Princess' Journey

Chapter 8

    I take a deep breath as the announcements begin, it is not the party that has me so nervous but our escape. What if we don't make it? What if Leka's dream was wrong? I am so caught up in my own thoughts, that I almost miss my cue to enter the ballroom. 

    "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the night's guests of honor. Princess Analiese and her hound Olek," The room erupts in applause as Anna and Olek make their way to Mother's side. "And your next queen, Princess Alora and her hound Leka!"

    The applause is much louder this time, with the occasional whistle from some immature boy who thinks he has a chance with me. I make my way to the center of the room with Leka at my side. I can hear the hushed whispers from nobles, and the tiny giggles of the children playing with there hound pups. On any other birthday, Leka would be over with the pups, joining in on the fun; but tonight he stays by my side, cautiously glancing from left to right searching for the fastest way to the tunnels.

    Looking around, I notice that the ballroom is a perfect mix of myself and Anna. There are pink, purple, and black balloons dotting the space, along with tablecloths of the same colors. There is also a cake in the center of the large head table, it is three tiers with what looks to be buttercream icing that is colored pink and black. It is piped in such a way that is causes an almost tie dyed effect, and each tier is trimmed with a golden boarder. What a shame that we will not be able to enjoy it.

    The night goes on without incident, Anna and I greet the guests and speak with the elders, while Olek and Leka greet the hounds that accompanied their vampires. All too soon though, the lights dim and we are called up to the small stage that was built near the back of the ballroom, and we are each handed a Champaign glass that is filled with the bubbling liquid. Guess this is it.

    My father approaches the microphone in the center of the stage and begins the toasts. "Thank you all for coming to help us celebrate our Princesses. They have grown into such beautiful and brilliant young ladies and I know they will be able to take whatever life throws at them. I am so honored that I was chosen to be their father, to protect and teach my amazing daughters," He glances at the two of us, and with a look that I have never seen from him, he finishes the toast with "I love you, and will be with you always."

    The applause almost drowns out the sound of the windows breaking. As soon as father finishes his speech, the windows in front of us shatter, and at least two dozen feral vampires come charging into the ballroom. The room is filled with the screams of those unlucky enough to flee in time. The ferals begin to slaughter anyone in their way, they have their targets and will get to them at any cost. Those targets are me and my sister.

    My father realizes this as well and calls the guards to protect us. I can hear the snapping of necks, the sounds of the guards' firearms, and the screaming of those being mascaraed. But most of all, I smell the blood. There is so much of the hot, red liquid that it becomes harder for me to concentrate on my movements. My canines ache, and my throat burns for a taste of the delicious substance. I am so enveloped in the sweet scent that I don't notice the feral stalking me from across the room. She has some how made it past the wall of guards in front of me and is now charging, her white eyes focused on me, and her teeth are poised for the attack. I am snapped out of my trance as I slam onto the tile floor, and a searing pain begins in my shoulder, I let out a scream as the feral comes in for another bite.

    Her smile is contorted, unnatural. Her blank eyes stare at me as she begins to giggle, "looky what I have here. It's the pretty Princess," she licks my blood from her lip and leans closer. I can smell the iron on her breath, "happy birthday. Let me open you up like a present."

    The feral leans down for the killing blow and all I can think about is getting the four of us out of here. I think about Anna being alone in the wilderness, and it pains me. But what causes the agony in my chest is the thought of Leka, if I die then so does he. "I won't let that happen," I say with a growl. I shove the feral off of me, stand up and reach out to Leka.

    Leka!

    Alora, where are you?!

    I'm fine. Make sure the three of you get to the tunnels, I will meet you there.

    There is a pause, and then I see Leka and the others heading for the door under the stairs of the ballroom. I see my opening and sprint toward the door, but a feral blocks my path. He is a mountain of a man, blood stains his shirt and mouth. His eyes show no emotion as he closes in on me. I am frantically trying to figure out how the hell I am suppose to get past this guy when I notice a familiar grey hound running my way. Anika. She pounces on the feral and rips a chunk from his neck, causing blood to quickly pool on the floor around us. All I can do is stare, this can't be happening.

    Alora! GO! 

    Anika pulls me out of my terror and I can feel my legs in motion again. I finally make it through the door under the stairs and begin to follow the tunnel. Lucky for me, these tunnels are not used often and therefore, aren't cleaned, so I can follow the distinct smell of wet dog. The walls are damp and musty, and there is mold growing on a few of the bricks, I can see well in the dark but not quite well enough to navigate through the passage. I wish I had a flashlight, I think to myself as I am taking off my dress and changing my heels for my sneakers.

    "Ah, f**k," realizing that we never ran back up tho the room to grab our bags, I begin to wonder how we are going to get those items since no one was smart enough to grab any cash. I continue down the tunnel, and eventually meet up with Anna and the boys. Before I can even make it out of the tunnel, Anna slams into me, giving me a tight hug.

    "You made it!" I can feel her body heaving from the crying she is doing. And I feel a sharp pain in my shoulder again.

    "Ow. Careful Anna." I look down and notice the outline of teeth on my right shoulder, but thanks to vampires having increased healing, the bleeding has stopped and the marks are starting to scab over.

    Come on, it is a two mile walk from here to where Jakob and Amaru are with the car. Olek begins to walk north, and we all follow. With Olek in the lead, Anna follows behind him and I follow behind Anna; and Leka takes the rear.

    "Do you think they will find the tunnel?"

    "I'm sure they will, Anna. That's why we need to hurry." I give my sister a small push of encouragement. 

    After about thirty minutes of walking, we finally make it to the car. Jakob is standing by the driver's side door. His blonde hair ruffled from the wind. Amaru is sitting next to him, she is a beautiful hell hound, her red fur and blue eyes are the perfect contrast to each other.

    "Finally!" Jakob says in his gruff voice, "come on, we can talk in the car," he opens the back door for us and we all pile in. This is going to be a long car ride.

    As we pull away from the shoulder, I take one last look behind me at the place I have called home for more than one hundred years. The memories of better days flood back into my mind, and I can't help but worry for my parents. I lean my head back and close my eyes, I wonder if we will ever see them again I think to myself as I fall into a deep slumber.

    When Leka wakes me up, we are at the airport. There is a small plane on the runway that Jakob leads us to and once we are all secured I see Jakob climb into the pilot's seat. Too tired to say anything out loud, I just think to myself, we may have escaped the feral attack but there is no way we are escaping this plane ride. And with a roar of the engine, we are on our way to Romania to meet the man who Leka says will help us.