Authors: Jessica Burnett
“Ew. Stop. I’m not a vampire” I exclaimed as I smacked his hand away.
Damien huffed at me while Derek just stood against the wall nonchalantly holding Kai like it was no big deal for him to offer me his blood.
“The blood will give you power. It may even make you stronger than you are naturally. That’s how vamp blood works. We take blood from humans for power, others do the same to us. It enhances your natural abilities and raises your energy level. Now take it before I start healing again.” Damien said as he pressed his wrist to my lips once more.
I grimaced as I grabbed hold of his arm and pressed my lips to his wrist, sucking in his blood. It was strangely sweet and addicting. I looked up to Derek to see his reaction. He was now looking at the wall with a scowl on his face. Kai, on the other hand, was staring intently at us, wonder in his eyes.
I could feel my body changing. Energy surged up to my head, power radiated through my being. I felt as if I could rule the world and conquer all. I released Damien’s hand and stood up.
“Okay. I’m ready. Where to now?”
Derek turned around, “We have to get to the King’s chambers to see if he is alright. But, we can’t bring Kai with us. It’s too dangerous.”
“I’ll watch him.” Damien volunteered. We both stare at him incredulously. “It will be fine. I promise. I will stay here in this room with him. No one should enter and if they do I will kill them on the spot.”
“Alright…” I say, indecisively. But what other choice do I have? “Hand him over Derek. We need to be going.”
I walk over and give Kai a big kiss on the cheek and promise to return.
We’re closing the door behind us as Kai says, “I love you mommy and Derek. Please be careful” with pleading in his eyes.
“We love you, baby. We’ll be back as soon as possible. Be careful.” I blow him a kiss as I say this. Then I turn to Damien, “Take good care of him.” I say with a stern look. He simply nods and promises to do so.
“Tears streaming down
We’re running out of time
And the world’s about to end
We need saving
But where do we begin?
May the generation that follows
Be smarter than us
May the world not be as hollow
May the wind speak through the people
And the spirit arise from the sheeple
May the wanderers no longer feel lost
And the leaders no longer feel superior
May we follow a path destined for greatness
And erase all this anguish
May we see the world a little bit clearer
And may our time here be remembered. ”
Twelfth Chapter: Queen Unearthed
Derek and I are walking down a corridor filled with thousands upon thousands of pictures. I study them carefully as I creep along warily. My best guess is that I am looking at my family line. The first one we saw was of my father, Derek told me so. From there, the pictures get older and darker and eventually turn into paintings rather than photographs. Each is of different men wearing the same crown. I guess they’ve never had a queen rule before.
Derek motions for me to stop and I do. Holding my breath, I watch him as he listens intently and peers around the corner. Motioning for me to follow, he slips into another hall. This one looks just like the one before, same stone walls and burgundy carpeting. I get the feeling I will need to refurbish this place. It looks as if it has never once been redecorated since it was built. The only difference here is that the pictures are no longer of kings, but of me. There are several thousand pictures of me as a baby, child, and teenager. At the end is one lone picture of me holding Kai, with his brilliant smile and eyes that stare straight through you.
We hear a loud clang and stop in our tracks, afraid to move any further. We listen closely but hear nothing else. We step quietly around the next corner and walk into the largest kitchen I have ever seen. There are at least a dozen stoves, counters, and refrigerators. Utensils hang off every wall but there are several more scouring the floors, along with about fifty pots and pans. The room has been wrecked. If I didn’t know any better I would say that a tornado came through here.
Derek shakes his head slowly, takes one deep look into my eyes and then motions me forward. As I pass him he whispers, “Your father’s room is in that hall, the second door on the right. I have to go this way first. I will meet up with you in a minute.”
My eyes grow wide, emphasizing my fear, as I shake my head no over and over again. I don’t just fear for myself, I fear for him. We shouldn’t be separated.
But, before I had the chance to tell him just that, he answered my thoughts, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I will be fine. There’s nothing to worry about. I don’t sense anyone nearby.” He squeezes my arm gently and then turns to leave, quick as can be. I almost run after him, but I know better than to do that. I have to get to my father and make sure he’s okay.
I walk slowly at first, fearing what may be beyond the kitchen doorway. I take a deep breath and step out. The hall is completely empty aside from me but I can hear someone coming from a distance. I jog to the door in which I was told to go, wrench it open, and fling myself in. My heart beating sporadically in my chest I turn around to see Alfonzo staring me down, teeth gleaming in the darkness as he gives me his most wicked smile.
“Glad you could make it, Ember. You’re just in time to see your father die.” He laughed maniacally.
I take a look around the room. It’s bare except for a bed in the middle surrounded by medical equipment. My father is laying there, completely helpless and catatonic from his meds. Anger rolls through my body. A deep love I didn’t realize I had for my father surges through me fiercely.
“Don’t you dare!” I growl at Alfonzo.
“Then would you like to go first, my love?” He whispers as he licks his sharp teeth.
Before I know what’s happening, he disappears and is behind me with his right hand on my neck while the other is restraining my arms behind my back. He tilts my head back so I can see him more clearly and pierces my skin gently with his teeth, just enough so that I bleed. He licks it up but doesn’t take it in.
“Did you know that vampires are forbidden to drink blood from any elf?” Alfonzo sneered in my ear. “Elven blood is so intoxicating that it can drive a man mad. Too much of it can cause one to be addicted. A cupful of it can satisfy a vampire for a month. A small drop of it can make one more powerful than any other leech there is, no matter how old or strong.”
I lurch as he draws me closer to him. My mind is whirling at full speed. Didn’t I let Damien drink my blood? He doesn’t seem any different than before. Has he ever drunk from my father? Is that why he doesn’t need to feed as often as I would have thought?
I shriek as Alfonzo sinks his teeth deep into my neck. I was so lost in thought I didn’t see it coming. I had forgotten for half a second where I was, half a second too late. Darkness engulfs me.
I wake on a wrought iron bed, arms and legs chained to each bedpost. My neck is sore and I feel woozy. Alfonzo is toying with me I can tell. He’s staring me down as he fastens a belt around my waist, tethering me to the bed completely.
“There. Now isn’t that better, Lachlan? Now she can’t do a damn thing.” Alfonzo barks with a chuckle.
Lachlan?! I search frantically around the room until I find him in the darkest corner, arms folded, with a slight smile on his lips. Or so it seems.
This is when I notice I am no longer in the same room as before. It’s still just as bare as the other one. But, it doesn’t have the same stone walls or burgundy carpet that I have noticed seems to encompass the entire castle. There’s a rocking chair in the far left corner of the room and a crib in the right, the walls are pink and the floor is green as grass. There’s a tiny dresser next to me that has my name inscribed in it. I realize we are in my childhood room. Sadness envelops me as I realize my father never changed a thing, patiently awaiting my safe return.
“You understand right? Where you are? Whose room this once belonged to?” Lachlan mocks me.
I stare at him in wonder and disbelief, “Why?” I whisper quietly.
“Why what?” He growls back.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I want to be powerful.” He says simply, as if the subject bored him.
“Power? You would hurt my family for
power
?” It was my turn to growl.
“What of it? You crave family. I crave magic. Alfonzo craves blood.” Lachlan utters with an uninterested tone to his voice.
Anger is gradually washing away any feeling I once had for this man.
“Mm… blood. I need some more of her.” Alfonzo leered as he stepped towards me. I had barely noticed him until this point. He held up a knife and slit my wrist open. Blood poured out easily as Alfonzo ducked under the flow to slurp it up. Disgusting varmint.
I close my eyes trying to find something inside me, anything, that I can use to defend myself. I find myself grasping at straws. I have never tried to save myself before. I have no idea where to find the power to do so. I get so fed up with myself that I scream at the top of my lungs.
A slap across my face shuts me up quick, “Shut up you little twit!” Lachlan shrieks at me.
Shock courses through my body. I realized that even though I knew who he was I still had a tiny smidge of hope that he would help me out of this. That hope was quickly washed away.
My eyes grow wide as I feel pain surging through my body. A pain not caused by these two vile men, but by my own power forcing its way out. My inner self was erupting from my body. Where once lay Ember Smith… now laid Queen Ember of the Elves. It was at this moment that I realized that while I was one person, I was also two. The Elven blood in me took over and the more dominant DNA took over completely, shutting the human Ember in the deepest confines of our fragile mind.
Queen Ember smiles wickedly at the two standing before her. Tilting her head up, chin held high, she speaks. “You think you can out best me? ME? Who is stronger than all magikals combined?! ME! Who could tear you to shreds with a single thought? ME!” A maniacal laugh escapes our throat as the chains turns to dust, the belt melts off our sides, and our wounds heal in a matter of seconds.
Our body floats through the air flipping over to land fluidly in a crouched state, a predator seeking her prey. A third person viewer is all that I am at this moment. As I watch the scene I realize it both scares and thrills me.
Lachlan and Alfonzo back up slowly, confused but unafraid.
Queen Ember rises to her feet.
“What the hell just happened?” Alfonzo whispers to Lachlan. Lachlan simply shrugs, uncertainty in his eyes.
“Ember?” Lachlan asks, peering directly into our eyes.
A wry smile plays across our features, “The Ember you knew is no longer here. I banished her to the farthest confines of our body. Her simple human mind could not handle the two of you like I can.”
“What does that mean?” Lachlan questions, worry crossing his once cold face. Worried for me or him I cannot tell. “Who are you if not Ember?”
“Me? I am Elven royalty. I am the blood that runs through her veins. I am what comes of a hybrid mixture. Elves are created with souls. Humans are given one at birth. When a mixture of our races comes into existence they are given two souls to work with: one superior, one inferior. Both are compatible with one another. Both will rule the world if they so choose. Human/elf hybrids are more powerful than anything.”
The men’s eyes grow wide as they take this in. I am sure if I had control of my body I would have done the same.
“I don’t believe it.” Alfonzo smirks, although his eyes say different.
“Do you wish for me to show you, love?” Queen Ember says sweetly, a twinkle in her eyes, a spring in her step, as she lands in front of Alfonzo.
Alfonzo backs up suddenly, too suddenly. Queen Ember merely touches him and he turns to ash. One poke to the forehead is all it took for her to take this vampire’s immortality away from him.
Lachlan is trying to escape without being noticed, but of course we do. Our head whips around as we smile sweetly towards this man I once trusted with my life. I am scared for his life now. Unfathomable, I know. Why care for a man who only wanted to use you? But this is why I am the weak link.
Our arm moves up through the air as we beckon him forward. Lachlan has no choice in the matter. In the blink of an eye he is no longer by the door but unstable in front of us. His eyes grow wide with fear.