“I’m guessing…” said Josephine, “That you’re the reason my beloved brother Jasper is dead,”
“How...how...how did you know that?” I asked.
No one had known for sure that it had been me except Sebastian and the Queen. I tried to think back. Maybe the maid had spread the rumor. Maybe a landscaper had seen it happen and had talked. Maybe Patricia already knew. Maybe I didn’t have a chance to run after all. Maybe I had no way of leaving now. I felt my heart race without an end in sight, wanting to leap out of my chest to run the marathon of my life.
“I didn’t but now I do,” said Josephine, her face becoming more calm though a twitch just under the surface threatened to break out and unleash a horror I knew lurked there under the surface, “Everyone seems to die around you for some reason, pet,”
“She’s not a pet,” said Lydia, “She’s her Royal Highness Prussia, heir to the throne, now.”
I watched from where I crouched behind the corner of my desk as Josephine’s face registered what Lydia had said. I saw the lines change in Josephine’s face, the emotion trickle in little spurts, and the control that Josephine tried so hard to keep finally dissipated.
I looked to the door and thought to run for it. But just as I had looked away, Josephine had made her move. I jumped up to rush for the door and Josephine landed on me in a frenzy. I closed my eyes and brought my arms up as quickly as I could. I felt her hot breath and could see the fuzzy outline of her pointed fangs hang precariously over my cheek through squinted eyes. And in that flurry of movement I could feel the millisecond pause where Josephine hesitated. Only to realize she hadn’t hesitated, she had been stopped.
As quickly as Josephine had pounced on me she had suffered the same attack. Lydia stood over us both and wrapped her arm around Josephine’s neck. Lydia pulled back the furious and fang baring Josephine and sent her crashing into the bookcase behind my desk. Lydia stood over me, a small bend in her knees and her hands still up, waiting for the next attack.
I couldn’t see where Josephine had gone. I knew she had landed half a dozen feet past my desk and into the bookcase but after she hit the ground I had lost sight of her. I tried to make myself as small as possible, bewildered at how easy it had been for Josephine to gain access to my office, not far at all from the Queen’s own chambers. This place wasn’t secure. I wasn’t safe here in the least.
I stared up at Lydia who had assumed a protective stance over me. Of all the people in the entire castle, I did not expect Lydia to be protecting me. I tried to peer over the desk and could see Josephine crouched on all floors with a snarl on her face. She was preparing to attack Lydia. But when I looked at Josephine she caught a glimpse of me and instead of attacking Lydia she jumps freakishly from the ground onto the top of my desk, scattering supplies everywhere.
I screamed and bolted for the door. As I ran, Josephine lunged for me and missed. Without a moment's pause, Josephine followed me to where I slammed against the door with a great deal of force. Not only had I been running as fast as I could but the weight of Josephine slamming into me sandwiched me between her and the door and caused my head to spin. If she hadn't grabbed me by the throat I would've fallen to the floor.
And that was when Lydia's hand appeared and began wrenching Josephine's fingers away from my throat. There was a rush, a frenzy, as I struggled to get away and Josephine struggled to keep a hold of me all while Lydia fought to free me. And the deadlock had only one inevitable conclusion.
Josephine, with a renewed passion and hatred in her eyes, used her entire strength to throw Lydia away from her with only one arm. Josephine launched Lydia backwards into the air and she landed against my desk. This left only Josephine with her fingers around my throat and knee pressed against the door, with no chance for me to escape.
I tried to scream but couldn’t breathe. She squeezed harder and harder until it felt as if my eyes were going to pop out of my head. With a rush of adrenaline, I began scratching Josephine's face with my nails in a last-ditch attempt to gain my freedom. But even as I scratched at her face Josephine's anger seemed to only grow. Squeezing as hard as she could she still couldn't seem to crush my throat and kill me though I felt as though she were succeeding. As I watched her hatred form into frustration I could also see the wheels turning rapidly behind her hate-filled eyes. Still, Josephine squeezed as hard as she could with her jaw locked and her neck muscles clearly strained.
Realizing that scratching her face was not getting me anywhere, I tried pulling on her hair to get her face farther away from mine. My desperation led to my worst-case scenario. With Josephine’s head pulled back and her eyes wide, I watched as her clenched teeth transformed into an open mouth with sharp hanging fangs. My eyes matched her own wild bewildered look as I saw what Josephine planned for me next.
I heard the low grumble inside of her throat, that guttural sound signaling my future as a meal, and my heart beat rapidly as she pulled her head out of my grasp. And in the process she pulled her own hair, still tangled in my fingers, from her scalp. Her sharp teeth came quickly to my throat and my heart skipped a beat as she paused and smiled a menacing smile. I wished I could take a breath. Josephine’s face turned into confusion, as did my own, as I heard a crunch. I looked down at Josephine's chest and saw a very blunt and blood covered piece of wood sticking through Josephine’s heart. Looking past Josephine, I saw Lydia's face twisted in agony as she tried to finish shoving the leg of one of my mahogany chairs through Josephine's body. Her face was so close to mine. I watched Josephine's last look of life turn from confusion to disbelief and finally ash as that final ember glittered a trail over the skin of her face and left charred remains in its wake.
Too shocked to move but more desperate to breathe, I pulled my neck out of the grasp of Josephine's charred remains and watched her body crumble into a pile on the floor in front of me. Lydia and I stood looking at each other in exasperation and exhaustion. After a moment, Lydia shrugged and went to sit in the one remaining wooden chair across from my desk.
"What next?" asked Lydia, "Will you let the Queen fillet me to her heart's content or is this immunity thing a real thing?"
I brushed Josephine's ashes off of the front of my clothes as best I could and tried to walk as calmly as possible, regaining what composure I had left, back to my chair behind my desk. The third chair, next to Lydia, lay disassembled on its side. I sat down and let my heart settle down.
"Immunity?" asked Lydia, more cautiously and with concern in her voice.
"Yes," I said, closing my eyes as my brain tried to process all that had just happened, "Immunity, as promised. But I'm going to need a few details,"
"Sure," said Lydia, lighting a cigarette she pulled from out of a small clutch and drawing hard on it, the ember hauntingly similar to the one I had just watched streak across Josephine's skin, killing her, "Anything I can do to help,"
"Anything?" I asked.
An idea struck me as I watched Lydia return to a neutral state, not bothered in the least by the pile of ash blocking the door out of my office that no doubt still emitted warmth close to the temperature of a live body. Lydia’s easy poise and her composure had me thinking about how often I found myself in situations like this, situations I wasn't prepared to handle, situations I had barely managed to escape. Lydia looked at me, cautious and curious at the same time by the way I had phrased my question. Lydia knew as well as I did that a promise without very defined details could cost a person greatly.
"What did you have in mind?" asked Lydia, blowing smoke out of her mouth quickly and taking her next draw before the smoke had cleared.
I explained my idea to Lydia. I had no chance of leaving this place. That had been confirmed now. But maybe there would be a chance to still stay safe, as safe as possible given my circumstances. I told Lydia what I wanted. What I needed was an around the clock bodyguard that didn't look like an around the clock bodyguard.
"You don't need me, you have Sebastian," said Lydia, a definite
ring of jealousy in her remark.
"Do you see Sebastian here?" I asked, pointing to the ash.
"Point taken," said Lydia, taping her cigarette over the plush Persian rug without regard for whether or not my desk had an ash tray. It didn't, not any more, but I still liked that rug, "Just out of curiosity...How is it that she didn't kill you?"
"I'm..." I knew the words sounded ludicrous without even saying them. I paused, trying to find a better way to express them.
"She's immortal," said Queen Victoria, standing in the doorway above the pile of Josephine’s ashes, "Who do we have here?"
Queen Victoria seemed positively amused at the sight of another death on my hands.
"Josephine," said Lydia, dryly.
Robert appeared just outside my office in the hallway, looking in. His jaw set tightly and he set cold eyes on me before walking away briskly down the hallway towards the exit, I was sure. Queen Victoria's eyes snapped up from the pile of ashes and instantly transformed into alarm which I had never seen on her face before.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The branches slapped me in the face as I ran through the trees and the sun was bright as it streamed through the branches. I had trouble seeing around the huge tree trunks. I had trouble seeing at all as my eyes kept adjusting to the bright light and then the deep shadows cast by the heavily forested areas outside of the castle. I had been running for what seemed like an hour. If I had known I would be running through the trees for my life, I would have worn more sensible shoes. I panted, out of breath, and looked down at my feet that ached. Pieces of brush had become stuck in the straps of my heeled sandals and dirt had wedged between my toes from falling. The left heel was broken and the straps on my right shoe were flapping, broken as well. I dropped down towards the ground quickly and began to undo the ankle straps on the white sandals, fingers shaking wildly.
My eyes darted up now and again as I struggled to free myself from the shoes, looking between the trees, searching, worried I would be captured at any moment. I heard the echo of a stick snap and stopped breathing. I held my breath and my fingers moved more slowly, more deliberately though still a tremor to them.
I couldn’t tell how close it had been but I had a feeling in my gut that I didn’t have much time. I pulled the sandals off of my feet, freeing them from the cutting pain of the straps and the broken heel. If I had any chance of making it to the castle without being caught, I couldn’t let my poor footwear choice seal my fate. This was survival of the fittest. And I wanted to survive.
I heard a slight rustling sound on the other side of a nearby tree and looked across the plush green lawn that ran from the tree-line all the way up to the back of the castle. I didn’t have time to think. I barely had time to react as the bushes exploded into activity behind me. I didn’t look back. I just ran. I threw my shoes behind me as I bolted from the illusion of safety in the wooded area.
My ears faintly heard my broken sandals hit someone. I didn’t turn back to look. I heard a woman, Lydia, swear loudly. I glanced back as my feet carried me as fast as I could. I could tell by the way Lydia held her head with one hand that my shoes must have connected with her face. It had probably been the only thing that kept her claws off me and gave me enough time to sprint out of the brush. I turned back to find an object in closer proximity than I could have anticipated, too close for me to stop and I collided into a hard body.
“Prussia!” yelled Sebastian as he scrambled to get up, “What in the hell-”
I didn’t have the breath to explain or the time to stop and chat. I had to move. I had to run. I couldn’t stop. Lydia was feet behind me as I sprang up from the ground, adrenaline pumping through my veins and my heart thumping in my chest. My legs and feet carried me before my brain had enough blood to make a decision, to pick a direction, but somehow I landed right in front of the double doors leading into the castle. I landed hard. Lydia landed right on top of me. She bared her fangs with a hiss, sweat dripping off of her face and little pieces of tree branch sticking out of her wispy blond hair.
Wiggling onto my back, prepared to fight her every inch of the way, I put my hands up and placed my palm on her forehead. Lydia hissed again, swatting my hand away from her forehead hard. My eyes were wide with fear, the excitement of it all sending me into a frenzy as I continued to put my hands on her face, trying my best to avoid her sharp fangs and still keep her off my neck.
What had begun as a sprint for my life had turned into an unintentional slapping fit as I tried to push her face away. It didn’t take long before Lydia became frustrated with me. I could tell by the look in her eyes as she flicked my hands away from her face and smacked me across the cheek quickly followed by her right hand landing on my throat with a less than loving squeeze.
“Lydia!” roared Sebastian, grabbing Lydia by the waist and lifting her off of me.
Before Lydia could react, before she could let go of my neck, he had snatched her off of me. But that didn’t mean I remained unscathed. I reached down to my throat and felt the trickle of blood from the scratch Lydia had left. My breath tried to catch up with me but my lungs weren’t ready. I leaned up on my elbow as I watched Sebastian toss Lydia onto the green grass a few dozen feet away and began stalking toward her angrily, bellowing at her.
“Stop!” I yelled, between coughing as I tried to catch my breath enough to shout out to Sebastian again.
Sebastian turned around, stunned, to look at me.
“You idiot,” Lydia growled as she collected herself from the ground, grass stains ruining the knees of her white jeans and her face beet red. I couldn’t tell if her face was read from hunting me or out of anger with Sebastian rushing to save me.
Sebastian turned back to Lydia and took several aggressive steps toward her, managing to stomp on the soft grass though losing some of the menace that he would have surely had if he had stomped on a harder surface. The softness of the grass left his challenge lacking a certain fear factor. But Lydia still got the point as she backed away, hands up and ready for a new fight.
“Stop,” I said, finding my voice at last as I got up from the grass and brushed myself off, “She wasn’t trying to hurt me,”
“Like hell,” snapped Sebastian, walking over to me and placing a gentle hand on my throat, “You’re bleeding,”
I touched my hand to my neck again and looked at my fingertips, glistening with spots of fresh blood on them, brighter than paint. I could feel the difference. It had been a matter of seconds and my neck had already started to heal.
“I never would have if you hadn’t ripped me off of her, you rock head,” spit Lydia as she walked cautiously around Sebastian, giving him a wide amount of space as she tried to circle around towards me and the double doors leading into the castle.
Sebastian gave her a suspicious eye and balled up his fists as Lydia made her way by him slowly.
“You were choking her,” growled Sebastian through gritted teeth, jaw clenched down and eyes narrowed.
“Of course,” I said, “I lost. It’s not like I can die,”
Sebastian looked back at me, completely ignoring Lydia as she scooted past Sebastian and stood behind me, near the doors.
“What kind of game are you playing at?” asked Sebastian, still a glare to his eyes though softened as he looked at me, confusion settling in front of his eyes, “How many times can we kill Prussia? You’re being ridiculous,”
“I need to learn,” I said, firmly, placing a firm finger on his chest, his broad shoulders puffing up in disagreement with me already.
“I don’t understand you,” said Sebastian, running his hands through his hair and then throwing his hands up into the air, “You have some sort of death wish,”
“She’s actually getting much better,” said Lydia, leaning up against the closed doors and picking the dirt out from under her nails, her hair still frazzled and decorated with foliage, “She was nearly inside before I reached her,”
“She’ll never outrun a vampire,” said Seb
astian, pointing at me but looking at Lydia.
I couldn’t help but make a sour face at him.
“She doesn’t have to outrun ‘em,” said Lydia, looking briefly and with judgment for Sebastian, “She just has to …dodge them. She has to learn to think on her feet, to follow her gut. To know when to run,”
“That’s easy,” said Sebastian, “You should always run,” he said, looking down at me with a set jaw and seriousness in his eyes. Sebastian’s hand came up to my face and rubbed my cheek gently, his harsh brow softening as he studied my face, which I knew had dirt smeared on it from when I fell.
“Knowing when to run and when to hide can be the difference between life and death,” said Lydia, straightening up and tilting her chin up, obviously offended though why, I had no idea.
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