I woke up in a beautifully furnished room. The bed I was in was a four poster bed with pastel purple gossamer curtains. I cautiously pulled back the curtains and tentatively put my foot outside, as if testing the waters. The lights in the room were dim, so that I could "sleep," but I guess it was also a way of creating an atmosphere of romance, or foreboding evil or just simply for hiding. I stepped off the bed to explore my room.
It was furnished in the Victorian style with a little sitting area, a writing desk with a typewriter, a small cabinet with a television (the only modern thing in the whole room) and a small bathroom. In the dim light I could see a figure sitting at the table in my sitting area, I reached for the light switch, adding a little bit of light into the room, finding that the brightest it got was about as bright as twilight.
"Mira, you're awake," smiled Alexander rising from his seat.
I swallowed. He was still as beautiful as the day he died, the only difference now was his chalky pale skin and red ringed pupils. His smile was colder, as was his voice, but he was still, in essence, the man I fell in love with.
"Sasha," I breathed.
He swept across the room towards me. I stayed perfectly still. He held me close to him by my waist and gently stroked my cheek. I was shocked by the warmth of his breath and the coldness of his fingers, the cold of death. The cold brought me back to reality. He wasn't the same man I had fallen in love with. No, the man I loved and knew was dead, only his pale reflection remained in this world. I unconsciously reached my hand up to touch my neck where Alexander had bitten me before. He sensed my discomfort and pulled away.
I looked frantically for my stakes, somehow knowing that they would be gone.
"We took them," he said coldly, "Do you think I'd let you keep them?"
I looked at him, "No, I didn't think you would. Why did you bring me here? Where's Rose?"
"Dimitri's request. He thinks you and Rose have some use; that you'd both be powerful additions to our army," sneered Alexander.
It was times like this I knew I could kill him because he just wasn't the same. The times it got hard was when he would hold me and caress my cheek like he used to when he was a Moroi.
I laughed, "I'd rather die. You know that, you've always known that."
"I do know," said Alexander, "Or I could awaken you. You have no idea how-"
"No," I interrupted, shaking my head.
"Stubborn as usual," smiled Alexander.
The smile just didn't seem right on his face. It looked eerie and twisted, not the sweet one he used to give when he was teasing me.
I turned as soon as I heard the door click.
"Dimitri..." I said, unsure whether I was happy to see him or if I wanted to punch him, "Where's Rose?"
"Mira," greeted Dimitri, "Always a pleasure to see you. Rose is resting; her head hurts, so I left her to herself for now."
"Kill me or let me go!" I said.
"Hmm, sounds like what Rose said," mused Dimitri.
"It's not funny Dimitri, I'm serious. I'll really kill myself!" I stated angrily.
"Oh I don't doubt that at all," said Dimitri dryly.
Alexander laughed, "Looks like you've forgotten how stubborn Mira really is."
"Not at all, she's just as stubborn as Rose. She'll see our way eventually, especially if-" hinted Dimitri.
"No! No way are we going to do that!" I exclaimed catching on.
"You don't really have a say in this," sneered Dimitri.
I was about to run at Dimitri when the door opened again.
"Nathan," I said, stopping in my tracks.
"Now everyone's here," sneered Nathan, "I guess we can begin now."
I rolled my eyes, "I hate you, go to Hell."
Every time I got it into my mind to kill a Strigoi, I was thwarted...this was not a trend I liked. There was no way I could kill three Strigoi without a stake. It's not like I had fire either, so that was out of the question. As for snapping their necks, well that would take way to long; I'd be dead before I got anywhere. I had to get Rose out. I promised Alberta I'd protect her and I would get her out before I went about dying.
"I wouldn't leave this one alone," stated Alexander dryly.
"Neither would I," agreed Dimitri.
"On her own she could kill one of us with her bare hands; without supervision and she'd kill herself. We'd better have two people monitoring her at all times," added Nathan, "She's one of the best for a reason."
"Fuck," I swore mentally.
"Come, I want you to meet someone," smiled Alexander.
"Is that wise?" asked Nathan seriously.
"Why? Are you worried that she could overpower all of us and escape?" asked Alexander.
"No...are you even sure Galina wants to meet her?" asked Nathan, "We shouldn't upset her with someone so...trivial."
"Ignore him" said Dimitri, "Galina would be delighted to meet you.
Alexander extended his hand to me. I reluctantly took it-or was it reluctance, I couldn't tell anymore. All my feelings were jumbled up. I loved him, but I had to kill him, at least that's what I kept telling myself, that he wasn't the same person anymore.
Alexander pulled me close to him and in that proximity, as I said earlier, I couldn't resist him. I surprised him by kissing him back. At this point I wished the reasonable, brotherly Dimitri was there to scold me, but he wasn't so the kiss went on, getting a little bit messy and very passionate.
"Come, let's go meet Galina," Alexander said playfully.
I followed him downstairs into a beautiful drawing room. Dimitri and Nathan followed quietly, making me wonder who really held the power in this house. Galina was lounging on the chaise longue and barely looked up to greet us.
"Galina, I'd like you to meet-" started Alexander politely.
"Mirabelle?" interrupted Galina.
Alexander inclined his head and stepped back. I stepped forward and offered my hand. She grasped it firmly; it felt like I was holding onto a block of ice.
"Pleasure to finally meet you, Mirabelle. You have no idea how much Alexander talks about you and how highly he praises you," stated Galina dryly, her voice dripping with ice.
She didn't sound very happy to meet me at all. In fact, it almost sounded like she was jealous of me; that she wanted to kill me rather than see me turn.
I tried to smile at her, but honestly, I didn't know how to react in their presence.
