The Romanov Sisters

by Svetlana Ivanova

  "Why are you doing this?" I whispered. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

  The blonde smiled at me. Her smile just took my breath away. It wasn’t the cold wicked one I was used to, and it was beautiful.

  "Just because I'm one doesn't mean I can't do this." She gestured to my bandaged hand.

  "What's your name then?" I blurt. I was probably the first person who dared ask for a vampire's name.

  "Anastasia," the young woman replied.

  “Anastasia—?” I echoed her.

  “Romanov,” she added. “Anastasia Romanov."

  It made me gasp in realization.

  "The Russian royalty?" I said. I’d heard of that name before—it was mentioned in the history book that we used to study. “But—but didn't the Czar family all die at the shooting squad during the Russian Revolution?"

  I couldn’t help asking.

  Surprisingly, Anastasia laughed. Her voice carried spring and summer music in it. I felt a little embarrassed for liking that sweet tone.

  "I'm not going to argue with you about that," she simply said.

  I kept staring at her face. She brushed a strand of her blonde lock behind her ear and looked away from my gaze.

  “I’m sorry about my sister by the way,” she said after a while. “Stay away from her and you’ll be fine.”

  Now I could see the family resemblance when she mentioned the other woman. But I noticed Anastasia’s eyes were softer and deeper like molten gold shining from the depth.

  But I wouldn't bring myself to trust these dangerous creatures.

  I hated them all.

  "Why does it matter to you? Go away, I don't want your help," I said in bitterness and turned my back to her.

  "Well...” Anastasia said with a low sigh. “I’ll let you rest now."

  Then she left the room without a sound.

  Chapter 4

  Anastasia

  It was maddening.

  Something about the rattling sound inside her veins, the intoxicating smell of her skin, I couldn't stand one minute without wishing to taste her warm blood. And that's what I hated about myself. My predator instinct was unforgiving. Who was this girl?—an innocent human with a deadly charm? I held my breath the whole time I was near her. All details of her features stuck in my mind. Those big brown eyes that stared back at me. Her pale lips pressed together to hide the pain. A mass of dark brown lock whirled around her slender body. Of course, she wasn't perfect like most of us, but I couldn't shake the urge to make her mine. Yet I knew she would never be. Her wrist was cut like a cat's claw. I knew right away who did it. My sister was her mistress now. Who was I to claim the girl? The thought stung my heart. What was wrong with me?

  ~*~

  Avery

  A bang on the wooden door of my room shook me wide awake. A man shouted from the other side as I stirred to life again.

  "Get up now!" he yelled. "Get ready and go down to the dining hall. It's breakfast time."

  I cleaned myself and got dressed in my maid clothing as was instructed. And we were the breakfast. The vampires would drink our blood first thing in the morning.

  In turn, they feed us food.

  I went downstairs and was herded to the kitchen. There were other slaves waiting there. They each had a white bandage on their wrists. A tray of wine glasses filled with fresh blood was on the marble island along with other delicacies.

  "You get this to my lady." A man wiggled his finger at me. "Don't make her wait."

  I collected myself before taking the tray to the dining hall. I could smell the metallic scent from the glasses, and I wanted to gag.

  When I reached the hall, I waited at a white long table. Then I heard the sound of heels clicking against the floor. I dared not to raise my face to see who was coming. I sort of already knew.

  From the corner of my eyes, the woman moved so gracefully, she reminded me of a stealthy panther. All her movements were consistent and elegant as she took a seat at the head of the table and crossed her long legs.

  "Oh, that's my new pet," the same silky voice that had frightened me spoke. It made my body shiver. I lowered my gaze with a wince, but I could still feel her piercing stare on me.

  "Come here," she said. "I need my drink."

  My feet felt wobbly and my body began to tremble.

  "Are you deaf?" one of the vampires hissed at me. "Serve the lady now!"

  I jumped and quickly walked towards her. She wore a black knitted blazer and a white cotton blouse with an open neck. The lady of this house was this beautiful being. There was no doubt about it.

  I was trying my hardest not to drop anything. My wrist was already healed. There remained only some pink scars, which were hardly visible. It was strange how a vampire bite healed so fast.

  But when I put the wine glass down next to my mistress, she seized my hand. I gasped out loud.

  "I forgot to mention that I need a warm fresh drink."

  She gave me an amused look. Then she pulled me to her and twirled my body around. Before I knew it, I was sitting on her lap like a three-year-old. She locked me with one arm around my waist. Her free hand came up to grip my jaw, forcing me to look at her. I stared into her beautiful golden eyes. Her full breasts pressed against my upper arm. I felt my cheeks burn hot with embarrassment. The other vampires left the hall as if they already knew their cue to leave us in privacy.

  "What are you doing?" I said through my locked jaw.

  "Having my breakfast, why?" She said, raising an eyebrow innocently. The sound of my frantic heart must have delighted her as she kept smiling.

  "Why me?" Tears welled up in my eyes.

  "Are you not aware that you're far more delicious than the rest of your fellow humans?" She tossed her chin to the stirring red blood in the wine glasses.

  "Fine," I hissed. "Take whatever you want."

  "Good girl," she said and turned my body over so I was facing her. She leaned into my neck. I felt her other hand slither under my short skirt. Her cold fragrant breath brushed against my bare throat. Soon I felt her lips parted over my skin. My body started trembling. I squeezed eyes shut, waiting for the two tips of her sharp canine teeth. When I felt their edges, a chilling sensation went through my body.

  I braced myself for the horrible pain.

  But then a familiar voice broke the silence.

  "Stop that, Alexandra!"

  Chapter 5

  I jolted back in surprise, but my mistress kept a firm grip on me and pulled my body closer against her. It was almost too hard for me to breathe. The more I pushed her away, the tighter her hold became. It was no use. She was a vampire. She was too strong. All I could do was fidget in her arms like a helpless prey. Once you're in the hand of a predator, you cannot escape.

  Anastasia stepped towards us. Her face was so intense; it almost looked pained. I had no clue what she was thinking, but I already felt disgusted with myself.

  "Morning, baby sister," Alexandra said without turning her face away from me. "You want to join the breakfast with me?" Her eyes still lingered on the area of my throat. She smoothed my hair like I was her adorable pet. My mistress was enjoying her little show she was creating with me. I looked away, biting my lips not to cry.

  "Let her go, Alex," the younger woman said, sounding almost like a growl. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself trying to take advantage of a helpless human?"

  "I'm not taking advantage of her," Alex said with a casual shrug. "She agreed.”

  Her word made my face turn red with humiliation. I did agree to let her take my blood. What else could I do as a slave?

  "It didn't look like that to me," Anastasia argued.

  "Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't hurt this girl, sister."

  Anastasia seemed taken aback. Her golden eyes glittered in hesitation as if she was searching for the right answer. It was typical for them to do that to us, humans. We all knew that. Yet it was the first time I had heard a vampire defending me.

  "This is not a slaugh
terhouse, sister. You can't do whatever you want with people. You have to know that this is wrong!"

  My mistress burst out laughing. Then she moved me off her lap, and we both stood up. I couldn't bring myself to look at Anastasia while her sister was literally breathing down my neck. My heart pounded in my chest like a tribal drum.

  "Is that all?" Alexandra said, "Then watch this."

  She tilted my head to the side, and I felt a sharp pain pierced through my neck. Her fangs bit down on me like a vicious snake's. My scream echoed in the hall. I felt my blood drawn out of my veins.

  "No!"

  I didn't see but I heard a crashing sound and the air whizzed past my ear. Then I was released from the piercing pain. My knees buckled to the floor. The world spun around me. I could feel the warm liquid streaming down my shoulder. I pressed my hand against the wound and looked up to find Anastasia pinning her sister against the wall. Her hands clutched around Alex's throat.

  "I told you to let the girl go!" she hissed in fury.

  For the first time, I caught a glimpse of Anastasia's white sharp teeth snapping at her older sister. Her eyes were burning like furious flames. But Alexandra merely smirked as if the threat had no effect on her.

  Then she effortlessly pried Ana's hands off.

  "You like my human slave, don't you?" my mistress said, which surprised me. Anastasia just stood there blinking hard. Then she released her sister and stepped back. Her head turned to me as I was sitting on the floor with a blood-soaked shirt.

  "Can't you see that, Anastasia?" Alex whispered beside her sister. "I'm telling you, her blood is richer than the god's nectar. Her scent can raise the demons in your gut all the way from hell. I can see it in your eyes. You want to feed off her just as savagely as I do. It's in our nature, sister. Why are you holding back? Go on, I promise you won't regret it."

  For a moment, Anastasia's face went blank as if she was under an evil spell. Her eyes shone from bloodlust as she looked at the red oozing from my neck. But then she clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut. Her fangs restricted and when she opened her eyes again, there was calmness in them.

  "Just go, Avery," she said in a low voice, I almost couldn't hear it. Alex stood there with a confused frown on her face, but some sort of recognition registered in her mind.

  But I didn't wait to be told twice. I picked myself up frantically then hurried out of the hall.

  Chapter 6

  Anastasia

  I turned around to my sister after Avery left. Her annoying smirked made me want to slap it off her face.

  "I happened to sense something strange here," Alex said with a teasing tone. "What makes you so stupid to turn down my offer? Oh wait...but I already know—"

  "Stop it!" I spat. "It's none of your business."

  "It's not?" she said. "Well, then make sure it remains as such with mine as well."

  She looked at me like I was still a pathetic little child. I knew Alexandra wasn't someone you wanted to cross. She was stronger and faster than me. It was because she would never think twice about killing people for blood. I loathed her appetite. I loathed it as much as I loathed mine.

  "A person is not a doll you can pass around as you please," I said through my clenched teeth.

  "If you don't like that, fine, then no one can touch my doll," Alex said with a satisfied grin. "She's mine and mine alone. I'll torture her and I’ll feed off her— and if I'm bored enough, I might turn her."

  "Don't you dare, Alexandra!" I snarled, stepping up to her again. "She's suffered enough without her family. Can't you stop inflicting pain on someone weaker than you?"

  "Because that's who we are, Anastasia," Alex said. "We're the superior ones. Not those filthy humans anymore! We're meant to rule over them now. Stop wasting your time protecting those people. Have you forgotten what they did to our family?"

  Her words brought a cold chill to my bones. My thoughts froze as if someone had pushed the shut button. We hadn't talked about it for a long time. The images of our family— locked up in a small cramped room and humiliated by revolutionary soldiers. The day we were escorted to the field and shot dead in cold blood. It all rushed back into my mind like a fresh current of a raging river. I turned my face away with a flinch.

  "It's in the past now," I said at last.

  "Yes, the past that still can come alive in my mind," Alexandra said, tapping her temple. "I will make them pay with their blood. Just mark my word."

  "Sister..."

  But Alexandra already walked away.

  ~*~

  AVERY

  I had a nightmare for the first time since I had been here. I kept seeing my father and mother being tossed around in our hiding place. They begged for mercy, but none of those black-coated vampires had ears to listen. I was screaming, but it was like my voice got lost in the wind. I felt as if I was trapped inside a glass box, leaving the horrible scenes undisturbed.

  Then I felt someone's hands pulled me into a warm cuddle. My nightmare began to fade. I gripped on to that person, believing it was my mother. I heard her whispering soothingly in my ear. I thought my nightmare had ended. And that I was actually in our hiding place, and all those vampires were nothing but my own imagination.

  I opened my heavy eyelids and found two bright golden eyes looking down at me. It took a few seconds until I figured out that my reality was an actual nightmare. It wasn't a dream. The realization shocked me and saddened at the same time. But the sight of the blonde girl distracted me.

  "Anastasia!" I said in a croaky voice and sat up. The blonde vampire did the same.

  "You were having a nightmare, and I just..." she said but then trailed off.

  "Why are you in my room?" I asked, staring at her in confusion.

  "I just wanted to see if you’re alright," she said. "I'm sorry about what happened with my sister this morning."

  Her bright eyes stared at the cut on my neck. There were two raw spots and red bruise that would be healed the next day. It was how vampire bites were. Their saliva contained special chemicals that could heal the wound, leaving no evidence on the victim.

  "You don't have to," I said. "It doesn't matter."

  "But it does to me," Ana said, looking seriously stressed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and turned back to me again. "Look, Avery, I have to warn you something about Alexandra. She is as cruel as she is beautiful. Whatever she does to you, don't let it control your heart."

  "Like that would make any difference," I said. "I'm a slave, remember?"

  "No, Avery," she said with a shake of her head. "Don't let that change you. You're not an object."

  "That is funny coming out from a vampire like you," I said. "Why are you trying to help me? Don't you want my blood, too?"

  Anastasia dropped her gaze and then she stood up. Her blonde hair looked pale gold against the moonlight that peered through my window. She turned back to me again with a saddened face.

  "I don't know, Avery. For the first time in my life, you're the only person I want to drink from," she said truthfully. "But that's not why I help you. There’s something more—something about you..."

  But she didn’t finish her sentence. Anastasia then crept onto my bed. I recoiled instinctively, but she raised her hand to soothe me. Then she leaned forward until our faces were almost touching. I could smell her delicious breath in my nostrils. Her golden irises were too deep as if she had seen too much in her life. I stared back into those mesmerizing eyes. They were framed with long thick lashes that curved upward like the tail of a peacock.

  “Be still," she whispered. “I need to know something.”

  And just like that, Ana pressed her soft lips against mine. A burst of shock ran through my whole being like electricity. I went numb from the head down. Her lips were so tender and so smooth. I had to fight the urge to move over them, part those full lips and slip my tongue inside. In fact, I would have done so if I hadn’t heard a low hiss coming from her chest. Then her kiss left me.

  I f
elt light-headed and confused.

  "I'm sorry," Anastasia said with a wild expression. She turned her face away as if to hide something, but I already knew what it was. Her sharp fangs had already extracted just slightly past her red lips. I realized she was making a great effort even to kiss me.

  "Ana..?"

  "I must go," she said and then left the room in one big blur.

  I sat on my bed blinking to myself. Some part of me tried to take in what had just happened between us, but the rest of me still couldn't function yet.

  Chapter 7

  Many days passed in a seemingly peaceful succession. I had gotten to know some other slaves in the mansion. One of them told me about how she was separated from her brother, who was put into the human farm. I wondered what was like living in the factory, but then again I didn't want to find out. This morning things were quite the same. We got our wrists cut as usual, except me. Then the vampire, who we first met, came up to me in the kitchen. He dressed in his elegant clothes as I had remembered.

  For a moment, his violet eyes seemed to linger on my face longer than necessary.

  "You,” he said. His pale stony face held high. “From now on, you're assigned to serve whenever my mistress sends for you."

  My heart sank further than it usually did. What could I say about that? Nothing. I had no choice but to nod in acceptance. Obviously, this piece of information depressed me even more.

  "Now hurry up, take the blood with you," he said, beckoning to me. I picked up my tray and followed him.

  At the dining hall, I saw my mistress and Anastasia were already there. They sat at the same table but far away from each other as if they couldn't bear to breathe the same air. I walked slowly towards them. The one, who bit me, didn't look at me, and neither the one who kissed me. I tried to imitate a robot, pushing all emotions out of my mind. Emotions are bad when you are a slave. They don't help you anything but make you more miserable.

  I put the wine glasses down in the middle of the table. But I had a dilemma of who I should serve first. Then I stole a glance at the quiet Ana. She was having a piece of toast and jam. I had to look again to see if it was actual jam, the kind humans would eat.