You're the Light on the Dark Side of Me

A few minutes after being carried by Misha, I started feeling my eyes get heavier and heavier.

‘I’m sorry.’ I heard Misha’s voice in my head and then my eyes closed.



“WAIT!” I yelled waking up again in a dark place.

I couldn’t see anything and when I tried to stand up I realized that I had chains around my left ankle. I was hungry and most of all confused and scared.

“Hello?” I said trying to walk around as much as the chain allowed when I collided with bars and I realized that I was in some kind of cage or jail. “HELLO?” I yelled louder when I heard a door open and the whole place lit up.

I was definitely in some kind of jail and someone was coming, I could hear steps. A tall man with dark hair that reached his chin stopped in front of me, his brown eyes met mine and he remained serious. I took a deep breath as he approached my cell.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” He said opening the cell’s door.

I instinctively stepped behind as he handcuffed my hands behind my back.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

He smirked as he kneeled down, unlocked the chains taking them from my ankle and then he grabbed my arm while pushing me in front of him. We passed by a few poorly lit hallways and went up a set of stairs when suddenly we stopped by an old but luxurious door, he knocked and the door opened from the inside. He forced me to get in first and I figured we were in a bedroom with a luxurious decoration and the only light came from the moon. As I observed the big window I noticed a male silhouette turned to face us but I couldn’t see the face.

“Thanks Ben. Take her handcuffs and then leave us alone please.” He spoke with a deep voice and I felt my eyes widen, my heart beat faster and my stomach twitch into a tight knot. The voice was familiar but I quickly pushed that thought back because it was impossible. “I’m sorry for what happened.” He spoke with sorrow.

“I just want to know what happened and where I am.” I said “And… I want to know if what I saw was real…” I said remembering Oliver’s fangs and shivering for a split second before coming back to myself.

“I can’t answer any of those questions.” He said coming closer.

“Why not? Do you know that this is kidnapping?!” I said now raising my voice.

I was worried about myself and Justin and I would do anything to get us out of there. He laughed and I raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you laughing?!” I said glaring at him furiously.

“You haven’t changed… sis.” That final word made my mouth open and my breath got stuck in my throat as tears accumulated in my eyes almost preventing me from seeing.

“No… you can’t be…” I said shaking my head when I saw him approach, I turned around and ran to the door but it was locked. Tears ran down my cheeks as I faced the door with my eyes shut ‘No, not again’ I thought. “Why?” I asked again as the man turned me around and pulled me into a gentle hug.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

“I missed you so much… Shannon.” I said hugging him tighter sobbing against his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry I left.” He said again.

“You look different.” I said looking him in the eyes. He looked paler, but his familiar beard was still there. His hair was darker but his eyes had gained a beautiful light hazel color. He was the same height but something about him made him look extremely strong and attractive. Then I pulled away from his embrace completely because I still wanted answers. “What happened? Why am I here?”

Shannon turned his back to me as he walked back to the window. “You can’t go back to your life Paty, I’m sorry.” He said with a sad tone.

“What are you talking about?” I asked not daring to move an inch.

“Do you remember anything that happened?” Shannon asked still gazing out the window. Physically he was different but his major difference was clearly psychological. Shannon was a hyper guy, nice to everyone, always happy and he shared those traits with me, which was why we grew so close to each other. As I observed him and listened to him he sounded very sad, he acted like if he was trapped and he seemed to be carrying a weight on him, there was something haunting him.

“Yes… Oliver attacked me and then Justin appeared… Justin! Where’s Justin?” I asked.

“Who’s Justin?” Shannon asked.

“He almost died for me! Please, tell me he’s alright.” I said with a pleading tone. Because of me Justin could be hurt or dead and I couldn’t bear that thought.

Shannon turned his face to me immediately, he seemed taken back and his eyes were turning into a darker color, almost black.

“Can you handle the truth?” He asked now with intensity in his eyes as he walked towards me.

“Just tell me what’s going on.” I said with certainty, I hated sick question games. I wanted answers.

I allowed him to reach me and he forced to sit in a silk red chair.

“I’m a vampire.”

My face didn’t change and I bursted out laughing.

“What? Shannon stop joking!” I said still laughing when suddenly I remembered Oliver’s fangs and my laughter ceased immediately, my stomach tying again into a knot almost making me feel sick. I began to feel anxious and scared.

“Does THIS seem like a joke?!” Shannon yelled his fangs showing, his eyes turned red as he came closer and smelled me before forcing himself go back “Damn it… your smell.” He said covering his nose for a moment with his sleeve.

I pushed my back more against the couch, completely terrified as I watched Shannon calm down.

“Forgive me, Paty.” He said kneeling down, bloody tears running down his face.

This picture broke my heart and I slowly placed my hand against his cheek “What the hell happened to you?” I asked softly as Shannon’s hazel eyes locked with mine.

“A lot of bad things.” He said.

It was obvious that Shannon had been through a huge amount of pain and those scars were still visible. I still loved him as a brother so seeing him in such pain was fairly more important than the revelations he had just done, so I quickly kneeled down in front of him and hugged him tightly.

“You can tell me anything.” I whispered.

“I really missed you. I’ve ever had a friend like you.” Shannon whispered back.

“Shannon, don’t get me wrong but… I need to understand what is happening.” I said and
Shannon pulled away. He took a deep breath as he used a handkerchief to wipe away the traces of blood in his face.

“After I tell you, you can’t ever leave. Do you understand?” Shannon said seriously.

“Well, you aren’t going to let me go so I guess I’m in whatever is happening.” I said bluntly

“This is going to sound crazy… but I’ve always been a vampire. Tomo, Matt and Colin too. I was turned 300 years ago, I’m one of the oldest and I rule this mansion and the land around it.” Shannon began.

I sat there in complete silence, I actually think he could hear me breathing.

“There are other lands and mansions, Tomo, for example, rules one up North.” Shannon continued.

“Wait, wait! Where exactly are we?” I asked not being able to contain my curiosity.

“Well we are in an Island near England but it doesn’t belong to any country. We were given this island in exchange for being quiet.” Shannon said and I understood the hint of irony.

The island was give to them so the vampires would keep away from the humans.

“And about all those myths? The sun? Silver? Garlic?”

Shannon chuckled “I see I’ll have a lot of questions. You never fail to disappoint me.” He said as he stopped talking for a few minutes and then stood up and approached a set of drawers he had next to his fireplace “Do you want anything? I can ask for Ben to bring you food or a drink.” He asked as he took a bottle with a dark red liquid.

“I’m fine, thank you.” I said swallowing the lump in my throat. All of this was happening quickly and somewhat comfortably. I felt at home with Shannon and, even though, he was telling me that he was a dark creature, whose existence I never believed, I didn’t feel any fear, I was just numb. I was just sitting there and listening attentively to what he was telling me.

“Alright, I hope you don’t mind if?” He said motioning for the bottle and I shook my head. If he was hungry, it would be better for all of us if he just drank or fed somehow. “Well, first things first. Vampires are real and yes, at a certain point in History we could not stand the sun. Nowadays we can because we all have this brand.” Shannon said lifting his t-shirt showing me a small mark right in the place where his heart was. “This brand is done when we are transformed and it hurts a lot but it allows us to stand in the sun for some hours. About silver, we only have a small allergy but it’s irrelevant. Religious stuff never affected me, so I don’t think they have any effect. And actually garlic only makes us cry bloody tears and the taste stays in our mouths for weeks, that’s why that most vampires either drink animal blood or human blood from humans they know eat stuff they like.”

“You are feeding on what right now?” I said as Shannon poured the liquid and quickly devoured it, then licking his lips with pleasure.

“It’s bear’s blood. But a vampire can’t always feed from animal blood, it’s too weak for our bodies. Every vampire in this country must have human blood at least once a month but going on killing humans is strictly prohibited. So to provide human blood we have a blood bank, given to us by other countries in the world and some vampires actually pick a human to feed from and they have their consent.”

My mouth was hanging open as Shannon stopped talking and I just looked around “I’m not dreaming, right?”

“Unfortunately, this is very real. I’m sorry you had to be brought into this.” Shannon said.

“Well, then let me see if I understood everything. Oliver and those other three guys were all vampires? I remember that the one who carried me was Misha.” I said as Shannon remained sitting down extremely serene and calm.

“Oliver is not from my jurisdiction…” Shannon said with a sudden hate in his voice “but I’m glad that Misha, Jude and Christian found you in time.”

“Yeah, they pretty much saved my life. I would really like to thank them.”

“You’ll be able to do that soon. Anymore questions?” Shannon asked.

“A lot but there’s only lingering in my head…” I said lowering my eyes as I started shaking

“What about… J-J…” I said finally the tears building in my eyes.

I felt Shannon’s gaze upon me as he realize how affected I still was about Jared’s death and this twist of events.

“Is he… Is he here?” I asked locking my eyes with Shannon’s as mine seemed to have become made of glass because I was sure that they were shining as I was tried to keep the tears in.

“Paty… don’t do that to yourself. Jared’s dead.” Shannon said and for a moment there, I felt my heart aching. Shannon could’ve turned Jared and that way he would be immortal, but that was a theory that only existed in my head.