The Vampire Queen

by Brandi Elledge

  “Um, hello, vampires don’t get pimples, or wrinkles for that matter.”

  She narrowed her brown eyes through the ridiculous mask. “When you are centuries old and you have seen as much as me, doing girly things like this is sometimes the only thing that keeps you going. Being immortal can be exhausting.”

  I patted her knee with reassurance, like I understood the pressure of being as old as the stars, when I actually couldn’t relate to her. I’d only been a vampire for a hot minute. “Sure thing, buttercup, so let’s keep this slumber party going. Put us on some SWAT.”

  Two hours later, I realized that there would be no musicals tonight. It was almost comical how Greta was leaning in toward the television. Sometime through the night, Dani had started making cocktails. She told me they would have no effect on us, but it was fun pretending we were normal teenage girls. So, as I sat pretending that Mr. Moore’s figure had started to get blurry on the screen, I realized it could have been worse. We could have been watching the Divergent series. Theo James, who played Four, could have been a dead ringer for Stephan, and that was all I needed to be thinking about right now. Behind the sun-proof curtains, I could feel the darkness slipping away as my eyes grew heavy. My last thought before the sun came up was Stephan hated me because the Prince of Vampires had made a defect.

  Chapter Five

  Someone shook my shoulders. Hard. I tried to swat the hands away, but they just laughed. Prying one eye open, I saw Dani looking like an amused fairy as she sat there on my bed. She must’ve carried me to my room sometime this morning. Her little hands were still shaking me awake as she gave me a beaming smile.

  “Oh. My. Gosh. What do you want, Tinkerbell?”

  She knelt beside my pillow and started bouncing on my bed like a kid at Christmas, anxiously awaiting the rise of their sleepy parents, so they could race downstairs and tear into all the pretty packages. “The sun is down, and yet you still sleep. Get up.” Before I could pull the covers up over my head, she crooned, “I talked Greta into taking us with her when she goes to town tonight.”

  I bolted out of bed. “Really?”

  “Yes.” She giggled. “She said if we hurry, we can catch a few shops on Main Street before they close.”

  No need to tell me twice. I threw on the clothes that were scattered on the floor before either one of them could change their mind. “I haven’t been out in public in almost a month.”

  “I know. Greta is going to make sure you are well fed, and we won’t stay in town long.” I was about to ask if Stephan had giving us permission when she said, “And we will have to keep this between us girls, because Stephan would flip if he knew you went out of the house without him.”

  I held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”

  Greta insisted I drink two cups of blood before we left. I was so excited to get out of the house that my enthusiasm was overflowing onto Dani. We chatted all the way to the black Lincoln Navigator and then all the way into town. Greta kept smiling fondly at us from the rearview mirror. I told Dani how I was taking online classes and how Greta was helping me with geometry, which was a class that was invented by the devil. Even though I would still get my diploma, I hated how I couldn’t walk across that stage with everyone else. She reached out and squeezed my hand, as I rattled on about all the things I was missing out on.

  As Greta parked in front of a store on Main Street, Dani said, “Hey, there is no reason why we can’t go ahead and get you a gown. I mean, obviously, you won’t be able to go to prom, but there are always masquerades that the undead go to. Stephan hasn’t been to a ball in decades, but I know that between the two of us, we could twist his arm into taking us.”

  My spirits lifted. “Really? You would do that for me?”

  “Oh, honey, don’t doubt for a second that I don’t have selfish intent. I would never turn down an opportunity to wear something pretty.”

  Maybe this friendship would last forever with that kind of attitude. “You are my kind of girl. We might as well go all out and get us a couple of tiaras, too. I mean, we are showing up with the Prince of Vampires, so we should be legit. Side note, if he is a prince, does that make you a princess?”

  “Afraid not. I would’ve had to either been born from the queen or have been the first made by her.”

  “We can have kids?”

  “It’s extremely rare, but yes.”

  “I thought that we were basically corpses.”

  “Well, that is a horrible way of looking at it, though extremely accurate.” Dani scoffed. “The original vampire along with her offspring can have children, but for the rest of us, there is only a small window for us to have children. A female vampire can get impregnated as long as they conceive within six months of their turning. My window of opportunity is way past expired.”

  She didn’t seem to be bummed about that so I let the subject go. Arm in arm, we strolled down the street while Greta clucked behind us, but I could tell she was happy we were happy.

  “Girls, you know Miranda’s Bridal Shop is just a couple of blocks over,” Greta said.

  We halted right there on the sidewalk and smiled at each other. Greta laughed as we turned around and started following her to the shop. I was sure the girls back home were already picking out their dresses for prom with it being just around the corner. Trying on a few dresses would take some of the sting out of not getting to go to prom. Or at least I hoped it would. Plus, Charlie wouldn’t be at prom—not with her being the new Queen of Witches—so I wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway.

  An hour later, we both had twirled and modeled so many gowns for Greta that she was feigning a headache and complaining she wished she would have brought her knitting with her. I finally settled on a red dress that hugged every curve I owned and had made both women gasp in admiration. It was fairly modest in the front but the back… Well, it was so low it showed the two newly acquired dimples I had on my lower back. Dani ended up walking out of the shop with a midnight blue dress that flowed around her thighs, making her look even more like a fairy princess.

  All three of us wore a smile until a tingling sensation formed on the back of my neck, leaving me with a cold feeling in my stomach. I glanced over at Dani who was frozen in place, and I knew that she felt it, too.

  Greta took one look at our faces. “What? What is it, girls?”

  The cute little fairy princess was gone, and in her place was a lethal weapon. Dani grabbed my arm. “In the car, now!”

  Neither I, nor Greta argued with the command, instead we ran as fast as we could towards our vehicle. We all jumped in the car as Greta’s shaking hands fumbled with the keys before finally getting the engine started. I could hear her heart pounding from where I sat. I didn’t say a word as Dani sat tense and half crouched on the seat next to me, constantly glancing out every window of the SUV. When we hit the highway, she relaxed a smidge. We were so close to Stephan’s estate, and as soon as we got there, I was going to light her butt up with twenty questions.

  I felt the danger before I saw it, but it was too late. At an intersection, a Hummer T-boned us so hard our Navigator flipped. There were multiple screams as our vehicle rolled before coming to a screeching halt.

  Six vampires dressed in all black stepped out of the Hummer. From where

  I was in the upside-down SUV, I could see at least two quickly approaching our car. A pair of black biker boots crunched the broken glass next to where Dani lay so tiny beside me, looking like a broken doll. I felt tears well up as I saw blood dripping down her pale face. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving. I snarled as the vampire reached in to grab her when all of a sudden, the broken doll pulled a lethal looking blade out of her knee-high boots, flew out of the vehicle, twisted in the air, and brought her blade down in an arc. The vampire’s head hit the ground long before his body. It wasn’t until she took the second vampire down that I snapped out of it and started crawling on the ceiling of the car towards an unconscious Greta.

  Her pulse wa
s barely there, but she was still hanging on. Crouched on my knees, I stuck two fingers in her mouth, prying her teeth apart. I bit into my wrist with little finesse and held my arm up to her lips as I let my blood trickle into her mouth. Thanks to my fast healing, I had to tear into my flesh twice to make sure she got enough of my blood. There was a possibility that she only needed a little, but I hadn’t been the best pupil, and I wasn’t going to chance it.

  After I was satisfied that she had consumed enough, I unbuckled her seatbelt and put my hands under her arms. I dragged her out of the navigator. I had to get her away from the other vampires. I hesitated as I saw my little friend taking down the third vampire like she was killing a fly. I screamed as the fourth one came up behind her, but she must have already sensed him because at the last second, she dodged his blow. In a blink of an eye, she came up behind him and started slicing pieces off of him left and right. She was toying with him. I should be shocked by the violence, but all I felt was rage that these vampires had attacked us.

  Frantically, I looked around until I found a bush twenty feet away. I could drag Greta there and hide her before going back to help Dani, even though Dani looked like she was taking care of business all by herself and enjoying it. My eyes darted around, searching for the two remaining vampires. Right before I reached the bushes, a hand struck out quick as a rattlesnake and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me up until my feet no longer touched the ground. Even though he shook me so hard my teeth rattled, I didn’t start panicking until the other vampire fell on top of Greta. I had to get away—I had to help Greta. My hands flew out, making contact with the leering vampire’s face.

  The vampire laughed at my feeble attempts to free myself. His oily black hair hung in strings around his face. “Aww, what do we have here?” One of my feet finally made contact with his thigh. “Oh, that wasn’t very nice, was it? You must be the one. We could have so much fun, beautiful, if time weren’t of the essence.”

  I didn’t have a chance to react before his teeth bit the flesh right above my breast, mauling my skin as he put one hand on my back to hold me still. He was chewing his way slowly up to my neck, and I could feel the blood leaving my body as I cast one more glance to Greta, lying on the ground and unmoving as a vampire feasted on her. My last thought before darkness took me was, Please, Greta, don’t die.

  Chapter Six

  My head throbbed, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pry my eyes open. It was as if my body was floating away. In the distance, I could hear voices shouting my name and then shouting at each other, but I couldn’t be bothered listening to them. I was just too tired.

  “You have broken an order, Daniella, by taking her off the property, and I will punish you for this.”

  “Brother, she was suffocating here. Anyone could see how miserable she was.”

  “It’s better than her being dead!”

  “As soon as I got her back here, I forced my blood into her, but she’s not healing.”

  A growling sound came before something smashed into the wall. “That is because her head is almost completely detached, Dani.”

  I felt the mattress dip with weight before someone started murmuring sweet words of encouragement in my ear, begging me to live. Funny, I didn’t know I was dying. I was just tired, and sleep was calling my name, but the person next to me wouldn’t let it claim me. They gently forced my mouth open, pressing a hand against the deep wound on my neck.

  Something warm tingled all the way down my throat. The person gently cradling me whispered, “Heal.”

  After several minutes, sleep drifted farther away as pain sliced through me. My throat was on fire and as I began to thrash on the bed, someone else came over and held me down, forcing me to endure this horrible, never-ending pain.

  It could have been minutes or hours, but finally most of the pain ebbed. I was still unable to move or even open my eyes, and I was mad at the ones who brought me this pain when all I wanted to do was sleep.

  “She’ll survive, but no thanks to you, Dani.”

  The quiet voice that was farther away from me said, “I’m so very sorry.” I heard the door open but instead of leaving, the voice asked one more question. “You weren’t supposed to return until tomorrow. How did you know we were in trouble, Stephan?”

  There for a second, I thought the conversation was over. Then a bitter voice said, “Because I felt her panic.”

  “You… you felt it? Do you mean to tell me that—”

  A snarl rumbled. “It is none of your business, Dani.”

  The other voice neared. “Of course, it’s my business. She is my friend. How many times have you fed her your blood?”

  The voice growled, “Twice.”

  A gasp. “Twice?” A high screech followed. “You knew, and yet you gave her your blood twice? You walk a very thin line, brother.”

  A deathly calm settled over the room. “And you almost killed her. Get out of my sight before I do something I will regret.”

  “Before I go, you should know that I overheard one vampire talking to Tandi, and he said that she must be the one. Someone caught wind of why you were gone and wanted to teach you a lesson. You know what this means. Imagine the distance they would go for her if they knew—”

  “Out!”

  A door slammed closed, and the voices quieted down. There was no noise other than the sweet words that were mumbled into my ear, as I was gently rocked. Finally, I was allowed to let sleep claim me. Hallelujah.

  When I woke, I knew something was terribly wrong. I had remembered everything from the ambush that had taken place last night, and yet I was still alive. When that vampire dug his teeth into every muscle and tendon in my neck, I knew I would not live another day. I shouldn’t have survived that but I did. So why this sick feeling in my stomach? Not bothering to change out of my lacy nightgown someone had put on me, I ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. I was exhausted by the time I reached the kitchen. Note to self: Learn that flashing thing that Stephan could do. Cardio was so not my friend. Just another strike against me. Vampires shouldn’t get exhausted but yet here I am. Panting for air.

  When I saw the grim faces of Stephan and Dani looking back at me, I knew. Oh lord, I knew. I shook my head as Stephan offered me a warm mug. Slowly stepping away from the both of them, I shouted, “No. No!”

  My knees hit the unforgiving marble tile as I pulled on my hair, curling into a little ball. Strong arms came around me, holding me tight while I wailed. Then I remembered my safety net. Hope flooded me.

  “Stephan! I fed her my blood. She’ll be okay, right? We just need to wait, and she’ll be fine and—”

  “I’m so sorry, Tandi. I know how close you and Greta had become, and for what it’s worth, I loved her, too. It’s a loss that we all are going to feel for a long time.”

  “But I fed her and—”

  “Sweetheart, she is not coming back. I’m sorry but she is gone.”

  No. I couldn’t believe that she was gone. I refused to believe it. Tears streamed down my face, as I was picked up and carried back up the stairs. Sleep. My sweet escape came for me, and this time I would be damned if I allowed anyone to keep me from it.

  A week had gone by, and I hadn’t got out of bed. Every day there was a mug brought in and sat on my end table close enough for me to reach. Finally, something in me snapped. They took the only person away from me that had looked at me like I was their beloved daughter. I felt treasured and loved, and those vampires just stole her from me. They would pay. If it were the last thing I ever did, I would make them pay.

  Dressing in black, I pulled my blonde hair back in a ponytail. Heading down the stairs, I found Stephan and Dani waiting for me in the kitchen. It was the first place I always went upon awakening, and they must have known this. I wondered how many times this past week they headed to the kitchen at sunset, hoping that I would stumble down ready to face the world. I needed that time to grieve, but now I needed something totally different. I needed reve
nge.

  Before either of them could talk, I demanded answers. “I want to know who sent those vampires.”

  Stephan said, “Tandi—”

  “Don’t you Tandi me. You wanted a hunter. Well, here I am, but I’m not going into those woods to find squirrels; I have a different kind of prey in mind, and if you stand in my way, I will go around you, maker or not.”

  “I would like to see you try, little one,” Stephan said, in an eerily quiet voice.

  Dani shot a nervous glance at Stephan before looking at me. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now. The vampires that attacked us that night are dead, so unfortunately we can’t get information from them.” Her eyes shone brightly with unshed tears. “Tandi, I am so sorry for taking you into town. I will never forgive myself.”

  As hard as I tried, I could not be mad at her. “Don’t be sorry, Dani, unless you plan on stopping me from finding who sent those vampires, and in that case, our friendship is over,” I said with enough menace in my voice to let her know the fun, happy-go-lucky Tandi was gone. This Tandi meant business. “The one who ripped into me said something. I’m having a hard time remembering exactly what, but I want to say that he might have been looking for me. Do you think that’s a possibility?”

  Stephan’s nonchalant shrug didn’t match his demeanor. “When you are Prince of the Vampires, you make enemies. I’m not entirely sure why they attacked with Dani in the car, but they underestimated her by a landslide.”

  Dani gave a bitter smile. “Damn straight.”

  Maybe I didn’t have a built-in lie detector, but I knew he wasn’t entirely telling me the truth. I also knew a stone wall when I saw one. My arms crossed over my chest as I changed tactics. “Did you save me?”