My Immortal Love *Being Rewritten*

To the Vatican

I woke up screaming.

I had had a dream of freedom in the human world with my parents and brother. My brother got me alone far away from our parents and said, "How dare you."

The pleasant dream veered off course and became a nightmare when my brother turned into Dimitri, who grabbed me, brought forth his fangs and sucked me dry.

My own screaming woke me up.

"Alivia?" Drea whispered. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know." I stammered.

I was on the floor, far from the bed in the guest room where Darius had welcomed us to sleep.

"Dimitri still has control over you. Both of you." Darius told us. "Once he chooses his brides, he keeps them until they're dead." He sighed sadly. "You have to get out of Transylvania."

I trembled. "Will it work?"

"It will only work for a little while, but hopefully long enough to hide you for awhile and get you away from here." Darius said.

"That's good enough for me." Drea announced. "I could use less nightmares."

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, ever since I became Dimitri's bride, I've had strange nightmares. I was having one just now, but your screaming woke me up before it could get too bad." she grimaced. "Now I know that they're all Dimitri."

"You two have to leave." Darius said gravely.

"Wait, you'll come with us, right?" I started to panic. I had come to really trust Darius. I couldn't stand it if he left.

Wait, where did that come from? I barely even knew him. How could I already trust him like this and feel the need to be wherever he was?

"Yes. Of course. You'll need me." he started to walk out the door.

"Wait, where are we going?" Drea asked curiously.

"Rome, Italy. Dimitri won't be able to touch you in the Vatican City."

We traveled for a few days to a town on the edge of the Adriatic Sea that ferried us across to Italy, through all kinds of weather that both slowed us down and sped us up.

When we entered the gates of the Holy City, I immediately felt safe. He led us to the main cathedral.

When we entered the cathedral, all I saw was the beauty and holiness of the place. It was the most beautiful place I had ever been to in my entire life.

Darius led us to the altar, where a man in white waited. Darius greeted him in Italian, his Transylvanian accent mixing weirdly with the language, and showed him an intricate tattoo with a cross laced into it on his wrist. The man nodded and led us through a door that led to a dark hallway.

After a couple minutes of following the man in white, we entered a lavish chamber. The man spoke to Darius in Italian again, and left.

"Where's he going?" Drea asked suspiciously. "What did you say?"

"He's going to get the pope. I only told him of our situation." Darius told her.

She nodded. Clearly she hadn't lost any of her confidence or bravery during the change from a vampire back to a human.

Minutes later, the pope entered, wearing his big white hat and everything. Darius greeted him, and introduced me and Drea. The pope shook hands with us.

He turned back to Darius for a short conversation, then approached me.

"How are you, Alivia?" he asked me with an Italian accent.

"I'm fine. Thank you."

He said hello to Drea, too, and then turned to Darius. "So, you say they were once vampires until only days ago?"

"Yes. I found a cure in my village."

"The Order did not know of this cure. We would like to know so that we can save people from this curse."

"Of course." Darius nodded.

He and the pope had another longer conversation in Italian, and then the pope left.

Darius led Drea and I through a secret door in the wall, which led to a stone corridor.

"Okay, Darius, what's going on?" Drea demanded. "What's this damn Order that the pope mentioned?"

"I can't tell you right now. Wait until we are somewhere more private."

After a while of walking down the cold stone hallway, there was a thick wooden door, which had a spiral stairwell leading up behind it.

When we reached the top, we entered a lavishly decorated hallway, with many doors and more hallways.

Darius led us down another hallway to our left and opened a door to reveal a fancy bedroom with two beds. A large window had a view of the gates of the city.

"You two can stay in this room while we are here. There's a closet full of clothes and a bathroom around the corner." he pointed. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah." Drea and I answered.

"Okay, now what about this so-called Order?" Drea asked again.

He sighed, obviously not really wanting to answer, but he knew he had to keep our trust. "I am a member of the Order of the Holy Resistance."

"The Order of the what?"

"It's a secret resistance against vampires, werewolves, you name it. We try to get rid of them, but our worst problem is vampires."

"But isn't there only Dimitri and his brides?" I asked.

"Oh no." Darius chuckled darkly. "The original Dracula created hundreds of thousands of vampires."

"So, why are we here?"

"To keep you safe. You two must promise me that you'll tell me whenever Dimitri calls to you, and that you will not go to him no matter how many times he calls to you."

"We promise."

"Good." he nodded. "Now, I must go. I will be back later tonight. Your meals will be brought to you every day. You are not to leave this room without these." he handed both of us dark wooden stakes.

"Where can we find you?"

"Either in my room, which is the last door of the next hallway, or the library. You can ask anyone where it is and they will direct you to it. I will see you tonight." he left, closing the door behind him.

I noticed that Drea had been quiet. "Drea?"

I turned around to see her curled up on top of the covers of one of the beds, sound asleep, her hair wildly splayed around her face from not being brushed for days. I wondered what mine looked like.

All of a sudden I was so exhausted that I wanted to curl up in bed just like Drea.

I crawled into the other bed, which was so soft that I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.