She needed to tell him that she loved him too. She needed to tell him that she wanted this; she wanted to be a vampire. She tried with all her might to fight against the poison, desperate to see his face and tell him that everything was going to be ok. Her heart was beating fast, too fast, and then Ari stopped breathing, just as her heart slowed and finally stopped.
For a second, one horrible second that seemed to stretch on for eternity, Ari thought she was dead. Then she realised that the breath she had thought she needed to take, the air that would revive her, was unnecessary. She felt her mouth twitch, and the words she had yearned to speak sprung from her lips, as her eyes flickered open.
“I love you too,” she whispered, and then everything went dark, her arms and legs falling limp by her side.
Chapter 26- SUNSHINE
Ari woke the next morning to soft rays of sunshine licking her skin. For a moment she revealed in their warmth; it had been months since the sun had managed to break through the constant overcast skies of England. Then her eyes opened wide and the events from the previous night came crashing down on her. She screamed, blurring over to the edge of the room with uncontrollable speed, and hitting the wall with an ear splitting thud, as she hid from the light that could now destroy her. She hadn’t died last night; Ragon’s venom had turned her. Ari was a vampire.
Trying to recover her composure, her hand shot out to the side, grasping onto the wall so hard that her fingernails dug into the foundation. Small pellets of concrete and timber showered her, while her eyes widened in horror at what she had done.
It really was true she thought; I’m a vampire.
A small smile spread across her face, replacing her previously horrified stare. It had taken her almost dying to realise that this, becoming a vampire, was what she really wanted. It was frustrating that it had come to that, that it had been Kiara to push Ari to the point of death, in order for her to realise it was what she wanted all along. But all of it was worth it; she would get to be with Ragon and the coven and her brother forever.
She thought hard, trying to discern what, if anything, had changed inside her. Instantly she thought of Ragon, wondering what he would think about her becoming his fledgling. Would he be happy or sad, or maybe even angry? He had always said that he would never risk turning her, that the cost of getting to keep her forever wasn’t enough for him to gamble what could be one perfect lifetime together. She had not seen or spoken with him since she’d told him that she loved him. That had been last night, before Kiara’s poison had sent her into an immediate paralytic slumber. The vampire toxin had saved her life but it had left her weak and paralysed… until now.
But where was Ragon? Why wasn’t he here, waiting for her to wake up? This thought had barely left her when another urge overtook her, not worry, but something else. Something was wrong. Distantly she could feel it inside her, as if something was urging her to do something… but what?
A second later and Ragon burst into the room. He had been carrying a tray, but when he saw Ari crouched by the wall, it had fallen from his hands as he raced to her side, a look of terror plain on his face.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his eyes raking her skin, checking that she was just as perfect as when he had left her. “I only left your side for a second. I’ve been waiting for you to wake-up.”
Ari breathed heavily for a moment and then realised that she didn’t need to. The air that she was taking in was unnecessary, and soon she stood still as she composed herself mentally. She was about to speak when her eyes widened and she took in all the wondrous things in front of her. She could see the small flecks of light swim in her room from the open window, as speckled dust danced in the air. She could see each of the tiny threads of the sheets of her bed, and then her eyes fell on Ragon as she looked at him for the first time with immortal vision. A smile spread across her face and her eyes widened, revelling in his magnificent features.
“Ari,” Ragon said, looking at her in concern. “Say something. You’re starting to scare me. Are you upset? I know you never wanted this but, but-”
“-I’m a vampire…” Ari began, her voice breaking off, as she delighted in the sound of her immortal speech; it was like listening to bells, all ringing harmoniously in her mind, distracting her from her thoughts.
“I didn’t have a choice. Kiara, she tried to kill you. She would have if I didn’t turn you. The poison was well in your system by the time I got to you. I was with you all night, waiting for you to wake-up. When you were still under the hold of the poison, I thought, I feared, maybe I’d been too late.”
“It’s ok,” she said, letting her face break into a smile. “This is what I want.”
Instantly Ragon’s eyes found hers and he looked at her with disbelief and hope.
“But then, what’s wrong?”
“When I woke, I felt the sun and…” she faltered, her eyes tracing the small beam of light that shone through the room and rested on the bed. “I saw the sun and remembered what had happened last night, and I thought, thought that it would kill me.”
“It’s ok darling,” he said, blurring over to the curtains and pulling them shut. “I won’t ever let anything hurt you again. Kiara is dead. Jamie took her body with him last night when he went hunting and burnt it. She is gone for good now.”
Ari cringed, feeling a horror creep up on her when Ragon said Kiara’s name. Still, she delighted in this new feeling, admiring the way her skin seemed to recoil, almost as if she had wanted to shiver but now as a vampire, could not.
“She’s dead forever,” he added.
Again Ari peered around to the windows, still too frightened to move, even though she knew that the curtains now blocked the light from reaching her.
“It’s ok my love,” he said again, reaching for her hand and taking it in his as he directed her to the centre of the room. “Soon you’ll miss the sun.”
Ari let his fingers intertwine in hers, feeling thousands of touch receptors in her hand fire as their fingertips kissed. No longer did Ragon feel cold but neutral, and with another pang of realisation, she knew that she must now be icy cold to touch, though she felt warm despite the cool weather.
“You miss it?” she asked, her eyes raking the curtain again appreciatively. “I mean… you miss the sun? I never knew that.”
“It just reminds me that I can’t ever see it. No more sun rises or sun sets. But it doesn’t really matter anymore; I have you. I am so sorry. I know you didn’t want this but there was no other way, Kiara-”
But Ari pulled him to her, miscalculating her strength so that he crashed into her.
“-this is what I want,” she said quickly, reaching up and kissing him on the lips. “I didn’t realise it until I was dying. When I tasted your blood on my lips, I knew I wanted to be a vampire with you, to get to live as many lifetimes as I could with you by my side.”
The second her tongue met his, it felt as if they were dancing together. Every inch of her was on fire and she felt her heart squirm in her chest, though it did not beat or hasten, as it normally would have done whenever she kissed him. It was as if their lips were made of liquid ice, melting together in blissful passion. Still not use to the redundancy of oxygen, Ari breathed in and smiled, admiring the subtle smells that she had come to associate with Ragon as they now assaulted her acute senses.
Too soon she felt Ragon pull away from her, moving over to the tray that he had been carrying as he reached down to pick up the broken glass fragments.
“Sorry, I went to get you some blood,” said Ragon, indicating the broken tray. “I’ll get you some more.”
Ari sighed, wishing that she was still kissing him, and moved over to where he had lent down. The closer she moved to him, the more she smelt something… something delicious… something which she craved with every fibre of her being, even more so than Ragon’s kisses. Then she looked down at the carpet, noticing that there was a large red stain which had spread across the floor. Slowly she bent down, unce
rtain of the magnetic pull, and then her fingers gently pressed against the carpet, trailing it through the sticky red liquid, before she held her hand out to examine the substance. It was blood.
It smelt delicious, wonderful and addictive. She had to taste it. She needed to. Slowly she opened her mouth, feeling a sharp sting as her canines seemed to break through her gums. Her fingers were half way to her mouth, when she smelt something even more desirable. In a second she had looked up at Ragon, her fangs beared, and then she raced out of the room, down the steps. The nearer she got to the smell, the more a loud pounding sounded, as if drawing her closer to the source she so desired. Instinctively she reached for her ears, placing her hands over them as she tried to muffle the noise.
“Hey Ari-” Chris began to say, but Ari had already charged at him, her fangs seeping through his soft delicious skin, to where the sweet warm blood waited beneath, pushed around his body by the loud drums which were beating in her ears.
Hungrily she drank; she had never wanted anything so much in her whole life. A very small part of her wanted to savour the blood, but the more dominant side told her that she needed to drink it all and quickly, before someone stopped her.
“Ari, STOP!” Ragon yelled, and Ari looked up at him from where he stood on the steps.
Without thinking about it, Ari growled, bearing her fangs defensively, unwilling to part from her prey. Quickly she resumed her feeding, pulling the boy’s neck hard to the side as she delved back through the holes she had already created. But before she could steal much more, she felt hands all over her, restraining her and pulling her away. Ari fought against them, trying desperately to re-join her prey. Soon she had fought free of them and was atop of him once more, pinning him to the ground.
“No,” Lea cried, holding her hands out defensively, as she muttered words of magic under breath.
Ari braced herself for the magic she knew the witch was capable of, but it did not come. A wicked smile swept across Ari’s face and she turned back to the boy, this time ready to end his life.
“Ariana,” Jamie said, and she craned her neck to look up.
Her eyes stared back at her brother in confusion. He was a vampire also; he knew what she needed… why was he trying to stop her?
“This is your friend,” Jamie said simply.
Ari looked down at the boy, her neck craned to the side as she stared at him in confusion. She could see his pale blue eyes staring up at her in horror, but couldn’t understand why? Didn’t he realise how much she needed this? It didn’t matter if he was a friend.
“You don’t want to hurt him,” said Jamie, all the while walking slowly towards her, his hands held out in a gesture of peace. “Trust me, I know. Once you go down that path, there’s no coming back. Don’t become the monster. Make the right choice.”
Ari looked down again at the boy and her mouth opened in horror; this wasn’t just some boy, it wasn’t just a blood meal… it was Chris. With this realisation one of Ari’s eyes turned green and she stared at him in disbelief. No longer was she focusing on the rush of blood in his veins, but on his face. He looked pale, sickly, taking little short breaths that made his chest wheeze in response. She could hear that his heart was still beating but it had slowed. For a second she let her eyes rest on his neck, just as she was consumed again with the desperate desire to rip through his skin and finish her meal.
“I need more,” she screamed, shaking her head and lunging at him.
All around her the coven closed in, pulling Chris away from her. Ari crouched down low, preparing to strike, her eyes temporarily tracing each one of the people around her, as if choosing which would be the easiest blood meal. She could see Riley holding Rya, the tiny girl’s face beaming up at Ari, as if hoping that she would come over and hug her. But the desire to drink blood was too great; it called to Ari like a siren, promising that everything would be ok if she could just get one more drop.
Giving into her desire, she advanced on Rya, and though she saw the look of horror on Riley’s face, she ignored it. She was less than a metre away when she saw Jamie next to her. Again she growled, letting her animal side take over, until she noticed something small in his hand.
“Don’t let the blood lust consume you. Don’t forget who you are,” he said, throwing something small and silver at her.
With the reflexes of an immortal, Ari caught it. She looked down and realised that it was the charm bracelet that Ragon had given her. She stared in confusion at the small silver letter J, the tiny gold frangipani flower, the locket which she knew contained the image of her mother and father, and suddenly she knew. She was Ariana Sol; these people were her friends… her family. She would not hurt them. She had to get out of here.
“Give her some space,” said Ragon, looking angrily at the coven, as if her actions were their fault.
All around her the coven stood still, as if hoping to anticipate what she would do next, while trying not to alienate her. Slowly Ari shook her head. The desire for blood screamed at her, roared inside her core, demanding that she steal the precious life sources of those around her. Her eyes fell on Ragon. He was watching her carefully, an angry look on his face, though Ari thought it might have been guilt. She knew that there was nothing else she could do. She couldn’t stay in this house, not with all this blood. But what other option was there?
“I have to get out of here,” she said slowly, her eyes tracing the door, where tiny beams of bright sunshine crept through the gaps.
“No, you can’t go out there,” screamed Ragon. “The sun! Ari it will kill you. It’s ok… it’s ok. We’re all like this in the beginning. Just come with me. I’ll get you more blood. I promise, everything will be ok. Trust me.”
Her mind was screaming, a thousand strangled cries echoing inside her head, all telling her to do something different. Kill them all; drink their blood; save yourself; kill yourself. Jamie wasn’t a monster like she was when he became a vampire. He didn’t attack people like a crazed, blood thirsty fiend. Maybe she couldn’t handle vampirism? Maybe she was never meant to become an immortal?
Slowly Ari shook her head. She couldn’t fight with the impulse to attack for much longer. She could either stay here or leave, and though it took all her willpower, she raced to the front door. The moment she touched the handle, Ragon blurred towards her, reaching for her as he tried to pull her back. In an instant she threw the door open and hot sunshine poured inside. She heard Ragon scream, the sun hitting his marble body as it licked at his flesh, and she quickly raced through it, slamming it shut as she met the sunshine in a burst of icy fire. She had done it. She had saved them.
“NO!” she heard Ragon shout again, and then there were other screams as the coven restrained him, clearly desperate to stop him from joining Ari’s fate.
Bright hot sunshine met her skin and Ari screamed as she felt it’s warmth against her frozen flesh. Instantly she fell to her knees, knowing what was coming and waited. This was the right thing to do. She couldn’t, no she wouldn’t be responsible for hurting her friends, not after everything they had already been through.
The milliseconds stretched into seconds and soon Ari became confused; she was not burning, but why? Slowly she opened her eyes, staring up at the cruel sun in disbelief. There was no doubt about it, the sky was perfect and blue, the large golden orb sitting high above the few fluffy white clouds, delivering what should have been the necessary light to snuff out her newly acquired immortal life. But it did not.
She held her hands out to the bright sunshine, which met her skin with nothing more than gentle warmth. Then she heard the sound of the door to Ragon’s house open and she raced away, blurring into the distance before anyone could see her, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the temptation of her friend’s blood.
As Ari ran, she watched the fields blur around her in a whirl of emerald green. But as an immortal her eyes were sharper. She could see every facet of the world more clearly than ever before. Many miles away t
here were birds in the trees, whose sweet song reached her as she ran, serenading her in chirps of perfect harmony. From the lakes that she passed, she could see the many fish that swam below, feeding on the moss that covered the rocks, their long silvery tails stirring the water, sending tiny bubbles up to ripple the water’s surface.
Finally, when she had reached the end of Ragon’s estate, she sat down, lying in the tall wet grass which lined a small pine forest. Her hair spread out majestically underneath her, and she allowed the nearby trees to feather her with sprinkles of pine needles as time stretched on. As each one fell against her body she beamed, admiring the way they brushed against her hard flesh, almost gently, as if they were twirling on her body.
Ari didn’t know how long she remained there. The shadows cast by the fading sun had begun to lengthen and soon the song birds of the day had been replaced by the gentle hoot of owls, searching for field mice or other prey that might come their way. Ari watched them carefully, taking mental notes as their silent wings glided through the still sky, thinking that she should learn how to mimic their predatory nature. Again the desire for blood was growing strong, but she tried to push away the thought of returning to Ragon’s house, where she knew Chris, Lea, Riley and Rya would be waiting. She couldn’t think about them at all, not the guilt or the desire; her emotions were too strong right now.
Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) Page 40
