Heir to the Eternal Throne

Chapter 5

             Silence engulfed the room. Aldrin focused on it, surrounded himself with it and let the emptiness clear his thoughts. His breathing slowed, minutes passing between breaths of air. A void took over his mind, bringing him away from reality and into a silent, empty abyss. His chest lifted as he took in another breath of air, this time deeper than before. After a momentary pause, he let it out. Slowly, over the course of several seconds.

            Just as he was about to take another inhalation, faint footsteps came from down the hall. Half rushed, making an obvious effort to reach him in a timely manner. For a moment, Aldrin did nothing. He just listened to each step as the sound became louder and louder. Even as the steps reached the door, as the polite knock on the wood echoed through the room, he did nothing. He waited. Waited past the second knock. Then a voice came.

            "My Lord, I apologize for the intrusion, but she has awoken." The voice called out to him, a slight tone of excitement in his voice. At hearing this, Aldrin opened his eyes. In place of the bright glow they normally gave, they were void. The color of his eyes darkened to blood-ruby. This only lasted for a second before they brightened again, glistening like a roaring flame.

            Uncrossing his legs, Aldrin stood, taking two quick strides to the door. Opening it, he passed the vampire. He had no need to speak to him. As he passed, the vampire turned to follow. Three, six, twelve footsteps later, Aldrin crossed the threshold of his room. Paying no attention to the rest of the room, his gaze turned to the bed the mysterious shadow-born vampire lay on.

            She sat up, leaning against the pillows between her and the headboard. "Who are you? Where am I?" she immediately asked. Appearing strained, her eyes were unfocused, wandering the room but continuously keeping track of his movements. Her voice was, smooth, like silk and yet, unsettled.

            Aldrin froze where he stood and raised both hands. "I mean you no harm." he paused, lowering his hands slowly, examining her a little more. Her body was shaking. Not violently, nor noticeably to a human's eyes, but enough that he could see it. "I am Lord Aldrin, and you are safe behind the walls of my city, under my care." Aldrin gave the woman a respectful bow, to welcome his guest. "I am glad to see you are awake. We began to worry it would be some time," Aldrin said, raising himself to stand tall again.

            The woman examined Aldrin head to toe, then looked around the room again. Her heart picked up, a shiver running down her body. Her ears twitched as she blinked rapidly. Aldrin tilted his head a little, taking a closer inspection of all the signs. She was a newborn, unfamiliar with the strength and senses of her body.

            "It gets easier," Aldrin commented. She looked at him immediately, taken aback by his remark. "Getting used to your heightened senses and emotions will be the most challenging."

            "What is wrong with me?" she asked, continuing to look around nervously. Several times she made an effort to get up and move, but it was all to no success. As far as Aldrin could tell, she struggled with even the simplest tasks—moving her arms, fingers or even turning her head. Her motions remained slow and almost uncontrolled with slight jolts of movement.

            "Do you even know what you are?" Aldrin asked, his head tilting as he watched her expression. The strain on her face revealed the answer before she even said no. The statement was less of a reply and more of a question. She was as clueless as a child, save for her speech which seemed to be fine. Whoever made her did a poor job of properly tending to her needs. Maybe Aldrin scared them off from doing just that when he had arrived in the village?

            "You are a vampire. A shadow-born vampire, much like myself," Aldrin explained. The explanation was, for a moment, processed. Yet, her strained attempt to comprehend what he said did not fade. If anything, she was more baffled than before. While Aldrin's efforts to explain where she was and who she was continued, the words seemed to simply mean nothing.