Shadows

Jewels

The twins escorted me to my room; it was finely decorated with a mixture of both modern and classical furniture. They informed me that this was one of the more modern rooms within the castle and that I should see it as some sort of gift from them… and there was me thinking that I was family liberties.

  I walked on over to my bed and swept a hand along the fine silk of the sheets, it felt like heaven. Biting my lip I had an urge that I needed to fill. Squealing like a child I jumped down on the bed which cushioned my fall and caressed my spine. What was this mattress made of? It felt… well there were no words to describe it other than heavenly. The smile that was plastered on my face melted away as images of Dante slipped past my eyes. I missed him so much. I would love to have him near me right now, this place felt so cold and desolate without the safety net of his arms around my waist that tugged me closer to his aching, muscular body, the smooth velvet of his lips against mine… and those jade eyes that shone brighter than the stars.

  Rolling over onto my side I felt my stomach slowly knot and convulse, tears began to slide along the side of my face as I thought of him, the one person who made me feel like I was actually worth something was not allowed to be anywhere near me because of this damn monarchy. What the hell was so wrong with having him here? I knew that I HAD to be here now, I had no choice in the matter, and it was written in stone according to them… this wasn’t bloody fair in any way whatsoever. It wasn’t even a day and I missed having those silly conversations with him, even if he did make very snide remarks toward me sometimes.

  I closed my eyes to try and calm myself down, I was becoming hysterical… not cool. With the bed feeling so comfortable to me, it didn’t take long for me to drift off into a sleep. Focusing on Tatiana I managed to find her in what I perceived to be… about five minutes. She was sat down on the floor of my subconscious and sheltered by a flowing black smog.

“Hey” she muttered as she glanced toward me, I smiled and gave a little wave before joining her on the floor, the smog drifted away and into the distance.

“How are you?” I asked her

“Well, considering I have heard your choices for what you must do… I would say I am pretty pissed off”

“That’s understandable” I mumbled under my breath

“Why did you demand another way? Surely you should feel thrilled that you’ll be free of a nuisance in the back of your head” she tried to laugh and lighten the atmosphere, but all it resulted in doing was making her more upset. I reached out and grabbed her hand, she flinched at first but smiled up at me

“I demanded for another way because you’re a part of me… and I felt the same feeling with you that I did with the Istrati’s on first glance, I felt safe… even if I shouldn’t, I do. Another reason would be because everyone is calling you my internal twin; a twin is a twin… I can’t kill family”

“Family. Funny word that, especially when it’s used to talk about me”

“Why?”

“Because I am nothing more than a voice in the back of your head” she sniggered

“You’re a part of me, and to be honest I’ve grown attached to you” I beamed at her. She seemed genuinely shocked at my statement yet… happier.

  She stared at me with a blank and dulled expression, unsure of what to say or even what to do but she broke the hold I had over her hand, stood up and began to make her way over to the black smog before disappearing in it completely. I let out a very over exaggerated sigh and allowed my head to flop down into my lap. What the hell had I done this time? She always got moody with me. Knowing she was just about as real as me… well it just made me feel more annoyed about how she acted sometimes… she was definitely younger than me.

“You need to keep your thoughts to yourself” she chuckled behind me, resulting in me jumping like a pogo stick “Sorry, couldn’t resist” she settled herself back down in front of me, in her hand was a small violet shaded crystal “Hold out your hand”

“What is it?” I asked

“It’s a jewel of darkness. You have the power to take this with you. All I am allowed to tell you are that it is crucial to have should you wish to do as the twins suggested and ‘give birth to me’. But it is one of two; you need a jewel of light too”

“What is so important about this? More to the point… how and why the hell do you have it?”

“Every being that is manifested from a so called pure evil has it in their power to search their subconscious for answer, the answer being a jewel of darkness. I have it because the original plan for the doppelganger was to be pure evil and have to be bribed in order for the… well you to get the stone. But you seem to be an alright kid… may as well” she smirked and winked at me before her face saddened again “You called me family, that wasn’t meant to happen in the prophecy. You were meant to hate me and vice versa but… something’s changed. Maybe it is because you didn’t get raised in the proper manner, who knows” she shrugged

“Maybe. You didn’t tell me what was so important about this thing though?”

“Should the child of two minds wish to bargain or release the sub must comply. Meaning, you didn’t follow the prophecy so… shit happens, here’s a stone”

   I looked at the stone in my hand, tilting it back and forth so that I could get a better look. You could clearly see the interior; it was much like the smog that filled my mind, black and ever flowing. The size of the jewel shocked me, it was half the size of a fully grown human beings hands. I thought at first that it was going to be impossible to take this back with me… but then again, wasn’t all of this impossible? Being a Dhampir and not actually feeling the urge to drink blood, that was seen as impossible to them… all of it was crazy but far from impossible.

“What’s wrong?” she asked me

“Oh, nothing’s wrong… I’m just a little unsure”

“Of what?”

“This whole prophecy thing, my future is written in stone and there’s shit all that I can do to change that, it’s depressing and so unfair. The choices I had to fulfil this thing were to kill you or you kill me... just so I could save both races!”  She reached over to touch my shoulder, I knew it was to calm me down and maybe even assure me that I wasn’t in this alone… but it felt like I was.

“It’s ok” she assured me “I’m not good at this mushy stuff but you’re not on your own. I’m always here, just either take a nap or meditate to come see me. I usually have an answer”

“Thanks. Now can I ask you something?”

“Sure”

“What about this jewel of light. Where would I find that?”

“Ah… now that I don’t know. The only thing I am certain of is the fact that it is supposed to appear to you near the time of judgement.”

“Judgement? What am I going to get judged on?”

“I don’t know”

  I knew it was time that I should start thinking about waking my body up. Clasping the jewel tight in one hand, I hugged Tatiana tightly, thanked her twice then allowed the smog to shroud and swallow me up. Before waking up on the silk sheets that felt colder than ice at that moment. Groaning I swirled off the side of the bed but heard a clang on the floor. Looking down I saw the jewel that Tatiana gave me. So it was possible to take things from there… was it possible to take them back? Reaching down I scooped up the jewel up and gazed upon it once more. It did just shoot the word ‘evil’ at me… but maybe something more? Evil can never exist without goodness, so maybe that was what I was thinking at that moment, it screamed evil to me but I sensed more. I felt more just by holding it. Maybe it was the fact that my twin had given it to me that it meant more. She was family…. Even if it was totally messed up, that is what she was. And that was what she was going to stay.