by Dima Zales
Anything had to be better than nothing.
The tingling became stronger and had begun to spread down my body until it reached my toes. The sensation danced around me for a while and then stopped.
Nothing.
I would have sighed if I had any breath within me. I didn't want to go back to nothing.
I got my wish a couple of minutes later when a horrible stabbing pain went through my heart. I wanted to scream but could not move a muscle. The pain intensified, and I wanted to cry, but again, couldn't do anything.
The pain shot out from my heart and coursed its way through my veins. I could feel it go through every inch of me and in all directions. I didn't think that I could stand any more pain, yet I had to, as it got worse the longer it lasted.
When the pain finally began to subside, strength began to build within my body. It started in my stomach and grew as it radiated throughout my entire body. I felt as though I had enough strength to tear down the entire castle with my bare hands and still have enough energy to take down a football team of vampires.
I opened my eyes.
A glorious light shone into my line of sight. I moved my eyes around and began to focus on the room. It looked different than it had before. It took me a minute to realize that the colors on everything had become much deeper and had almost a glow to them.
My hand brushed against my cheek and my skin felt so soft, almost like a baby's skin. It was tougher though. I tried moving all of my limbs and was pleased to discover that they were all in perfect working order.
I jumped to my feet soundlessly, full of rage and intense power. I looked around the room and saw Cliff slumped over, leaning against a wall. Vince was leaning over Samantha with his back to me.
He had no clue that I was more alive than ever, and ready to rip him to shreds.
I bared my teeth and crouched down like a cat ready to pounce. I ran silently to him and attacked. I jumped on his back, and bit him and tore into him with my nails.
He cried out in pain and turned around. He looked completely shocked to see me but that didn't keep him from grabbing my neck. I pulled him off of me with ease, picked him up like he weighed nothing and threw him across the room.
I let out a scream and ran at him again faster than I had ever had run before. I bit into his neck once more and started pulling out his spiky hair. Normally, doing both at the same time would have been nearly impossible, but I seemed to have developed incredible strength and flexibility.
He reached up to fight me off, and I grabbed one of his arms and broke it. It was so easy that I broke it in three more places. He cried out in pain, and I stood up, grabbed him and threw him across the room again.
It brought me a lot of pleasure to be able to throw him so easily. I ran over to him and bit in him several more times. He tried to grab me with his good arm and I broke that one too.
I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine, so I picked him up and threw him against the fireplace. He hit his head and as he fell to the ground, I ran over to him and threw him against the fireplace yet again.
When he slumped down, he appeared to be unconscious so I grabbed a stake from my under my pant leg and stabbed him in the heart with it repeatedly. Silver goo oozed out of his chest and his eyes turned the same color.
I wasn't taking any chances with him. I pulled the stake out, reached into his chest with my nails and I pulled out his heart. I ripped it to shreds and threw it into the fireplace. I found some matches and lit it on fire. It lit up much easier than I had thought it would and I watched it burn down to ashes.
I ran over to where Cliff was still slumped over and laid him flat on the ground. I placed my hands upon him and imagined him healed completely. Immediately, he sat up.
"Alexis? What's going on?" he asked.
"I just killed Vince," I said, pointing to where he was laying with my bloody, silver goo covered hand.
He looked me over. "You've completed your transformation."
"Of course I did," I replied. "I'm stronger than ever. He was no match for me at all. I'm ready to take out the rest of his cronies now."
"I can't believe you've already transformed," he said, shaking his head.
"Why not?" I asked, only half paying attention. I was focused on taking down every single one of Vince's followers.
"For those of us born into vampire families, it takes at least six hours to complete the transformation after death. You were out less than fifteen minutes."
"You were out too, Cliff. It probably only felt like a few minutes."
"No, Alexis. I looked at the clock. You were only out for about twelve minutes."
"Well so far, I haven't done anything else by the book, so it's not really that surprising," I said, shrugging my shoulders. "What are we going to do with that thing?" I said, pointing toward Samantha.
"We can't kill her without using a Populus Tremola stake."
"I could probably find a way to kill her without any special wood," I growled.
"We can tie her up, carry her with us and then hand her over to our parents. They can decide her fate," he said.
My body was filled with strong waves of energy and strength. I needed to do something to release them.
"Okay, you carry that heap of flesh and I'll fight off any of Vince's followers that we might run across," I told him.
He picked Samantha up and said, "Let's go back to the room I was in and chain her up there."
"Sounds like justice to me," I replied. "Let's go."
We ran to the room, and it took about a fraction of the time that it had taken when we were coming from there. "Why was that so quick? Last time we went all over the place, and it took forever."
"I kept getting lost," he admitted. "These chains aren't going to come off this bed. We're going to have to come up with a different plan to restrain her."
I walked over to the chains, gave a quick yank and they came off easily.
He smiled. "I could get used to this."
He threw Samantha onto the bed and we quickly tied her up good and tight.
"Follow me. I remember how to get down to the main level," I said.
He picked her up again and we ran quickly to the main level. I was very glad when a vampire jumped out at us in the hallway. I ripped him to shreds in just a few seconds. I needed to get my energy out.
As we got closer to the main area, we began to find a lot of vampire bodies sprawled all over the floors. We had to step over and around many of them.
"Do you hear that?" I asked. "It sounds like a conversation. Let's go see what's going on."
We followed the sounds of voices and came to a large room. There were about thirty or forty vampires, all gathered around a very large table. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at us as we entered the room. They all erupted into applause and cheering.
I momentarily forgot about the internal power that was driving me crazy. The ovation took me by surprise, and I was very embarrassed to have that kind of attention directed onto me. It reminded me of the homecoming dance all over again.
They started asking questions all at once.
"Did you kill Vince?"
"Was it just like the prophecy?"
"Tell us the details."
"Did you get injured?"
"How did you do it?"
Two vampires that I did not recognize stood up. The male put his hands up in the air and said, "Silence!" Everyone stopped talking immediately.
"Father, Mother," Cliff exclaimed. "You're here."
I stood taller. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to address the two of them.
They walked straight toward us, and his mother gave me a big hug. "It is so good to see you again, my child. George and I have loved you since you were a baby, and you were always like a second child to us. We are so glad that you are back, and we look forward to the day that our families are united."
I hugged her back and said, "I have remembered more and more with time. The memories I have of
you two are fond ones. I look forward to getting to know you both."
Cliff's father smiled at me and said, "It's a joy to see you again after all these years, child. It will be a pleasure to catch up with you and see how well you have done. I've heard that you still very much have a mind of your own."
I smiled. "Yes, I've received several complaints about that."
"You're your father's daughter. Nothing else would be expected." He then put his arms back up in the air and began speaking to everyone, "Clifford and Marguerite, who now goes by her middle name Alexis, stand up front and share with you how our battle was won."
I looked at Cliff. Alexis is my middle name?
We have a lot of catching up to do, my princess.
We walked up to the front of the room, following Cliff's parents. They had us stand, and his father motioned for all of the other vampires to sit and listen to our story. I wasn't paying attention to what he was saying to the remaining vampires, because I was scanning the vampires in the audience.
I hoped that all of my friends made it through the battle successfully. I noted my friends as I looked through the audience. Brooke…Clara…Brooke's parents…Tanner…Brad…Eric…Jordan (Clara's friend who surprised me in the woods when I was training). My heart sank when I realized that I didn't see Steve. As much as we always bumped heads, I didn't want to think of anything happening to him. He had been like my own big brother when I was growing up.
I didn't have time to dwell on it for long, because Cliff's father had handed the floor over to us. Cliff started sharing about being chained up in the room and how I came in to rescue him. As he went on through the entire story, he made me sound like such a hero.
I would have been blushing had I any human blood in me. I could already tell that the new vampire blood worked differently. I didn't feel like any kind of hero, but the way he told the story I was quick-witted, strong, and brave. Everyone started whispering and gasping when they heard how quickly I had completed my transformation.
When he finished the story, he asked me if I had anything to add and I just shook my head no. I was so embarrassed by the attention and the hero status that I wanted to run and hide.
Unfortunately, that wasn't going to fly. They wanted to hear from me. Most of them were curious because I had been gone so long, and most had thought that I was dead since my parents didn't want the Morettis to know I was alive.
I took a deep breath and said, "Thank you all so much for coming all this way to support us in this battle. As you know, the Morettis have wanted me dead since I was very little. Today, you have helped to right that terrible wrong. I can't thank you enough for all that you've done. I look forward to serving as your princess."
Everyone clapped, and I was thrilled that it was enough to keep them happy. I was not prepared to give a long speech after everything I had just been through.
After I was done speaking, everyone got up and came to talk with me. I felt like I was in a sea of faces. I hoped that being a princess wouldn't always be like this. I thought that it must be due to the newness of finding me alive, and that I would eventually get some space. It was just like going to school after I was crowned homecoming princess.
After everyone had had their chance to talk to me, I was worn out, and word had been received that my mother and father were on their way. Most everyone started cleaning up the colossal mess that had been made in the battle.
Brooke was commissioned to get Cliff and me looking our best while everyone else cleaned. My hair was stiff and sticky with huge amounts of blood. It was also all over my shirt.
I sent Clara to Brooke's house to pick up shampoo, clean clothes, makeup and some other stuff that she would need to make us presentable to see the king and queen.
"Where is Steve?" I whispered, afraid to hear the answer.
Tears filled her eyes, and her lips trembled.
"No. It's not possible. It can't be." I felt light headed.
She took a deep breath. "He was proud to fight for you. He knew that you were going to be an amazing leader and he really wanted to see you become a vampire. He would have been very proud of you today. I wish he could have heard you share your story of victory."
I wrapped my arms around her. "Brooke, I'm so sorry. You've just lost your brother. What are you doing here with me? Go and be with your family. Don't worry about me."
She hugged me back. "I'll mourn later. Steve would have agreed with me. Meeting your parents is one of the biggest days of your life. I'm here to serve you because I want to. Not only as our princess, but as my friend. I'm here for you."
"Are you sure? Clara can get me ready this one time."
She took a deep breath and stood tall. "I'm completely sure. I want to be here for you. It's an honor for me to serve you."
I gave her a sad smile. "Thank you, Brooke. It really means a lot to me."
"Well, I'm not the only one who has lost a loved one. Many did today, and they're all helping to clean up this mess."
"It looks like we lost about twenty or thirty vampires," I said.
"About thirty. We had seventy-three show up in total."
"I feel horrible that any had to die," I said.
"They were more than happy to serve you," she said. "Besides, the Morettis took a much worse hit. There were about ninety of them and not one remains, except Samantha."
"That's awesome that we beat them even though we had so many less on our side."
Clara showed up, and she and Brooke found a dressing room with a large bathroom. They began to set it up for us.
Cliff was behind me, and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "Do you have any idea how scared I was right before you died?"
"No," I said. "You told me that everything was going to be fine."
"That's what I wanted you to believe so that you would stay strong," he said. "I thought it would take more than six hours for you to transform if you died. I didn't think that we had that long. I was certain that I had lost you."
"What about the prophecy?"
"I wasn't even thinking about it. All that I could think about was how I didn't want to lose you. I could never forgive myself if something happened to you again."
"Why do you blame yourself for my kidnapping? You were just a child. You couldn't have prevented it."
"I should have been able to stop it. I should have protected you."
I turned around and looked into his eyes. "I don't blame you and I never will."
"You might when I tell you the whole story."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I overheard your watcher discussing the plans. I didn't understand what they were talking about, so I didn't say anything to either of our parents. If I had, you would have never been kidnapped and been raised so far away from me."
The pain in his eyes was so strong that I could almost feel it myself. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You were just a child. You can't be to blame. Like I said, I will never blame you."
"There is so much that I want to tell you," he said. "There is so much to fill you in on."
"We have all the time in the world," I told him with a huge smile. "Centuries lie before us. This is the very beginning."
He cupped my face in his hand. "For that I am extremely grateful."
We looked into each other's eyes for a few more minutes, and I truly felt that I was home. It was the greatest feeling I had ever experienced. If I'd still had a heartbeat, it would have been going very fast. I could've stayed in his arms staring into his eyes forever.
Clara had other plans, however. "Come on you two! We need to get you cleaned up and presentable. You can moon at each other later."
We both started laughing and followed her into the dressing room. She sat Cliff down on the couch and began scrubbing his face with a washcloth. Brooke ordered me into the shower and closed the door behind me.
When I got out of the shower, I saw a brand new outfit waiting for me on the bathroom counter. It was an elegant dress, and as s
oon as I had it on, Brooke ran into the bathroom and began putting on my makeup.
"Do you have any questions?" she asked.
"About what?" I asked.
"You're about to meet your parents, the highest ranking vampires in the world. I would have imagined that you have some questions."
I thought about it but couldn't think of anything to ask. "They're my parents. I'm sure that I'll be fine."
"Okay," she said. "Let's just get you ready then." She dried my hair and styled it almost as fancifully as she did when I went to the dance.
"Are you going to continue to make my clothes and dress me up?" I asked. "I could definitely get used to this."
"I'm here to serve you. If you had grown up in the castle, I would have been doing this as soon as I was old enough. It's my job."
As soon as we got out of the bathroom, Cliff was rushed in to take his own shower. Before I knew it, we were walking down the stairs back to the room where everyone had met after the battle. As we walked along, I was astonished at how quickly everything had been cleaned up.
When we entered the room, I saw Cliff's parents standing next two vampires that I recognized from my dreams as my own parents.
I froze in place. What was I supposed to do? Why hadn't I asked Brooke any questions when I'd had the opportunity?
Cliff gently grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. We approached the four vampires, and I scuffled my feet. I had waited so long for this moment, and suddenly I wanted to hide under a rock.
We were four feet away from my parents when we stopped. I just stared at them. They were gorgeous, and I couldn't get over how young they looked. If they were to order drinks, they would be carded for sure. How could they be over 800 years old? What had they done in those centuries? I suddenly wanted to ask them a thousand questions.
They stared back at me. Were they as nervous as I was? Or were they just taking me in? The last time they had seen me, I was only three years old.
I was flooded with emotions and unable to sort them. I wanted to run and jump into their arms like a little kid, but everyone had told me over and over how regal they were and how proper that I needed to act. As if running to my parents would cause them to kill me on the spot for my irreverence.
