Sanguine Malediction - The crossbow and the silver bullet

Chapter 1

Leonard Turner

"She awakens." Elias says with excitement as he looms by Alice's side, watching her peaceful angelic face.

Noah is downstairs with Henry. It was best for Noah to stay downstairs for the moment Alice was to wake, for we feared her lust for blood would cause her to harm Noah. I did not know how to tell Alice that everything she had fought for as a mortal was for nothing. That we now had greater dangers, greater enemies and that they were coming for Alice. Without doubt in my mind, I know it was Estelle who had set Alice's home alight in hopes that she burn to death. Estelle had waited in the shadows for me to leave Alice's home. I despised Estelle greatly, she would pay for what she had done to Alice. I despised myself even more for being so careless and leaving Alice's home with knowledge of Estelle out to get Alice.

Alice's delicate eyelids flutter and her eyebrows pinch together. Her soft skin is stained, her dark brown hair is spread around her head on the pillow. She looks dead and dead she is, but she is the undead now. I dare to tell her of her death. She would not understand first that she crawled into the arms of death itself only to escape, but not as a mortal. I had no intention of making her a vampire, it was what I feared she would become and i wished to never condemn her to such a fate. I had understanding now of what Josephine had felt when she unintentionally made me a vampire, an immortal. I, too, now damned myself for making Alice what she is. I feared she would loathe me, that she would no longer love me for damning in her to the fate I promised to protect her from.

Soft moans escape Alice's lips as she twists her body and sits up. Her small hands raise to her head as she moans deeply, her head would be hurting and she would be disoriented now. Josephine looks to me with worry, I know she fears how this situation would continue. The last thing we want is for Alice is to be hysterical and scared, we only wish to help her and not make anything worse. Alice finds her feet on the floor and stands up, she rubs her head with her fist and groans. She is turning to us now and frowning heavily, pinches her throat and looks to the floor. Her rising thirst is presenting itself now, she is clearly trying her best to ignore the discomfort in her throat and stomach. 

"Thanks for saving me. I must have blacked out." Her eyes widen with realisation and her voice grows louder. "Did Estelle set the fire? She tried to kill me? Burn me to death!"

Silence. We don't know how to answer Alice, to tell her that she had died. She thinks herself saved from the fire, that she is still human. She does not suspect anything of her death. This makes it harder for us to tell her. This silence angers her. Alice looks from me, to Josephine, to Elias. Her gaze is cold, confused, angered. Her body is stiffening as she realises something is wrong, that we hide something from her. She moves her head to the side, stares at us from the corners of her eyes in suspicion. 

"What the hell's wrong with everyone?" She demands, a heavy growl in her tone.

Her gaze shoots to the fire in the fireplace for a moment and she frowns again. Her hands cup over her ears and she shakes her head. She can hear the crackles of the fire, she is confused and agitated at this. She does not understand. Alice is becoming flustered, the second worst part of transitioning.

"What's that noise?" She demands again, stomping her foot on the floor in frustration. "Ugh! Make it stop!"

I wish to comfort her, to hold her in my arms and stroke her soft dark brown hair, assuring her of her worries ; but I cannot do this. She is transitioning into the damned, a sensitive species that must not be annoyed if already agitated. I cannot play with fire, I cannot play with a confused transitioning vampire ; it is dangerous. I cannot scare her, I cannot risk her running from us into the night, I cannot risk anything. I do not know what to do, how to approach the situation. I'm frozen to the spot, with resentment for myself and sympathy for my love's tragic self. Josephine steps forward, one of us finally managing to do something. Her steps are wary, she is cautious of approaching Alice.