A Vampire's Pride

On My Knees

Viola's POV

"Stop standing out there like dog shit, you're blocking the sun rays from entering my chakra crystals." A voice barks at us from inside the tent. Atticus sighs as I raise my eyebrows at him.

"That's her." He mutters, ducking inside of the light filled tent. Me and Claire quickly follow him into the tent, just in time to see a withered old woman give Atticus a distasteful look. Right, he's a vampire. That has to count for some type of demon, right? Atticus clears his throat and gestures towards us.

"These are the Beaumont sisters. One of them is my mate— tread carefully on how you speak to them." His voice calm but lethal as the old woman rolls her wrinkled eyes.

"Oh spare me mighty one." She rasps our sarcastically, gesturing for us to take a seat on the floor cushions across from her. In the middle there was a cloudy crystal ball, in the shade of purple. She quickly sees the question of why it's that particular color on my face and speaks up.

"It draws power from the sun, child. Well— one of them anyway." She says giving us an observant but cautious stare as we take seats. King Atticus remains standing, as if ready to throw himself in front of Claire if the prophet tried anything. My lips flicker up in amusement as the woman starts to bicker back and fourth with him.

"Standing there all day won't make you any taller." She mutters as he narrows his eyes at her. Claire beckons Atticus to sit next to her, and he obeys.

The old woman whistles at him as I raise my eyebrows at her.

"That one has got you whipped harder than whipped cream." She makes a gesture as if she had a whip and then she cackles. To that, I crack a smile and am tempted to laugh along with her . I bite my lip, trying to look as serious as I possibly can. She's harmless. A breeze enters through the tent and her long whitish grey hair ruffles along with it. She clasps her blue veined hands together and licks her lips, staring at me for a long minute.

              "What is wrong with you?" She questions, eyes scanning over me from head to toe. I pale at her observation. What does she see?

             "Varla." Atticus warns her lowly, but she waves him off as if she meant no insult.

                 "I sense something. What has got you tormented like that? Something of great darkness has been cast on you recently." She murmurs, still observing me, eyes flicking around my face in interest. I swallow dryly and play with my fingers. Can she sense that I made a deal with Kilian?

              "Well— I mean, I do hang around demons all day." I choke on my words, trying to come up with an explanation for what she sees. She ignores my words and bites her thumb nail.

              "No. It's not that." She says, and then stands up abruptly, turning to search a dresser displayed behind her. It's decorated with all types of crystal gems that the sun rays are hitting. Chakra crystals.

             She quickly digs through her drawers and pulls out a white crystal necklace. It gleams with different iridescent shades of purple and blues once it hits the light. Opal.

           She walks her sandaled feet back to her cushion and plops back down, scratching her chin in fascination.

          "Put this on." She says, chucking the silver opal necklace at me. I struggle to catch it, chain sliding through my fingers. 

         "What for?" I ask, intrigued. I listen and fasten the chain around me— Claire and Atticus's eyes stay glued onto me and my movements.