CROWN OF BLOOD

CHAPTER 4

AURORA VLAD

I close my eyes as I touch my father's body.

"I'm sorry for this; I'm sorry for not being here when you needed me most; I should be dead too.", I whisper, kissing his cheek before looking at his hand, and I see that he's holding his sword.

I can still feel the tears of blood on my face as I take the sword in my hands. The desire for revenge is growing inside me, and I close my eyes again before standing up.

"My queen...", Mason bows before me, and I see the other guards enter the room to remove and take care of the dead bodies of my family.

"I want them all dead, I want every human in this kingdom dead!", I shout angrily at the royal guard who is looking at me right now.

"I don't think...", he tries to say, but I interrupt him.

"They attacked us first, and now your king and my family are dead, they caused all this, and it's my turn to destroy them.", I say while looking at the sword in my hand.

"They've done this to me, they're turning me into this bad person. I'm the queen now, and I'm ordering them to kill all the humans in this kingdom. Obey your queen, Mason!", I say.

He looks at me and nods. I know what he's thinking, I've never been like this before. But they did it to me.

"This is my turn to hurt them, Mason!", I say, wiping the tears from my face before picking up the cloak that was on my father's shoulders.

I'm alone now, all the people I loved are dead.

I put the red cloak over my shoulders before leaving the room. Furthermore, I see all the guards in front of me getting ready to fight me right now.

We lost a lot of guards that night, but I can still destroy all the humans in this kingdom. I know Mason doesn't agree with me, but I'm the queen now. I didn't want that, but this kingdom and the vampires depend on me now.

"The war is on!", I shout as the gates open, and I'm riding quickly on my horse while all our guards are also preparing to fight.

I see many humans running and holding my father's sword. I jumped off my horse and killed the humans who were trying to escape.

I still feel the pain inside me. I've lost everything; I've lost my family, and I don't know how to rule this kingdom without my father by my side.

Furthermore, I don't know how long this battle will last, but we've killed all the humans who were trying to attack us, their villages are completely on fire at the moment, and I look around me to see many people screaming.

Women and children who were trying to escape have been captured and taken to the castle prison. We still need blood, and, unfortunately, we still need humans.

I pull the sword out of a human's body when I see a group of humans fleeing with horses through the gates, and everything seems to stop around me when I see him.

Him.

The same man who was with me in the forest is the same man who collaborated with the macabre plan to kill my entire family, and I'm surprised he didn't try to kill me inside that lake.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes again. If this were any other time, I would have let them run away to a place far away from here, but he has done this to me, I am no longer the same vampire I was before my family died.

I hold the sword tightly, and a second later I'm running fast. I kill all the humans in front of me while I keep running towards the man who broke me internally.

"Queen Aurora!", I hear Mason shouting after me, but I don't stop this time.

I want to know why he did this to me. He used me to destroy my kingdom, and I want to know why.

My horse runs faster at night, and again, I'm in the forest. I had such a good time with a human, and I trusted him, I shouldn't have done that.

For the first time, I felt that I wasn't a princess when I was with him, I felt like a normal person, but he hurt me, and he must have had a lot of fun with it.

Mason and my father are the best warriors in the whole kingdom, and I've learned a lot from them. I can defend myself, and I know how to use a sword.

I'm getting closer and closer to the group of people, and I get off my horse quickly when I see the people in front of me trying to run away from me.

The pain seems to grow inside my chest every time I think of my dead family. I was born to rule this kingdom after my father's death, but I don't know how to do it without him here with me.

I raise my sword as a human runs towards me with an axe, and I quickly duck and kick the body of the man who flies through the air.

Two more men try to attack me using silver swords, but I'm faster and stronger than them. I defeat all the men, and I turn my head when a dagger flies towards me.

I groan as I feel the silver cutting into my skin, and when I raise my head, I see him.

He's staring at me and holding a sword.

I keep looking at him, smelling the surrounding blood, but I keep looking at the man who did all this to me.

"I know you won't kill me, Princess Aurora...", he whispers, looking at me, and I feel the tears of blood running down my face.

"You don't know me!", I shout, feeling the rage in my veins.

"You're the vampire princess; you're not like your father, and you'll never be cruel like him; I know that; you're different."

I smile wryly as I approach him, and I see him move away, but he's still holding a sword.

"You're scared now, I can see the fear in your eyes, and I can see the fear in your heart, which is beating faster now. I want to kill you, I'm thinking of a thousand different ways to do it.", I say, approaching him.

"Then kill me, what are you waiting for? Be like your father, be a horrible person like him, Princess Aurora.", he says seriously.

"I'm the queen now! And it's all because of you and all the humans, you did all this!", I shout, pointing at the bodies of the surrounding men.

"No, it was the vampires who did this when they took over our world, this was all ours. The world ended when creatures like you hurt and killed innocent people, can't you see? It was your father who started all this when she executed innocent families."

I'm still holding my father's sword tightly in my hands when I see him walk up to me.

"You and mine are the same, we're different, and you felt it too when we were together in that lake and...", Before he can finish speaking, I push his body hard against a tree.

"You all killed my family, and you want me to believe that you're completely innocent in this story? Making up lies won't save your life, human!"

"All this isn't a lie; I tell you the truth: when a group of human children were beaten and killed by vampires yesterday, they didn't do anything wrong; they just took fruit to eat because they were hungry; your father did it!", he shouts, and I nod.

"No!"

"You didn't know that, did you? You didn't know he was a monster with a crown, he was evil, and he's dead now. Humans deserve freedom, Aurora!", he says, and seconds later my sword is against his neck.

My eyes fixate on the green eyes of the human in front of me, and seconds later, my mind is dominated by scenes of when we were together in that lake.

I close my eyes, and I can still feel every sensation I felt when he touched me. I've never felt like this, and when I open my eyes, I still feel that pain inside me.

"Kill me if it's going to end the pain you're feeling right now. You didn't know your father's evil deeds, and I'm not blaming you, but we're the same, we're both trying to protect our people."

Kill him, Aurora!

Kill him!

I should do it, I could kill him quickly, but I feel like I'd be making a big mistake if I killed him, and that makes me confused.

"Everything that happened inside that lake was very real and true, and I know you felt it too, our touches, our kisses, everything was real."

"Stop trying to manipulate my mind!"

"It's not manipulation. I'm just telling you the truth. But you're the queen now, and you have the power to change everything."

"Why me? Why didn't you try to kill me too?", I ask, pressing the blade of the sword harder into his neck.

"Because you're different...", he whispers, and I feel tears welling up in my eyes.

I'm struggling not to cry again in front of him, but it's very difficult.

I keep looking at the human, and I sob, closing my eyes. Furthermore, I want to kill him, but I can't do it, I can't do it.

"I trusted you, and you did this to me...", I whisper, and he nods.

"You're good, you're a good vampire, and unlike your father, I only freed you and all humans from a horrible future, Aurora."

I shout, raising my sword, and I imagine it would be very easy to kill him. A second later, the sword pierces the tree next to the human's head.

I start crying harder, and I see him coming towards me.

"Stay away from me!

"Aurora..."

"Get away from me!

I fall to my knees on the floor, still crying, when I feel his arms around me. No one has ever hugged me before, and my parents have never hugged me before because vampires are creatures without feelings.

I open my eyes and raise my head, looking at the human next to me. I'm dead, and he has a heart beating inside his chest, and I can hear it.

His green eyes are watching me, and seconds later I look at his lips.

I don't know what it is, but I know it's making me very weak.

"I'm not afraid of you yet, Aurora...", he whispers, touching my cheek.

I want to push him away and kill him in the worst possible way, but I can't do it.