Authors: Ava Frost
She didn’t answer me. “What’s in that little notebook?” I asked, walking beside her. She smirked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would,” I confirmed I could have ordered my guards to snatch it from her, but I wanted it freely.
“I’m writing a story.”
“So you’re a journalist.”
She nodded, “I am.”
“What’s your angle?” I said.
She stopped walking and raised her eyebrow in question, “angle? Mr. Hansen, I only have one angle and that’s the truth.”
I must have offended her. “I apologize. I meant no offense. It seems most humans are always trying to write things about us that are in most ways exaggerated or intended to be scary. Please forgive me.”
“I want nothing more than the truth of this event and my story will reflect that,” she said, daring me to say another offending thing.
“What do you have so far?” I asked, interested.
She smiled and her eyes lit with excitement. “So far I have described this great hall, the food, and the beautiful prospects.”
“What of me?” I asked, curious that I wasn’t the first thing she mentioned.
“So far I have it looks like the King doesn’t want to be the prince of the ball.”
“What does that mean?” I asked incredulously.
“It means, everyone else might be oblivious to your obvious dislike of this event, but I’m not. You don’t want to be here. So tell me King, where would you rather be?”
She stated every word in confidence and looked at me with a tilt of her head willing me to answer. I could not disappoint her, “my swimming pool.”
“Why?” she asked, pen poised to write.
I became giddy at the thought and took her hand. “Let me show you.”
I pulled her along though she had no strength to stop me, we turned left down a long hallway and went outside.
Chapter 3
I really didn’t want to be here, but I had to be. There were many journalists here to cover the once in a lifetime event, the marrying of King David. Vampires mated for life and this would be the first vampire union made public since the peace treaty. The icing on the cake was the few slots offered to humans a chance as his bride. To say the media was frenzied felt like an understatement. It felt ridiculous to me. Marriage was not a big deal, plenty of people did it, even vampires, what made this vampire so special? He didn’t mean anything special to me.
The air was crisp, not quite the end of the summer, but fall was coming. I was being pulled along by a stranger. Well not a stranger, I knew his name. I was being pulled along by King David Hansen, sounded a lot like handsome and that he was. He was tall, rumor had it he was changed at 25, ignoring family tradition to be turned at 21. He was mysterious, every story I read about him always had a lot to say about his looks, but never too much on his beliefs, his likes or dislikes. We walked past a huge pool with a slide and diving board. It was easy to imagine having huge pool parties out here, there was even a built in grill. We entered what I assumed was the pool house, though it was the size of most people’s home. We stopped at a closet and inside were bathing suits, all types, and colors with tags still on them.
“Choose a suit,” He said.
“What?” I said, “We can’t do this. You’re supposed to be at the party and I’m supposed to be,” I faltered, “getting a story out of you.”
He was in front of an adjacent closet with swimming trunks, unbuttoning his shirt. His gaze was almost pleading, “You asked me why my swimming pool is the place I’d rather be, now let me show you.”
His chest was without any blemishes and he had a small trail of black curls leading into his pants from his belly button. We both entered changing rooms, I came out in a blood red one piece that had triangles cut outs on my sides, back and the tops of my breast. He donned navy blue shorts and extended his hand. I took it without thinking. Walking through the back door, we entered a small paradise. The pool was huge, easily ten feet wide and deep but what made it beautiful was the design. It was built to look like the pool was a natural lake and all around was real foliage. There were even birds singing in the trees. He led me down a small staircase until we were submerged waist deep. The water was warm and I relaxed.
“If you could make a wish, what animal would you be?” he asked, sinking them further into the water.
“A bird. I want to see the world, but I feel trapped in a cage.” This moment begged honesty and although I had never admitted that to anyone, I trusted he would hold my confidence. “And you?”
“A fish, maybe a shark,” he said.
I laughed. “Of course, you’d be king of the underwater jungle too.”
He smirked, “I didn’t choose a shark because they’re predators, and I chose them because they’re mostly left alone. They can travel in packs or alone.”
“Is that what you want? Solitude?”
He nodded, “it is hard to truly be myself when everyone has their own opinion of who that should be.”
“That sounds lonely.”
“Haven’t you heard? I’m currently taking applications for a bride.”
We were neck deep and I wondered how much farther we’d go.
“Well you’re doing a poor job of it, you’re here with me instead of vetting the contestants.”
He shrugged. “There’s no place else I’d rather be.”
I turned to stare at him, no longer distracted by the clear blue water. His green eyes pierced my soul and I knew he was telling the truth. I wanted to ask why, but this was a fairy tale, it would end when this party did. So I broke his gaze.
“Can you swim?” he asked.
“I can,” I said. We were both speaking softly, reverent of this sanctuary and taking in the sounds around us. “Can you?”
He smiled warmly, “I learned when I was still human off the Gulf of Mexico. It is still one of my fondest memories of my father. He just threw me in the water. He said, ‘don’t die and nature will take care of the rest.’ He was right. I took to the water like I had gills instead of lungs.” There were a few beats of silence and I felt my disdain for this event falling short in comparison to the man. The man in front of me was nothing like what he was portrayed or what I assumed and I wanted to know more.
“Swim with me,” he said, taking my hand and then we were underwater. It was even more beautiful underwater. There were hieroglyphics and different paintings along the floor. There were mermaids and shipwrecks, there were treasure piles painted and women in men’s embrace. There seemed to be no theme, only beautiful artwork and it was wonderful. He glided through the water with powerful strokes, taking no effort to pull me along. We emerged at the far end of the pool, inside a canopy of tree branches. From here, I couldn’t see the entrance and I knew no one would be able to see us.
The water was lower and I could stand on solid ground. His hair was slicked back and the few trails of water detailed the planes of his face. His wide-set eyes and furrowed eyebrows, without thinking I reached out to smooth them down.
“You never smile in pictures.” I said, tracing his cheeks and lips, “I bet you have a beautiful smile.” He dipped his head as if bashful and thanked me. We were face to face, he could probably make out my waterproof mascara and cheap lip-gloss. I could see he had small scars on his shoulders.
“What happened here?” I said skimming the skin. “I thought vampires healed.”
“We do. But not entirely if it’s too bad.”
“How’d you get it?” I asked, stepping completely into his space.
“Fighting for something I loved.”
“What was it?” I whispered leaning in.
“My freedom,” he whispered back. I wanted to keep my humanity as long as possible. Those scars are from the fight I had with my father before he turned me. He decided I had seen enough of the world and I decided I wouldn’t go out without a fight. He broke several ribs and my arm. I only had two choices, death or become a vampire.”
“Did it hurt?” I asked.
“What? The change?”
I nodded, tracing over his scars.
“The bite didn’t, no. But the draining of your blood and the nearness to death did. Vampire bites don’t change you, it’s the sucking your body dry just before death and injecting venom into your body that does.”
“So bites feel good?” I asked, causing him to lean closer
“Very much so. Feeding is always a pleasurable feeling.” He said before taking my lips. The sensation was soft and hard to discern from the warm water against my body but then his hands wrapped around my back and slid to cup my butt. I moaned into his mouth and he took the openness to explore with his tongue. He knew exactly what he was doing, our tongues danced together tasting and nudging. My arms wrapped around his neck and he hoisted me up onto his waist. His erection bit into my hot core and I didn’t care that we were in a pool or that I was looking for a story. I only cared about this moment and used my body to convey that. My arms pulled him closer and moans escaped my throat.
He pulled back abruptly, “shit” and set me down.
His eyes were controlled, but I’m sure mine were wild. “What’s wrong?” I asked panting.
“You,” He said scrutinizing me.
“You said you weren’t looking for a story, but that wasn’t true was it? This is what you want, right?”
His words felt like a slap in the face. “I told you I was looking for the truth. I wouldn’t write about this.” I said gesturing between us. “This wasn’t some ploy. This,” I exhaled, “whatever this is or was, was honest and not a ploy. It just happened. I was looking for a story, yes but I didn’t know I would get a connection. That’s rare and to be cherished. I wasn’t using you to make some big story. I only want the truth,” I backed away from him, injured, “I can’t believe you’d think that of me, but then again what did I expect? You don’t know me, you don’t even know my name.” I turned, intending to swim back to the entrance and leave. I never wanted to come to this stupid party but my boss insisted. He said it would be the story of the century and that if I wanted a lasting career, I’d better go. Little did he know, this story was about to be as dry as toast.
He grabbed my hand, halting my exit. “Wait. I’m sorry.” He said turning me to face him. “You’re right. What’s your name?”
“Candice Courtney. It was a pleasure your Majesty,” I said politely, “please excuse me.”
“No. don’t go.” He pleaded.
“Give me one reason.”
“Because I have never been myself with anyone else before and I like it.”
I was intrigued, “you can’t be yourself with anyone?” it sounded farfetched. “Not even your family?”
“No,” he exhaled. He pulled me back to our previous positions, me standing between his legs and him leaning against the pool wall. “Every word I speak can be used against me. I’m basically here against my will. I don’t want just an attachment. Trophies are for trophy cases, not to be on your arm beside you. I want a partner, someone I fell in love with. I want to be with someone I know wants me for me. Not wants me because my pedigree is rich or because my mother hired them too. I don’t want someone who lets me say and do whatever I want. I want someone to call me on my shit. I want someone who knows what my favorite color is and can tell when I’m lying. Everything here is a political battle. My mother wants me to hate humans. There is no love. There is control under the guise of love and I abhor the idea of someone controlling me.”
“Why?”
“To which question?
“Why does your mom hate humans?”
“Because one staked my father.”
“And do you?”
“No. Though I would never tell her that. My public stance on them in neutral, imperative to peace in the world. In truth, I envy them.”
“Envy us?” It sounded ridiculous, “why would you do that? You have everything, money, fame, power, eternal life.”
“And you have destiny, fate, and choices.”
“I cheated fate and living forever grows exhausting. There’s really nothing new to see. Once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it a thousand times. Women grow boring, they only want me to use me and truly the world turns on itself. Styles are recycled, politicians are corrupt and money is the name of the game. You never know what tomorrow will bring, I do and I’m tired of it.”
I could see he was tired, even without the bags under his eyes, he looked resigned. I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet many vampires. I heard about them and had seen them on the news but they seemed to stick to their corners of the world and until tonight I had never had an interest in meeting one or inquiring about their life. I was never one of those girls to fantasize about seducing one or ponder the merits of being bit. The grass always seems greener on the other side. I always assumed living forever and being invincible made a person cocky or enthused for life. David seemed overwhelmed and in some ways, depressed. I wanted to see a smile on his face.
“You’re right. What a sad fate, you can’t even drown your sorrows in ice cream.” I feigned a pout, “poor vampire,” and it worked. He laughed and confirmed my suspicious, his smile could light up a room.
“You are a breath of fresh air. Where have you been all my life?”
“I don’t know, but I apologize for the tardy entrance.”