Love Comes In Many Dangerous Forms

“Hey Jimmy can you take these upstairs, please? I’ll be right up in a minute,” I asked.

“Okay, Cassie,” he says taking the small pile of night clothes out of my hand and giving me a quick hug before climbing up the stairs.

“I don’t even know why you let it touch you,” I heard from behind me. I spun around on my heel coming face to face with my sister, Hillary.

“He’s not an 'it.' If anyone is an 'it,' it would be you, Hillary,” I spat.

“Oh I’m hurt Cassie. But what would you know? You’re just the outsider,” she said sarcastically.

“Well at least I treat everyone as equals and treat them like they should be. I don’t judge people because of their background or what they look like or what they are,” I explained.

“You see that’s where you’re wrong Cass, they aren’t people. Those things that you love so much are lesser than us. We are superior to them, and we always will be,” she said mockingly.

“Why do you hate them so much?” I sighed.

“They tortured us for years. We have been beaten, neglected, and treated like scum. Cass, you don’t realize this but they deserve wearing rags and starving,” she said.

“You are blinded by hate. Have you forgotten Tristan and Michael? Tristan may still out there somewhere and he is a vampire. And Michael is dead because he protected me and he was a vampire. Hill, you are the one that doesn’t realize that a lot of the vampires and other beings are being abused because of what they are,” I raised my voice slightly.

I felt her hand come in to contact with my face.

“How dare you bring them into this? They brought that upon themselves. Tristan is not our brother anymore, he is a monster. Michael protected you and now he is dead, that’s his fault,” she stated loudly, walking off into the kitchen.

I just shook my head there was no point. She’d probably slap me again.

Tristan was our older brother that saved me from being killed when I was a baby. Young children and senior citizens were killed because their only use was for food. He made a deal with our owner, who planned on killing me, that if he was turned into a vampire I would live. The vampires needed more soldiers for the war going on with the werewolves, so the master agreed. Tristan was only six years old when he made that deal. I was two weeks old, and Hillary was two years old.

Michael was my best friend growing up in slavery, although he was not a slave. He was the exact opposite of a slave; he was royalty like I am now-unfortunately. He was a vampire and one of the most important people in my life when I was a child. One day while Michael and I were in my dust coated and vermin infested room, one of the visitors of the castle wanted to rape me. He didn’t know that Michael was the prince, most likely because Michael had never shown his face in public. He was ripped apart by the older vampire in front of me. After the vampire killed Michael he threw into Michael’s blood and raped me, and that was the first of many. He made me clean up Michael’s remains and wash away all of his blood. He threatened to kill me and my family if I spoke a word of the disaster. Michael was only twelve - the same age as me at the time.

I felt a stream of tears run down my face. I knew they were tears of sorrow and regret. Sorrow because I had to be the hopeless pathetic girl that everyone just had to protect, and losing some of the most important people in my life. The regret was for being born. If I had never been born then Tristan wouldn’t be a slave or possibly dead, and Michael would still be smiling walking around enjoying life.

I trudged upstairs going into mine and Jimmy’s room. Jimmy was about three years old, but I found him when he was only months old.

I was resting near the edge of the stupid good for nothing castle gate. I knew it was used to keep stuff out, but did it really have to keep me imprisoned. The gate was just as stupid as my cloak I had to wear if I did go out. It was if I was forced to be shunned by the world.

I mindlessly started picking at the freshly cut grass. I sighed and looked up to see the forest that I loved. It was mysterious yet beautiful. It had secrets that I was dying to unveil. There were so many noises; some were the birds chirping others were the leaves rusting above in the trees. My favorite noise was the sound of water flowing down the stream. The sounds and sights were my only escape from this prison.

I was lonely even though I had Audrey and Zach, but they always had work to do. I never liked the people that my parents made me accompany. Most of those snobs had to be absolutely perfect before they had to show themselves in public. I was the exact opposite of them. I actually have respect to other mythical beings besides the werewolves.

The werewolves helped us win the war between the humans and immortals. There was a deal that either my sister or I would be married to the prince of werewolves and become queen. We needed freedom, they needed a new queen. My father was the one to make that deal. I never wanted to be royalty, but I was forced. My sister and I are in this competition and whoever wins will be married off to the prince. We have to do dance lessons, edict classes, and war strategies. It is maddening. I want to be queen, but not for power or fame. I want to be queen because I want freedom for the ones who are in slavery because of this war. It is not only the mythical beings that are suffering, my people are too. I see them on the streets begging for food, money, and shelter from the windows of the castle. I want to help them, but how can I? I am trapped in this box.

I sighed sadly. Looking towards the forest as if it had the answer to all of my problems- I wish it did. I heard a blood curdling scream echo through the forest. I flinched at the sudden noise. I knew I had to help whoever they were.

I looked frantically to find a way out of this cage. There was none. I grabbed my cloak off of the ground and quickly pulled the hood over my head in case one of the guards recognized me. I griped onto the stone wall, and started climbing up the twenty foot that has kept me locked inside for almost two years. I struggled to keep from plummeting to my death. It took me five minutes to get to the top. I didn’t know how to get down without getting caught or dying. I didn’t want to waste time thinking of a plan. I saw a hay bale lying next to the wall below. I didn’t even have to think, I just jumped off the wall. I felt the air whip past me as I fell. I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming and blowing my cover. I landed and felt pain shoot through my back as I landed on the hay most likely earning a bruise later.

I quickly fixed my hood so that its shadow would cover my eyes. My eyes were the first things that would give me away if any of the guards were patrolling outside. My eyes were an odd color of violet. I got them from my grandmother who died from a vampire attack. She was a lot like me. She didn’t believe all the beings were evil. She would tell me stories about how she used to be friends with a group of vampires, but they were all killed by the werewolves. I missed her, but because she was too old to work, our master killed her.

I heard the scream again, and I sprinted towards the sound. I would sometimes stumble on a branch or rock, but I wouldn’t give up on whoever was wailing. I felt the constant brushing of branches scratching where my sin was exposed. The scream was somewhere nearby I walked toward where I thought I heard the scream. I rushed when I heard yet another screech came from about a few meters away. I quickly ran towards it, but I stumbled on something. I braced myself for the impact. My arms were covered in scrapes and slashes. I looked back and saw something that would haunt me for the rest of my life. There were two dead bodies lying on the ground.

I covered my mouth trying to hold back the scream that was building up ready to explode out of my mouth. There was a man and a woman. Both were in rags and pale as snow. They also had blazing red eyes. I knew then that they were vampires. The woman had golden blonde hair that was matted and bloodied. The man had dark brown hair, and it looked like his abdomen was gouged through. They both had what looked to be claw markings on their bodies.

The sound of sobbing came to my ears where I heard the scream come from and… growling?

Werewolves. Dammit.

I sprinted towards the direction where I heard the noise. There I saw a pack of werewolves and a man. They were all surrounding something; some of them were even ready to spring at the hidden object. I silently moved to attempt to see what they were going attack.

There, in the mass of wolves, was a small child dressed in rags, and he was trembling in fear. He looked absolutely traumatized.

I made sure my cloak’s shadow still covered my eyes as I walked out into the small clearing.

“Leave him alone,” I said with authority.

All the wolves and the man with them looked at me. I heard the man snort in amusement.

“What do we have here?” the man smirked.

“Leave him alone,” I repeated.

“And if we don’t?” he laughed arrogantly motioning for the wolves to surround me.

“You would have to answer to my father,” I warned.

“And who would be your oh so powerful father be?” he mocked.

“King Richard Brooklyn,” I answered removing the hood of my cloak. I was only allowed to take my hood off if I were to be in danger, or if I was inside the castle walls.

“P-P-Princess Ca-Cassiel?” he stutter his eyes filled with fear.

“I bet you really want to take back what you said now,” I smirked.

“Please forgive us, we just wanted to dispose of this insolent little pest,” he responded bowing down on one knee.

I was livid because his words. I looked toward the little boy he curled himself in a tight ball. His frame was shaking violently. He had claw markings just like his parents. He looked a lot like his mother, but had the face structure of his father. He was staring at me with fear in his blazing red eyes. He had tears of blood running down his face. I wanted to take his pain away, and I also wanted for these murderers to drop dead.

“Leave now, or I will call for my guards to track you down and rip you apart piece by piece,” I said venomously.

“Y-Yes your highness,” the man stuttered and the wolves left with their tails between their legs.

I sighed in frustration. I glanced at the boy. He was about seven or eight months old. He was covered in blood and looked like he was starving. I walked slowly towards him not wanting to scare him any more than he already was. He crawled away with each step I took. I raised my hands up to try to show him I meant him no harm. He stopped moving, but his eyes still showed distrust.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I reassured him in a soft voice.

I was right beside him now, and he was still shuddering. I kneeled down to his level. His eyes were boring into mine. I smiled slightly. I noticed he was staring at my neck.Zach is going to kill me for doing this. I thought as I offered him my wrist.

“Drink,” I said softly.

The little vampire obeyed immediately. I felt like daggers were being plunged into my wrist. I blinked back tears, and I tried to concentrate on something other than pain. I thought about how I could help this little boy. He had no one to depend on, and he would die out here if he was left to fend on his own. I didn’t know how to raise a child, let alone a vampire, but I wanted to at least try. I could convince my parents to let him stay at the castle. I knew I couldn’t let him go to the auction house, I shuddered at the thought.

I remember that one of the curriculums for the competition was to know how to take care of a child. Vampire or not, this little boy was still an innocent child. I smiled. I would need a lot of help from Audrey and Zach. I would take care of him and raise him as if he were my own. The only problem would be Hillary.

She would do anything to make my life more difficult than it already is, even if it meant hurting others around her. She would torture the little vampire. She might even go out of her way to kill him. I wouldn’t allow that. I wouldn’t allow another person be murdered because of me.

I felt lightheaded and my vision started to blur.

“Please, stop,” I plead. I would need to climb back up that stupid good for nothing wall again and that would take a lot of energy.

The boy looked up at me with tired eyes. His eyes were different, before he had blood red eyes, but they cooled down to an ocean blue. I read that when a vampire was either afraid or angry their eyes would turn a menacingly red color. The boy would nod off but catch himself falling asleep.

“Go to sleep sweetie,” I encouraged as I tied my cloak to make a sling so it would be easier to get around with the little vampire on my back.

I placed him gently inside and stared following my footsteps that were imprinted into the mud. I stopped when I saw the two corpses lying on the floor. I glanced down to see that the boy was fast asleep. I took of my necklace that I found under some of the floorboards in my room, the necklace was there before my family moved in. I kissed the charm and placed it in between the two vampires burying it into the soil.

“May you both rest in peace, and don’t worry about your son. I will protect him and do whatever it takes to keep him safe,” I promised them.

I stood up right and walked away sadly. I wished I could’ve saved them. They didn’t deserve to die; no one should die for being what they are. I know that there were innocent immortals being forced into slavery and are being killed every day. All because of that stupid deal my father made.

My father was once a general in an army when vampire, werewolves, and other “myths” were unknown. When he was in his early twenties that was when all of hell broke loose. The humans were in panic and were afraid to even go outside their homes. They put up wooden boards on their door and windows. Children were forbidden to take one step outside in fear of them turning into an immortal or becoming a meal. Things were terrible. Humans started disappearing from across the globe. Soon there were only a few hundred left of us. Vampires started to enslave us, and soon the other immortals did the same. That was about the time I was born. My father was getting desperate to save the human race and overpower the other immortals. He made a deal with the werewolves to have one of his daughters to marry their prince. Tristan made his deal a week after my father made his. Now the immortals are the ones in chains, much to my dismay.

I approached the dreaded twenty foot wall.

Goodbye freedom. I thought sadly.

I made sure that the boy wasn’t going to fall out or the sling would unravel. I sighed. I was really tired, but I needed to climb to get over the wall. I took a deep breath and griped the first brick. I really wish that I could go through the gate, but I really didn’t want to get caught, if I was to get caught that makes my chance of being queen even less than it was. I was about ten feet off the ground and my dizziness increase drastically. I kept on going pushing myself way past my limit.

I sighed in relief as I reached the top. I lied down on my stomach on the top of the hedge of stone. I examined my arm, the wound had gotten worse. Blood was oozing out uncontrollably and it was deeper than I had thought. There was a bruise starting to form around the puncture wound. I examined my other cuts, they were minor, but they still stung. Zach is really going to kill me.

I felt dark spots scatter across my vision. I also felt nauseated from the overpowering smell of blood. All of my muscles ached from exhaustion. I probably looked like hell. This is just great.

I had to think of a way to get down with a baby on my back. I knew there were no soft areas to land on and I was not going take the risk of jumping again. I was lying on my side looking down at the garden. I didn’t want to stand up in fear that I would fall to mine and the little vampire’s deaths.

I crawled my way to the edge of the stone and looked down. I could see the ridges in the wall. I tried to find the most stable grove for me to hook on to. I found one and gently stepped onto it grabbing the edge on a brick, but I felt it slice my hand open. I cursed mentally at my bad luck. I felt warm thick blood run down my arm.

I continued to climb down the stone slab, but when I was half way down my grip started to loosen, and suddenly I was only relying on my right hand to keep myself and the little boy alive. I struggled to regain stability, and grabbed onto a rock that was sticking out. I attempted to pull myself up, but I heard the rock crumble beneath my fingertips, and I started falling.

I screamed as I felt the air whoosh past me. I tried desperately to try to grab a hold of the wall, but I failed. I hurriedly took the little vampire off of my back and held him close into my chest so that he wouldn’t get hurt when I would smack into the earth.

I saw that I was seconds away from landing, but I felt arm wrap tightly around my body. I couldn’t open my eyes; they felt like they were glued shut. I could feel a sigh escape my rescuer’s lips. I knew who it was.

Oh shit. I thought.

“You know you’re in a lot of trouble, Cass?” I heard Zach say in disappointment.

I could feel my body shake violently, and a sob erupted from my chest as I cried into his shoulder.

“I-I-I am s-s-s-sorry,” I managed to hiccup out.

I heard him shush me gently while his hand was circling across my back, attempting to comfort me. I felt the little vampire squirm in my arms, making his presence known. I opened my tear filled eyes and looked at Zach, who was starring down at the boy with an unreadable expression.

“Same old, Cassie,” I heard Zach mutter.

“Y-you know t-t-that my childhood was taken away f-from me, I don’t want someone else’s to disappear too, and I won’t let anyone else d-die when I can actually do something to prevent another death,” my voice kept breaking.

“I know,” he sighed again.

I looked down at the boy in my arms, and he stopped struggling and stared into my eyes. He looked confused, and he did something I didn’t expect, he touched my face where the tears were shed. I looked at him in surprise as he kept his hand in contact with my face. I slowly brought my hand up and brushed his hand lightly with my fingertips. He smiled and started bubbling with laughter.

I looked up to see Zach with a slight smile on his face. I saw that his light brown hair was slightly windblown, and his leafy-green eyes had a slight red ring round the irises. He also had dark circles that were contrasting against his pale skin from lack of sleep.

“Let me guess, you’re going to keep him?” he questioned.

I nodded my head weakly against his shoulder as he held me in his arms. I sighed in exhaustion, and closed my eyes as Zach started walking to the direction of the castle. I could feel everything in my body start to shut down, and let the darkness cover me.

“Cassie?” I heard someone call breaking through my thoughts.

I realized that I stopped climbing the stairs and I was smiling to myself. I blinked a few times and started walking up the stairs again.

I looked up and saw Jimmy on the top of the stairs that had a worried expression on his adorable face. He was already in his night clothes.

“Let’s get you into bed,” I said picking him up and setting him on my hip.

I walked into my bedroom, and turned on the lights. There was my bed against the east wall with my dog Lucy curled up taking a nap. I had a fan to help Jimmy cool down, because he gets extremly hot in the middle of the night. No one knows why, but it's scaring me. I had a few chairs next to the window, so I could look out and see the busy town getting ready for their day.

Jimmy would sleep in my bed, even if we did bring in another bed, he still would sleep next to me, and when I was away from buisness trips, Audrey would have to call me in the middle of the night to calm him down from the nightmares. He only trusted me; he didn't even trust Audrey or Zach. I try to help him get to know other people, but it's like he doesn't want to get too attached to somebody. He doesn't even like to talk to people, and it makes me sad because I know he gets lonely when I have to go on trips, and he can't come with me.

I saw Lucy poke her head up, and look at us with her big brown eyes. Lucy was an eight week old Bernese puppy. She help me with Jimmy, since Jimmy didn't like to get close to people, I got Lucy. She was such a sweetheart, and I am glad I got her.

She trotted to the end of the bed and curled up again, while watching me walk over to the side of the bed and lay Jimmy down.

I went in my closet, and changed into my black night gown. I wasn't allowed to wear pants ever, only dresses. I had to wear dresses because pants were "improper." I hated that rule.

I left my closet and I turned off the lights, but left the fan on. I lied down next to Jimmy, and I attempted to fall asleep, but failed miserably. I knew why I couldn't fall asleep because tomorrow either I or Hillary would meet our fate, and the fate of our people.

Tomorrow my mom and dad would choose who would be queen.