Switched Fates

My Elodie

"What is a beautiful young lady, doing out on the streets of New York so late at night?" He hummed, his voice was like silk so smooth, it almost gave her goose bumps.

"Meeting someone." She lied, hoping she could lose him on the subway if she could just get there in time.

"I think you should come with me" He went to grab her hand that the rose bush had just pricked. Elodie pulled her hand away and stepped back.

"No! Leave me alone." She said firmly, hoping to get a bystander's attention.

To her surprise, his eyes widened and a smirk spread across his face. Elodie could see his perfect white teeth.

"You're no ordinary human, Miss. Although I should have known that by your marvelous scent."

He started to circle around her. She stepped backwards and yelled louder this time.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled this time.

"Hey! What's going on over there?" Someone called from the other side of the street.

"Nothing" he said calmly not even taking his eyes off her. "Be on your way." And just like that the stranger kept walking following his instructions.

Elodie started to panic. How am I going to get out of this?! She thought.

"Now, now don't be frightened" he almost whispered his smooth voice sending a chill down her spine.

"I think we can be friends. Allow me to introduce myself my name is Lance Haddington Duke of the Undying Blood Order". He bowed his head, placing one hand over his chest. 

Elodie feeling trapped decided to just go along with this, It's not like she had much of a choice. He could out run her and stalk her down, kill her in mere seconds.

"Elodie, Elodie Swinton of the Petal Garden Nursery. I don't know why you would want to be friends with your food." She snapped. He raised his eyes. He was impressed with her courage or her stupidity. Elodie couldn't tell.

"O Miss Swinton, don't worry, you have my word I will never kill you."

He was able to grab her hand this time and pulled up the his face. His skin was ice cold. Elodie felt her heart thump hard in her chest. She felt his hand tremble as he brought her hand up to his mouth and kiss her hand, hesitating for a moment over the small cut on her finger. He squeezed her hand tighter, Elodie pulled it away. She felt the fear surge out of her again. He was dangerous extremely dangerous.

"What do you want? Besides the obvious!" She spat. His face grew dark, not impressed that her hand was now free of him and her choice and tone of her words.

"I think we can help each other. I would imagine the world isn't too kind to a lone witch."

"How do you know I'm alone!" She hissed.

"Don't take me as a fool now, Miss Swinton." He hummed as he pushed her hair back behind her left ear. His touch felt like it was burning her skin, it was so cold, and she shivered again.

"Come with me, be a part of my order, you will be safe, free to explore your powers. I'll give you all the resources, everything you could possibly desire."

"In exchange?" Elodie muttered. She didn't want to take Lance up on his offer to her. Every fiber of her being was telling her how dangerous he was and how she needed to get away from him as fast and as soon as possible.

"You may need to provide me with your services from time to time."

"You're sick!"

Lance laughed menacingly, his stark white teeth on full display. He signed.

"I must say not a lot of people survive talking to me like that. It's a good thing I like you." Elodie felt the blood rush to her cheeks. He noticed this made his eye grow darker.

"Your witchcraft skills, my Elodie."

That made her cringe. "I do not nor will I ever harm a human." She declared regaining her composure.

"I know, I won't ever ask you to do that." He purred.

Elodie paused, trying to process everything, and how she was going to escape all this. She could see the writing on the wall, this was going to end in disaster. How could it not? The one time she tried to have some ties to another person it ended horrendously and after everything her mother said about vampires and other worldly creatures. How would this not end the exact same way?

"You know what I'll let you think about it. Here is my card, give me a call day or night."

"Day?" She raised her eye brow.

"For you, most definitely" he purred, and he picked up her other hand turned it around and kissed her wrist. Elodie pulled away she knew what he was envisioning, and she didn't like it at all. She took the card, nodded and turned her back, walking away from him. She thought hard about whether she would go back to her apartment or not, if she should flee the city altogether. But where would she go? She had no one, no money, she would never get far. She went back to her apartment. The place was pitch black. She made her way to her room, shuffling through the tight hallway, trying not to trip on the various items that were littered around the already tiny apartment. She went to her room and started to pack up her things. She sat on her bed, feeling completely and utterly trapped, exhausted and alone. She let out a few tears, something she hadn't done since that night in the cabin. Despite it all, she tried to get to sleep, remembering happy moments she spent with her mother, cooking and laughing, swimming in the river on hot summer days. She wished she could go back to those days. Running through those memories in her mind, pushing out everything that she had just been comforted with and ignoring the very real threat to her future, she fell to sleep out of pure exhaustion.

Elodie awoke in her tiny cramped room, her phone buzzing from her alarm. Her head ached from all the stress and not getting nearly enough sleep. Her heart stopped as she reached for her phone on her nightstand. There was a red rose, with no thorns, and a note in the most beautiful calligraphy. It read:

May this be the last night you shed a tear, I hope you make the right choice. Happy Valentines day. Forever My Elodie xx

Lance H D R

The thought of that man watching her in her small room made her shiver. What should I do? Should I take him up on his offer? She grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom. Like always, there was no hot water. Someone had also used her towel so she had to dry what she could before getting changed and racing back to the nursery. What do I really I have to lose? He promised he wouldn't kill me, that he wouldn't make me hurt humans. Maybe I could use his resources to find mom. As soon as she entered the Nursery it was pure chaos. The rush of Valentine's Day was no joke. She was on her feet all day helping customers and making up orders. The nursery had a florist section that were creating bouquets all day. Elodie was forced to help out. She hated working with cut flowers. She couldn't heal a plant if it was no longer with the earth. It made her sad.

Luckily, everyone had been so busy throughout the day, no one was able to stop her on her way out. So she left as per her schedule and walked out. She didn't want to go back to her apartment yet. She took a stroll through Central Park admiring the American Elms and then taking the subway down to Brooklyn to watch the sun set. It was an amazing view, the shimmering orange light reflecting off the water, fading into a dark orange flowing down the river. The lights of each of the rooms of the high rise buildings flicked on one by one as the light started to dim. Elodie loved to think about all the different people who were in each of those rooms. She imagined happy couples having dinner, and popping the question. The busy businessman calling his family to say good night to his children from the office. The friends playing board games and teasing each other about why they were single on Valentine's day. She smiled thinking of how beautiful this world was, but her heart ached as she wished she could be more than just an on-looker but an participant in some of those magical moments. She pulled the business card from out of her bag. It was completely white with just a number listed in plain font in middle.

She let it go in the wind and the last of the sun light disappeared from view. It felt like mere moments before her heart start racing like it did the night prioir. She knew he was now behind her.