Queen of Darkness

Chapter 17 - Revelation

I slowly woke up from my deep sleep. Softly stirring and stretching. I haven’t slept this good in... Forever. My body felt no aches and I felt fully rejuvenated.

My eyes were still closed but I became aware of my surroundings. I could hear birds chirping in the distance. I could smell bacon and eggs and the smell made my stomach rumble but nauseous at the same time, I was hungry but not so much for food. I gently wiggled my fingers around, I could feel the smooth soft material underneath me.

I could feel the air against my skin, I was naked. I was expecting to feel the grass underneath me but I was clearly indoors, on a bed.

I opened my eyes but the light was too bright and it hurt my eyes, so I covered my eyes with my palm... My touch was cold. I blinked a couple of times for my eyes to adjust.

Of all places, I was in Robert’s room... In his bed. I jumped out of bed in shock but felt a bit light headed and dizzy so I grabbed onto one of the bed post to stop me from falling.

Just then Robert came barging into the room “Finally awake, I see”

I could hear the anger in his voice, I tried to answer but my throat was raspy and my voice seemed to have disappeared. Robert gave me a backhand through the face, so hard I went flying into the wall before collapsing onto my hands and knees on the floor. The initial hit stung but only for a few seconds, I was stronger than before, able to withstand more pain. I got to my feet and just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Robert: “Are you fucking happy with yourself? Acting like a whore after I announced our engagement, you run off with another man, only to be seen naked in the garden, how was I to explain to all the guest that you were naked because your dress was magick, and your magick disappeared when a vampire drained you to the brink of death! ”

Robert was furious, his irises glowing red. The thought crossed my mind of what he did to the people who saw but my main concern was... Vincent.

I spoke with a hoarse voice that was hardly audible:” Where’s Vincent? ”

But Robert heard me just fine” Foolish girl! I warned you against trusting him, didn’t I...? But did you listen?” Robert took a deep breath to try and calm himself “I don’t know what he promised you, but he drank your blood and left you for dead... If I didn’t find you when I did... The only way I could safe you from death was to turn you.”

His words felt like it tore my very soul to shreds, how could this have happened... I trusted Vincent, not Robert... Was I wrong? Was Vincent no different than Robert? All I knew for a fact was, now I found myself in the last position I ever wanted... I fully belonged to Robert now.

Me:” You should have left me for dead”

Robert: “The thought crossed my mind... You’re of no use to me now. You weren’t supposed to be turned yet, only in about fifteen years with a lot more training... But you still have a chance to die, if you so badly wish too.

You still have to feed for yourself and the first time is the most difficult because you have not yet mastered the power of seduction, you know the council’s first rule? ”

Me:” No taking blood without permission”

Robert: “Not such an easy task if you’re starving and can’t seduce anyone... This is where most vampires fail and die... If your hunger takes over and you take blood by force I Will end you... As per the council law”

It was clear Robert didn’t feel anything for me, not at all like he once tried to convince me. In fact he seemed to be enjoying the idea that I would fail my first feed and he would have the chance to kill me.

Robert: “I will escort you to town, all of the staff here are already Vamparic and mine... You will need one of your own... Go get dressed”

I walked out of his room, naked, down the hallway, passed the General who froze when he saw me. I don’t know which was going to happen first, his jaw hitting the floor or his eyes falling out. But being a vampire had its perks... I didn’t give a damn about being seen naked.

As I was staring at my dresses, not having decided what to wear, I heard Robert and the General talking in the hallway...I don’t know if they thought my senses wouldn’t be heighten yet and therefor I wouldn’t hear them, but I could hear just fine.

The General: “Are you sure she turned, she doesn’t look like a starving crazy newly turned vampire”

Robert: “Honestly... I don’t know. But have you seen her... She’s more beautiful than ever, and her eyes... That’s not normal for a vampire. I don’t know if it’s a side effect from being drained by one vampire and then feeding from another...I've never heard of the turning process being done by two separate vampires before, so I don’t know...I don’t even know if she will survive.”

What was he talking about... My eyes, what’s wrong with me. I rushed to the side table and stared into the face of a stranger... Was this me? Is this how I looked now? How could I have changed so much over night. I looked younger to say the least, radiant... But my eyes weren’t the greyish blue it once was they were silvery white with just a tint of blue. It was like looking into the eyes of death. It was my own eyes but it freaked me out.

Me: “Well that’s different” It reminded me a little of Vincent’s eyes...this must be his doing. But how could it be. Vampires eye colour only changes to red... a result of the blood lust, as if the blood can be seen in their irises and it only happens when they are angry or lustful. This was completely different.

My stomach rumbled again, reminding me that I was hungry. I had to think of something, with my voice almost gone and my eyes looking the way it did, I wasn’t going to be able to seduce anyone... On the contrary, I might send them screaming in fear just by looking at them. No I needed another plan to get my first feed.

How was I to get my first blood if I was unable to seduce someone? Robert was setting me up for failure. Of cause he was, I ruined his plans. He needed a valid reason to kill me and failing my first feed was exactly that.

Who could I feed off of without permission...? No human, that would be breaking the council’s law. If only I already fed on someone, then I would have had permission. My mind was starting to play tricks on me...I wouldn’t have fed on anyone I wasn’t a vampire, what was I thinking...the only person I’ve fed on was Robert during the turning process... Of course, I needed a human’s permission but I didn’t need Robert’s. Not only was he a vampire but I already had his blood. I wouldn’t be breaking any rules if I took his... The problem was, he wouldn’t give his blood freely now, no he wants me to fail. The only thing I have on my side is the element of surprise...He won’t be expecting me to take blood from him. No one said my first feed had to be from a human... Hopefully this loophole worked in my advantage. Hopefully a vampires blood would be as filling as that of a human to gi e me the substanance I needed or I would be Royally screwed. (Pun intended)

I took another look in the mirror, this time I opened my mouth to reveal my teeth... They still look the same except my fangs seem slightly sharper than they used to be. It could just be my imagination. I run my tongue over them and accidentally nick my tongue... Yes definitely sharper. And then... The taste of my blood sends an unexpected chill throughout by body.

My heart starts racing and my stomach feels like it’s cramping from hunger, like I haven’t eaten in a week. The same dizziness and that feeling of your insides shivering when you are starving, also feeling nauseous at the same time, takes over me. Looking back to my reflection, my eyes seem to glow white, they are surely going to give me away. This is very different, my eyes are supposed to go red.

I need to stay calm if I want to catch Robert off guard. I know newly turned vampires don’t have control but I’ve never been like anyone else... I take deep breaths and repeat silently to myself “Stay calm, you can do this... Stay calm, you can do this” like a mantra. Together with my breathing I can feel myself calm, my heart beat slowing, the weird glow fainting from my eyes.

Just in time too, Robert comes bursting into my room with the General right behind him.

Robert: “Damnit Woman, are you still not dressed!”

Me: “Do you still not knock?!” I snap back.

The General turns his back to me and whispers to Robert “are you sure... She has no respect for her king” Robert just frowns as the General leaves the room and closes the door behind him.

Me: “I don’t have anything nice to wear...” I say pouting as I fell down on my bed.

Robert: “Stop acting like a spoiled child!”

Me: “OH don’t you have a lot to look forward to, a lifetime with a spoiled child, irritating you constantly”

Robert was getting annoyed “And you know what happens to spoiled little girls?... I will pull you across my knee if I have to”

I wanted to give him a clever comeback but the thought actually excited me and I was left speechless, picturing it. Subconsciously I bit my bottom lip, not enough to pierce the skin.

Robert must have seen it in my reaction, I didn’t even notice him move closer.

I was jolted out of my daydream with a loud smack on my bare ass followed by the burning sting and Robert grinning evilly “Naughty little girl, aren’t you”

I was filled with lust but not for him and I wanted to irritate him as much as he irritated me.

Me: “Guess you won’t know now anymore... I’m not your little servant to control... I don’t have to sleep with you”

Robert wasn’t only irritated, he was furious. His eyes glowing red. He effortlessly yanked me up and pushed me against the wall pinning my hands above my head as his body was rubbing against mine. “I will have you whenever the fuck I want, you belong to me and you will please me whenever I see fit!”

Me: “You’re a shitty man and a shitty king and an even shittier vampire. You couldn’t control me as a human, your seduction didn’t work on me, you couldn’t make me a Vamparic and turning me into vampire didn’t go any better... I don’t even crave blood... I just want bacon and eggs...or maybe a steak.... Admit it you’re a failure” I was really pushing it.

I could see the doubt in Robert’s eyes but his anger took over. He grabbed me by the throat lifting me off the ground, shocking me as my feet dangled in the air, before he threw me across the room where I collided with my side dresser. The mirror shattered from the impact. Pieces of the mirror pierced my back and arms, my blood seeping out.

I lay on the floor quietly. I could smell the blood I could feel my hunger take control. If I opened my eyes now I would give myself away, so I remained still, pretending to be out cold. If I wasn't a vampire I would be unconscious from such an impact and injury. I needed to play this out or my cover... And my chance to catch him off guard would be ruined. There was no second chance here.

Robert: “Get up!” he yelled.

But I didn’t. I kept completely still, concentrating on my breathing.

Robert: “Aurora!...Aurora get up....shit” The sound of anger in his voice turned into... Concern?

Robert rushed to me, pulling me up into a sitting position, holding me to his chest as he slowly plucked the shreds of mirror from my skin. Soon enough he held me in such a way that my face was close to his neck and without warning I lunged at him, my teeth piercing his skin.

He was completely caught off guard, he tried to push me from him but I’d already straddled him, pinning him down, and drinking fast.

It wasn’t long before I felt his bulge pressing against me and he stopped fighting me, he grabbed my ass pulling me closer.

At that point I was filled with lust and sexual desire but before I could make the mistake of acting on my lust, something else caught my attention and I pushed my desires aside.

Images flickered through my mind... I was inside Robert’s memories. I saw them as if I was there... I saw the truth. I was not supposed to be able to see memories yet. I was new, untrained, but I did. What I saw shocked me to my very core.

Robert was more of a monster than I could ever imagine. In those moments everything changed.

Robert’s only objection was power. Plans that were years in the making were all revealed to me. Any respect I may have ever had for him was erased for good. All the lives he had ruined, all the people he had murdered.

It was a brain overload with sadness and shock but the one thing I knew for certain was, I couldn’t let Robert know I saw his memories, if he knew I knew the things he’d done and his plans for the future...he would kill me for sure, without thinking twice.

I couldn’t let him see I was emotional, effected by things I saw no matter how painful. My life was never more in danger than right at that moment.

Robert: “Well played Aurora, catching me off guard like that... So you got your first blood without breaking any rules, but you can’t keep feeding off me."

Strangely enough Robert seemed much calmer." We will go to town and you will have to seduce someone, at least now you will have a better chance because you’re not starving”

The General returned to inform us that the coach was ready. He looked over the room, which was now in a state of disarray. “What the hell happened in here... And why are you still not dressed?”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, silently using the same incantation as I did the night before. And to my surprise but more so, Robert’s and The General’s, I magically dressed myself in a bottle green velvet dress.

I didn’t think it would work to be honest, but it did... I still had my Magick. It was a bit harder to conjure than before but it was still there.

The General’s jaw dropped and Robert just looked at me with a raised brow and an evil smirk “well, maybe you aren’t as useless to me as I though... There’s hope for you yet”

After seeing Robert’s plans, I knew why I was important to him. It had nothing to do with me as a person, all to do with my Magick. In fact, that was his plan with me all along however the time frame he figured it would take for me to develop my magic to the point where I would be strong enough to keep it after being turned, was calculated at fifteen to twenty years.

A vampire king with a bunch of vampires under his control was the norm, a vampire king with vampires and an entire army was a force to be reckoned with. A Vampire king with vampires, an army and witches under his control would be near impossible to stop, but a Vampire king with vampires, an army, witches and a vampire witch... Now that would be the ultimate fighting force.

I could have easily pretended to have lost my Magick, it was what he believed, but my life was in danger and it was now a case of self preservation. What better way to ensure he kept me save instead of killing me, by becoming the very tool he intended me to be.

We arrived in town and Robert wanted to stop by Abigail’s first.

Abigail came running through the foyer towards us “Aurora, I’m so glad you are here”

Her words actually meaning she is glad I decided not to run away.

But as I stepped into view she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked into my eyes and the joy drained from her face only to be replaces with shock, than anger.

Abigail looked at Robert and I could see the anger towards him, but there was something else, something I couldn’t quite figure out.

Abigail: “Her? You turned her... Why!?”

At first I thought her reaction was out of her caring for me, losing her best friend. The whole treaty about vampires not turning witches...But I was wrong.

Robert: “It’s not what you think, this wasn’t the plan, something happened beyond my control”

Abigail had tears in her eyes, she was so upset and angry that she couldn’t get her words out.

Abigail turned to me “Get out; you are no longer welcome here. Only people with the gift are allowed to enter this sacred space”

Robert: “Wait Abigail, you don’t understand. I need her to stay here while I go attend to some urgent matters”

This drama was getting too much, using my Magick I summoned a chair from half way across the room, coming to stop right in front of me.

I flopped down and waved my Hand Nonshalauntly in the air. "Don't mind me"

Abigail looked at me with surprise, Robert with that same smirk on his face.

Me: “Well, I don’t know about you but I’m getting tired of standing around.”

Abigail: “How?!”

Robert: “It’s a long story, but I need to do something and I can’t take her with, can you just let her stay here for a while, I will be back soon. The General is right outside, I promise you will be safe”

Me: “Safe from me? I won’t hurt her”

Abigail and Robert looks at me like I’m the biggest lair on earth... I don’t know why, I’ve been fully in control since I’ve turned.

When Robert left, an awkward silence fell over the room until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Abigail’s reaction towards me changed drastically, it was like now we were not friends anymore and I wanted to know why. I knew she wasn’t going to tell me outright so I had to just take a stab at it, asking the first question that popped into my head “So, Abigail... How long have you and Robert... You know?”

Abigail: “How did you know?”

Me: “OH I don’t know, maybe your reaction when you saw me”

She was clearly livid.

Abigail: “Do you know how long I’ve been begging Robert to turn me?... My mother grew up, friends with Robert, her grandmother was the first witch to help protect Robert, then my Grandmother, then my mother. My Mother and Robert grew very close, some even think he secretly loved her. Things have always been difficult for witches and a point came when my mother was in grave danger, Robert swore to protect her as he had protected her mother and her mother before her. My mother had fallen pregnant, not out of love but to carry on our family lineage, but even so Robert was heartbroken. He protected my mother as promised and I was born into his protection. I grew up, knowing Robert as the only male figure in my life, always there for me, always protecting me. My mother taught me everything she knew, everything passed down from her grandmother to her mother, to her and then to me. But of cause I didn’t stop there, I studied more, searched for more and Robert assisted. When my mother was murdered for being a witch, she took her last breaths in Robert’s arms, he was away when they struck and he got back just too late to save her. She begged him to turn her so that she could still be around, for me. But he wouldn’t break the treaty he made with her grandmother, even if she was dying, even if he loved her... He did however promise to take care of me and protect me. He failed my mother, failed his promise to protect her and swore to her he wouldn’t fail again.

I was only fourteen at the time and I didn’t take my mother’s death very well. I was a rebellious angry heartbroken teen but Robert was there for me, as he always was. He got me through and when I was sixteen or seventeen, I realized that I was in love with him. My feelings for him grew stronger and by the time I was nineteen I didn’t want to keep it secret anymore.

All that time I gave hints that I wanted him, I flirted, I made a fool out of myself to get his attention but he just ignored it.

Just before my twentieth birthday he was out one night and got incredibly drunk, ended up at my door, drunk out of his mind.

That’s the night I gave him permission to have whatever he wanted from me, whether it was my blood or my body, he took my body only, keeping to the treaty even in his drunken state.

Of cause he regretted it in the morning when he was sober but when I confirmed that he only took my body and it was with my permission, because I loved him... It became a regular thing.

He told me he loved me, and he wanted to be with me. I begged him to turn me but he always said that he couldn’t break the treaty and I had to see the bigger picture, the bigger picture included witches to protect him. He promised that if we could find a way to ensure that I kept my Magick when I was turned then he would turn me... Otherwise I would have to follow in my mother’s footsteps and have a child just to create another generation to carry my Magick over too... years have come and gone and I got older, we never found a way, and then you came into the picture.

Robert said if you were a strong enough witch, you could take my place and we could be together, he could turn me. But then the incident occurred and you saved his life by giving him your blood.

The treaty was broken with your act but somehow you didn’t become Vamparic and therefor it could not be proven that a vampire was feeding off you so the treaty was somehow still in place.... But now, you’re a vampire Aurora...the treaty is broken and it will most likely start a war between the witches and the vampires... I will never be with Robert thanks to you. Why did he turn you and not me?! And of all things...you kept your Magick, now he has no need for me”

I felt bad for her, she was so in love with Robert it was sickening. Al she wanted was his love in return, to be with him. If only she knew what I knew...what I've seen in his memories. She says he told her he loved her, he said once I was strong enough I would take her place as the witch to protect him so that she could be free to be with him and he would turn her...All lies. He did not care about her at all. He told her what was needed to keep her loyal. Robert loved no one but himself, he wanted nothing but power. He would hurt, kill, play with people's feeling and emotions, lie, cheat and do whatever it took to get what he wanted. He was pure evil and walking amongst us, and worse I belonged to him... Fully.