even had a light make up on for God's sake!
"Well, aren't you looking ravishing, love?" My body froze for a second when I heard Nik's voice behind my back. I quickly turned around and saw him looking me up and down, which made me blush even more. He finally finished undressing me with his eyes and stopped his gaze on my face.
"Thank you, you don't look bad yourself." Was everything that I managed to say. His lips formed that signature smirk of his when he reached for my hand, brought it up to his lips and gently kissed it. His touch sent goosebumps down my body and I was silently cursing his vampire hearing as he surely heard my heart skipping a beat.
"Will you go for a walk with me? I assure you it will be much less dangerous this time around," he said playfully, offering me a hand.
"Well I promised you some answers yesterday, so... why not?" I replied accepting his hand.
We exited the building and went to a nearby park. We wandered a little until we found a free bench in a more or less secluded part of the park. It was under a huge tree, with its branches hovering above it, giving us some sort of privacy. There were a few couples and parents with kids walking around, children were playing nearby, but it was more or less quiet in our little private area, creating intimate ambience.
"So, how are you feeling after what happened?" He asked as soon as we sat down. I looked at him thinking on how to answer his question and met with his serious gaze. His face didn't give it away but somehow I could see a hint of concern in his eyes.
"If you are talking about me passing out then I'm fine, you don't have to worry about it. It wasn't the first time and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last either," I said with a reassuring smile. And it was true. There was something wrong with my magic but I wasn't going to give up on it. In fact, I was planning to run a few experiments to figure out the problem and I could already tell that it would be extremely painful.
"It didn't look like you were fine to me, love. Before you passed out you said that you can't use magic, I'd like to know what it was about?" Nik asked, looking me in the eyes. "You said that it was a long story, we have plenty of time now."
I thought for a few moments about what I should tell him. It was obvious now that I really liked him, but he was a complete stranger and I knew nothing about him. As a Seer I always had strong intuition and even if I didn't have visions anymore due to my damaged magic, my seventh sense was still strong. And it was telling me to trust him. And I decided to listen to it as it had never failed me before.
"Well, as you are already aware, I'm a witch. I didn't know anything about it till I was ten. You see, I was adopted and so obviously my parents knew nothing about magic. When I was ten there was an accident that made me trigger my magic for the first time. Then not long after that a woman appeared on our doorstep stating that she was my grandmother. She explained that witches of our bloodline have different magic and that when I used it for the first time my presence instantly became known to her. For nearly eight years she was teaching me witchcraft, the history of our family, everything that she knew herself. And that was wonderful, you know? It was like I was born to be a witch no matter how cliche that sounds. Studying witchcraft was immensely easy for me. I was quite powerful if I can say so myself," I sighed and realized that I was being completely honest with him. It still felt very wrong in my mind, I didn't even know him, but I couldn't help myself. I knew in my heart that I could trust him.
He was listening closely with serious but somehow comforting expression, as if knowing that it was hard for me to tell all of that.
"Then my parents died and shortly after that died my grandmother. As you can tell it was a hard time for me, I was devastated. But what happened next nearly destroyed me," I made a pause looking down at my hands trying not to cry, when he put his hands on mine, and gently squeezed them. I looked up at him and gave him a small smile before continuing. "The night after my grandma's death she came to me in my dream and said that she was sorry for what she was about to do, that I would understand eventually... and the next thing I knew I was in so much pain that I really thought that I was dying. When I came to my senses, I realized that she did something to my magic. Maybe she blocked it somehow, maybe she took some of it away or maybe she cursed me, I don't know. The only thing I know is that every time I use magic I feel like my blood literally turns into fire, burning me from the inside," I finished talking feeling numb and relieved at the same time. Numbness was everything that I felt recently after pain from my grandma's betrayal subsided a little.
"I'm sorry love," he said so sincerely that I felt my eyes burning from the incoming tears.
"You know the feeling when someone who is like a mother to you takes away the part of who you are? I feel like I lost a limb, you know, like I will never be able to function properly ever again," I said without really expecting him to answer.
"I am very familiar with that feeling myself, trust me. My mother did the similar thing to me once." The look on his face told me that he was being honest, it was the same look that I saw when I looked in the mirror every morning, you can't really fake it. It was the mixture of betrayal, anger and sadness.
We were looking each other in the eyes, feeling such a strong connection that it was almost overwhelming. The fact that there was someone in the world that could understand me was the final straw. I could feel tears streaming down my face and I wasn't able to stop them. I instantly felt his hands on my face wiping my tears away. I buried my face into his chest, silently crying while he gently rubbed my back whispering something comforting.
It felt so surreal, me crying on a stranger's chest, but I knew that part of the reason of my breakdown were all those feelings that I was suppressing since I lost my parents. I tried to appear strong for the sake of my siblings, but it's not healthy to bottle up one's feelings in such a way. So it probably wasn't so odd that I broke down the second I found a sympathetic shoulder to cry on.
I don't know how long we sat like that, lost in a moment. But eventually I stopped crying, feeling extremely awkward for breaking down like that in front of him. I never cried too much, even when I was younger, physical pain could never make me shed even a single tear. But since my parents died I was in so much emotional pain that I noticed I became a little vulnerable.
"I'm sorry, I don't usually cry that much, but you are the first person who I told this, I've never really talked about it with anyone. Thank you for letting me to have a good cry, apparently I really needed it," I said looking at him with a shy smile.
"You are most welcome, sweetheart." He gave me some time to compose myself, discreetly turning away to watch the children playing soccer nearby.
We sat like that for some time in a pleasant silence when he spoke again.
"You are different," he said looking somewhat unsure. "You are so honest with me and I know somehow that everything you said is true. I know that you witches can recognize a vampire if you touch them, so I'm sure you knew who I was from the very beginning, but you still went with me without fear or disgust. Most of the witches hate us and call us abominations, so why? Don't get me wrong I'm not suspicious or anything, just really curious."
"Please, don't compare me to those judgmental slaves of "ancestors"," I huffed in annoyance, but seeing his surprised expression decided to elaborate. "First of all, you are not an abomination. I really hate that word, I swear. Second of all, you are right, I'm different. Literally. I'm from a different bloodline and even my magic is different."
"What do you mean your magic is different?" he asked, his face shining with curiosity which I thought was really cute and made me smile. "And what do you mean by slaves of ancestors, I thought they were called servants of nature?"
"Well it's another long story," I said teasingly and laughed when he looked like I ate all of his candies so I decided not to torture him and continued. "Okay okay, I'll tell you. I don't even know where to start to be honest, so I guess I'll start from the very beginning. You know that the witches always talk about nature, but do you really know what exactly Mother Nature is?"
"To be honest I've never really thought about it," he said looking confused. I was expecting that answer as I knew that most vampires were never interested in witches' business.
"Nature, Universe, call it whatever you want, is a subconscious of our planet. It's nothing like human subconscious of course, it has different sense of time and perspective. Our years and centuries are like seconds to it, and human life is just a moment. So thousands of years ago, Mother Nature or what we Black witches also call it Mother Magic, "decided" that she needs some help, someone to do her will amongst humans. That's how we witches were created. One day the gifted children were born all over the world, who then became the founders of the witches' bloodlines. Of course a lot of them became extinct, but that's not the point. The first few generations of witches were really powerful, you can't even imagine. They could summon rain if there was a drought, they could heal people and livestock, they fought with plagues, leveled down mountains, could change the rivers' course and a lot more. The older the witch - the stronger. All of their lives they would learn magic, create spells and rituals and become more and more powerful. But in the end they were only humans. Can you imagine working all of your life to gain power, to be m above humans and to be recognized and worshiped as gods, and at last, when you think you've achieved everything, when you are in your prime... you die of old age? So as you understand not all witches were ready to accept it. I mean of course the majority of them performed their duties properly, kept the balance and helped humankind. But at the same time there were those who wanted more. Witches who had similar aim created a coven of sort in attempt to achieve what they wanted more than anything. Can you guess what that was?" I asked him with a grin.
"Immortality..." he whispered with shock written all over his face.
"Immortality. They were obsessed with it. For generations they were trying to reach immortality but failed every time. You see, Mother couldn't teach every witch magic, so she just gave them an access to a... it doesn't have a name, but it's like an information field of our very planet. Every witch is linked to it and is learning from it subconsciously. There's knowledge about everything and every witch interprets it differently and has an access to it on different levels. For example, Seers have somewhat higher level of access so they can see past, present and future. Well you got the main idea," I looked at him and he nodded, understanding somehow everything that I was trying to explain (which was a true miracle because I suck at explaining). "So without explaining to every witch what's good and what's bad, she just locked from them some certain knowledge that she didn't want them to have an access to."
"So you are saying that no matter how hard they tried, they were doomed to fail from the very beginning," he muttered thoughtfully.
"Exactly. When they learned that there was no way to reach it directly they just found another way. It wasn't perfect, but still. They created something like a pocket dimension, which was like a perfect reflection of our world, where they would go after they died. They could interact with our world from there and they still had their powers. Later on, it would become known as the Other Side, but back then it was just the loophole for witches with the thirst for power. It was a place where they had planned to wait until the solution was found, a way for them to become immortal. But eventually they realized that it wasn't meant to happen any time soon. Then they somehow managed to brainwash next generations of witches to draw power from them, instead of nature as it was far quicker and easier to accomplish than drawing it from it directly. That's how ancestral magic was created. Of course witches nowadays still can draw magic from natural phenomena, full moons and comets but it only happens when they are performing some really serious rituals which is rare. That's how most of them turned from servants of nature to slaves of ancestors."
I looked at him expecting questions but he looked so deep in his thoughts, that instead of distracting him I decided to catch a breath a little. It took him a few minutes to process everything and come up with a question.
"But you said there were a lot more of those who properly performed their duties. So how come that almost all the witches nowadays turned to their slaves?" He frowned thoughtfully, trying to put all the pieces together.
"That's an interesting question. You see, witches were extremely peaceful back then, they didn't have enemies except for wild animals and sometimes bad people, so there was nothing like battle magic, just a few defensive spells. But they never used them against other witches it was some kind of a taboo. So they were really unprepared to defend themselves from their own kind. All of those who were deeply against the idea were slaughtered. And the rest just gave up out of fear. Of course it took thousands of years but eventually witches forgot about the old ways. And now this is the only reality that they know."
"So what makes your magic different?" He asked, finally closing the previous topic.
"Well, I don't need to draw magic from nature, I mean I still can, but I have my own magical core. That's the characteristic of witches of my bloodline. My kind always remained in the shadows, watching, maintaining history for descendants, keeping balance and only interfering when there was no other choice."
"But if you were so powerful how come I've never heard of your kind? I've been around for a very long time and there must have been some rumors and whispers amongst supernatural folk. And how did your ancestors managed to survive the witches from the Other Side?" He asked curiously.
"We call ourselves Black witches. About how we survived, well they made a few attempts to destroy our bloodline as they did to the others, but we've managed to repel all assassination attempts. Artemis, one of my ancestors, a powerful witch who was well known among my kind, threatened to destroy their dimension and it wasn't an empty threat, trust me. So they decided that it would be better to leave us alone, especially considering that there always were so very few of us. Answering your first question, yes we are powerful indeed, but there always should be balance." I looked at him to see if he was following my train of thoughts and continued. "Women of my bloodline can only have one child, and it's always a girl. Only one Black witch per generation. So as you can see, there were always very few of us, and now I am the only living Black witch."
I took a deep breath trying to calm myself down. Though I felt relieved after sharing those stories with someone, at the same time I felt extremely sad. My train of thoughts was interrupted when I felt his hands on mine once again, caressing them gently with his big thumbs. And that one gesture was able to calm me down immediately, giving me the feeling like I've been wrapped in a warm blanket.
"I have no idea why I told you all this, to be honest," I murmured, avoiding his gaze. "I mean, it's not a secret or something, my family always had a code to help anyone if we found them worthy, but I myself am not such an open person. But somehow I know that I can trust you. But I don't even know you. I'm so stupid."
"You are not stupid, love. To be honest I'm not behaving like myself either," he admitted with a frown. "I don't trust easily and I'm very paranoid. I've been thinking a lot about what happened yesterday. Usually I would suspect that you were somehow involved with my enemies and rip your heart out without any remorse, but that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Somehow I know that I can trust you like I trust myself."
His words didn't scare me at all, in fact I felt relieved. He was a predator and I could tell that he was really old. And if he hadn't told me about his worries I would've thought that there was something fishy in this situation.
"I was taught to defend myself, Nik. I am very skilled not only in witchcraft but in martial arts as well. I've dealt with vampires and even witches before. I've seen blood and death and I've killed. I'm telling you all this just so you know that I'm not a naive little girl. I don't trust easily too and maybe I'm not as paranoid as you, but I'm always cautious. I am a Seer and even though I don't have visions anymore I still have strong intuition. But as soon as you touched my hand yesterday, I knew that I could trust you."
He was looking at me as though I was a mystery that he wanted to solve. I didn't want him to think that I was lying to him.
"You are right to think that the situation is suspicious. We've met and an hour later you were attacked. I mean if I were you I would suspect myself too. I will understand if you..." I haven't had a chance to finish as he interrupted me.
"I don't think that you were involved in yesterday's attack," Nik confessed and then continued seeing my distrustful look. "I know exactly who sent those degenerates. Clan Reaper is an Italian clan of vampires, we've had a few run-ins in the past, so I know how they work, though I didn't expect them to bring a witch. And I also may have done a little research on you."
I looked at him shocked at what he had just said. I was trying to figure out if I was mad at him, but instead I suddenly realized that what he did was kinda logical thing to do. So instead of accusing him of interfering in my privacy, I simply nodded and looked at the children who were playing nearby.
"Aren't you mad at me?" He asked, looking really confused.
"No, I'm not mad at you. I understand why you did it. I'm just surprised that you were able to do that in such a short time."
"Well, what can I say. I have my ways," he smirked smugly.
I laughed at his satisfied expression and realized that it was time to go back to the exhibition. But it was so comfortable to sit like this enjoying the silence. I realized that I really enjoyed talking to him, even though our conversation wasn't an easygoing one. I rather enjoyed listening to his voice.
I sighed heavily knowing that it was time to go back even though I wouldn't mind sitting like this forever.
"As much as I would like to stay, I think we should go back," I said sadly looking down at my hands.
"Tomorrow is the last day of the exhibit," he put his finger under my chin and raised my head to look me in the eyes. "I'm leaving town in an hour. They have gone too far, if you weren't there I would've been desiccated, lying in a coffin at the bottom of the ocean. You saved me even though you knew that it would hurt you. And for that I thank you."
He had this look of complete gratitude on his face that melted my heart. It was obvious that he wasn't used to showing gratefulness, but he still did it anyway.
There was this emotion in his eyes that I couldn't quite understand. He was so close that it looked like he was about to kiss me. I was a little afraid that I would mess up because it would be my first kiss, but at the same time I really wanted him to kiss me.
But unfortunately it never happened. A bunch of screaming kids ran past us and the moment was ruined. He chuckled when I looked away blushing furiously.
"Come on, love," he stood up offering me his hand which I accepted graciously. "I will walk you back."
We walked in a pleasant silence. He was holding my hand and I realized that I didn't want him to let it go. It was unfair that he was leaving so soon, I didn't even have time to get to know him. I wanted to ask so many questions but I decided against it, somehow knowing that I would have the opportunity to do that in the future.
Deep in my thoughts I missed our arrival. We stopped in front of the building and I turned to him to see that he looked like he didn't know what to say. And I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"It was really nice meeting you Nik. I really enjoyed our time together." I squeezed his hand gently before letting it go and then without giving myself enough time to chicken out, I stood up on my tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek and then left without looking back.
I didn't give myself time to wallow and went to search for my teacher. I just really wanted to go home, I missed my family and friends, but there was still another day to survive.
I remained with my teacher till it was time to leave. And it was good thing that I did so because I was able to catch up with everything that I've missed. Apparently nearly all of my paintings were sold. I'm not gonna lie that information really shook me as I still was sure that I wasn't that good. But at the same time I was really happy. I couldn't wait until I called home to tell my family. A warm smile appeared on my face as I thought of those dorks back at home.
I was long back in my hotel, lying on my bed in a bathrobe. I just ended my call with Elena and Jeremy when Ms. White walked into my room carrying a box in her hands.
"The porter brought it, apparently someone left it for you at the reception," she said putting it on my bed with a teasing smile. "Someone has a secret admirer."
"Thank you, Ms. White," I said with a frown trying to figure out who the sender might be.
I waited till my teacher left the room then pulled the mystery box closer, noticing that it was quite heavy.
It was black with a white silk ribbon on the top. There was a card with just my name on it. I set it aside, then cast a little diagnostic spell to check for nasty surprises. When I haven't found any, I finally opened the box ignoring the tingling pain in my fingers traveling up my arm and to my core. Inside of the box I found another two boxes. With growing curiosity I opened the smaller one and gasped from shock and admiration.
With trembling fingers I took out a beautiful silver necklace. It was a beautiful little dagger with a rose stalk wrapped around its handle. The stalk itself was covered with tiny little brilliants instead of thorns It was beautiful and looked really expensive. But the thing was, it really suited my personality. Whoever sent it knew me pretty well.
I stood up and went to the bathroom where the big mirror was. I hesitated a little in front of the mirror before putting it on and looked at my reflection. Have I mentioned that it was beautiful? In case if I haven't, it really was. I couldn't take my eyes off it. I went back to the box and reluctantly took out the second one. After what I've found in the first one it took me a whole minute of hesitation to open the second box. It was quite heavy and big and I had absolutely no idea what could be in it.
When I finally opened it, I was really confused to find a mini fridge. That was weird, but my curiosity has only increased so I quickly opened it too. There were three little bottles inside, but instead of water or something else, they were filled with something that looked like wine. I took one out with growing confusion and quickly opened it.
And immediately realized that it wasn't wine.
I was staring blankly at the bottle full of blood in my hands when my phone rang. Due to the shock I answered without even looking at the name of the caller.
"Hello?" I was aware that my voice sounded deprived of any emotions, but couldn't do anything about it. I was still in shock.
"Hello, love. Missed me?" The familiar voice asked with a hint of amusement.
"Nik?" I felt shocked and relieved at the same time. "Where did you get my number?"
"I told you, sweetheart, I have my ways." The familiar smugness in his voice somehow calmed me down. "I was calling to make sure that you received my present."
"It was you! You sent me this? I mean the necklace is beautiful but I can't keep it Nik, it looks too expensive. And the blood, why in the world did you send me blood? Whose blood is it?" I knew that I was rumbling but I couldn't help myself.
"Calm down, love," he sounded like he was struggling to hold his laughter. "Of course you can keep the necklace, it's a present. I really wanted to give it to you personally but unfortunately I didn't have other choice. And about the blood," his voice suddenly became serious. "It's mine. I didn't like the pain that you went through after using magic. You told me after you drank my blood that it helped you, and knowing that you will definitely use your magic in future I wanted you to have something to ease the pain."
I was silent for a moment thinking about what he had said. No one ever did anything like that for me. The fact that he thought about it, that he did it for me really warmed my heart. I suddenly realized that I was crying.
"Thank you," I whispered, trying to hide my tears as I've cried enough in front of him already. "It really means a lot."
"You're most welcome, sweetheart. I hope that our next meeting will be longer than this one. I would like to show you some of my favorite places and perhaps take you out for dinner." His words made me smile like an idiot and I was happy that he couldn't see me as I sat on my bed wearing a huge bathrobe with my wet hair all over the place, cupping my tomato red cheeks, trying and failing to cool them down a little bit. "Good night, Thalia. Sweet dreams."
"Good night, Nik."
My life took a very drastic turn once again, but falling asleep and hugging the phone to my chest with a huge smile on my face, I knew that this time it would change for the better. And for the first time in so long I wasn't bothered by nightmares.