I Met Him Again…By Mistake

6.

I dropped the shoe. Of course, at first I decided that I am dreaming, but then I realized it`s all happening for real.

“Athen, is that you?”, I stared at disbelief at the figure at the door

He had a tray with food in his right hand and candlestick in his left one. He stepped into the room.
But jeez, Athen was totally different from what I remembered before. All sophisticated and cool clothes were gone. He looked like some kind of rocker dude instead.
I stared at his leather jacked for five minutes, then I noticed that his hair was shorter and messier than usual.

“ Ah!”, Athen laughed and pointed at his hair, “ I cut it every night and till the next it`s long again. It sucks that I have to do it over and over again, but the result is what matters.”

I tried to find the words that described my feelings and that answered my questions. Noah was right – Athen was a completely different vampire.

He placed the tray on the bed.
“ You must be hungry.”

I crawled to the food.
“ Thanks.” I muttered under my breath not sure what else to say
“ I have a villa 40 kilometers down the beach.” , He said still smiling, “ I really wanted to show it to you this night, but the dawn caught us unprepared.”
I nodded, thankful that my mouth was full and I couln`t speak.

“ You`re beautiful. This dress really suits you.”

I saw this glow in his eyes, this glow that shows he wanted not just to say it to me but also to get closer and who knows what else. But in the next moment he stared angrily at my crystal heart necklace.

“ You look very…grown up.”, I dared to speak at last forgetting that he couldn`t age at all

He moved his eyes away from the necklace.
“ I am going trough some changes. My father is dead.”

Athen didn`t cry or something, his voice didn`t break as well, but something inside of him showed that he`s grieving.
I couldn`t say I`m sorry, because honestly I didn`t. Magrat was a terrifying creature to me. A cruel vampire that tried to kill my father.
“ The East Clan?”,I asked

Of course I didn`t say that I knew everything from Noah. Athen nodded.
“ So what are you going to do now?”, I asked hoping that we`ll move the topic from how much we have changed
“ I am staring a war. I won`t stop till I destroy them all.”

The passion in his voice startled me. Noah was right once again. Athen was more confident and cruel. I really hoped that he won`t end up like his father.

But then why did he bring me here? Kidnapped me, actually. Not because of war , of course, I wasn`t a warrior or a strategist. I couldn`t help them in any way.

“ Um, Athen…” , I cleared my throat
“ Ah, I see you need a rest.” He interrupted me quickly, maybe to prevent my next very important question.,” I`ll see you in the morning.”

He stood.
“ I would like some water to clean my face.” , I muttered desperately

He obviously didn`t want to answer my question. What was he hiding?

“ Of course. They`ll bring you.” , he smiled and left the room

I felt like a prisoner.

▬ ▬ ▬ ▬

The so called beach was an awful place. No sand, just rocks. The color of the sea was weird mixture between black and blue. It was dark and creepy.
Maybe vampires thought if was cool, but for humans it seemed more like a cursed land. I was staring at the road from the car`s window. I had no idea were I was. No signs, no people.

The surroundings sucked a LOT, but at least the villa looked nice. I expected an ancient ruins, but the building was pretty new and pretty welcoming – two storeys, porch and long balcony. The garden was abandoned, but Athen didn`t seem to be the quiet homely type anyway.

The corridor was quite well lightened. Everything was clean.
Athen showed me my room.
“ What do you think about it?”, he asked smiling and really proud of what he was showing me

It was a nice room and it was only for me. There was modern furniture – bed, desk, TV, some shelves with different DVDs and a big wardrobe. I had a wide window with view to the rocky beach. It was a white bright room, a proper place for a human.

“ It`s cool.”, I tried to smile and hide my confusion.
“ I put much effort in it.”
“ Very nice, but I don`t have any luggage.” , I said opening the wardrobe
“ I took care of it.”, Athen crossed his arms in front of his chest

I gasped. In the wardrobe I found all my old dresses from the castle where I lived as Athen`s fiancée. It wasn`t a nice surprise. I felt dull pain in my chest. It was a period in my life that I wanted to forget.

“ Athen,”, I sighed with pleading voice, “ I don`t want to wear them.”
“ I know that you don`t like dresses, Amber, but do this for me this time only.” , he put his cold palm over my hand, “ we`ll have a dinner together in a couple of hours like the good old times. Now I`ll leave you here, feel free to look around your new room.”

I rubbed my forehead. There was something really suspicious here.
This room was made for living, not just for guests.

I examined the DVDs, all of them were stupid romantic girl movies, I also had some books and magazines - all of them for girls. Even the sheets on my bed had a pig pink “A” print.
Athen had brought me here to live with him. I felt like the whole world was swirling around me. I had to confront him and found out the truth.
Maybe his intentions were different, who knows.
It took me some time to put on the brightest dress that I found. Then I sat on the bed waiting. I had a really bad feeling about all this. I just wanted to hide under the bed and refuse to go anywhere. The time was passing quickly and before I notice a female vampire entered the room announcing me that master Athen is waiting for me. And under her cold gaze I followed the directions which she gave me.

Soon I found myself on the balcony. A nice table for two was put in the corner. The light of a few torches was spreading warmth around.
Athen stood quickly, dressed in the way I remembered him once, and came to greet me.

But I didn`t notice his smiling face, I didn`t even see dishes on the table. He reached for my hand to escort me but I drew back. He lifted his eyebrows as if to ask me what am I doing.

“Put the cards down, Athen!” , I hissed angrily, “ What am I doing here?!”