Blood Knight

Capitolo XIV

Sleep seemed to evade me throughout the night. The van we were in shook against the rough road, so trying to sleep against the motions was hard to say the least. But I was tired. Exhausted even. My eyes burned as I blinked against them rapidly, trying to adjust against the darkness. Monticello seemed to have dozed off, judging by the light snoring that hummed in my ear. I gently removed his hand from my shoulder, placing it into his lap. The snoring stopped for a moment, and then continued. 

How does he sleep in this situation? My hands dropped to my lap, folding together tightly. Come to think of it, I don't think Monticello had slept at all since he killed the Nascondere. He must have been a lot more exhausted than I was. My lip stung as I bit down into it, trying to ignore the anxiety building up in my stomach once again. We had probably only been on the road for no more than seven hours, and we still had a long stretch before us. I only knew small pieces of information about the Blood Court. The original five vampires. Their reign began in ancient times, way back to even when the egyptian pyramids were built. They had originated in Romania, and gradually populated over a long period of time. The very first vampire however, was a man named Ambrogio. Ancient Greek Mythology claims that Ambrogio was cursed by Apollo and Artemis. Apollo cursed him with weakness against sunlight, and shortly after that, he gambled away his soul to Hades. Artemis, the greek goddess of the moon and hunting then cursed his skin to burn when it touched silver. 

However, the real story goes that Ambrogio was born with these weaknesses already. It was the result of his mother's adulterous actions with a witch's husband that had cursed his entire lineage. A curse that lifted the effects of mortality and changed our need for food for the desire of blood. I remember my father reading a book of our history to me when I was a child. But the very thought that in a matter of a few days we would be in the vicinity of these original five was turning my stomach around. I had heard rumors around the estate that these vampires were frightening, brutal and merciless, that they were true tyrant rulers. However, I hadn't ever heard of actual accounts of actions resulting from said rumors.

My thoughts were cut short when Monticello started to lean against me. It was an understatement to say that he was heavy.

"Monticello," I whispered, shaking his arm lightly. "Monticello!"

He jumped suddenly, flinging himself to his feet, hand hovering over his silver stake. "What? What's wrong?"

I took a moment to calm my racing heart. "Nothing. You were just crushing me."

He straightened, cocking his head sideways. "Oh...I...sorry."

After my heart slowed to a normal rate, I stretched out my legs. They had gone almost completely numb. "Don't worry about it."

He cleared his throat, crouching low to regain his balance against the shaking vehicle. "How long was I asleep?"

"Probably no more than two hours."

He nodded slightly, turning his head over his shoulder. "Did you sleep at all?"

I shook my head. "No. Not even a little."

He ground his balled fist into the metal floor. "I'm sorry about this situation. If I had just stayed at the house then we could have avoided this all together."

I grit my teeth together before answering. "Self deprecation will get you no where. You already apologized by the way." My legs tingled as I rubbed the numb feeling away. "Why do you think they were calling us criminals?" I asked, changing the subject.

He paused for a moment before answering. "It...might be to do with the Nascondere. The Blood Court may not have the knowledge of the Adrianos impostor. My actions could very well have fatal consequences to them."