In a flash of Fangs

Forever is a long time

"Stela! Stela! Wake up... come on come on come on, please wake up Stela" I could hear my brother's voice calling me from some other dimension, I just couldn't make myself move or respond. I felt trapped in the darkness that surrounded me, it was closing in suffocating me. I began to panic but still I could not move, immobile I could only look around and see nothing but the onyx abyss with no way of escaping it. My heart beating wildly the blood rushing, pounding in my head causing me to get dizzy but I was lying down so I didn't have the fear of falling, not like it mattered anyway I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. Lost in this void of nothingness scared me more than anything, the ability to think and worry took over, I wanted to scream but I had no control of my body, I wanted to cry but again I could not. I tried to just ignore the feeling of hopelessness and closed my eyes to the darkness reaching for any sense of feeling in my body. At first there was nothing, and then I felt something stir inside of me like a sleeping lion shaking off its daily nap with a yawn and stretch, it spread through my body like wild fire. The sudden energy ignited my very being and the darkness dissipated into a mist before leaving my vision completely. I was finally able to move and opened my eyes to see Kosti and Vlad both peering down at me. Vlad was kneeling holding my head up before propping me against his body as he sat down on the rug in front of the hearth.

"What happened?" Vlad questioned looking at me with concern as Konstantin checked me over for injuries I pushed Kosti away lightly before trying to sit up with Vlad's help.

"I don't know, I was looking at everything in the room and touched the sword and then was somewhere else.... Cannon fire, smoke, men and a huge castle" I stopped and looked at Vlad before I continued telling them everything even what the master vampire had told me. I saw anger flash in his eyes as they briefly turned scarlet before returning to the mixture of greens and browns that I loved his fists had clenched causing his knuckles to become white.

"Vlad... What did he mean by the games have begun?" Vlad stopped pacing his back was to me and I could see him take a deep breath before slowly turning to face me. His jaw was clenched and I could see the muscles working as he thought about how to tell me, his eyes kept changing between a deep mossy green to almost a rustic brown. The emotions swirling around him were evident in every movement he made, his muscles rippled over his whole body as he stood there fighting internally. I stood up and crossed over to him lightly touching his arm getting his attention before sliding my hand into his larger one leaning my head against his chest I felt him slowly relax against me.

"You don't have to tell me" I whispered lifting my eyes to look up at him, he shook his head and looked down at me his eyes filled with such sadness that my heart ached to see him this way. I closed my eyes lowering my head again as he wrapped both arms around me holding me to him with such strength I feared he might crush me but I wasn't going to say anything, I knew I was safe with him. It felt like hours we stood there but in reality, it was only a few minutes before he pulled away from me. I protested and he shook his head at me and sat down on one of the couches his head in his hands he sat perfectly still only his breathing showing us he was still alive. I looked at Kosti out of the corner of my eyes and saw him watching me, with a weak smile I nodded and walked to sit next to Vlad, Konstantin left quietly leaving us alone.

"Hey... You ok?" I nudged him with my shoulder hoping to break the silence between us but he kept his head down, I frowned and sighed I didn't want to have to resort to drastic measures but if I had to I would.

"Vlad?" still no reply.

"Please talk to me... say anything please" I whined hoping he would at least try to please my lack of confidence but still no movement besides his breathing. That was it, I huffed and then pushed my way into his lap by ducking under his arms and wiggling in such a way that he had to lift his head up and hold me to make sure I didn't fall. Smirking at him I laid my head on his shoulder with my lips just above his collarbone my breath tickling the skin on his exposed neck. His arms closed around me supporting my weight he leaned back pulling me with him, he was so gentle I almost forgot he had a monstrous side of him. The couch groaned as he moved deeper into the cushions and I had to smile at the kindness and care he was showing me, I was content to just leave him to his thoughts so long as I was with him in his arms.

"He said he would call on me one day... That I his pawn would just be an end to get his vengeance on the demon that cursed him. His game it sickens me to the very core of my being and I have no idea what might happen or what he will ask me to do, but if he has included you in this then we must be very careful. He is incredibly powerful, manic and dangerous I can't have you getting killed because of his game Stela. You mean everything to me and I cannot, will not lose you to him and his devilish gain." I stayed quiet letting him speak I could feel the anger in his voice and the protectiveness he had over me as he held me close. I pulled away after he finished and stared into his gaze searching for anything that could tell me everything would end ok but I could only see the calm pools of green staring at me. I leaned back as he leaned forward to take off some of my weight he chuckled raising a hand to lightly caress my cheek and trace a finger down my jaw to my chin, lifting it up he pressed his lips to mine, his hand returned to my back holding me steady as he deepened the kiss. My hands instantly went around his neck pulling him to me, releasing one hand it found its way into his hair running through the soft raven locks he growled causing me to smile into the kiss. We broke the kiss and sat looking into each other's eyes, this moment was perfect and I didn't want it to end.

"I am yours Vlad, always and nothing can keep me from you, nothing" I said leaning to get another kiss from those soft lips of his. I could have gotten lost in this night forever, the emotions were amazing and everything fell into place, as if fate had brought us together even though thousands of years had passed between us. 

"Do we need to plan something for when he does come? I know we don't want to think that he will, but it's better to have a plan just in case" Vlad nodded at my question.

"But not right now, let us enjoy this" he said standing up and giving me his hand, I placed my hand in his and stood up following him to the front door and out into the cold night.

He showed me many different places that he liked to go to and just watch the world go about its daily tasks, most of the time he stayed closer to the castle but he showed me one tavern that he liked. He would sit and listen to the stories of travelers and of the tales that the locals liked to spin about certain areas nearby, he had gotten good about pretending to be human but still had an issue with eating food so he would always order drinks instead. A lot of younger people would gather there so the locals always played up the stories in hopes to scare them and Vlad was eager to see which would try and dare the others to go find out if some of it was true. It became a monthly thing and if one of the young adults got too close to the truth that is how he picked his "blood donor", he wouldn't kill them, he didn't need to. He only needed enough to survive the thirst and that was easy enough to sate if he stayed on top of it and that was normally a few weeks at a time that he could go without needing to drink.

I listened to him talk about what his life had been like and wondered what it would be like to no longer feel the need to eat food, or be able to feel the sun on my skin. Would I miss it? I didn't know but I was curious what everything would feel like as he felt it. I knew he wouldn't turn me into a vampire, I just had a feeling he would do anything to keep me human even if that meant killing me to ensure that. Forever is a long time and Vlad already had a taste of what it was like to never die and watch as those around him perished of old age and other sinister reasons. I knew I couldn't leave this world with him still in it and I just had to figure out a way to convince him of that. 

*** Sorry it took so long to update, family trips and no wifi can make it hard but I was able to keep writing thankfully, I will try to update more regularly now. Please vote and comment to let me know if you still enjoy this craziness.