The Dead And The Risen

Chapter Twenty: Shadows Past The Break Of Dawn

As I stepped out of the room, I watched Malevris look me over.
"You sure do know how to pick your clothes darling"
"So you like it?" I inquired nervously.
He laughed and his strange yet beautiful eyes sparkled. "I love it"
He came over and swooped me up in a hug. My skin felt like it was glowing. As I looked down at my arms, I realized that it was.
"Wh-what?!"
Relax darling, it's natural" He softly caressed my face, and I noticed his skin was glowing too. We both sparkled and shimmered with a soft purple glowing haze. The same haze around the wings marking the doors here...
"So, how come you were so straight forward with me? I'm not complaining. I just want to know why."
"Well...let me explain... The reason I know I should be with you, is because of our shadow connection."
"Our what?"
"Well......Black Angels and vampires are both creatures of the night. When we find the demon that we were destined to be with- our soul mate, we glow with the powers of the shadow- we earn this...."
He began to take off his black dress shirt, revealing that his whole body was glowing with the "power of the shadow". His black and purple hair stuck up in tufts as he yanked the shirt over his head. I saw what he was trying to show me. a few inches under his left collar bone, he had a tattoo of a black and purple flame outlined by a diamond.
"Woah.....do I get one too?"
"Of cour-"
Malevris's voice faded away and so did my surroundings. The only thing I could see was the room filling with the glowing, sparkling purple haze.

•••••••

The next thing I knew, I felt a sharp, searing pain on the right side of my neck, just under my ear.
I blinked open my eyes, and saw the ceiling of the Scarlet Shadow swimming above me.
Laying on the floor, I saw Malevris's face above me.
Such gorgeous eyes...
"There we go....wow, you must be pretty special to get that much power from the shadows..."
"Wha-?"
"You've embraced your power, and your shadow binding mark. You're bound to me now! You're almost one of us!"
I was laying in his lap and he was looking down at me, grinning.
I slowly sat up, getting a major head rush.
"Ah..!" I winced and placed a hand to my head.
"So... I have- magic now?"
"Yes. That's the mark on your neck. You're pretty special though- you've glowed a lot, which means you're very powerful."
"Huh, that's a first...."
Right where I had felt the paining my neck was apparently where my shadow mark was.
"So now we both have our marks because...?"
"We sort of-half bonded. Therefore, we get our magic. But in order for you to fully be one of us and for us to be bonded for eternity, I need to bite you."
"Wow- so we both become immortal and are bonded forever while possessing magical, dark, and slightly evil shadow powers?" I asked, trying to get the supposed 'facts' straight.
"In a nutshell, yes."
I stayed on the floor with Malevris and contemplated what I was doing.
It seemed too good to be true.
Was I supposed to be guilty for running away from Robert? He was the one who captured me. The one who lied to me.
The one who pretended to love me.
No.
There was no way I'd ever feel guilty about him.
But I had promised myself I wouldn't get into trouble.
But this wasn't trouble.
This was my destiny.
The shadows were proving it.
After a long while, I spoke again.
"I'm ready- I won't doubt the shadows or harpie instincts.
"All right then darling. but before we go to the club, let's not keep you a half demon any longer..."
Hey stood up and offered me his hand. I took it, and he began to lead me down the hallway to the left.
We almost went to the very end, but we came to a stop when he found a door that didn't have the shadow mark. Heading down the hall, I realized it was an optical illusion. On each side, there were about twenty doors, and over half were marked with the shadow.
We stepped inside, and it wasn't what I expected.
It was like a small apartment. There was a small living room, with a mini fridge next to the TV and a small couch. to the left was a bedroom with a connecting bathroom.
It wasn't big, but it was nice, and it was gothic.
I was a bit hungry, and walked over to the mini fridge while Malevris headed into the bedroom.
Upon opening the door, I stifled a scream.
The fridge was filled with bottles and bottle of a thick red liquid.
Blood.
"MALEVRIS!!!" I yelled loudly.
"YES?" He called from the other room.
"YOU DIDNT TELL ME THAT WE DRINK BLOOD"
"WELL WE DO... WE ARE HALF VAMPIRE."
"UHH...OKAY"
I closed the fridge and headed into the bedroom, where I found Malevris in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror, shirtless, staring at his fresh mark.
His eyes were more purple-black than violet now, and I came to stand next to him and see my own mark, but stopped in my tracks at the sight of my own reflection.
My hair was black, and starting at the roots, it had dark purple shimmering shadow streaks in it. But what was even more striking was my eyes. They now glowed- or at least seemed like it- with dark black purple instead of my normal blue.
"Is this permanent?"
I asked as I touched the corner of my eye.
"Yes. you have so much power..." He growled.
"Hey- are all those doors out in the hallway. Are they all rooms like this? Little apartments?"
"Yeah, most of the people in the club right now live here. It's kind of like a refuge for demons like in your case, when you ran away from your creator.
"Ah, I see. So, are you going to make me a full- what are we actually called?

"The politically correct term is Scarlet Vampire, or just demon- In reality, 'harpie' is just a Greek-derived word that a few kids used for our kind. Your creator was most likely uneducated about his lineage, seeing as it's what he called you- and yes, I'm going to turn you. If you can't tell, I am very excited."
"I most certainly can tell." I said with a smile. "And thank you for the little history lesson"
I blushed as he lead me over to the living room couch. I laid down on the couch and put my head on the armrest, exposing the left side of my neck, opposite of my mark. Very gently, Malevris cupped his hand on my face, closed his eyes and waved his hand, causing the lights to go out.
He had used his shadow powers. Somehow, the thought quickened my pulse. He was a natural, and it was just another one of his attractive qualities.
Even in the pitch black darkness of the apartment, I could still see. I had night vision?
Scarlet Vampire perks I guessed. The dark was my friend, I knew that now. I felt the darkness inside of me, befriending me as Malevris sank his fangs into my exposed neck.
I blacked out.