The Romanov Sisters

by Svetlana Ivanova

  "Oh poor Alex," Nikol cooed at me. "I know exactly where to strike, don't worry about it. Evolution moved your heart right here, we all know that don't we?" she traced the curved blade to the middle of my chest. "I promise to get the job done quick and easy, Alex. Just prepare yourself to die."

  Nikol raised her hand, aiming the tip of her sharp knife directly at my heart. But when she struck, I caught her hand in mine. She could have run the blade through me if I hadn't stopped her.

  "Nikol...don't be stupid," I hissed, struggling against her.

  "Shut up!" she snapped her fangs at me. "You can't tell me what to do anymore." With all her strength, Nikol gave one final push that slid the blade through my chest. I felt it piercing into my beating organ. I screamed like never before. The blood spilled out from my wound. The sweet metallic scent clogged my nostril. I felt my stomach churn. My head spun with dizziness. The pain was insane. I gasped and almost passed out, but I tried to bring myself back to consciousness.

  "Goodbye Alexandra Romanov," Nikol said with a victorious smile. I bit my lips and summoned all my last strength. I clenched my teeth. She didn't expect this. Then I struck my claw into her body, breaking her chest bone. Her blood splashed on our faces. I grabbed a handful of her living flesh and ripped the heart out. Nikol's mouth flung open as she stared down at me in total shock.

  "Surprised?" I said, squeezing her beating heart in my hand. Blood dripped furiously from the hole of her heartless body. Nikol turned as white as chalk. And that's when death had consumed her soul. I managed to push her body off and proceeded to pull the blade from my chest. It felt as worse as getting another stab. My breath quickened. My bleeding heart would never heal. I knew I couldn't survive. I was going to die eventually.

  Despite all that, I didn't want to close my eyes. As I was lying on the blood-soaked ground waiting for all my senses to leave my body, I watched the dark clouds drifting away from the blue sky. Patches of light appeared over the earth once again.

  "I'm sorry Avery," I whispered into the air, hoping the wind could carry my message thousands mile away from here. "I'm so sorry, I can't go back to you, but I love you, forever and always."

  Tears rolled off my eyes. I felt cold and then—nothing.

  Chapter 44

  Avery

  My head rested against Anastasia's back as we were riding Stardust back to the mansion. It was getting colder as twilight began to fade. Anastasia had taken off her white coat and draped it around my shoulders. Stardust's footsteps were the only sound we heard through the wood as neither of us said anything. Of course, there was nothing left to say anymore. Finally, the forest fell to the background, and we got back into the backyard garden at last.

  Ana looked over her shoulder and whispered to me, "Are you alright?"

  "Mmm..." I gave a weak nod.

  "I'm getting off now.”

  I nodded again and removed my hands from her waist. She gracefully swung herself off Stardust and came to help me. I wrapped my hands around her neck and let myself fall into her waiting arms. The stable boys came to take the white mare back to the barn. But even after Anastasia put me down on my feet, I still didn't let go of her. It felt as if it was for the last time I could do that.

  "It's alright," she said, knowing the cause of my gloomy mood.

  "I'm sorry," I said in a small voice. "I didn't mean to hurt you that way. I just messed up."

  Anastasia stroked my hair and sighed.

  "Don't feel sorry for me," she whispered.

  "But it's not fair to you," I said. "I can't—"

  "Nothing is fair, Avery," Anastasia pulled away and took my chin in her hand. She made me look at her in the eyes, "If you chose me, not only it wouldn't be fair to Alex, but also to yourself."

  I stared into her golden eyes speechless.

  "May I kiss your lips for one last time?" she said, smiling sadly.

  Tears threatened to roll off my eyes, but I nodded before I could break down and cry again. Anastasia tightened her hold around me. Then she leaned in to press her soft beautiful lips on mine. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I realized it was, in fact, our goodbye kiss.

  We parted from each other again. Ana brushed the tears from my face with her thumb and tugged a strand of hair behind my ear.

  "Thank you for these wonderful memories," she said with a genuine smile. I smiled back as best as I could. Then she took my hand and we started walking back into the house together.

  But when we got inside the hall, Victor appeared with a wary look on his pale face.

  "My lady!" he said, sounding as if the house was on fire.

  Anastasia released me and turned to look at the man. It seemed like Ana could almost smell a bad omen in the air. I knew something was seriously wrong.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "This arrived last morning from Moscow," he said and handed an envelope to Anastasia. She opened it and took a creamy white letter out.

  I looked at the piece of paper then at Anastasia's face, wishing I could decipher something through her expression. I had a feeling that something wasn't right. And the dreadful part came when Ana's eyes widened in obvious alarm. Her face turned paler as she looked back at me. Her hand trembled trying to grip onto the letter as if it contained a message too heavy.

  "What's that, Anastasia?" I asked, already fearing the answer.

  "Avery, it's..." she struggled with words and gulped dryly before she spoke again, "...it's Alex."

  "What, what's with Alex?" I asked again, a panic chill running inside my stomach. "Ana, just tell me!"

  Anastasia took a deep shaky breath before she continued.

  "There was an assassination in Moscow, and now Alex is..." she began in a trembling voice.

  Before she could finish, I felt as if the light got sucked out of the world. And not until Anastasia caught me in her arms that I realized I was swaying to the side from the weightlessness. Sorrow and shock rolled into one. My chest felt so hollow and heavy at the same time. I almost threw up from all this enormous pain that I couldn't digest.

  "No!" was all I could hear myself screaming. "No! No! This can't be!"

  I pushed Anastasia's hands away and started to run out of the hall. My feet seemed to have a life of their own. I felt like I could've run all the way to Russia if Anastasia hadn't stopped me.

  "Avery wait!" Anastasia pulled me back by the waist, "Avery, just calm down!"

  "It's my fault!" I sobbed violently. "It should be me! Not Alex! No!"

  "She's not dead!" Ana hissed. "And it's not your fault!"

  That stopped my hysteric cries. I turned to Ana again.

  "But...but you said..."

  "The letter said she was in dire condition. She's not dead," she clarified. I snatched the letter from her hand with a little hint of hope, but it was all written in Russian.

  "But Avery...Alex's dying, isn't she?" Anastasia said again. "I have to go back to Kremlin to see her or..." but she trailed off.

  "Oh my god," I threw my hands over my mouth, trying not to breath in the grief-stricken air once again. "Anastasia, you have to let me go with you."

  "No, Avery, now Moscow's a dangerous place, the hunters..."

  "I don't care!" I yelled. "I have to go! Oh god, please, Anastasia, I have to go back to Alex. She needs me, and...and...I need her."

  I burst out crying in Ana's arms again. After a long suffering silence later, Anastasia bit her lips and then she nodded.

  "Alright, we will go together."

  Chapter 45

  I had never been so terrified in my life that every breath I took agonized me. The constant craving for the person I longed for and how I might not be able to satisfy its hunger. And now my personal torment was still a never-ending course.

  "Ana," I whispered to Anastasia, who sat near me in the car after we got off the plane.

  "Yes?" she said, turning her face to me.

  "Who did that to Alex?"

  "You don't want to hear about it now,"
<
br />   "I've heard from Victor, that someone betrayed her, is that true?" I said. Ana looked at me for a moment and then she nodded.

  "Who's the traitor?"

  Anastasia was silent.

  "Who?" I asked again.

  "Nikol," she finally said with a sigh.

  Even I had an inkling that someone close to Alex did that, but I could never have guessed it was her. Her hatred toward me had gone too deep, it cost Alex's life.

  As if Anastasia could read my mind, she took my hand in hers.

  "Avery, trust me, it's not you," she said then stroked my tear-stained cheek with her thumb. "You're not the reason why Nikol did that to Alex. Don't blame yourself."

  "No," I said. "This wouldn't have happened if I was sold to someone else if we all had never met."

  "Avery, how could you say that?" Anastasia took my face in her palms, forcing me to look at her in the eyes. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to us. You don't know how much Alex has changed because of you. For years, she'd been imprisoned in her own darkness and painful past. But then you came along, and just as you did to me, you freed her."

  "But now Alex is dying!" I said, dropping my head in my hands and cried again. "I'm not going to live another day without her. I just can't."

  "Avery," Anastasia wrapped her arms around my shoulders, "We still have hope. I can save her."

  "She was stabbed through the heart, Ana!" I cried in frustration. "You told me yourself that anything could die! How could we save her?"

  "My blood," she said. "I told you that we're quite different from the rest."

  "What if it doesn't work?"

  "It has to be," she said. "I will do everything in my power to bring Alex back to you."

  Even so, I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. I knew we were hopelessly hoping that somehow the miracles would happen.

  At last, we arrived at the palace ground, but we were not in Kremlin. The plane had landed at the airbase of St. Petersburg. It was where the state residence of the Russian emperors once located. I recognized the building complex immediately.

  The famous Hermitage, the Menshikov Palace, and the Winter Palace soon came into view. I had only seen this beautiful place from some art galleries.

  Now here I was, with a heart felt like lead.

  The parade of royal cars shot through the main gate in full-speed even we were already inside the palace square. Yet nothing was fast enough for my feverish heart. The anticipation to see Alex kept gnawing at me. Once the cars stopped, everyone flew out of the seats.

  Royal guards spread around the doors of the palace. We were not far away from Catherine Palace and the Menshikov. Victor also came with us.

  "Your highness, our source has been investigating another lead of this assassination," he said. "Besides Nikol and the hunters' plotting the attack, there was still another person behind it."

  "I already know who that is," Anastasia said, her jaw clenched as she spoke the name, "Grigori Rasputin."

  There were guards at every entrance as they lead us inside. The building had huge marble columns with classic sculptures and Renaissance paintings. After a long walk through many hallways, we got into the elevator and instead of going up, we went downward.

  The elevator doors slid open. I realized there was another version of the building underground.

  "This way, your highness," a royal guard ushered us through the hall. As we were getting closer, my aching heartbeats and worried thoughts also grew louder. We reached the end of another long corridor. The guards pushed open a giant steel door, revealing a massive room. It was so big and so cold.

  We walked further inside. Our feet echoed on the icy marble floor. A burning fireplace was set in the center of the place, but its warmth wasn't enough to ease the chill. I felt my body shivering. Then we saw a group of men in long black coats standing beside an enormous glowing glass bed. Misty vapors floated around the area. And a silhouette of someone lying there just turned my blood into ice. A long red silk robe with embroidered gold reeds covered the delicate frame.

  "Oh my god, Alex!" I ran up toward her. She still looked the same, as if she was just sleeping. But at the same time, she looked as if she could sleep for thousands of years, or even forever. I came to her bedside and placed my hand on her soft cold cheek. "Alex, please, wake up. I'm here."

  Hot tears stung my eyes. Anastasia pulled me gently from her sister.

  "Let me through, Avery," she said. "I need to check on her."

  I backed away and watched Ana biting her own wrist like she did before. Thick red blood flowed out. Anastasia lifted Alex's head from the bed and placed her bleeding hand to her mouth.

  "Come on, drink it, Alex. You have to survive this," Ana said in a desperate tone. I clutched my hands to my chest. I was praying for whatever force out there in the universe to save her.

  After a while, Anastasia pulled her hand away and came to check on Alex's chest. A line of raw wound started to patch up and heal back to normal. But instead of looking relieved, Ana had a deep questioning frown on her face.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, but she turned back to me with tears glistened in her eyes. She shook her head in despair. I let out a howl of anguish as I understood.

  "No!" I threw myself over Alex's body again. "You can't leave me like that!"

  "She's gone, Avery."

  "No! NO!"

  "Your highness," a man who I didn't recognize came up and spoke for the first time. "The heart is a natural engine that runs on its own. No amount of blood could revive it if it has lost all its essence and purpose."

  I didn't understand what that meant, but the next thing I knew, Anastasia flashed forward and pinned the man against one of the marble columns. Everyone in the room froze.

  "You think I don't know what you did to my sister, Rasputin?" she hissed in pure rage, her eyes glowed like burning charcoal. "We trusted you!"

  "My dear Anastasiya, you can kill me anytime you wish," Rasputin said calmly though his voice was tight and faint. "I won't deny the consequence of my own action. But your sister needs more than just the essence of your rich royal blood to wake her up again."

  "Shut up, you traitor!" Ana threw the man across the hall. His back slammed against the wall and collapsed to the floor again. Blood spurted from his mouth. Several royal guards came to seize Rasputin, holding him down on his knees.

  "Get him out of my face and lock him up until I decide when he must die," Anastasia said and the guards moved the man away.

  I had never seen Anastasia being like that. But I was too paralyzed to care. Nothing mattered anymore. Turning back to Alex, I reached my hand out and caressed her face. Her soft skin was ice cold against my touch. Alex was still lost in another realm too far away; I couldn't imagine the distance between us. Then I leaned down to kiss her forehead gently. A droplet of my own tear fell onto her cheek. I wiped it away as I kept staring with longing at my lover.

  Tracing my hand over her silent chest, I tried to feel the heart that had lost all its essence and purpose.

  All of a sudden, something about Rasputin's words clicked in my brain. A new birth of overwhelming hope surged through my bones.

  I rose from the bed and made my way toward Victor.

  "Victor, I need your help," I said as I gripped the collar of his shirt like a crazy person. "No matter what happens, you have to keep Anastasia away from me and Alex. You hear me?"

  He stared at me with a blank look, unable to grasp my intention.

  "Avery!" Ana came to pry my hands off the man. "What are you doing?"

  "You know why Alex won't wake up?" I turned around to look at her. "It's because she thinks she has lost me! She thinks there is nothing worth living for," I said, hot tears running down my cheeks. "Alex loves me so much that her life depends on my essence, Anastasia, just as mine depends on hers! If she dies, then so will I."

  "No!" Ana yelled. "I've already given my blood, but nothing worked!"

  "It's not your blood her heart cr
aves. It's mine!" I said. "Please Anastasia, let me try it."

  "You don't know what you're dealing with, Avery," she shook my shoulders. "Even if it works, Alex won't be conscious enough to stop herself. The predatory instinct, the bloodlust of a vampire, and the fresh out of death hunger, they will all kick in. I know what it was like the last time we woke up a hundred years ago. If Alex can't get enough of your blood, she will die instantly and so will you. It's a lost cause, Avery. Either one of you dies or both! I can't lose you too!"

  "I will take my chances," I said as calmly as I could and turned to Victor again. "Now you decide."

  "Victor!"

  "Anastasia, you promised me!" I snapped at her. "You said you would do everything to bring Alex back!"

  "But that's not how it should be!" she said.

  I looked at Victor, willing him to take action.

  "It's Alexandra Romanov, Victor, Grand Duchess of Russia. I'm just a human slave," I said in a slow clear voice, letting the words sink into his head. The man flinched as he considered it for a moment and then with a shaky hand, he motioned to the guards.

  "Don't you dare, Victor!" Anastasia hissed.

  "My apology, your highness," he said before ordered his men. "The girl has made her choice."

  "No!"

  After that, all I saw was body parts flying like a whirlwind. Crashing sounds echoed off the ceiling. As Anastasia fought back, several royal guards got knocked off then and again. Of course, she was stronger than any of them, but more and more soldiers came in. They each grasped a hold of the young princess, pulling her with great effort toward the steel door. Finally, Ana was pushed away by a wave of black-coated soldiers.

  "Avery, no!"

  The heavy door started to shut. Before the other guards began bracing it, I caught a glimpse of my former love and mouthed a final farewell.

  "Goodbye, Anastasia."

  Then I turned around and got onto the bed with Alex.

  Staring at those closed eyes with my throat tightened. I leaned in and engraved a kiss on her lips.

  Looking at her divine face one more time, I lifted her lifeless body up into a seated position. One of my hands wound around her body as I unbuttoned my shirt with the other, baring enough of my shoulders. Then I took a hairpin from my lock and gave a sharp slash on my exposed skin, letting a line of fresh blood formed.