The Demon Princess and the Vampire Princes

Chapter V
Getting Better

I couldn’t move. I had trouble breathing. My eyelids wouldn’t open to show me the world that is around me. My mouth wouldn’t move to form sounds or words. I couldn’t feel anything around me. I couldn’t even hear anything! It was like I was floating in darkness.

I wasn’t sure how long I was like that, in that annoying state of no thoughts or senses. I felt utterly helpless like that. It was driving me crazy! I felt something thick and delicious on my tongue, and I gulped it down.

Wait, I felt something! I’m alive! I have to be! But, how? I wasn’t able to get out of the sun. I’m sure of it. I had fainted while attempting to escape it.

I try focusing, trying to remember anything that happened just before the darkness had taken me. I remembered the sizzling of my skin. My entire body had sounded like the burning hot water as it boiled on the stove. I had tasted my own blood at the back of my throat, flaming worse than the blue fire. My knees had felt like they were melting beneath me as I fell. I could remember the pain. It hurt so badly just to recall.

“Phoenix, can you hear me?” I didn’t care who it was that spoke to me. I was just delighted that I could hear anything!

I actually tried to put all my focus on my mouth to form the words to say something. But, there was something in my mouth, keeping me from making a single noise.

“Phoenix?!”

Blaze! His name echoed through my mind. It was filled with a rainbow of color, swarming around me, filling me with an emotion that scared me. Which I didn’t like. I really didn’t like fear.

“Phoenix, don’t die on me. I wouldn’t have a clue what to do. I’ve never attended a funeral! I mean, who do I even tell that you died? Do I even tell anyone?”

Laughter filled my thoughts that swarmed around me in bright yellow like the weak flames of Hell that I used to play with as a young Fiend. I used to play with a lot of fire when I was still young and curious about everything, when everything always seemed so fresh and new. I had remembered another time of my life when I had felt that way; the eve of my tenth birthday when Tobias had helped me run away. I could remember the first time I had seen this world. Tobias had been with me for a year or two, before he knew I could take care of myself.

I gulp down whatever was keeping me from speaking so that words may flow freely. But what I said had not been what I had planned on saying. Nevertheless, my lips moved and his name became spoken. “Blaze.”

“Phoenix, I’m right here.”

Gold filled the darkness when he spoke. It reminded me of what my father would give me every day for … something. I still do not wish to tell you the story of why I left the fiery place of Hell — what I once called home.

“Can you hear me?” His words were laced with an emotion I hadn’t heard since I was little. It was so foreign that I couldn’t even remember what it was called.

“Yes.”

“Can you see me?”

I focus on my eyes, trying to make them open and show me his pale, icy face that I had grown familiar to seeing. My eyelids felt like bricks, making it too hard to open to even the tiniest of slits. “No.”

“I’m just so happy that you’re alive! I promise that I will kick Tyrone’s butt for doing this to you.”

The words I heard brought a fierce red light through my head. “Don’t be so hard on him. He didn’t know.”

Blaze was silent for a moment. In those few seconds the red haze left and was replaced with the eerie darkness. “Phoenix, why haven’t you been drinking your blood? Are you sick?”

“No, I have been trying to drink less.”

“Phoenix.” His voice was so soft and gentle. I felt a hand that was as freezing as ice caress my face. “You don’t have to starve yourself. If you’re hungry, then you should eat.”

“Why did you cut your hunting trip short?” I spoke quietly, unsure of whether or not he would answer my question. It had been bouncing around my skull, bringing painful headaches along with it.

“Because I wanted to make sure you were alright.” The hand left my face, and I so badly wished that it hadn’t.

I stayed silent, and so did he. It was one of those odd, comfortable silences that nobody wanted or knew how to break.

I hated it.

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I think that it had been days. I’m not entirely sure how long it’s been. Blaze comes and goes. He talks to me, telling me things that I don’t really care about. It’s nothing like Tyrone and his constant blabbering. He’ll ask me to move my fingers, try to open my eyes, wiggle my toes, and other things that are possible signs of me getting better.

“Okay, Phoenix, it’s a new day,” Blaze says, as I hear the sounds of the door opening and closing behind his footsteps, “Although, it’s been a week. How long do you think it’ll be before you can open your eyes? Or that you’ll be back to normal?”

“I do not know,” I say quietly, “I was in the sun for awhile. It weakens my strength. I may not be normal ever again. At best, I will walk with a limp.”

“And at worst?”

“Then this is how I will be forever.”

“How long will it take to know for sure?”

“I … do not know. I … am not like most Demons.”

“How?”

“For one, I have a heartbeat. Usually a Demon’s heart will stop after the first kill. Every time I kill my heart beats faster and faster … until the sun comes up.”

“That’s not that weird. I have a heartbeat. There’s a breed of Vampire that have heartbeats.”

“Yes. A breed. I am the only one.” I sigh, trying to calm down. I didn’t need to get angry for something I couldn’t control. “Second, I can walk into an ‘Angel Dome.’ I think you would call them churches.”

“What happens when a Demon walks into a church?”

“They feel pain. Lots of pain. Tobias, a friend of mine, once asked me how I was able to walk into the church, listen to the priest, sing the songs —”

“You did all that?”

“Yes, I did. I remember it very well. I was ten. Tobias was pretending to be my caretaker.”

“You mean dad, right?”

“I would not know. But, as I was saying, Tobias and I were walking past the church quickly. I had seen all the humans walking in, and curiosity got the best of myself. I remember when it was over, and how I had stayed there. It was probably around midnight when I finally left.”

“I’ve never been in a church.”

“It is something that most do not enjoy. But, being a born-Demon, I find it fascinating.”

“So, you were born in Hell?”

“Yes. That is probably why I always seem so strange to everyone. The third, I feel.”

“I know you feel. You tell me every day that I’m keeping you in a freezing prison.”

“Not like that. I have … emotions. Most Demons can kill and not feel anything in their black hearts. I feel guilty. I can … turn it off. But, it eventually catches up with me.”

“Oh.” Blaze stayed silent for an amount of time that I will not bother thinking about. Eventually, he asked quietly, “Anything else?”

“Just one more. I can stay in sunlight for only a minute before the pain sets in.”

“You were only in the sun for —”

“I ran for a minute before I had left consciousness.”

“That’s probably how long it took Tyrone to call me. Then another minute as I ran back here.”

“That is still a very long time for a Demon to be out in the sun.” I sigh. “I did not believe in miracles until now.”

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It was the very next day that I opened my eyes. Blaze had started dancing, making me laugh in my semi-paralyzed state. The day after that I could wiggle my fingers. Once I had reached two and a half weeks, I was back to semi-normal. Like I had predicted, I walked with a slight limp.

“How yah feeling today, Pixie?” Blaze asks, walking in with bags in his hands.

“My name is Phoenix Seraphina. Not Phoenix, Nix, and most definitely not Pixie.” My nose scrunched up with distaste at his nicknames for me. It seemed like every day Blaze called me something different. “And what is in the bag?”

“Stuff.”

“I am not as stupid as you seem to think.” I give him a suspicious glance, before I go back to staring out the window. Blaze looks up from where he set the bags down, his eyes going visibly wide. “Relax. It is just the moon.”

“Yeah, but the sun will be up soon.”

“Then I’ll close it and hide from it. It’s just a tiny window.”

“Yeah, but how did you even find it? I had it boarded up. I even put bricks on it!”

“You should really fire the butler.” I smirk at him as he rolls his eyes at me.

“You really shouldn’t do that.”

“Do what?” I ask innocently, batting my eyelashes.

“Did you eat him?”

“I was tempted to, but I did not.” I continue staring at the cresent moon as it hung in the sky. “I will have to feed soon.”

“I can get you all the blood you want, Phoenix, just say the word.”

I chuckle softly, rolling my eyes. “I have to eat flesh, too. If I do not, then my strength will vanish, and my skin will curl from the bones.” Blaze shivers, probably from the image of my skin falling off.

“Alright, when? I’ll drive you.”

“Tomorrow. When the sun is gone.”

“You mean night?”

“That is what I said.”

Blaze rolls his eyes at me. “Well, look, I asked Ty to help me find some stuff for you.”

“I told you that I cannot stay.” I glare at him. I didn’t mind his company, but I wasn’t about to stay here and call this “home.” This wasn’t where I belonged. I didn’t belong anywhere. “I told you.”

“Phoenix, come on. It’s not that hard to smuggle a human for you to eat. Ty’s willing to do anything that will keep me from kicking his ass.”

“You shouldn’t be so hard on him.”

“Do you hear yourself, Phoenix?! You nearly died. You were paralyzed for two and a half weeks.”

“I am fine now. That is all that matters.”

“Whatever. Either way, I can get the kid to do anything. That, and he’s a sucker for pretty girls.” I roll my eyes at him when he said that, trying to hide my grimacing expression behind my hair. “So, where do we go exactly? Yah know, for you to feed.”

“I usually go to that club. The boys there think I am just a good fuck.” I refuse to meet Blaze’s eyes that seemed to be burning holes in the side of my head. I twitched uncomfortably for a moment, before finally continuing to explain with more clarity, “They are familiar drunks. They practically line up at my doorstep.”

“Oh.” Blaze stayed quiet for an amount of time that I lost track of — mainly because of the lack of importance it would hold. Finally, quietly, he asked, “When we met back at the club —”

“I had a few drinks. I learned that it makes them easier to kill. They least expect a girl like me with ten drinks to put up a fight.”

“But, were you planning on taking a bite out of me?”

“Yes and no.”

“What?”

“I like to … make sure my prey is dead before I eat. You are a Vampire. That is nearly impossible. I would have figured it out and left if you hadn’t decided to have a snack.” The words left my mouth without the slightest hint of emotion, but still managing to have that cold and harsh tone that I commonly use before Blaze asks a personal question.

“You know the way you were dancing that night really didn’t seem like something a virgin would do.” I knew there was a smirk on his face. I growled quietly, just before my ears picked up on the light tapping of Vampire footsteps. My head tilts slightly to the side so that I could decide from which direction they were coming from. Blaze opens his mouth to speak, and I make shush motions while hiding under the thick, black, and silky covers of the bed.

I could hear the door open, a squeaky sound that was barely noticeable to humans but like a screeching in my ears. The once quiet and light footsteps turned into heavy and loud, making whoever it was known as they entered the room.

“Adam, what are you doing here?” Blaze’s voice sounded fierce and angry.

“I could ask you the same thing. Did you get rid of the thing?”

“What ‘thing’?”

“That thing you put in the dungeon a couple weeks ago.”

“Oh. Yeah. I got rid of it.”

I fought the urge to growl. I knew that voice. That was the same Vampire that had tried to kill me. “So, what are you doing in here?”

“Thinking about changing this place into an office.”

“What’s in the bags?”

“Office supplies.” I was impressed. Blaze lied about everything so casually — he had me even convinced.

“Who’s under the bed covers?” Forget everything that I just said about Blaze. He’s a horrible liar! I should’ve never put this much trust into one person.

“Alright, you caught me. I’ve got a girlfriend. She’s asleep.” Hmm … that could work. “Don’t wake her up.”

“Why don’t you introduce her to mom and dad? I bet they’d be happy to meet her.”

“Fine.”

“See yah. I’ll leave you with your fuck-buddy.” I imagined strangling him. Really. If I see him again, I’ll probably kill him. I waited patiently until the footsteps were gone and I could no longer hear any sign of someone.

Like lightning I was glaring over him from where he sat in the chair, growling, “Fuck-buddy?!”

“Are you accusing me of trying to rape you?” Blaze smirks up at me, making my fury grow.

“I am not someone’s little sex toy.” I made sure to give him the look that Tobias had described as me ‘looking into someone’s soul.’ I wasn’t entirely sure if it did. I just knew that it made grown men pee their pants. “And I refuse to play along with your little façade.”

“You don’t really have a choice. You know, if you want to eat human flesh.” My hand actually twiched with the effort to slap that smirk off his face.

“You will take me or I will burn you alive.”

“Then how are you going to get out of this place? Look, I need to drink blood, you need human flesh. But I can hold out longer.”

I looked away from him, growling quietly, “You do not want to see me like that.”

“You go crazy. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I would kill. I would keep killing until I finally got what I wanted. You saw me.”

“Yeah, and it wasn’t pretty.” I roll my eyes at him. I walk over to the bed, hiding under the covers. “What are you doing?”

“I am going to sleep. If you try anything than I cannot say that you will remain alive.”