I was lost. Lost in an ivory fog that stopped at the base of my neck and covered an endless area of blank space. There was a pale light coming from nowhere, and I felt cold, so, so cold. I shivered uncontrollably, and the fog seemed to tie itself around me and take on a conscious form of its own. It wasn’t just cold, but it was solid and bound me securely to where I stood.
I cried for help, but no sound came from my mouth. The fog crept higher and higher until it was over my head, and I was drowning in its murky depths, unable to see and unable to move.
Suddenly, I could see, and a figure darted in the distance and came so it stood in front of me. At first, it was just a black silhouette, but slowly, it became clearer and lighter until I could make out Darius standing a few feet from me. He was dressed in a creamy, long-sleeved shirt with sleeves which belled out at the ends and tight brown leather pants that were tucked inside a pair of matching lace-up boots with silver tips. He was stunning, more so than I remembered. His long, chocolate hair spilled in curly waves across his back and to his knees, and his deep amber eyes were crowned by unnaturally long eyelashes. I held my breath for a second as I drank in his otherworldly beauty and let it out when I was done devouring his body with my eyes.
“Lily,” he uttered and stepped closer until I could feel his cold breath on my forehead as he was a good six-foot-three compared to my short five-feet-three inches.
I almost cried tears of joy at the sound of his voice. I wanted to hug him so bad, to comb my hands through his long hair. He closed the gap between us and did just the thing I was thinking; he embraced me and ran his fingers through the blonde strands of my hair.
“My sweet, sweet Lily,” he murmured as his free hand stroked my back in circles. It calmed me down and felt so relaxing. I melted in his arms and thought that if I died that instant, I’d be happy.
“Darius, do you know what happened? Do you know about Annabelle and how she wants Sang and I?”
He kissed my ears, forehead, my eyes, my cheeks, and hovered just over my mouth. “Yes, my dear, I am fully aware of it. I tapped into your sub-conscious as I appeared in your dream. It seems you are being taken by Annabelle this very moment.” His voice turned into a hiss. “And I can do nothing to stop it in the state I’m in now.”
I wanted to kiss him, to feel his tender lips pressed to mine, but I was still paralyzed and could not move. “Will you come get us?” I asked.
“Of course, of course I will come get you and Sang. Why Annabelle has broken the pact I do not understand, but I will find you, that I promise.” He hugged me again and his body felt so real.
“What’s up with Sang? Why is he so scared?”
Darius replied softly, “When I took Sang into my custody, I had erased his memories of Annabelle with the exception of his hatred for her and her name. If he would ever see her again in person, which I did not count on, his memories would come back. His body also responded to her presence as she is his blood-mother.”
“I don’t understand. What did Annabelle do to him that you had to take him in?”
“I will leave that for him to tell you when you wake. Look, see that light coming closer?”
I stared into the blank expanse of space and saw a golden light racing toward us. “What is it?”
“You are waking, my dear. Waking to reality.” He took my hands in his and touched his forehead to mine. “Do not stop thinking of me. Think of me especially before you go to sleep, so that I may enter your dreams. Do not give up. I will come and get you, I promise.”
“Stay, please stay.” I began to sob as his body faded into the fog and the blinding light descended upon me.
I woke with a gasp but found that I couldn’t move. I was in a dark space, and Sang sat against the wall opposite me, his head hung low. I began to move so I could comfort him, but I couldn’t and then remembered the martinis I had drunk at the bar. Since I was a new vampire, alcohol made my body paralyzed for eight hours after consumption, because my body was getting used to the vampire virus and it somehow clashed with the alcohol. The real scientific details were unknown, but my head hurt like a bitch, and I was unable to move a centimeter.
Great. Just great.
Sang sobbed quietly and crawled next to me. He drew his knees to his face and sighed. I could still speak and asked, “Are you okay?”
He sniffled and answered, “No, Lily. I’m not okay.”
“I’m sorry.” I whispered. “Sang…could you please tell me about Annabelle?”
His words were low and hesitant. “Annabelle…Yeah, I’ll tell you about her. She ruined my life. She…ruined me. Oh, Lily, all these memories are flooding back, and I’m scared. So scared.”
“I’d hug you if I could,” I said and gave him a wry smile.
Tears began to stream from his eyes, and he hugged me close. “Lily, oh, Lily, I don’t know what I’d do without you!”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I replied.
“You’re stuck from the alcohol, aren’t you?” He seemed more cheerful.
“Yup.”
“That must suck. Oh, but this witch. What she’s done to me! I’ll have to tell you from the beginning.”
“Please go on.”
He rubbed the tears from his eyes and rocked on his heels. “It was over three-hundred years ago. I was a peasant in rural England, and I lived with my mom, dad, and little sister. I was only twenty, and I was going to the market to get some stuff when I felt this sense of dread come over me. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I hurried to get home and that was when…was when…I saw her.” He paused.
“You saw Annabelle?”
He nodded. “Yeah, and I was instantly captivated by her. I think she used her vampire powers, because I couldn’t move, and she came onto me and…and…and bit me. And turned me right then and there. It was night. Then she went and burned my home with my family inside it, and they all died while I was changing into a vampire. I could do nothing while they died. I couldn’t do anything at all. My name…” He seemed as if he was in a trance. “My name back then was Chester.”
So that’s why Annabelle called him Chester. It was the name he was born with. Sang’s name used to be Chester. Huh. Imagine that. “Go on,” I encouraged him.
“After she killed my family, she turned me into a vampire and took me to her castle, where her slaves were always adding onto, and she tortured me as you might already know. She made me do things I didn’t want to do and fed from me and, oh, her wicked voice!” He shuddered. “And I was always rebelling against her, always frustrating and making her mad. And she tortured me more and more and sometimes locked me up for weeks in a coffin. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Darius finally found me and took me under his wings, and I was liberated of the witch. I was free and devoted my life to serving Darius,” he said Darius’ name with such admiration, such joy; it made me feel the same way.
But Darius had stolen my humanity, and I could never get it back. Just like what Annabelle did to Sang. But Darius was different. He had a reason. Annabelle just wanted a new toy to play with. And she found one in Sang.
“Then I met you, and I was so happy. So, so happy. And I still am, you know. That I met you, Lily.” He kissed my cheek playfully.
I laughed. “I’d kiss you back, but I can’t right now.”
He rubbed his chin and said calmly, “I think we’re in a plane and we’re flying.”
“Why do you think that?”
He just stated, “I’ve felt this sensation before.”
“I was only in a plane once and I was three. I didn’t even think that we’d be flying. We’re do you think we’re going?”
The color drained from his face. “Oh no. No! No! No!”
“What?”
“We’re flying to England,” he uttered. “To Annabelle’s castle.”