Vampiric Visits

A strange dream danced behind my eyelids that night. I had absolutely no control over it at all, and it scared me a little.

I was wandering down a dark alley, an alley that seemed to have no end to it. My fingertips ran along the slightly damp brick all on my right as I walked. My red hair, styled so that it fell around my face and shoulders in light curls, fell lightly into my eyes. The moisture in my breath formed small clouds in front of my face. The dress I wore was long and flowed beautifully.

A snapping noise echoed down the alley, and I looked up from the dirty ground beneath me.

"Anna, come this way," a familiar voice laced with an intricate accent beckoned to me. I inhaled a quiet gasp, moving quickly along the brick wall. The flowing sleeves of my dress fell down to my elbows as I moved about more.

"Quickly come this way," the voice continued to whisper.

I paused as the alley grew so dark, I almost couldn't see anymore. I pondered, wondering if I was brave enough to continue on my way, or if I was too afraid and should turn back.

"Anna, hurry up now; we're going to be late," the voice called again.

At that point, I made up my mind and ran into the darkness. An arm shot out and grabbed me around the waist then, and the darkness faded away to reveal a rather large, lively ballroom. Masks covered the faces of all of the people around me, including the face of the man who had pulled me out of the alley.

"You've finally made it," as his feathered mask only hid his eyes Gastov's smile was still left visible to me. "Little Faerie, you need a mask."

A very deep purple mask was then placed over my eyes, black and purple feathers covered in glitter protruding from it.

"Let us dance now, my love," he whispered, bending down to kiss the back of my hand. I could feel a slow smile cover my lips as he led me through the twirling bodies of the dancing crowd around us.

The color of his eyes was skillfully hidden by the dim light of the room. Gastov's own mask was also feathered, greens and blues decorating it wonderfully. His suit was nothing I had ever seen before, also striped and laced with grins and blues and black.

We stepped into the center of the ballroom, and all other bodies ceased dancing and made room for us. The other lights of the ballroom dimmed even more as one large light beamed down at us. The music playing in the background changed gently.

"May I have this dance?" he asked quietly and gave a gentle bow. The glitter decorating his mask twinkled lightly while he looked up at me expectantly.

I gave a gentle curtsy, "You most certainly may have this dance."

The music picked up and Gastov's hand found my waist, his other hand gently holding my own hand. My free hand rested lightly on his arm. With a gentle grace that I had never known him to have, he led me around the ballroom floor. Every once in a while, he would carefully dip me toward the floor and then pull me back up, moving us about in circles that left me feeling giddy.

The dance seemed to last a lifetime, but I didn't mind; I would have continued dancing with him forever if I was allowed to. When the dance came to an end, he pulled me close and pressed his lips close to my ear.

"Be with me forever," he pleaded more than asked. I felt my eyes slip shut, and Gastov's lips slowly covered my own.

It was a gentle, sweet, short kiss. My eyes opened again as soon as he had pulled back.

"Will you stay with me forever?" he asked again. He allowed me to gently remove his mask as my fingers reached toward his face. His eyes slid shut, and I gently ran my fingertips along his lips.

"I will, my dear vampire," I replied. HIs eyes came back open and he smiled gently. My fingers still hovered over his lips, and he sought to give them a light kiss.

"Then let us go, my dear."

Before he could lead me anywhere, the world began to shatter and fall to pieces. Pain gripped at my heart as I was torn away from Gastov. I screamed and stretched my hand out to him, but he couldn't reach and I continued to fall back into darkness and away from him.

"Wake up, Anna," a voice called to me through the darkness. "Come on, you have school. Get up and out of bed!" A shaking sensation rocked my shoulders, and my eyes flew open to reveal the morning light streaming in through my bedroom window.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I sat up.

"Don't give me that look," my mother sighed, and I turned to look at her. "You know that never works on me."

"It's not that," I muttered, ignoring the pain caused by the light invading my eyes. "I had such a strange, really vivid... nightmare last night... You sort of woke me up from it, and I had thought that it was real, so..."

"Ah, well, sorry dear. Get out of bed and ready for school, now," she began to exit my room. "Breakfast has already been made, so make sure you eat something." I nodded at her, and she closed her eyes for a moment before leaving.

At school, all I could think about was the strange dream that involved Gastov. May and Nate were trying their best to get my attention, but they couldn't keep it for more than thirty seconds. Nate had the exact same classes that I did, and though it felt a little weird, it was comforting that antoher Faerie was around me throughout the school day.

"Alright, Anna, something's up," Nate suddenly told me after I had released a heavy sigh. It was eighth period, and May had given up on tyring to get my attention. "Care to tell me what's bothering you?"

I slowly turned to face him, and his eyes were searching me for something that might give him a hint as to what I was thinking. I contemplated telling him about my dream. Had I ever even told him about Gastov? Surely he would know; if Gastov could smell him, wouldn't Nate be able to somehow sense Gastov?

"...I just had a really strange dream last night," I answered as best as I could without giving away too much information. "It's nothing, really. Just one of those dreams that make no sense and really stump you, you know?" He nodded in understanding.

"I see. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Ah, no, it's fine..." I gave him a reassuring smile, and that seemed to convince him to stop asking about it.

"Alright, if you're sure." Our attention was then returned to the front of the classroom where Miss Campbell was avidly trying to get a handful of students to understand what she was teaching.

"We've been learning this for months; how is it that you do not know how to work out these problems?" I laughed a little, thinking about how sad it was that those students were giving her trouble, just because they didn't feel like participating.

When the bell rang May, Nate, and I rushed to gather our things and head to our lockers. I felt compelled to act normal, just for them, in that moment.

"So, how do you like the school so far?" I asked Nate. He smiled lightly as he watched me shove notebooks down into my bag.

"Well, this is only my second day here, but I've met a wonderful, gorgeous girl," he grinned ear-to-ear then. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Come on, you barely even know me," I protested.

"I'm serious, though," Nate brushed a strand of my red hair from my face.

"Oh, I know I'm beautiful," May joked, and we all laughed as we then headed down to Nate's locker.

When May and I parted ways on the walk home, Nate walked me up to the front door of my house. I thanked him before quickly ducking inside and getting started on my homework.

I must have fallen asleep at my desk after dinner, because surely enough it was almost 11 at night, and Gastov was seated at my bed. A disapproving look was plastered on his face. I sat up, wiping at my face to make sure I hadn't drooled.

"What's with that look?" I asked him then.

"I saw your dream," he answered, standing up and crossing his arms.

"...Oh." I thought to myself, at least nothing bad happened in my dream.

"I do not approve of those feelings you have toward me."

"Do you approve of anything?" I asked, slightly annoyed that he just assumed I had a crush on him.

"Anna, we're not discussing that right now. Stop whatever you are feeling for me."

"Hey, that was just a dream! Well, more like a nightmare... but I had no control over it! And I don't feel anything for-"

His lips had suddenly crashed down onto mine, interrupting my panicked words. My heart began racing, and I found my lips responding to his. A small gasp escaped me, and I pulled away, realizing what I had done.

"You see now, Anna?" he asked quietly. "You do have even the smallest of hopes that I'll lift you off your feet, carry you away, and treat you like a queen the rest of your life. You really need to control your fantasies."

"...I'm sorry..." I muttered, covering my lips with my fingers. "I... I didn't realize... I mean, I thought..."

"Anna, look at me." My previously wandering gaze met his then. "It's not that I don't appreciate it or anything, or that I haven't grown to care for you over the short time we've known each other, but I'm no good for you. I'm a vampire, Anna, and you're a goddess-like creature. I'm a monster, and you're a Faerie. We can never be."

My eyebrows knitted together in anger.

"I never said I wanted to be with you," I muttered, standing up and giving him an intensely angry look.

"You never had to speak of what you wanted."

It felt like my entire world had shattered then. How was it that I didn't know myself at all, and suddenly this vampire knew everything about me? If I looked hard enough, I could find the want to be with him. I did see the small feelings that I felt blooming within me for him, but he was right: we could never be together. And that knowledge wounded me more deeply than I ever thought possible.

"Don't cry," he told me, gently touching my cheek with his fingertips.

"I'm fine," I responded, but that didn't stop the cold, wet drops from rolling silently down my cheeks.

"I never wanted any of this," I told him suddenly. "All I wanted... was to be a normal girl, living a normal life, and then you showed up. I had no belief at all in things like you."

"I am deeply sorry," he murmured, removing his hand from my face.

"It would have been better if I had never met you, I think," I said, immediately regretting that I had let the words slip out. "I mean, if I had never learned that things like vampires actually existed... If I wasn't a Faerie..."

"Even if I hadn't come and found you, Anna, you would have still been a Nagostien. In fact, you might have still met Nathaniel..." he trailed off, remaining silent for a bit. The tears had stopped, and I sniffled a little as I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.

"Maybe I had been wrong before." I raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "I think it would be better if the two of you... eventually got married. You deserve to be with your kind, after all."

"Gastov..." My facial expression twisted and became pained. "Well, Nate is a nice guy, but... He's not you..."

"But you do feel an attraction toward him, just as you do toward me."

"I barely even know him, Gastov!"

"You barely even know me, Anna."

I froze, my facial expression dropping.

"I've known you longer than I've known him."

"And a handful of days makes a huge difference," he said sarcastically.

"Knock that off; quit being so spiteful!"

"Anna..."

"Just bite me and get tonight over with already; I need to get some sleep."

Gastov released a troubled sigh, but nodded and dropped all fighting spirit. The room appeared to darken further as he laid me back on my bed, letting his fangs sink into my neck.