Vampire Dream

Chapter 10 - Here Comes the Bride

Kingston shook his head and stepped in front of me. When the thing was at the bottom of the hill, it took off Kingston’s skin face to reveal the elvish guy. He smiled at us both.

“Mr. Lancaster, it’s great to make your acquaintance once more,” he said. “But as captain of the guard, would you kindly return my prize?” Kingston looked confused by his words, but shook his head no.

“I don’t know who you are, but Josie doesn’t belong to anyone,” Kingston snarled through his teeth.

“Little puppy, I understand you’re confused on who your owner is. You too, my sweet. So let me make it perfectly clear to you both.” I knew he was going to lunge for me, but I still didn’t expect his great speed. Kingston pushed me and himself out of the way, also seeing the direction he would pounce. He couldn’t have either of our blood, so we knew we had to work together. The elvish man was slow when he would plan out his next move, but quick to execute that plan. Kingston and I began to work like an instrument weaving through his jabs and jeers.

A third Kingston showed up finally, dragging Gabriel behind it. He was badly beaten and may have had a few broken bones, unable to heal since he was in the sunlight. Seeing his body made me pause for a brief moment until a voice in my head said No! We have to work together! I shook it off and continued to dive and jump until the man noticed that Gabriel’s appearance had an impact on my performance.

He walked to Gabriel’s body and gave it a huge kick. Crack. Something in his chest broke, probably a rib. This made the man laugh. He kept kicking Gabriel until I ran up to him full of fury. I forgot the sun was out so walking in it was miserable, but I had to help Gabriel. This was a mistake. The man went to the real Kingston and gave him a huge punch, knocking Kingston to the ground.

While he was preoccupied with that I bit my finger to make it bleed and stuck it in Gabriel’s mouth. He began to suck on it, but I pulled my finger back as soon as possible because I knew he didn’t need that much. His eyes were still closed, but something was stirring within him.

A huge force pulled on my hair, lifting me off the ground. My finger was still bleeding so I wrapped it in the fold of the pair of sweats I was wearing. He tossed me back into the shade, and bent down beside me.

“You don’t need to do anything for him. You have no ties to him anymore.” He moved a little closer until our faces were almost touching. “You have me.”

We were in a large chapel. At least, he was. Apparently this was Elveen, and he was preparing a wedding. All the dead bodies were in a corner, and I was upstairs in my room looking out my boarded window. It was open so I could see the ruins he had left of our kingdom. The last thing he needed was the most powerful king’s daughter as a trophy wife. And I couldn’t have that. A knife was in my room, too. Silver. I went to my door and locked it. Sitting on my bed, I gave one more glance out the silver-barred window. Where are you, Gabe? I’ve been waiting.. I took the knife out of its case and prepared it. Aiming at my heart, I shoved the knife into me.

Elveen tried to walk into the room, but realized the door was locked. He easily broke through it in one swing and as he walked in, terror-stricken at first, he noticed me and gave a huge laugh. He walked over to my dying figure and took the knife out of me. He licked both sides of the knife, drinking all my blood. All I could do was stare out the window. A familiar face was there, but who’s was it? It morphed from Gabriel to Kingston in a flash. Back and forth like a pendulum. The puddle of blood in my chest diminished as Elveen placed his hands on my cheeks and chin, and then shoved his tongue down my throat. The blade had cut his tongue multiple times so his blood was seeping into my mouth fresh from his tongue. This was a consummation I hadn’t prepared for, or wanted: ever. I began to scream as the blood made me heal. It showed me what goes on in Elveen’s head, made us one. I built up the strength and kicked him off of me, spitting the blood out. But all he could do was laugh as he knew what he had done.

“You’re mine, sweet.” Both Elveen’s said.

We were suddenly in the present. He looked starving for something, but I didn’t have anything I wanted to give. There was something wrong with that memory, as if it wasn’t entirely accurate and more of a fantasy he made. I wanted to look around and see if Gabriel and Kingston were okay, but Elveen wouldn’t give me that time.

His mouth was like a dagger, trying to stab at my neck wherever it could reach. I saw that he was still being careful with me, though. Treating me like a fragile doll. I am a toy to him after all. I tried to slide underneath him, but he held me down with one arm, staring into my eyes. He was searching for something too.

Be ready something told me. I braced myself. As Elveen attempted a final grasp at my throat, the saggy Kingston rammed into his side, causing him to lose balance. He began to spin down the hill with the thing entangled around him. Looking up, I saw the real Kingston with his brooding look towards Elveen. It was brief.

“We have to go. Now,” Kingston said.

“But where?” I asked.

“Where doesn’t matter. Away from him does.” Scrambling towards Gabriel, Kingston picked him up in a cradle position and we proceeded to run. Somewhere. Anywhere.

The sun burned my skin as we ran, but I ignored the pain. I knew that if we stuck around Elveen then he would make our lives a living hell.

The streets were relatively clear; strange for a city. It seemed there was only us out on the streets. As the sun began to set, Gabriel still wasn’t conscious. Kingston and I made it to the same hotel we were in the night we met Gabriel. I checked us in, claiming sunburn on my dark red skin patches, and swiftly got us into our room - the same one Kingston and I had rented before.

Gabriel was immediately thrown onto the nearest bed, Kingston gasping for breath after running with Gabriel in his arms for the past 4 hours. I wasn’t even sure how he was able to go so long without even a pause.

After I locked and bolted the door(their security had been upgraded) I ran to the fridge and got us all water. Kingston was sitting against the wall, his face cascading with sweat. Water bottle hitting his leg, he pounced after it and drank the entire thing in one gulp. I found some Aloe Vera abandoned underneath the bed and rigorously applied it all over me. My arms and face were almost as red as tomatoes and had the sickly smell of burning flesh. The Aloe Vera did wonders, immediately getting absorbed by my skin and reproducing the skin cells to make them return to their original color. I looked back at Kingston who was now asleep where he sat, water bottle empty beside him. I walked over to Kingston and slid down beside him. My presence woke him up, so I laid my head down on his shoulder as he rested his head on my head.

“I can’t believe you made it that far! How was that even possible?” I asked him. He took a bit to respond, slightly hesitant.

“Well, fear can do wonders for a person.” His response seemed fake, and wasn’t persuasive to his facial expression.

“Kingston, I’m serious. People can’t usually carry a 150 pound person for hours straight while sprinting the whole way. It’s not possible.”

“Maybe for me it is, okay?” I lifted my head and got up, agitated.

“Kingston, don’t lie to me. You know I can’t handle that from anyone, least of all you.”

“Well I’m sorry that you can’t stop thinking about Elveen!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I.. nevermind. It’s stupid.”

“Kingston!”

“I can hear your thoughts. It’s weird. I don’t know what’s going on.” I softened, realizing that what Elveen said earlier was true.

“Kingston… What do you remember from last night exactly. What dreams did you have?” Kingston has a long silence filled with him pressing his hands to his temples in pain. Grunts and moans ensue, but I am aware that is probably due to Elveen trying to erase his mind? That seems like something he would do.

“I remember carrying you home. I walked to the apartment. Fumbled with my keys because I didn’t want to let you go. Walking in I forgot to shut the door, I wanted to get you to your room. I stripped the bloody clothes off of you and tucked you in, putting extra clothes in the room for the next morning since you didn’t move in yet. Then there was rattling in the kitchen.” A pause happens while he tries to remember. I sit down next to him again and take one of his hands, holding it. Something sparks his memory. “There was a strange creature and that guy. Elveen, I guess. He said something about me being of no use since I returned the prize, then before I could do anything he knocked me out.” Kingston was shivering and sweating, probably a side effect of breaking Elveen’s spell.

“Then what?”

“I blacked out… then… then I woke up in complete darkness. My body was very cold, I felt that I was oozing and gross. Then a very bright light shone on me, blinding my sight. I heard someone chuckle and say ‘well, looks like I’ll have to save you. Don’t tell Josie though.’ I still couldn’t see him but could hear a knife clinking and then a liquid dripped into my mouth and it was so powerful it knocked me out.” The shivering subsided, but he was growing hotter and sweating more profusely. I grabbed him a rag while he put his hands back onto his temples. “I woke up again to your face. I couldn’t move or talk, but I could see you. I wanted to tell you that I was okay and that I was so glad to see you, but I had no control of myself. I wanted to yell at you when you cut yourself with that knife. Then you put a drop of your blood on my tongue and I kind of faded into a sleep. I came in and out to being carried out a bathroom window, then being dragged through some grass. Finally, I woke up on your grave. There was a note that said you were dead and there was nothing I could do about it…” he looked up at me, no longer shivering, sweating, or feverish. “But you’re here.” I smiled at him, glad he didn’t have to worry anymore and just happy to be by him. I put my head back on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around me.

Gabriel’s body began to convulse. Kingston and I untangled and jumped up to help him. As soon as we stood, his body stilled. There was an eerie silence within the motel. Kingston and I looked at one another: I confused and afraid, Kingston worried yet protective. He began to pull me away from Gabriel’s seemingly lifeless body.

“What do we do, King?” I asked him. He let out an agitated sigh.

“I have no clue. If we leave someone could get to him, but if we stay he can get us. Also, if we leave then Elveen can get us, but he can get us here too. We have no good options.”

“Okay, so what’s the best out of the worst?” Kingston began to pace rapidly.

“Jo, we’re sitting ducks no matter what we do! There are no good options!”

“If we stay here we have to face Gabriel and Elveen. But if we go out there both Elveen and Gabriel have to search for us instead of having a set location.”

“But if we leave then Elveen can get to Gabriel and turn him on us. Plus, no matter how much I hate to say this, we need him.”

“Then we should stay?”

“I don’t want to be here when he wakes up.”

“What if we just sit right outside the door? Or - better yet - hide in the bathroom?” Kingston stopped pacing and stood pondering. He looked at me, then back to the bathroom. There was a strong silence.

“Sure. Let’s do the bathroom.” I went into the bathroom and began to check what provisions were there. Once I was out of door range Kingston shut the door and locked it.

“Kingston! What are you doing?”

“He’s not going to be coming after me, he’s going to come after your blood. I can’t take that chance.”

“How do you know that? He can easily get to you!”

“You told me.” I stopped banging on the door. Yes, I can hear you. Kingston, please. Don’t do this. I don’t want to lose you too. I have a plan, but you have to trust me Jo. I don’t want to lose you either. I love you too much. Tears came to my eyes. I love you too.

Banging began to rumble outside of the bathroom. I could hear grunts and yells as I was trapped helplessly in the bathroom. I pounded on the door, screaming at the noise to let me out, but I was ignored. My breathing shaky, I went as far back as I could and with a running start I rammed my whole body into the door. The door and I flew across the room and smacked into the wall. The sight was not pretty. There was blood everywhere with no bodies to be found.

“Kingston? Gabriel?” I searched the entire room, but there was no use. They were gone.

“Hello my sweet.” A hand wrapped around my waist and pulled me into its form. Looking over my shoulder, it was Elveen. I was too terrified to move. He wrapped his other arm around me and pulled me even closer as if we were one entity. “We’re a pretty good fit, don’t you think?”

“What have you done with Gabriel and Kingston?”

“Oh they’re fine. They should be more worried about you.”

“What about all this blood?”

“Just quiet down and relax. You don’t need to worry about anything.” I tried to pull away but he was like a statue. He chuckled at my attempts, though. “Darling, you will be alright. Close your eyes and take deep breaths.” A sleepy haze began to fall over me. I fought against it but the more I fought the stronger the haze became. When one of Elveen’s hands released me I awoke, but before I could do anything a needle was stabbed into my thigh. Immediately I became limp. As my eyes shut, Elveen’s face was gleaming with evil pride.