Am I Still Dreaming? ~ Kingdom of the Immortals

Am I Still Dreaming? {3}

-3-

Without warning, he grabs my hand and I slap him in shock. We both stare at each other with our mouths wide open waiting for the other to respond. I just slapped this stranger in the face! What if he has anger issues? What if he tries to attack me? I can’t follow him now!

Niklaus smirks, “I assure you that my intentions a solely good, I will not try to kill you.” 

“But don’t ‘immortals’-” I cringe at the word, “-drink blood?” 

My statement makes him laugh, “What kind of monsters do you think we are? Vampires? And to think you were one! Princess-”

I slap him again, but this time on purpose, “Stop it!” 

He stares at me, his blue eyes boring into mine, “You are feisty, but I guess you don’t remember much about any of this. That ‘juice’ was a forgetful potion.” 

“Wait!” 

He looks at me alarmed, “What is it?” 

“If it only made me forget, does that mean I am still...” I can’t force myself to say the word again. 

“Come on, Princess, we have places to be,” He grabs both of my hands to prevent me from slapping him a third time, and we leave Wonderland. The place we appear in is full of people and I look around in wonder. Unlike the market place, this shopping court doesn’t have dark clouds looming over it with vultures waiting to scoop up whatever it preys. The people seem to wander without a care. 

“Are they all-” Immortal. 

“No,” He releases my hand. “In fact, most of them are mortal. There aren’t a lot of immortals. Pure-born immortals are rare and usually highly regarded like you were, Princess.”

“Stop calling me Princess!” 

He rolls his eyes, “Anyway, there are some immortals who inhabit the area, but not many.” 

“Why are we here?” I ask. 

“Errands,” He explains. “My father needed an ingredient for the elixir-” 

“Elixir?” I ask as we head towards an store with a sign that reads Milliard’s Gems. 

“We aren’t born teenagers - pure-borns drink it around their eighteenth birthday. This elixir keeps us young and strengthens our abilities.” 

“What if you don’t drink it?” 

“Then we start to age again and become mortal, but unlike humans we can go back to drinking it. The elixir is not the most pleasant thing to a human. I remember when I first started drinking it, it was sour, but it has gotten better over time. Going without it, won’t kill us if that is what you were thinking.”

I remember my parent’s image from this morning. Their hearts ripped from their chests, that is the demise of immortals. “That is why there are hunters.” It is not a question.

He wrinkles his nose, but doesn’t reply. Instead he grabs a handful of rocks and studies them closely. I watch, fascinated by his concentration. He looks pleased with what he has and goes to purchase the stones. We head back to the alley where we first appeared; he keeps the sack of rocks in one hand, and grabs my hand with the other as we appear in a magnificently beautiful room. I have a nagging familiar feeling about this place. 

“How do you do that?” I ask, breathlessly. 

He looks at me innocently, “What?” 

“You know very well what I’m talking about,” Getting ready to slap that smirk of his handsome face.