The Vampire King's Bride

Chapter 10

Heading back inside the house, we were greeted with laughter echoing just to the left of the door we had just walked through.

‘Hey, Sky! Settle an argument between me and Alexei here,’ Erik shouted, walking out of the room that the laughter had been coming from.

A boy that looked about 19 years old followed closely behind Erik. He was short, roughly about my height with short brown hair.

‘Hey Lia,’ smiled Erik.

‘Hey.’

‘What are you two arguing about now?’ Skylar asked.

‘Which movie is better,’ Alexei chimed in.

‘Yeah, Nightmare on Elm Street or the Texas Chainsaw m******e?’

‘Both are good to me,’ laughed Skylar.

‘Not helpful. Okay Lia, it’s all up to you.’

‘I haven’t seen either movie so I can’t help you,’ I shrugged.

‘What?!’ Erik and Alexei chimed in together.

‘That needs to be rectified,’ Erik grabbed my arm, leading me towards what I assumed was the room they were watching a movie in.

‘You coming Sky?’ Alexei asked.

‘I’ll join you in a minute, I just have to take care of a few things first.’

‘Need any help?’ Erik asked, pausing in the doorway.

‘Nah, it shouldn’t take too long.’

Erik shrugged and resumed pulling me inside the movie room. There were two rows of chairs, each row holding three two-seater lounges. The chairs at the back were on a platform, making them higher than the front row.

A girl sat in the first row of chairs right in the centre seat looking at her mobile phone. She had fiery red hair and her body looked long and slender. Alexei walked up to her and gave her a quick kiss before sitting down beside her.

‘Here let me introduce you,’ Erik said.

As we approached them, the girl put her phone down and sat up a little.

‘This is already known as Alexei. He’s my soon to be Beta and this is his mate, Daniella.’

‘Dani for short,’ she said, smiling.

‘Guys, this is Lia.’

‘Nice to meet you.’

‘Did you help them settle their debate?’ Dani asked.

‘She was no help at all,’ grumbled Alexei.

‘Lia hasn’t seen either of them,’ Erik said.

‘What? I recommend starting with Nightmare on Elm Street.’

‘Save the best for last, hey babe?’ Alexei smiled.

‘No. I’m likely to fall asleep during the Texas Chainsaw m******e and I don’t want to miss Nightmare on Elm Street.’

‘Babe!’

Dani shrugged while Erik laughed.

‘Your mate has great taste.’

As Erik went about putting the movie on, I sat down on the couch to the right of Dani and Alexei’s couch.

‘Are you and Erik mates?” Dani asked.

‘No, we’re just friends.’

‘Yeah, if they were mates then he wouldn’t stop talking about it,’ Alexei chimed in.

‘I heard that!’ shouted Erik from the front of the room.

Skylar walked into the room and walked straight over to me.

‘Hey, Sky,’ greeted Dani.

‘Hello, Dani,’ Skylar replied, sitting down next to me.

Dani raised her eyebrows as she saw how close he sat to me. It was almost as close as her and Alexei were sitting.

‘I’ve got something for you,’ Skylar whispered.

‘What’s that?’ I asked.

He pulled out a box that had a picture of a phone on it.

‘Is this a phone?’

‘It’s brand new so you might need help setting it up and figuring out how to use it, but I can do that for you, if you like?’

‘Thank-you!’

Now I’d be able to text Aura and Skylar if he wanted to give me his number. This will make it easier if I have to leave this house. The thought of that happening made me feel sad. I had only been here for a day but I really felt like I belonged here.

‘About time you showed up,’ Erik said, taking a seat behind Skylar.

‘What did you end up going with?’ Skylar replied.

‘Nightmare on Elm Street.’

‘Good choice.’

‘Not you too,’ Erik whined.

‘Hey, I said I like both,’ Skylar laughed.

The movie was old. I can’t tell how old, but it was definitely made a few years before the last movie I watched. This one was about something completely different. A man killed in nightmares but you died in real life. It was an interesting storyline.

The hair at the back of my neck started to stand up and I had a feeling someone was watching me. It was the same feeling I had when we were in the rose garden and that black figure was there. My heart started beating faster as I tried glancing around the room looking for it.

‘Is everything okay?’ Skylar whispered.

‘Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?’

‘You’ve just seemed a little off since we left the garden.’

‘I’m fine, just need to use the bathroom.’

‘Okay.’

I knew there was a bathroom opposite the door of this media room. Walking across the hall, I managed to get to the bathroom and lock the door. I tried to make myself relax a little by controlling my breathing. I moved over to the sink and turned the tap on, letting the cool water flow freely. I cupped my hands together and caught the water before splashing it across my face. Looking in the mirror at my reflection, I could see bags underneath my eyes almost as if I hadn’t slept for days.

Looking in the mirror off to the side was the black figure and I froze in place.

‘Why are you following me?’ I whispered.

‘You’re destiny.’

‘No. I told you. My destiny is what I make it to be.’

‘Time’s running out.’

‘For what?’

I turned around ready to confront the figure and get him to go away once and for all, but it was standing right in front of me. It wasn’t moving, just standing there and I swear I could see it breathing.

‘Time’s running out,’ it said again as it reached out its hand, swiftly plunging it into the centre of my chest.

His hand went through and felt like it was touching my heart and squeezing it. Sharp pain spread throughout me, my scream echoed in my ears and all around me. The shadow removed it’s hand as the door slammed open, Skylar was standing in the doorway his mouth open staring at the figure watching it disappear.

As soon as the figure vanished, my body went numb and my knees completely buckled underneath me. Skylar lunged forward, catching me before I hit the floor.

I could hear his voice talking to me but it was very faded. I couldn’t make out any words he was saying. Another voice echoed in the distance, making Skylar pick me up and take me out of the room. Closing my eyes, I felt very tired.

More voices surrounded me and I opened my eyes again. My vision was getting blurry, but I could make out the medical room I was in earlier. Why was I back here again? I was fine, wasn’t I?

My hearing cleared all of a sudden, letting me hear some of the things they were saying.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ that was Skylar.

‘I’m not sure.’ Was that Doctor Reiki?

‘I know what it is,’ that voice was soft and unfamiliar, belonging to a female.

‘What?’

‘Well, normally I wouldn’t think of it because she’s not 25, but I have heard that it can start early if something triggers it.’

‘What is it?’ Skylar asked.

‘She’s dying because she hasn’t transitioned.’

‘So what do we do?’

‘She needs to go through the change now or we’ll lose her,’ Doctor Reiki chimed in.

‘Don’t we need someone of similar lineage?’

‘We have one.’

My hearing started fading away again and everything started to feel so far away.

‘Everything will be okay.’

That was Skylar’s voice, he sounded so close to me. I felt something soft like lips kissing my forehead, then something sharp pierced my neck. I recognised the feeling immediately. Mr Akuma had done it to me for so long, it's something I could never forget. Someone was drinking from me, except, unlike Mr Akuma, this filled me with love and a sense of belonging. I tried to bring myself closer but darkness claimed me instead.