Chaos & Order

Chapter 3

Hours later, Aliyah stirred from her sleep. She put her hand on her head sitting up. With a groan, she propped herself up. Quickly, she spotted Siel at the foot of her bed, sitting on a wooden stool and his crook resting on his shoulder. He was slumped over, almost looking asleep. Something about him, though, gave it away that he was awake.

    "Siel...what?" Aliyah then gasped. What happened before she blacked out came back. This immediately got Siel to perk up, clearly awake, "T-that man...what happened?!"

    "It's okay. Nothing went wrong." Siel said, gently, as he reached out, "No one was hurt. As for what happened...I'm not certain, myself."

    "I can't remember anything!" Aliyah said, pushing his hand away.

    "Then don't worry about it. It's been a full day, just rest a bit."

    "I'm not tired." Aliyah said as she pushed off the covers and got out of bed.

    "The party's long over. What activities could you engage in at this hour? I know vampires are just as comfortable in darkness as light...and possibly moreso, but there must be some limitation on that."

    Aliyah looked at Siel as she removed her gloves, choker and earrings before grabbing a silk bathrobe and simply saying, "A bath."

    "Do you want me to draw you one or...?" Siel asked, awkwardly.

    "Uh, thank you, but I can manage." Aliyah said before walking into her private bathroom.

    "Then, I'll wait out here. If you need anything, just call." Siel said as he turned away from her.

    Aliyah sighed as she closed the door, only leaving a small crack open. Before long, she had drawn her bath. She looked at the hot water before poking a toe into it. Finding it to be at the right temperature, she began undressing. Shortly after, she had slid into the tub with a small sigh of relief. If there was anything she enjoyed more, it would be a hot bath late at night and none of the maids or servants to fuss over her.

                                                                      ***

Outside, Siel remained on his stool, reflecting to himself, "Vampires prey on others' blood. It's how they work. But I don't think it involves black eyes and turning on their own."

    With the sound of approaching footsteps, Fang entered the room in his human form. After closing the door, he shifted back into his wolf form. He looked over the room and hopped onto the end of the bed. In much the same way as a large dog, he turned around and laid down, curling up slightly as he did so.

"I take it she's taking her bath?" he asked, looking at Siel.

"She is." Siel said, but seemed distracted.

    "Something on your mind?" Fang asked.

    "Everything that happened, really." Siel replied.

    "I'll answer what I can. Just choose your questions wisely." Fang said, motioning to the to show that Aliyah could still hear.

    "What just happened with her?" Siel said, "I don't think that's normal for vampires."

    Fang looked to the bathroom again before looking back at Siel. "We're still trying to figure that out for ourselves. She...just goes berserk. We don't know why this happens, but this is the third time in a year."

    "Is this a recent problem?"

    "Yes..." Fang said as he frowned.

    "What were the previous two times?"

    "You already heard about last night from that young man." Fang said. "The...young lady was one of the maids. She accidentally cut her finger while picking roses in the garden with Aliyah and...I'm sure you can put the rest together."

    "And the first time?" Siel asked. Fang hesitated. Quickly, he looked at the bathroom again. Siel could tell what the wolf was doing--wondering whether or not he should answer, "If this isn't something you want me to know, tell me and I won't pry further."

    "It's not that. What happened that night...well, it's up to Aliy-"

    "You can tell him...." Aliyah's voice spoke from the bathroom. The sounds from within indicated that she finished her bath.

"Are you sure, Aliyah?" Fang asked.

"He'll find out sooner or later." Aliyah said as she walked out of the bathroom in her bathrobe, drying her soaked hair. Without another word, she crossed the room and disappeared into her walk-in closet.

Siel looked at Fang, tapping his crook as he waited for his explanation. The wolf sighed in defeat before answering, "It was her first contact with blood. Not knowing what would happen, someone offered some to Aliyah and...it resulted in chaos. She went berserk and attacked that person."

As Fang gave this explanation, Siel heard a heavy breath and a slight creaking from the closet. Immediately he could tell what she was doing, "I sense this is distressing to you, Princess. If you don't want me to know this, I'll stop."

"It's fine. It's...it's just better that you know now." Aliyah said quietly.

"That person was someone close to her, wasn't it?" Siel slowly asked in a soft voice.

"Yes." Fang nodded. With a heavy sigh, he continued, "We tried everything to stop her. We tried so many methods that figuring out what worked is...impossible."

"There's a missing piece in their memories." Aliyah said as she walked out in a nightgown.

"Whatever happened, left a scar on her." Fang said. "It's very rare for vampires to have any kind of scars."

Siel simply nodded, solemnly. Aliyah pulled on a robe that matched her gown and walked towards the door. Fang watched this and tilted his head, "Aliyah?"

    "I'm alright, Fang. I'm just going to the kitchen." Aliyah said with a small smile. "And knowing Siel, I won't be alone."

"Considering recent happenings, you're quite right." Siel said.

Aliyah opened the door, but stopped and gave her familiar a playfully angry face, "By the way--don't take over the bed, Fang."

"Or I'll be kicked to the floor. I know the deal." Fang chuckled.

"Good boy." Aliyah said, jokingly as well before walking into the hallway. Siel followed right behind her, vanishing from sight as he did so. As Aliyah walked down a flight of stairs, she looked over her shoulder to see the glowing orb that was her guardian, "You don't have to hide. It's very late, so nobody's here."

"Fair enough, just thought I'd be careful." Siel said, becoming visible again.

After a few more steps, a thought occurred to Aliyah. She had this angel for not very long, but she still felt like she could trust him enough to answer truthfully, "Do you still believe they sent you for my protection?"

Without hesitating, Siel answered with, "I do."

"What if you're wrong?"

"I'll deal with that, then. Until that happens, though, I'm not wrong and I shall protect you." Siel said.

"Alright then." Aliyah opened a door that led into the dimly-lit kitchen. Quietly, she entered with Siel just behind her, taking in the room. Aliyah's destination was a freezer. Swiftly, she opened it, took her quarry, and closed it, holding the small container in her hand, "Hungry?"

"A little." Siel said.

"You can help yourself. I'm sure there's probably leftovers from the ball." Aliyah said as she opened the container after grabbing a spoon, "Unless you want some ice cream."

Upon hearing what she found, Siel immediately looked at her and beamed, "Ice cream's always better."

"Grab a spoon, then. If you don't mind, we'll share." Aliyah smiled.

"Very well." Siel said, taking a spoon and smiling, "To new friends?"

Aliyah looked at him, almost in surprise, before she smiles warmly, "To new friends."