by Jemma Grey
Doing the only thing I could think about, I threw the blanket off me in a rush and darted out of the bed for the bathroom. It was only a couple footsteps away, yet still it was enough movement for me to notice how foreign my body was. Even in burning pain I felt the grace and calculation I moved with. It reminded me of Katalin and her flawless, anime-character movement.
As soon as I opened the bathroom door the lights flashed on and I let out a throaty muffled scream at the sharp pain. Knives, it felt like knives sticking into my eyeballs from every angle. My hands grabbed the closest solid object to me and I lugged it at the white bulbs, shattering them, instantly plunging the room into total and complete darkness.
I dropped to the floor then, curling up into the smallest, tightest ball I could manage, pressing my hands into the sides of my head with all the strength I had in me. I just wanted the noise to stop. I wanted the world back on mute. I wanted everything to stop or slow down, or I was going to go crazy so I squeezed and squeezed, until I swore I was going to crack my head open.
A scream tore apart the silence from the bedroom and I knew I'd awakened Christy. Pain pulsed in my head and a split second later something scorching hot ran down my face from my ears, eyes and nose. It was only when it touched my lips that I realized what it was: blood. A thick sickening smell of salt and iron tainted the air then. I pressed my hands further into my head squeezing tighter, desperate to drown out the sound.
The bathroom door flew off its hinges then and harsh lights flooded the room. I curled further into my ball, rocking back and forth and when Eric stepped into the room and that was how he found me. My head was buried between my knees, yet I saw everything as clear as if I was watching him.
Looking through these new eyes, he was even more beautiful. I hadn't done him justice. I saw everything - each and every godly feature he had. Long black lashes, and eyes that were like blue fire burning in the sky. His lips, flawlessly sculpted and black hair that was soft and healthy. Even in complete pain I saw and appreciated that. Even as chaos rocked my body and my senses wreaked havoc on me I felt the now familiar need to have him close to me.
Eric glanced at me, then turned back facing the bedroom. “Get her out of here, now,” he shouted and the volume of his words fried my brain even more. A second later he turned back to face me, closing the bathroom door behind him, sealing the room in total blackness again.
“Let me see you,” he mumbled, suddenly inches away from me. His fingers reached out gently touching my chin in an attempt to lift my face. Before he could, he yanked his hand back at the very moment I cringed away from him. He was so cold. His fingers were freezing. A second later he tried again and this time when I cringed and pulled back he didn't let me go. Instead he gently took my chin, raising my head so I was now facing him. I kept my eyes sealed shut, yet as if my eyelids were translucent I saw clearly his panicked, worried expression when he lifted my face. His fingers then found my eyes and when he pried one of my eyelids open, my breath caught at the sight of my own eye.
It was blue - exactly like Eric's. My eyes were usually brown but it glowed a bright icy blue that pierced the darkness. I couldn't get over it. How had my eye color changed? Where were my normally boring brow n eyes? What was happening to me? How was I seeing this as though I was someone on the outside, looking in?
As soon as Eric saw me his heart kicked off in his chest beating like an African drum. His breath all but stopped for a moment as his pulse pounded in his veins, wildly and violently. I could see panic in his eyes and feel it radiating from him in giant waves.
Without saying anything he released me and I sealed my eyes shut, squeezing my head harder. Then, not a split second later, a rainstorm erupted inside the room sending me crazy with agony. I could hear each individual water drop by the thousands, pelting down and pounding into the floor like bombs dropping from planes. It was just enough to send me flying over the edge into insanity. Right now, I would have welcomed insanity. I gravitated towards the place where my senses were dull. A place where the world went back to being muted.
When I came to I was freezing. Every part of my body literally shook with the cold of the rain. I was soaking and couldn't stay still for a second. I felt like ice was being poured over me or someone had dunked me into the Arctic Ocean.
Instantly I acted out, fighting against the person holding me and that only made his arms tightened around me. “Shh, Jen, you'll be fine,” Eric whispered in my ear, trying in vain to calm me. I don't know how long I fought, eventually I stopped though. It hurt less to move.
Then finally I couldn't take any more of the pain or the pounding in my head. I didn't want to see anything or hear the footsteps of people miles away as if they were beside me. I wanted to stop smelling everything.
“Eric,” I breathed out as my body trembled violently in his arms. I could hardly get the words out because I was just so cold.
“I'm here, Jen,” he said, his voice calm yet still screaming in my head.
“Eric,” I said again, “help me.”
“I'm trying” he whispered shifting us slightly. We were sitting inside the shower, as the ice cold water pelted down on us. I was cradled between his legs, my face pressed to his w et T-shirt as my hands bunched its fabric between my fingers. “I know it hurts but you have to let it run its course. Everything will be fine, Jen, you'll be okay; I promise.”
“I'm so cold,” I trembled and before I could finish the thought my mind floated away into some part of my head where everything became less painful.
Over time I continuously floated back and then away. I was always in and out of consciousness, sometimes even stuck somewhere between the two. I heard voices drifting in my head - conversations between people I knew and I clung to them until the sharp piercing in my head returned.
“Your father just boarded his plane, he'll be here in a few hours” Mrs. Wilson said, her voice calm.
“Okay,” Eric told her. I heard the word rumbling inside his chest, and I knew in the real world he was still holding me.
“If you want to get something to eat, I'll sit with her.”
“I'm not hungry,” was all he said in a tone that ended the conversation.
I drifted off further into my subconscious mind then, and there was nothing but the blanketed outside world wreaking havoc on me and blackness.
“Her fever is finally dropping,” someone said after a while. I was too doped up to figure out who.
“That's good.”
“What do I say when she wakes up?”
“Too many people have kept her in the dark for too long. When she wakes Eric, you tell her the truth. It's time she knows.”
“What about Katalin?”
“Jen has to learn these things sometime, why not now?”
Colors floated in my head then. Bright and beautiful shades of pinks, greens, purples and every color that existed swirled and mixed in my head. They formed patterns of all shaped and sizes, and blurred into each other showing me beauty that I'd never seen before.
Eventually they darkened and then vanished all together. Seconds later I opened my eyes and found myself laying on a bed. Eric was sprawled out on an uncomfortable looking chair at the side of the bed fast asleep. I sat up taking in my surroundings and realized I was in Eric's bedroom. Something was off though. In fact everything was weird.
I could see better than before. It was like I was looking through someone else's eyes, or like seeing the world with high definition glasses on. Everything was sharp and crisp. Colors were brighter. It wasn't just my sight either - it was all my senses. I could hear everything and feel the world humming around me. It wasn't like before where everything overwhelmed my head, it was muted enough to make the world seem alive and beautiful.
I threw off the blankets and got out of bed going to the double panel doors that opened to a small balcony. Every movement I made was absolutely graceful and silent. Without thinking I yanked both doors open and stepped into the night.
&
nbsp; The sky was clear, with thousands of stars blinking. The wind blew at me, and against my skin it was soft and calming like a kiss of silk. I could sense the sun coming though it was nowhere in the sky. I didn’t know how it was possible but already I felt its warmth and tasted its brightness on my tongue.
“Jen,” Eric said and I heard his footsteps on the soft plush carpet even though I shouldn't be able to. When I turned around I found him standing at the other side of the door. “How do you feel?” he asked his voice careful and guarded, as though he was trying to talk down a person about to jump off a cliff.
I didn't answer right away, I just stared at him completely stricken by his beauty. There could never be another boy so perfect. “Everything is,” I started but stopped when I heard my own voice. It was bells chiming on a perfect day, glorious and blessed. My hands went up to my throat at once as I burst out giggling. That too was angelic. “Eric,” I loved his name in my new voice, “what happened?”
“I'll explain I promise, but first I need to know you're okay.”
“I'm okay” I said instantly and he nodded, stepping forward stopping inches away. “I'm sorry about what happened.”
Eric’s warm yet piercing ice blue eyes bored into mine, and it was like that first day at school when I had bumped into him. That was the first thing I’d seen in Eric, his eyes. I opened my mouth to tell him that I was over it. That I didn’t want to fight with him anymore and I was done keeping secrets if he was but before I could get a word out he pulled me closer, hugging me. “It's forgotten.”
I pulled away from him looking up to his face, my fingertips lightly tracing his jawline, his nose, and his entire face, re-familiarizing myself with his features. I had missed this so much. Without thinking I raised myself up on my toes and pressed my lips to his. My eyes closed automatically and I found that my entire body was responding to him in a way that was foreign to me. Every nerve and cell in my body was on fire and any moment now, Iwould burst into flames.
My heart immediately slowed down and my pulse soon followed suit. All nervousness and the aching pain were gone from inside me. It had completely disappeared, vanished from my existence. Not like it had healed, but like it had never been there. Everything felt warm - my skin, my heart - it was all blissful and gentle, like the calm after a storm.
I wrapped my arms around his waist pulling him closer to me. I felt his hands trail up my body and it had my brain overheating. His hands stopped at the sides of my neck and I wanted so much to just start ripping his clothes off. I felt him smile against my lips and I knew he’d heard that thought.
He pulled away from me then and I let out an annoyed groan. Both of our breathing was uneven and lustful. I kept my eyes closed, taking everything in - the way he smelled and felt. “Open your eyes, Jen,” he breathed out, his breath hot on my skin. I exhaled and did as he ordered.
The place was bright now. The sun had risen and its rays were gently kissing our skin and cutting a warm, soft path between our faces. I looked up to Eric and found myself staring directly into eyes that literally glowed bright blue. It blazed, like the heated centre of fire and the coldness of ice at the same time.
Without taking my eyes off his, I whispered through the sun rays “I don’t want to fight anymore.”
“Then let’s not. Come on,” he whispered, his breath washing over my face as he took my hand in his. “There are things you need to know.”
Eric led me back into the bedroom and I crawled into the bed, sitting crossed legged against the headboard as I watched him close the double doors behind him. He then slowly walked over, sitting back on the chair he’d been sleeping on. This was it - the moment where I found out the truth about myself and, quite frankly, there was a huge part of me that was scared silly.
Eric remained quiet for a long while and the silence in the room stretched on seemingly loud and endless. The tension and anticipation in the room was so thick that you could probably slice it with a knife. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my palms were already beginning to sweat. Even the air around us was delicate. I felt as if I breathed too hard or moved too much, it was all going to come crumbling down around me.
Finally, I couldn’t bear it anymore and I looked down at my fingers asking the most important and pressing question I had. “Eric,” I mumbled my voice low and barely audible, “am I like you?” Slowly I raised my head facing him, my heart pounding in my chest.
“No,” he whispered shaking his head slightly.
I nodded, letting out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding until now as relief flooded my body. “What happened to me then? Why can I see and hear things better? My eyes,” I muttered, remembering the bright striking azure orbs they'd become, “they are blue. I don’t have blue eyes Eric… What happened to me?”
“You’re changing,” he said, his eyes never leaving me. My breath stopped at once, but when I didn’t say anything he continued. “There are stages that we need to go through before we fully change. During the last two days you went through and completed the first.”
“Two days?” I asked, my voice shaky. While the world had been raging in my head two days had passed. It felt surreal. All of this was unnatural and almost too absurd to be true. Eric’s only reply was a slight nod. “How many stages?”
“Three,” he sighed. “The first is the easiest. It’s kind of like going through pureblood puberty. You’re senses heightens, body movements become easy and graceful… Over the next few days you’ll notice a lot more changes, some will be very subtle and others is going to be like walking into a brick wall face first. Your eyes are going to turn blue eventually - they’ll be the exact color as mine is.”
I nodded taking a deep breath as I tried to wrap my head around what he was telling me. I was going to become like him. I was already changing into one.
“And I'll change whether I want to or not? There's no way to stop it or at least slow it down?” Eric's only reply was a slow calculated shake of his head. Something occurred to me then and the thought sent my heart flying. All the vampire versions I knew, turning meant dying. I couldn’t but help ask the question, was I going to lose my life too? “Will I die?”
“No,” his answer was immediate and I nodded, swallowing loudly in the still quietness of the room.
“But I thought someone had to die to become like you…” I trailed off frowning.
“Yeah, humans die when they change, but not purebloods. You’re a pureblood, Jen, changing is a part of your natural life.”
I frowned at him suddenly even more confused. “Purebloods?” I asked. “What are they?”
He took a deep breath and I could tell instantly that this answer was going to be another big one. “Well,” he swallowed hesitating, “there are two types of vampires - the made ones that were human and had to die to change,” he paused measuring my reaction. When I nodded he continued, “And then there’s the purebloods - vampires that are born... All purebloods are royalty,” he explained and I instantly remembered how everyone had bowed to him at our engagement party.
I nodded again, allowing that to sink in as I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “So... one is born and the other is made?” I asked. “That’s the only difference?”
“No,” he shook his head, “but that's the main difference. There are others though.”
“Like what?”
“Made vampires don't age or physically change, purebloods do. The aging process is longer though,” he paused for a second wondering. “Made vampires can't enter a house without being invited in, purebloods can... Basically all those rules that apply to the made vampires don't affect us.”
“Rules?” I asked instantly.
“Like staying in direct sunlight,” he said.
“So the sun thing is true,” I said and a small light smile pierced his face.
“To a point,” he replied amused, shaking his head. “When the made vampires stay too long in direct sunlight, their skin heats up. It’s like
they have a really high fever and eventually they'll die. It's a very slow and painful death, not something I would wish on others.”
“Oh,” was my brilliant answer. “How come the two are so different?” I wondered, not sure how to phrase it correctly.
“Purebloods are like the originals. Our bloodline is... untainted by human blood. We're the direct descendants of the first and original vampires, making our bloodlines the oldest and strongest there is.”
“Is that why you can read people? And the rest of your family can do other stuff?” I wondered, frowning at him deeply.
“In Thirdworld they call it our inheritance, a gift from the original bloodlines. The things we can do, we can only do them because the original purebloods could have. It's something they passed on to us - sort of like a last name something that marks us as their descendants.”
I thought about that for a minute. “So other purebloods can do things too.” It wasn't a question but Eric nodded. I filed that away for a later date moving on to my next question. “What's Thirdworld?”
“It's a place,” Eric said frowning at me. “Another world,” he paused, “our world. Everything and everyone there is supernatural.”
“Have you ever been there?”
“Yeah, when I was around sixteen I lived there for almost two years...” he trailed off.
“Why?”
“School,” was all he said and just as I was about to ask for more information he continued. “All purebloods are required to go to school in Thirdworld to learn about its politics, warfare, Thirdworld and the Bloodlines' history and those kinds of things. It's also a way to meet the other pureblood families and for us to show everyone else that we're the ruling species...”
“What's it like?”
“An older version of Earth,” he laughed. “It's like stepping back to the 18th century in some ways, yet in others Thirdworld is more advanced than you can ever imagine. They have their own cultures and beliefs... about eleven different languages... Their music and food and the clothes high society women wear are like nothing you've ever seen. On the surface Thirdworld is beautiful... but underneath it's,” he paused frowning, “cruel... The land itself is harsh. In some places it's so cold that if you don't wear special clothing, blood freezes in your veins. In other places, it's the exact opposite. Surviving there is something you work for, nothing is given to you...”