Ms. Potent

4: Ciao Italia

We both stood for a few moments in front of the gate when I heard trumpets going off and the gate swiftly opened. I felt anxious but eager to finally step foot inside. The gate opened but there was no one in front of the palace which was odd. I imagined a bunch of people to be here or something. Then I noticed a man who came round and bowed muttering our names under his breath. Vlad and I then ventured forth and then we stepped into the palace. The inside looked just as beautiful as it did on the outside; so full of life. The hallways were decorated in orchids and roses alongside of the red velvet carpet. The walls looked gold and were decorated with paintings that I could assume were royals of the court since I spotted my mum on a much larger painting and my dad who stood beside her.

"Where are we going now?"

"We’ll be going to the throne room where your mother and father will be."

Oh god, here we go. I’m finally meeting my father, after so many years of not knowing him at all. We did a series of twisting and turning through similar looking hallways when we came up to a huge set of wooden doors. Vlad opened them and gestured for me to walk in front of him, and there he was. My dad sat on the throne proudly with his back straight looking directly at me with my mum by his side. My mum looked different in a good way, she looked more regal then she did back in England - like she belonged. I stood at the steps to the thrones and didn't know what else to do but bow, and so I did; one knee down with my face facing the ground. That's when I heard his voice, so king-like with empowerment as he ordered, "Rise."

I rose as he asked and I met his eyes and he smiled. He got out of his throne and embraced me in a hug which I gladly returned. My heart started to feel like it was finally becoming whole, as I felt water coming down my face until I realized that I was crying. I thought I never had a dad and now here he was, hugging me, accepting me into his life. I thought my mum would join in too but I saw her over my dad's shoulder almost shedding a tear from the rim of her eye, smiling. I'm glad I didn't argue against not coming here, I needed to know if this was where the rest of my heart laid, and it was. It's where my heart and I belong.

Breaking free from our hug he put his hands lightly on my shoulders and peered at the crowd. I actually didn't even see the audience until now. It must be the public, but I swear that the throne room was empty. With his hands still on my shoulders, his voice grew loud as he announced, "I hereby crown you Princess Anastasia, the next ruler of the underworld." Everyone cheered and whistled as my dad whispered, "Ana please get on one knee." I did as asked again and he placed a beautiful silver tiara on my head along with a sceptre in my hands. "Rise child." I rose and turned to everyone else and I saw Vlad in the distance, he smiled at me as I returned it. I'm glad I actually wore a dress here; otherwise it would look very unroyal of me to be in a tracksuit. I rose the sceptre and the cheering got louder and at last I felt like I had a place in a real family.

***

Running aggressively in the dark mysterious woods all I could have heard was the wind colliding against my ear drums. There was something chasing me, a creature of some sort but somehow I ended up having the upper hand. I couldn't even get a glance to look at what was chasing me, but I felt scared and alone. I ran for miles with nowhere to go until my vision became clearer, as I spotted a hut in the direction that I was going in. I reached the tattered old door as I started to bang it over and over, shouting for shelter, until I gave in and knocked the door down. Once I was inside, I barricaded the door with the broom stick and slid down the door with relief. The hut was filled with bottles of water, and food which to my delight, I was grateful for. My throat felt dry, so I opened a bottle of water and gulped it down. After the refill, I stuck my ear to the side of the door to try and detect anything that may make its way towards me when immediately the leaves started to rustle with it gradually getting louder and louder. I felt terrified.

I knew I was going to die. I had no chance against that creature, since I was a human after all. I began to pray for my life, asking God for help. The beast began to claw at the door continuously begging for entrance. After minutes or hours of the creature trying to knock the door down, I heard it withdraw. I let out a huge sigh in relief when I only heard the creature come charging at the door. I dodged the door as it came flying inwards although I ended up on the floor with the creature over me, snarling with its teeth out and its eyes glowing yellow. I cried in agony as the creature dug its claws in my legs and then it came for my head.

***

I sat up from the bed screaming. I don't even remember going to sleep but the nightmare felt traumatizing. Thank god it wasn't real though. I flouted it and smiled as I looked at the view outside. The sunlight made the trees look as if they were dancing.

I glanced at the alarm clock on my bed side table realizing it was 6:38am. In all of reality, it doesn’t even seem like were in Italy since I stepped through a magical portal that was made by a vampire who seemly has powers. In all honesty, I doubt were even in Italy, otherwise I would have seen people. By people, I mean people who look normal and by that I mean that all the vampires looked perfect; there is nothing imperfect about them at all. Stretching my tired arms in the air, I made my way over to the wardrobe opening it to find it filled with clothes. I had and never did had any intention in wearing anything nice, I just wore what I first saw in my wardrobe but in this wardrobe, nothing looked ugly. It all seemed as if it was custom-made, but that’s impossible; my mum must have measured me somehow and gave out the measurements to tailors or something. Slipping on some clothes that I felt comfortable in, I tied my hair into a pony tail and left the bedroom.

Leaving was probably a bad idea since I had no clue where to go. This palace was huge, huge enough to get me lost without any guidance. I had to make do as I tip-toed around until I saw a cute little window that was slightly ajar. I opened it further and saw that there were vines running all the way down from the window. Bingo. It feels like I’m escaping some sort of mental institute, and it feels pretty ironic to even think that. I could have asked to just go out with permission, but what’s the fun in that? Taking risks is fun… I guess. Opening the window fully, I lifted my left leg on to the ledge of the window. Until I even registered what I was even doing, I was climbing like a legend down the window like I’d done it a thousand times which I haven’t. This makes me suicidal right? Right.

Working on my hands and my feet, I jumped off as I saw that I was near ground level, which I was thankful for. That dream really did get to me. My senses took over as they lead me out of the palace grounds.

Spinning around, I noticed that the forest looked familiar which is pretty odd since I haven’t been here before, or wherever we are. I hesitantly walked through the dark brown but dead leaves which resulted into it making a rustling noise until my head lifted as my eyes made contact with a hut. The hut. The same hut that I saw in that peculiar dream of mine. This surely can’t be right, I thought as I ran over towards the entrance of the hut and laid my hands on the beaten door. My eyes danced around the surroundings as I took everything in, but everything appeared to look exactly like the dream I had. I placed my hand on the rusty handle as I pulled it down, then pushed it hard. Entering it felt serial, but yet again everything looked the same. Turning in the other direction, I looked down at the place where my dream ended with me to the sudden near death. My head felt like someone hit it with a hammer, as I rested it against the wall trying to think of how I could have known about this place. I only had seconds to react when I heard someone charging at me as I was knocked out, stone cold.