gift or curse (A Twilight fanfiction)

Chapter 27

There were many small cottages, most seemed to have been build from scrap. Some were just caves with a door made out of wooden panels. I couldn't believe people still lived like this. Everybody was asleep. Weren't they afraid with two vampires so close by?

I didn't want to wait till daybreak, so we crept into one of the houses and woke up the inhabitants. As soon as the man we woke first, looked my way, I whispered: "Don't scream."

He closed his mouth and looked at us with terrified eyes. For a moment I wondered what he saw that was so scary, until it dawned on me that he could hardly see us. It was much to dark for human eyes.

Perhaps all the better.

"Tell us about the men in the castle", I ordered.

"They are vampires, like Dracula", the man spoke with an even thicker accent. I could barely understand him. He spoke too loud and woke his wife, whom I quickly silenced.

"Why don't you leave, when you know what they are?"

"They protect us. Make sure we don't get killed."

I frowned. "But they do kill you."

"Only a few. They give their lives for us. Our protectors need their blood. It is an honor."

Wide eyed, I stared at Demetri. "How can they believe that? They sacrifice their children and call it an honor?"

"Ask about the army, we don't need to know anything else."

I closed my eyes for a brief second. Everything about this situation was wrong, but Demetri was right. If these people wánted to be slaves, I couldn't stop them.

"Tell me, do they have an army?"

"I don't know about an army." The face of the man became confused. In the dark he sought out his wife's hand and I saw her tremble. Two heartbeats drummed out of control.

I pursed my lips, it wasn't really the answer I wanted. Would any of these humans even know? What if no one knew, would we have to go back inside the castle ourselves?

"Tell me who can know about these things?"

The poor man swallowed, but answered readily: "There is a man, he is the caretaker when the masters are away. He lives in the brick house near the wall."

Figuring there was nothing more we could learn from these folks, I said: "Thank you. Now forget everything you heard or saw tonight and go back to sleep."

I already knew that worked, so I felt no remorse when Demetri and I sneaked out of the shack. We found the house with relative ease.

Demetri sniffed the air. "He's human. And alone."

I tried to mimic what he did. The air smelled sweet, the smell of human blood. It made my throat burn, but I pressed the thirst down. I wasn't hungry and Demetri seemed not to be bothered when he was around humans. I could be equally strong. After all, I wasn't a newborn.

The image of the crazed vampire who lost his head the first day I was in Volterra, briefly crossed my mind and I flinched. What if this army was made of newborns, like the one I had been created for? Raw power, unbridled thirst for blood.

"Everything alright?" Demetri whispered near my ear.

"Yeah, lets get this over with."

We moved inside, found the man and woke him up. I hushed him like I had done with the other two and began asking questions. "Tell me, how many humans live in the castle?"

"Always four", came the swift answer. There was less fear in the eyes of this man. A tooth was missing up front and his chin was shaved in a messy way. The odor of his blood was mixed with other things. I could recognize it now that we were close and all of a sudden he didn't smell so appealing anymore.

"Do they have an army?"

"Yes." There was hatred in his bloodshot eyes. Loyalty towards his masters made him loathe us.

I sucked in air, which was a mistake and I quickly released it again. "How big?"

He seemed to need more elaborate questions, so I asked again: "Tell me, how big is this army?"

This, he could not misunderstand and through gritted teeth, he answered: "Thirty, or so."

"We need to go, now", Demetri spoke in haste. He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the house.

"Wait, I have to make him forget."

"No time, they are coming."

I couldn't sense anything, but I trusted Demetri's instinct over my own. We ran away from the wall, but all of a sudden we collided with someone who came at us from the opposite direction. Demetri pushed me out of the way and I flew a few yards until I landed on my side. My head whipped back to where he was and I saw how the attacker was joined by two more. Vampires. Their eyes almost shining, so bright. They gnarled at Demetri, who held his fists up, but couldn't possibly win against three newborns.

Terrified I jumped up and ran back to him. The minute the attackers looked my way and Demetri yelled: "No, Ariadne, stay back!" I shouted: "Stop!"

The effect was instantaneous. All three enemy vampires froze.

I took another step forward and lifted my chin, as I demanded: "Forget the orders from your masters and return to the castle."

They grumbled unintelligently, moved a bit back and forth, but then turned, one by one, and jogged away. My eyes followed them back up the hill, until I felt Demetri's arms wrap around me.

"You. Are. Amazing."

He nuzzled my cheek, but then pulled me with him again. This time we didn't stop running until we crossed the border of Italy.

---

When dawn came upon us, Demetri guided us to a shiny lake that lay clustered between high mountain sides. Several waterfalls ended their journey here and even though the rays of the sun didn't touch the surface yet, I could already see this was a magical place.

Except for the sound the water made, everything around us was quiet. We couldn't smell human scent for miles and animals didn't dare to come near us. For a moment I wondered why Demetri brought me here, but then his lips captured mine in an almost desperate move.

I clutched him, not understanding the sudden need, but feeling it in my gut. It wasn't until he traded my mouth for my neck, shoulder, collarbone, removing the clothing as he went, that I heard him whisper: "Don't ever do that to me again."

I wanted to ask what he meant, but my breath hitched as his hands roamed my now bare upper body.

"Seeing you running up to me, to face those brutes", he unfastened his shawl and jacket with jerky motions and pressed me against a boulder that crumbled beneath my back. "I can't loose you."

He paused for a tiny fraction of a second, to look me in the eye and I gasped. Then the last pieces of our clothing were out of the way and as he collided with me, I heard him repeat: "I can't loose you."

---

Afterwards, my hands rubbed his back in slow circles. We lay next to the water, looking up at the sunlight touching the top of the mountain to our left. The desperation had finally left us. If I still had a heartbeat, I guessed this would be the time it slowed down to its normal rhythm.

Somehow, it no longer felt as if I'd only known Demetri for a few weeks. It was like a lifetime had passed since we left our house and went to Romania. I had seen it in his eyes, when he had looked at me while we made love.

In that infinitesimal moment, I had seen my whole world. No matter where I would be or what I would do; from now on Demetri was all that mattered and I knew I couldn't lose him either.