The Legend of the Blue Eyes (12 page)

“I don’t think she will readily drink it,”
he replied. “Medical should be fine.” The young girl curtsied again
and left the room. Arianna stared from Devin to her grandfather
unaware of what they were cryptically discussing. “We need to
finish your transformation,” Lord Randolph explained, as the maid
returned with a bag of red liquid.

“I heard you were being very picky after you
turned, and refused any blood but Devin’s, but you need to take
more blood to finish your transformation. Devin will take care of
everything for you upstairs,” he offered. “Devin, after you get
Arianna settled, please send Molina back down here.”

Unsure of what was happening; Arianna
followed Devin upstairs to the sitting room outside her bedroom.
They didn’t explain how she would take the blood that smelled so
unappealing. Arianna sat patiently on the couch as Devin and Molina
put an IV in her. She knew immediately their plan to give her
blood, and she was thankful she wouldn’t have to drink it.

“Just sit here until it’s empty,” Devin
instructed, as he and Molina left the room.

Alone in the fancy sitting room, Arianna
studied the paintings on the wall as she drifted into peoples’
conversations throughout the house: two maids talking down several
hallways, a young man helping an older man with tools outside, the
splash of water as an older woman washed clothes. Arianna focused
to the room below hers as the scent of blood caught her attention.
It was dearg-dul blood.

“I am sorry, my Lord,” Molina repeated after
Lord Randolph hit her across her face. “I didn’t mean to disobey
you.”

“You were told that you are under her
command on everything but one issue. No one is to take even a drop
of her blood,” Lord Randolph growled. “No one includes you.”
Arianna winced as he slapped Molina again. Though she couldn’t see
him, Arianna could feel the anger in Lord Randolph’s voice. Arianna
listened as Devin helped Molina back to her feet. “The next time
anyone takes her blood—I don’t care if she offers or is forced,
I’ll kill them.”

“Out of my sight,” Lord Randolph ordered.
“Just remember, next time I won’t be as lenient.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Molina replied. Arianna
listened as the click of Molina’s shoes brought her upstairs and
through the kitchen.

“She doesn’t understand the value of her own
blood,” Devin said quietly to Lord Randolph.

“She needs to learn it soon. As soon as we
let her out of this house, they will all come looking for her.”
Lord Randolph’s tone of voice changed as he talked alone with
Devin. “I have already received over fifty marriage proposals, and
just as many custodian proposals.”

“You expected that much,” Devin replied. “Do
any of them look promising?”

“I threw them all in the fire this morning.
She’s only sixteen. There’s no way she’s ready to be promised in
marriage to someone. She doesn’t even know the value in her own
life,” he complained. “As to custodians, she doesn’t need to decide
that for a few more years. Besides, she has you.”

“Forever,” Devin replied. “Is everything set
with the school?”

“Yes, she can begin tomorrow. You and Molina
will accompany her,” Lord Randolph ordered. “I prefer to keep her
here, but she might get suspicious if we never let her out of her
apartment.”

Arianna tried to continue
listening, but realized the words were now starting to sound funny.
Arianna giggled as the last bit of blood drained into her arm. For
some reason, she felt so warm and happy. Maybe the blood had
something in it. The overly-decorated room became amusing to her as
she looked from one corner of the room to the next.
So much stuff in such a little
space
, she mused. Arianna giggled more.
Everything she just heard sounded so scary, but she just had the
urge to giggle. She now was a prisoner in her grandfather’s home.
He was going to arrange a marriage for her. Her life was now
completely in his control, but for some reason, Arianna found
herself not caring. The blood had to be spiked with
alcohol.

Devin returned to find Arianna lying upside
down, hanging off the couch.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he placed
her right side up and took out the IV.

“Eww,” she said plugging her nose as Devin
picked up the IV bag and threw it in the fire. “That smells so
gross,” she complained. Devin turned to Arianna, and she smiled
back at him before giggling. “You look better upside down.” Arianna
turned herself around and upside down off the couch again.

Devin sighed. “He really gave you his own
blood didn’t he?” Devin asked, knowing Arianna wouldn’t know the
difference.

“Grandfather’s blood? Is that why it smelled
so badly?” she asked poking his arm with her toes.

“Promise me, that from now on, you’ll only
drink my blood?” Devin demanded.

“Devin’s blood is nummy,” Arianna said while
bouncing her feet off the back of the couch, refusing to sit up. As
Devin made to move and sit her on the couch again, Arianna clumsily
rolled off, and hit the floor with a thud. She burst into
giggles.

Ignoring her, Devin picked up his papers
from the coffee table and began to read over them.

“What’cha doing?” Arianna asked, as she
crawled around the couch and hung over the back behind Devin.

“Babysitting,” he replied, not looking up
from his papers. Lazily, for her own amusement, she blew the edges
of his hair over his ears.

“Babysitting papers?” she asked,
confused.

“Babysitting you,” he responded,
straightening his hair.

“But I’m not a baby,” she stated. Devin
rolled his eyes. “Did you say you would answer all my questions?”
Devin nodded but still didn’t look up. “How long have you been
stalking me?” she asked, smiling politely.

“Three, maybe four years,” he replied, not
taking the bait to argue with her.

“So, that’s how you know things about me.
How much do you know about me?” she asked.

“You’re not going to remember most of this
conversation tomorrow, so why not save the questions until later?”
he wondered.

“So, you don’t know too much then,” she
replied as she flopped on the couch, upside down, again.

Devin looked over his papers to her face by
his knee. “Though you tell everyone you hate the color pink, your
favorite bra and panty set is the pink and white striped one Lilly
gave you for Christmas last year.”

Arianna’s mouth dropped. How could he know
that? She’d never told anyone. She’d never written it down or said
it out loud, even. Arianna blushed as she searched her mind to
figure out how he would know. There was no reason he should know
such information. Arianna sat up and pulled the papers from his
hand throwing them messily on the coffee table.

“Did you guys set up camera in my room or
something? Isn’t that invasion of privacy?” she asked, angry that
they must have been watching her for a very long time.

Devin picked back up his papers and began to
read again. “First of all, it’s only invasion of privacy if it was
not owned by your grandfather, but Lilly and Dean’s apartment is
one of the hundreds that Lord Randolph owns. Second, I wouldn’t
stoop so low as to use cameras to watch you. Cameras can be fooled.
It’s far better to watch over someone in person, even if they are
annoyingly drunk off their grandfather’s blood.”

“I’m not drunk. I’m not old enough to
drink,” she laughed as she answered, no longer angry with
Devin.

“You could save us all a lot of trouble if
you’d just go to sleep until it wears off,” Devin suggested, as he
set his papers down and picked her up. Walking to her room, he
gently placed her in her bed. Placing his hand gently on her cheek,
Arianna could feel his pulse echo loudly in her ears. Arianna
smiled up at Devin as she became sleepy.

“All this following me around, and learning
every detail about me, do you love me?” she asked sweetly. Devin
blushed, but didn’t reply. Arianna smiled back as she could feel
his answer. “Why?” she asked.

“Just get some sleep,” he instructed, not
answering the question. “We can talk more tomorrow.”

Arianna pushed his hand off her face. “No, I
want to talk now,” she complained. “You said you would answer every
question I had today. I want answers now,” she demanded. “I’m
living in a strange place where I’m basically being kept captive.
My aunt and uncle have left already. I’ve listened to the whole
house. I know they’re not here anymore. So, I’ve been basically
abandoned by the only family I have. Then, I hear there are
marriage proposals. Marriage! I’m only sixteen. Who asks for a
sixteen-year-old’s hand in marriage? I am beginning to feel like
I’m in a nuthouse. Vampires exist, marriage at sixteen, killing
without any remorse, my blood being valuable, I have family, an
uncle that kidnaps me, strange men trying to kill me, oh, and did I
mention that vampires are real? What does this all mean? Why am I
here? Why didn’t Aunt Lilly and Uncle Dean take me home with them?”
Arianna began to sob. “Why did they leave me? Don’t they love me
anymore? Aunt Lilly always told me that even though she wasn’t my
real mother she always felt like she was meant to be my mom. Then
why did she leave alone in this strange place? Doesn’t she love me
anymore?”

“She loves you more than you will ever
know,” Devin replied, gently stroking Arianna’s head as she sobbed
into his chest. “She didn’t want to leave you here, but she knows
that this is the best place for you.”

“Why am I this way?” Arianna asked. “If I
wasn’t so different, then she would have kept me, right? Why did
everything have to change? I feel so alone here. Everyone talks
about me, but no one wants to talk to me. Everyone seems either in
awe or a bit afraid of me. Am I always going to be alone?” Arianna
pulled back and looked at Devin, her blue eyes still filled with
tears.

Devin gently wiped the tears away. “I’ll
never leave you,” he promised. “I’ll always stay by your side.”
Tenderly he took her chin in his large hands and tilted her face to
meet his. He pressed his lips briefly to hers.

Snuggling in close to the warm sensation
beneath her face, Arianna opened her eyes to find that it was
already morning. Outside, the birds were chirping to signal the
beginning of a new day, but in the house, filled with people who
slept through the morning and most of the day, there was silence.
Arianna lifted her head to listen. Complete silence. No maids
walking through the halls, no gardeners giving orders to the young
boys that worked for them, nor were there any cooks clanking
dishes. Arianna listened to the sounds around her. In the
peacefulness of the morning, Arianna closed her eyes and lay back
down on Devin’s warm chest.

Aunt Lilly would kill me if
she saw me now,
Arianna thought. Devin’s
grip around her waist tightened as he continued to sleep. She
wasn’t allowed to date, let alone sleep in the same bed as an
unrelated boy. Arianna didn’t care that she was breaking Aunt
Lilly’s rules. In this strange place where she had been abandoned,
he was the only thing constant. If it weren’t for him, she would
have turned, and attacked some unknown person, three nights ago, or
she could still be sitting in the cell underground withering away
from lack of blood. Devin had been by her side since she entered
this strange, new, dreamlike reality. Of all the strange and scary
people she was surrounded by, she did not fear Devin. He was
safe—her protector. Smiling, Arianna compared her small hands to
Devin’s by placing her hand over his. His large hands were twice
the size of hers.
These hands keep me
safe
, she thought, as her heart began to
beat a little faster. Arianna’s gaze continued up the muscular arm
that held onto her. She knew he was strong, yet he held onto her so
gently. Arianna felt warm and safe within his grasp. Although he
was serious most of the time, she knew his affection for her was
real. She could see it in his eyes when he spoke. Arianna’s gaze
rested on his bare chest. Gently, she traced the muscles. His
well-defined muscles were a sign that he had worked hard to get
where he was today. Arianna blushed while he continued to sleep,
unable to stop herself from touching the man sleeping beside
her.

Arianna could vaguely
remember the night before, as if it were a dream covered in fog.
Exact words and conversations were not registering in her head, but
she did remember one thing.
He kissed
me
, she thought, staring at the sleeping
Devin beside her. Arianna was entranced by the rhythm of his chest,
rising with each breath he took. Analyzing his face, Arianna stared
at each feature: golden eyelashes that fluttered slightly as he
slept, the rosy color in his cheeks, his messy blond hair that
hadn’t been cut for months, and his light red lips. Arianna
continued to stare at his lips. She had never been kissed by a boy
before. Reaching up carefully, so as not to wake him, Arianna
gently touched his lips. Though she still felt like she was in a
dream, it was real: the boy lying beside her, the large, fancy room
and house, and the blood. Arianna jerked up suddenly, looking
around the room. She could smell blood. Was it in her room? Whose
blood was it?