Being A Vampire's Slave

Final Chapter

The recovery process took a long time, so I think it's rather odd that I wish it would have lasted longer. After Blake had told me I'd be leaving, I suffered what Jason could only describe as a relapse. The stress that was caused by Blake's nightmare of an announcement was too much for my weakened body to handle. Apparently, after I went back to sleep, my body temperature spiked up to 103.6 and I spent several days thrashing around, moaning and groaning, and in a delirious state. Blake had looked more than apologetic when I finally came around again. But three weeks later and we're finally to the day that I should be ecstatic for, but all I feel is a deep sense of regret. I don't want to go home.

The bags that Emma had helped me pack hardly had anything in them. Together, we had silently gathered up the few possessions I owned, which were mostly slave clothes, some nicer clothes that Blake had gotten me later, and a hairbrush. Now, we're staring at my bags, waiting on the other to speak. "I don't want to go..." I finally mumble quietly. For a moment, I allow my sorrow to wash over me and my knees threaten to collapse. She purses her lips tightly and keeps staring at the bags. Sadness flashes over her expression as well.

"I finally found light...I finally found something to look forward to, something that chased away all my fears of being alone forever, and now he's leaving..he's leaving me." My knees do collapse and the sorrow that I had meant to keep at bay swallowed me. "I-I spent the last three years wanting to go home, but now that I finally get to, I don't want to. I fell in love with him and now I have to leave!" A wretched sob escapes me and I lean forward, putting my face in my hands. "Emma, I don't want to go...Why is he making me leave?"

A few seconds later, her small arms wrap around me and she hugs me. "Oh, Jasmine..." Her voice cracks and I feel wetness fall onto my back, making me realize that she's crying with me. "He's doing what he believes is right for you...He wants you to be safe." I whimper, about to protest, but she continues before I can. "Jasmine, ever since you arrived, things around here have been a rollercoaster for him. While you had been exposed to his darkness, you never actually saw what he was capable of before you arrived. Your stubbornness and blind refusal to bow to him intrigued him but he wasn't willing to admit that at first. You came here, and staring death straight in the face, you defied him. You saved lives with no regard for your own, and no one here will ever forget that. When he found out that you were his blood mate...He changed dramatically." She laughs quietly, a shaky laugh filled with tears. "He struggled with his darkness, tried to deny the truth by lashing out, but in the end he changed. And when he changed, he started doing things differently for you. Life here got easier for us.

Your life was almost lost in several different circumstances, but this most recent one...Jasmine, I don't think he'd be able to suffer that again. He wants you to be safe from his kind, from himself. After this...I don't think he'd be able to bear that suffering again." Her arms disappear momentarily, and then she's pulling my hands away from my face and forcing me to look at her. "He loves you enough to let you go. You're smart enough to understand his reasoning. Don't let your negative emotions ever ever make you feel like he doesn't love you. He will always love you."

At this point, my tears are still flowing, but I allow her words to ring through me. I pull away from her and struggle to push my agony away because I know she's right. "You're right...But I still don't want to leave..." I mumble stubbornly a few minutes later, when I have more control over myself. She smiles.

"Jasmine, you'll be fine. You get to see your family again!" I stare at her blankly, and purse my lips tightly.

"Yeah, Emma..But what will I even tell them? I can't just come home after three years and try to pretend that I had never even left. If I tell them the truth, I'd probably end up in an asylum.." I shudder at the idea of being locked up again, even if that place would only be looking out for my supposed best interests.