Who Said Vampires Don't Exist? Well, I Did, Until Now

Chapter 19: Getting Lost

~~Well, it's been a while, but here it is! I'm a little iffy about this chapter.... buut I hope you like it. I wanted to begin to work toward some answers, and this chapter will help with that. I'm afraid the next chapter will have to be the execution... fun! lol Anyways, enjoy and tell me what you think!~~

Chapter 19

The first time I saw a dead body, I was four and a half years old. The way my great-grandmother's skin seemed to have faded to a white which battled with the ragging snow outside intrigued me. Throughout the service, I kept imagining her opening her eyes and handing me a disgusting piece of her éclair pie like she always did in the past. I was never attached to my great-grandmother, but the death was a shock to me. How could someone so old die? If she could live this long, why not a little longer?

When it was my turn to give my respects beside the open casket, I couldn't help but turn to my great-grandmother's face. She was so pale; I reached out and stroked my finger along her wrinkly skin. My mom quickly apologized for me and pulled me away faster than I'd ever seen her move, but I was transfixed. I could remember clearly how real death felt to me at that moment; I never thought the tears would stop.

The Master forcing me to attend the execution of Claudius seemed like something of a nightmare. Death appeared to follow me around wherever I went and joining a ceremony of death was not something I found intriguing.

The Master spent no time harking over what he just condemned me to, and he quickly ordered food to be brought in. I kept my face hidden as I looked at my folded hands on the table. The Master's punishment was unfair to me. Reuban looked like he was going to enjoy executing Claudius, but I have to watch? How cruel was that?!

"The execution will be tomorrow morning." The Master was the one to speak. Reuban and I kept our lips shut. "You two will not be angry with me forever. You both made mistakes, and now you must face up to them."

I looked at Reuban for the first time since hearing the news. He was angry. His hands were clenched together on the table as if trying to restrain himself. I couldn't understand his constant mood swings. He looked perfectly calm and complacent with his punishment before, and now he decides to be angry? This guy needed to get some help with his emotions.

"I'm not going."

The words slipped out before I could contain them; they bubbled out of me like opening a can of soda that had been shaken. I couldn't go to something this gruesome. How could I watch as someone, no matter who or what they were, was torn apart in every possible way of infliction?

"You have no choice Jaime. You will go to the execution even if I must bring you there myself." I hadn't realized the food was now in front of us until I heard the clanking of the Master's silverware. I couldn't bear to think of the execution anymore, so I quickly thought of a change of subject.

"Why do you want people to call you 'Master' instead of your real name?" The question had been nagging me, along with many others. I could see in my peripheral vision that Reuban was sending me a warning look, but I chose to ignore him.

"My real name is hidden. You will discover it one day Jaime." Reuban's head shot up to look at the Master, then me. His thoughts were obvious as he glared at me. He had known the Master for years and yet he was promising me, a random human, that his name would be revealed. Reuban looked furious at that fact.

"Why me?" I whispered in a barely audible voice.

"You're important." At those words, anger exploded in me I wasn't even aware I was holding.

"In what way am I important? I've never done anything with my life that was in any way important! You send your lackeys to kidnap me, and you won't even give me a reason why! You could at least have the decency to tell me why I'm here, but no... instead you send question after question my way, and I'm getting sick of it! How are you even sure that I'm the right Erikson? There could be hundreds! Now you want me to see this disgusting, horrid, heartless execution because I was bored! I can't take this anymore!"