by Pet TorreS
“Weren’t you afraid?” I asked her.
She nodded. “Very. I had never felt so alone. But then, something wonderful happened. Out of the trees, a figure appeared. He was tall and handsome, but he was obscured by the shadows. I could only see slivers of his face in the moonlight. At first, I thought I might be dreaming, but when he reached out and took my hand, I knew he was real. He offered me the chance to live an immortal life, to have something that so few ever do. Your father and the other vampires became my family.”
I watched Valeska’s eyes become wet as she fought back the emotions that suddenly came over her. Averting my gaze, I asked, “But weren’t you worried about what it would be like to be a vampire?”
“No,” Valeska said stoically as she swept her arm out and pointed down the hall, showing me back to my own room. “Whatever being a vampire would bring had to have been better than the life I was leading. It turned out that I was right about that.”
CHAPTER4
The cold, hard stone of my ‘bed’ was uncomfortable, and no matter how much I wriggled around and adjusted, I couldn’t find a single spot where I could lay without feeling my bones grinding against the slab. I missed the soft mattress and fluffy blankets of my old bed. There was no way I was ever going to get any decent sleep on this planet.
As I tossed and turned, I let my mind wander to try and distract myself from how uncomfortable I was, in the hopes that I might eventually fall asleep. Within minutes, my thoughts began to center on Eros, and I wondered what he was doing right then. Was he still asleep, hanging upside down from the ceiling? Had He woken by now?
I had not seen Eros since he dropped me off and left me in Valeska and Bizak’s care. I had not heard his voice or interacted with him in any way since we’d gotten to his home, his planet. My only reassurance that he was anywhere near me was the fact that I had seen him sleeping peacefully with my own two eyes.
Clearing my mind of the thoughts of Eros, I was then plagued by memories of my mother. At that very moment, she was asleep in her own comfortable bed, but her daughter was gone. She had no idea what was happening, and I had abandoned her to travel across the stars. I missed her more than I could stand, and I’d only been away from her for a day.
Neptune seemed to be a grand adventure with many interesting people and strange ways, but right then, all I wanted was to be home, and lying in a bed I could actually sink into. I clutched my hand against my chest and rolled over on my marble slab, fighting the urge to cry. I was cold, alone, and perpetually uncomfortable. This was not my home. Earth was my home.
After a few hours of restlessness, I finally gave in and decided that tonight was not a night that I would sleep. With a heavy, frustrated sigh, I swung my legs down to the ground and crossed the room to the window. Most of the castle complex was underground, but some of the higher levels had windows cut into the walls through the thick ice and stone. I leaned against the wall and gazed listlessly out the window.
There was nothing. Neptune, as it turned out, was covered in nothing but ice and powdery snow which was whipped around by constant winds. It was a sea of white against a backdrop of stormy gray clouds. I had never seen so desolate a place in my life. I couldn’t tell how high my bedroom was above the surface, or even if it was above the surface at all.
I stood there for a while, watching the wind whip swirls of snow up off the ground and scatter it through the air. Eventually, more dark gray clouds began to roll in, but the sky itself began to brighten. It must be morning, I thought as I watched the strange changes in the sky.
Slowly, I began to get ready for the day. I wiped my eyes groggily, still upset that I hadn’t been able to sleep. I pulled a dark purple and blue dress out of the closet and put it on, then scooped my hair up into a clip on the top of my head. Once I looked presentable, I ventured out of my room unescorted for the first time.
The halls were just as silent as they had been when Valeska had first led me through them. I wandered through the halls without really having a destination in mind. More than anything else, I was just trying to see if I could find my own way around the castle, and perhaps do a little exploring out from under the thumb of a babysitter. I knew Valeska was there to help me, but it was actually nice to get a little bit of time to myself to acquaint myself to my new surroundings.
I turned a few corners, searching deeper into the heart of the castle complex. About twenty minutes or so after I’d begun wandering around, I realized that I’d gotten turned around in one of the hallways and was suddenly lost. I was in sort of crossroads, where three different tunnel-like hallways broke off from one another. With a shrug, I turned and went down the one closest to me.
As I got further and further down the hall, the decoration of the corridor became more elaborate and the hallway seemed to become wider. It sloped gradually upwards. The hallway ended abruptly at a humongous set of wooden and bronze doors. They were probably quadruple the size of any other doors I had seen since I’d been in the castle. A large bar-lock held the two doors shut in the middle.
Carefully, attempting to be as quiet as I could, I lifted the lock bar out of its holders and slid it off to the side. It was heavy and made a loud clunk as it fell out of place. I waited for a moment as the sound echoed through the hall to see if it had attracted anyone’s attention. When no one appeared, I threw my weight against the thick door, pushing it open with all my strength. It took a few attempts, but eventually, it began to slide open. I pushed it open just enough so I could squeeze my body out through the gap.
Much as I had expected it to be, it was cold and windy outside the castle walls. But, the cold here was nothing like the cold on Earth. As it hit my skin, it felt as if daggers were slicing through my skin and my blood had been turned to ice. I wrapped my arms around myself in a futile attempt to preserve whatever small amount of body heat I could. I knew that cold of this magnitude could kill me quickly, but I stepped out into the snow anyway.
To my surprise, after the initial shock of the wind and snow, my body seemed to adjust to the bitter cold, like it had with my bathwater the night before. I was still not comfortable per se, but somehow I knew that it was safe for me to walk around.
I glanced around, placing my hand across my forehead to shield my eyes from the swirling snow. Off in the distance, I saw dark outlines against the snow that looked like they might be trees. The edge of a forest, I thought as I bounded off through the snow toward the trees.
As I got further and further from the castle, the snow became thicker, and soon I was sinking into it more than halfway up to my knees. Because this necessarily slowed my pace, I took the time to turn around and glance back at the castle itself. I had thought that it was impressive enough from the inside, but seeing from outside game me a much truer sense of the mind-boggling scale of the complex. It was huge and beautiful, but so unearthly and strange.
When I reached the edge of the trees, I noticed that the branches were completely dry and brittle. These were barely trees in the classic sense of the word. They were much more like huge sticks that happened to be coming out of the ground. There was no real vegetation, no animals, and no sounds other than the muffle crunch of my feet in the fresh snow.
Still curious about this strange landscape, I continued walking along though the trees without regard for how far I was getting from my father’s castle. The longer I slogged through the snow, the harder it became, and my legs became covered in ice. I went to run my hand over my hair and realized that it was covered on every tiny surface with crystallized snowflakes. As I pushed myself further and further, it became harder to breathe as the frozen air washed into my lungs.
I regretted my choice not to turn back sooner. As I hit the point of complete exhaustion, I notice something gray and navy blue shimmering along the horizon. As I approached, I realized that it was some kind of lake. Though the liquid was a darker color than my bath the night before, it seemed to be generally the same substance. It was the same viscosity and shimmer
ed in the strange light the exact same way.
Fascinated, I approached the edge of the lake and peered down at the watery liquid. I dipped the toe of my shoe onto the surface experimentally, causing small ripples to emanate from the spot that I’d touched. When the ripples faded and the surface of the liquid settled again, I could see my reflection in the lake. I leaned down to get a closer look at myself. I hadn’t seen a mirror since I’d gotten to this planet. I felt a strange twinge in my chest as I gazed at my own reflection. The person that stared back at me seemed unknown and ethereal, not human, but still cursed with human frailty.
Suddenly, it wasn’t just my face in which I saw a change. The watery surface of the lake rippled again, but this time it was nothing that I had done. The deep blue began to darken and thicken, becoming a bloody red color. Frightened, I took a few steps back. When a coppery smell hit my nose, I realized that the lake didn’t just look like blood- it had actually turned to blood.
I backed up a few more steps and turned to run away, wanting to get back to the castle as quickly as I could. I gasped and jumped, back terrified when I saw a figure approaching me out of the swirling snow. I braced myself to run through the thick snow on my feet until I realized that I recognized the person coming toward me. It was Bizak.
“What’s wrong?” Bizak asked as he approached me more. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Forgive me.”
I narrowed my eyes, still a little suspicious to find him all the way out here. He must have followed me when I left the castle. I shrugged, “No, it’s fine. I just…I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone out here.”
Bizak nodded. I looked him over and then glanced back to the lake. I furrowed my brow when I saw that it had returned to its normal color. Had I imagined the change? Or had it just changed back?
I crossed my arms across my chest as a shiver ran down my spine. I turned back to Bizak and whispered, “I saw blood over there in the lake…but it seems to be normal again. Did you see anything?” I could get the words out of throat, my breath raspy because of the cold.
Bizak glanced over at the sweet lake with a confused expression. “Blood in the lake? What do you mean? Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know, I thought I saw…” I trailed off, shaking my head. He was right. I must have imagined it. The cold must be getting to me. I glanced down at my feet and shivered. They were crusted with a layer of ice. “It’s so cold here!” I exclaimed, suddenly realizing how cold I was.
I felt like I was coming out of some spell. The realization of how far I had wandered from the castle finally hit me. I looked at Bizak with wide eyes, wanting to cry. “Can we please go back to the castle now? I don’t know why I came all this way…”
Bizak frowned sympathetically, glancing down at my feet. “Your feet are turning purple. We’d better get you back quickly. Your body can withstand the cold, but not as long as ours can.”
I looked down at my feet with a furrowed brow. “I can’t even feel my feet. I honestly hadn’t noticed.”
Bizak nodded and took a few steps toward me. “Yeah, I can see that. Let’s get you out of here, okay?”
I nodded, very ready to be back in the relative comfort of the castle. Bizak held out his hand to me. “Take my hand and hold on tightly. I can get you back home to the castle without you needing to walk on any more of the ice.”
I glanced down at Bizak’s outstretched hand, where I saw the symbol of Neptune emblazoned on his left wrist. I traced my eyes over the dark tattoo against his pale wrist, then placed my small hand in his much larger one. He tightened his grip on my hand and closed his eyes. “Don’t be afraid. It won’t hurt.”
I took a deep breath, preparing myself for whatever was to come. I clenched my hand against his, and then suddenly, I felt as light as air. I was no longer cold, and I could see both myself and Bizak hovering over the snow. Like magic, we zipped across the distance that had taken me so long to walk in mere seconds.
The castle door materialized in front of us, only vaguely obscured by the swirling snow. I was still distracted by the sudden appearance of the castle from out of nowhere, when I felt my feet lightly fall back into the snow. I felt lightheaded and I couldn’t stop grinning. Turning to Bizak in awe, I asked, “How did you do that? It was amazing!”
Bizak smiled and pulled a small glass vial out of his pocket and shook it playfully. “Why, magic potion, of course! It lonely lasts a few seconds, but it’s pretty effective,” he told me with a laugh.
Bizak led me through the winding hallways, leading me back to my bedroom. We talked all the way, and I began to feel much more comfortable with Bizak’s presence. He would be a good friend. When we had made it most of the way back to my room, we turned a corner and I nearly slammed directly into Eros.
When he saw us, he took a step back to avoid running into us. He narrowed his eyes and looked from my face to Bizak’s. “I’ve been looking for you,” Eros told me gruffly.
I avoided his eyes, but glanced over to Bizak. He seemed uncomfortable under Eros’ gaze. I didn’t understand his harshness, but somehow I knew that he disapproved with my interactions with Bizak.
Bizak broke the tense silence and said, “Why are you awake? You shouldn’t have completed your required rest cycle yet.”
Eros shrugged, delivering his answer with a stoic expression, “My body got accustomed to the routines and schedules of Earth. It will probably take me a little while to readjust. Why are you awake? Shouldn’t you be sleeping as well? Or have you decided that floating on the snow is more important?”
Bizak looked surprised. Eros must have seen everything that had happened between me and Bizak outside of the castle. I couldn’t tell if he was angry because he was jealous, or if it was something else entirely.
Bizak shrugged and swept a hand explanatorily in my direction. “I was only there to help. Valkyrie’s feet were frozen. She had wandered too far from the castle.”
Eros made an ugly sound in the back of his throat, snorting derisively in Bizak’s direction. “Yes, I’m sure your attempts to be helpful were the impetus for your excursion.”
Bizak growled and turned away, not wanting to stand for Eros’ taunting any longer. He glanced back in my direction for just a second as he stormed off down the hall and around the corner. I watched Bizak disappear out of the corner of my eye, and then turned to Eros with my jaw set in annoyance.
Eros crossed his arms over his vast chest and glared down at me with his cold, gray eyes. We stood there staring at each other in silence for a few moments, before I snapped, “Why do you hate Bizak so much?”
Eros pursed his lips at his own resistance. “The word hate is a compliment here on Neptune. So, I don’t hate Bizak at all.”
I sighed severely, frustrated by the runaround that Eros seemed intent on giving me. “Fine, then. What’s the problem? You’re at each other’s throats for no reason. Something’s going on.”
Eros’ eyes met mine with rigidity. “I don’t know why…but I just don’t trust them.”
“Them?” I asked back, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Bizak and Valeska,” Eros replied, shaking his head.
I cocked my head, surprised by his distrust. My father trusted both Bizak and Valeska, and so far they had seemed very nice and very competent to me. I wondered what it was about them that gave Eros such a visceral reaction. I shrugged and said, “They seem alright. They’ve both been very helpful to me since I got here.
Eros shook his head again and reached out to touch my arm. He grabbed it lightly, sending a chill up my arm and into my body. He pulled me towards him and ran his other hand through his dark hair. “That’s the problem. I think that they’re not showing us their true selves. There’s something…off about them. I can’t explain the feeling I get when I’m around them, but it’s just so strong. I’m so sure.”
I narrowed my eyes, glancing around the corridor. “I don’t know. That doesn’t sound like much to go on. But, if you
’re worried, why have you not gone to my father with that information. It’s obvious he trusts and respects you. He sent you to find me, after all.”
Eros inclined his head, a rather cryptic acknowledgement of my question. “Please,” he said, making sure to keep his voice low, “Promise me that you’ll do your best to stay away from them as much as possible. Especially from Valeska.”
I sighed, concerned by the intensity of his plea. He really was concerned for my wellbeing. Regardless of whether or not Bizak and Valeska were truly a threat to me, it was enough that Eros believed they were. “I’ll try,” I told him quietly.
Content that I had on some level heeded his warning, Eros released my arm from his grasp. Without any more warning, he turned on his heel and vanished down the hall. I stood there, gawping at the sudden emptiness of the hallway when I heard footsteps behind me.
I spun around, still on edge because of Eros’ warning. Valeska was walking down the hall toward me with a bright smile on her face, “There you are!” She exclaimed, “I’ve been searching for you everywhere!”