Chapter 8:
Trisha’s P.O.V:
The bathroom was smaller than the one I had in my house, but there was enough space to move around without being cramped. I placed the clothes on top of the counter next to the sink and began peeling off my bloodied and torn clothing and dumped them in the bin. Getting under the shower, I turned it to warm and began washing off all the dried blood clinging to my skin. The wounds still stung, but mostly they had gone numb because of the Holly and Buckthorn. If I didn’t use Lavender or Yarrow to neutralize the poison, my leg may never heal back properly. There were several other cuts on my leg from where I’d fallen on the shattered glass and even they weren’t healed properly yet.
Using the new bar of soap in the bathroom, I cleaned myself and got out of the shower carefully. Then I dried myself off with a towel, deciding to let my hair down so it dried on its own and put on the clothes provided for me, a pair of red shorts that reached just above my knee and a black t-shirt that was a size or two bigger than mine. But at least I had something to wear and Lucas was helping me protect Neema. It was way more than what anything I could’ve asked for.
I stepped out of the bathroom and found Mark already waiting for me outside the door. “This way please.” He said curtly and turned to lead me into a different hallway with me limping after him.
“Where’s Neema?” I asked him. I knew I was the one who got us here, but I didn’t trust them enough to leave Neema completely in their care.
“The boy seems to have fallen asleep from exhaustion.” Mark replied in that same curt tone, his voice coming out gruff, like he was more accustomed to growling than talking. “I’ve been ordered to take you to him only after the healer has a look at you.”
“Alright.” I said as we came to a stop in front of a set of double doors at the end of another hallway.
Mark pushed the doors open and stepped back, letting me pass through before he shut the door behind me. I looked around the room, surprised to find some state of the art equipments as well as the herb garden growing on two of the walls running parallel to each other. There was another room behind the small examination table, but the curtains were drawn so I couldn’t see what lay behind them.
How on earth did Lucas get the funding required to buy these equipments? Some of these coasted thousands of dollars.
“Oh! There you are!” A cheerful male voice came from behind me as the entrance door was opened and shut once again. “Hi! My name is Dylan, you must be Trisha.”
I turned around to find a man in his early thirties, blonde haired, golden eyed with the same huge built as the rest of them, but he didn’t stiffen around me like most of the werewolves were doing ever since I walked in. In fact, he looked far too cheerful and kind to be a werewolf.
“My, you do not look the least bit intimidating as the rumor mill suggested. In fact, you look really pretty.” His smile stretched from ear to ear. “How old are you, little vamp?”
I felt my lips tug up at the nickname. “Why are you calling me little vamp when you don’t know how old I am?”
“Well...if I had to guess I’d say you were in you early 200’s.” He placed a hand on my back and led me to the table before helping me sit on it. “That looks like a nasty wound.” He said after inspecting my leg.
“It is,” I told him. “A stake containing Holly and Buckthorn was shot through my leg and I landed on a heap of broken glass. The wounds would’ve started to close up but the herbs are acting as a poison and messing with the natural healing process.” He was a doctor; keeping things from him would be harmful for me if he mistakenly applied the wrong kind of herbs to my wounds.
“Ah! So that’s why you asked for Calendula, lavender and Yarrow.” He moved back towards his herb garden and brought back a small bowl with a purplish-yellow mixture. “I had soaked the flowers and leaves in warm water for about ten minutes before making a paste. Is that what you needed? Sorry, but I’m not that familiar with Vampire anatomy...” He said a bit awkwardly in the end.
“No problem, you got it right.” I motioned towards the paste. “Just put them on top of the wound on my leg and wrap it up with a bandage and it’ll start counteracting the poison immediately. It’ll be a lot better by tomorrow morning.”
“Sounds great!” He put the salve down on the table next to me and started gathering bandages. He took a cotton swab and poured some hydrogen peroxide on to it, then he dabbed it around all the cuts on my hands and legs before focusing on cleaning the stake wound. I winced as the cotton touched the wound but it wasn’t as bad as getting hit by the stake. He applied the salve all around the wound and then tied it up with clean bandages. He then dabbed the salve on the angry red lines on my palms and knees before bandaging up my knees as well. My palms weren’t as bad as my knees so he let it go as is.
“All done!” He sounded satisfied with his results as he stepped back and looked me over. “You seem better already. But I’ll have one of the tubbies deliver some lavender tea for you before you head to bed. Or would you prefer to have it mixed in the blood?”
“No, tea’s fine.” I told him. Lavender was a strong herb, if I drank it with blood; I’d be half-dead for two days straight. And I didn’t trust anyone enough to be that vulnerable for so long. “But go easy on the Lavender.”
“Sure. And here’s your dinner.” He handed me a couple of bags of blood from a fridge near the herb garden. It was cold but at least I had blood.
I twisted the pot off and took a sniff of the blood, just to be sure of the contents and then I drowned both the bags within a few minutes while Dylan studied me like a lab rat. But I couldn’t blame him, I was equally curious about werewolves and how they seemed to have everything I needed, but right now I was too exhausted to ask questions.
“Thanks.” I told him as I threw the bags in the trash at the bottom of the table and got off it.
“Right. Off you go, Mark’s waiting outside to show you to your room.” He waved me goodnight as Mark opened the doors and silently led me to a room down several hallways. Thankfully the herbs have started to work and I no longer felt the pain, but since the wound wasn’t healed yet, I still had to limp my way through the hallways.
“Here you go.” He stood in front of a bright pink door and motioned me in. “I’ll be nearby if you need something. You can just call out my name too, we have good hearing.”
“I will. Thank you.” I gave him a slight smile before I entered the room and locked the door shut.
I felt like collapsing then and there as I closed my eyes and leaned my back against the door. It had been one very eventful day. Even I was surprised that I was still breathing by the end of it.
Stepping away from the door, I went to check if Neema was still asleep…and bit back a scream of horror.
Because Neema was still asleep, soundly so. But that’s not what had gotten me so horrified. What I was afraid of however, was that sitting at the foot of the bed, right next to Neema, was none other than The Vampire King.
Damien Vandolff.
Chapter 9: Trisha’s P.O.V: “W-wh-hat’re you doing here?” I stuttered out. NO! This can’t be happening! “How d-did you fi-find me?” Damien stood up from the bed, dressed in his usual black shirt and pants. His face was expressionless as he took slow, steady steps towards me. The green of his eyes lit from within like an emerald that has been exposed to the sun. “You thought you could get away from me that easily?” His words gave me all the strength I needed to fight back. Strength fueled with anger and desperation. “And you thought I’d go back to you like a lost puppy even after you tried to take Neema away from me?” I spat at him, trying to keep my voice low so as not to wake Neema or alert any of the guards. “I thought you were going to help me! But the only reason you asked me to visit you in the castle was so your men could raid my house while I was away!” “Careful, Trisha,” Damien narrowed h
Chapter 10: Trisha’s P.O.V: “Be careful child, it’s easy to get lost at events like this.” Jonathan whispered in my ears, but he had no need to. The ball was in full swing and there was enough booming chatter around the room that vampire or not, no one would’ve heard us anyways. “I know. I’ll be careful and stick to people I know.” I told him. And even though I was immortal now, I was a very young vampire, could easily be overpowered by someone older. It’s been about thirty year since the Wipeout cleared more than half of the world’s population, supernatural included, but some things never changed. This was my first social gathering in thirty years, especially one this magnitude, but the snobby rich vampires were still bundles closer together, looking down on the poorer and the turned. My father, my Sire, was the vampire version of a Doctor and he worked for the King as his personal healer, so by default,
Chapter 11: Trisha’s P.O.V: A knock on the door brought my attention back inside the room. Neema stirred at the sound but didn’t wake up so I hurried towards the door, wincing as my injured leg strained, and opened the door to a worried looking Mark. “Morning, Mark…” I greeted him awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. “Sorry if I woke you up, Lucas asked me to come fetch you, and to bring you these.” He held up a duffle bag in his hand. Ignoring his use of the word ‘fetch’, I took the bag from him and proceeded to close the door when his gruff voice stopped me. “Your wallet and ID are inside the bag.” “And my phone?” I asked frowning. “We had to destroy it. Can’t have those leeches tracking you all the way here.” Mark said in a heavily accented voice. “Those leeches are my friends and family!” I snapped at him. “And I need to see Lucas, right now!” Mark gave me a dar
Chapter 12: Trisha’s P.O.V: “Where are we going?” I asked as Lucas stood up and rounded the table, heading for the door. “You’ll find out soon enough.” He opened the door and I saw two wolves standing guard outside, their eyes holding the same golden gleam. Lucas must have had a conversation with them telepathically because they bowed their head and moved out of his way. We walked through the same path we’d taken yesterday when he’d dropped me off at the bathroom. It reminded me of the wound I’d suffered in my own house. That wound was now completely healed, thanks to the salve the wolf Healer Dylan had whipped up for me, but mostly, it was Damien’s blood. I pushed all thoughts of Damien at the back of my mind before they could compromise my judgment. He probably just wanted to stir up trouble, distract me from the case. As we walked the short distance towards the bathroom, I felt quite surprised
Chapter 13: Trisha’s P.O.V: “You’re not going to go all Dracula on them, are you?” Lucas asked from beside me. And although his tone was teasing, I could hear the seriousness behind it. “I’ve fed this morning.” I reminded him. I did however; feel like reminding him that I stay with Neema all the time and even sleep next to him, but then again, Neema wasn’t exactly human. “Very well,” Lucas pointed towards the sprawling village in front of us. “Let’s go meet everyone.” Calling this place a village would be an understatement. The humans seemed to reside in the buildings that were abandoned during the Wipeout; they were worn down and broken in several parts, but most of it was functional and looked as good as new. “How long have they been here?” I asked Lucas. “Sanctuary had been created right after the Wipeout, but at that time, the people living here had been hiding from us immortals. Several of them we
Chapter 14: Trisha’s P.O.V: I left the Sanctuary with my palms itching and my heart heavy. I was so close. Whatever Granny Dilliana knew was highly valuable. It felt like I was getting closer to understanding the relationship between Damien and Vandal. If only I could’ve found out today… “Is this the proof you were talking about?” I asked Lucas on our way back. “Yes.” He nodded. “Granny Dilliana is very old. The fact that she’s spoken to you for as long as she had is a miracle. But we couldn’t stress her too much. The people in Sanctuary love her and treat her with respect. It would’ve been impolite to stay longer with her condition worsening every day.” “How long does she have?” I asked, understanding now why the people and her family had requested us to leave her to rest for today. “Not long. She’s over ninety years and it’ll be sad to see her go, but at her age, it would be a relief.” Lucas
Chapter 15: Trisha’s P.O.V: “I was waiting for your call.” I barely contained a scream as I heard Damien’s voice from behind me. I placed a hand over my racing heart and let out a deep breath as I turned around to face him. “Never. Do. That. Again!” I spoke through clenched teeth. “Why?” Damien tilted his head to one side and the large sapphire in his left ear caught the overhead light and caused light to scatter on the wall behind me. And that was when I noticed that Damien wasn’t dressed in his usual dark shirts and dress pants, but instead, he had on a dark red velvet jacket with intricate red on red designs on the front and cuffs, paired with black pants and the clothing were paired with his family jewelry. A sapphire and emerald encrusted chain necklace fit for a king and the sapphire earring on one ear and he also wore the gold ring with his family crest on it. “Because it’s rude.” I answered his previou
Chapter 16: Trisha’s P.O.V: The world disappeared around me and I instantly felt nausea churn inside my stomach. Everything around me was pitch black, or did I just lose my eyesight? I wanted to ask Damien what he’d done to me, but it felt like if I did speak, I’d just throw up everything I’d had for dinner. And just like how the world had gone out of focus, everything came rushing back; sights, smells and colors…and the nausea. “The toilet’s that way.” I felt Damien turn me in the direction of a toilet as he helped keep me steady and then I was running towards it and pouring my guts out. Damien even held my hair back. It did take a bit of time to register that the King of all landforms was holding my hair back while I emptied my gut…but then it did register. Too bad I was too sick to care. I didn’t know vampires could puke until now. When I was done throwing up my dinner, I felt Damien press