They Say That True Love Hurts, Well This Could Almost Kill Me

Rini and I did a couple of more run-throughs and spent the rest of the day slacking off, waiting for the time of the party to come.

We first watched T.V. in that “secret room” I had found earlier. Yeah, remember it? It turned out to be the royal siblings’ hangout room. We watched a lot of familiar shows, especially anime’s and cartoons. Which, I crave. One we particularly watched was half a season of Sailor Moon: a kid show in America, and kid/teen show over in Japan. I hadn’t seen that show in years. And, though it’s old, I had to admit it was the most entertaining show I had seen in a while. I should show her Bleach sometime.

Anyway, I was totally on my toes when the show ended, and I was so ready for the next, but that was when Rini got to her feet; her little dress scrunched and wrinkled from sitting down so long, and strode up to the screen. She pressed the power button with her dainty thumb and turned, hands behind her, looking totally innocent. As if she just hadn’t turned off that stupid T.V. when that stupid—I was a little angry, that’s why I called it stupid though it wasn’t—show ended with a stupid cliffhanger?

“But…why did you—?”

Instinctively, I reached for the remote but—damn vampire speed—it was in her hand before I could think straight. She set it below the screen and said matter-o-factly, “No. It’s an hour until the party and we have to get our hair done.”

Rini grabbed my hand. A strange feeling swept through me, so sudden I had chills creeping up my spine. No, a strange warmth that made me feel fuzzy. Almost as if saying, “Hey, you’re going to get this feeling a lot!” What was this feeling?

Happiness.

I had Rini, or course. She was like a little sister to me now, even though she couldn’t stand the sight of me at first. Then there was Ella, who was like a mother to me since I came here. My heart warmed imagining her plump face and sweet brown eyes. And then there was Tempest.

Well, you know how it goes with him.

How could you be happy? You’re a slave! Slave’s are supposed to miserable!

Well, I think this story’s gonna have a happy ending.

And you know what’s funny? I used to always listen to that stupid voice in my head. But now, it seemed like it was just trying to make my life miserable. But I haven’t listened to a word since I got here.

And what about my family? My friends back home?

And Fawn.

Fawn had been my friend since preschool. When a few boys were picking on her, I was the one to hit them where the sun don’t shine. I was the one to protect her. We were so close, it was like tearing apart two halves of the same person—though we were very different. She was so delicate…who knew how she was doing. She could have possibly broken down…is that possible? Fawn was so delicate. It wasn’t hard for her to break down. And looking down at Rini’s smiling face…that made me think of Fawn.

“Hey, why are you crying?”

Was I crying? I wiped at my eyes, and sure enough, they came back wet. “Nothing.” I answered. “You just remind me of someone I used to know.”

Rini’s face changed. It suddenly became sad as she remembered that I used to have a family and friends that loved and cared for me.

Her hand tightened and she pulled me a little farther down the hall and then into a room. The door was decorated with a beautiful gold lining, and it was a light cream color. The room’s colors matched the door as I stepped inside. The carpet was warm, as if it had been stepped on a million times and the warmth clung to it. Glass windows covered half the room, and sunlight poured in through each of them. About four or five ladies were in there, a skinny and one plump one in a large purple dress, and the rest in light colored knee-length dresses.

They all suddenly surround us, talking to each other as if we weren’t even there.

“Oh, a purple tone would go nice with—”

“Blue! Blue! Get her blue eye shadow!”

“Are you kidding me? Blue would clash horribly with the red—”

One woman, the big one in the purple dress pinched my nose, and pulled my face down. “OW!” I yanked away, rubbing my nose. The next thing I knew, Rini was gone. The women grabbed my arms and pulled me over to a seat. “Rini!” I screamed as they talked to each other, pinching my face and lips.

“Oh, calm down.” I looked over to my right and saw that Rini was in a seat in front of a mirror just as I was, grinning as the women flooded her. They hardly put much on her—which is good for a kid. “They’re just trying to do your make-up.”

“Make-up? This is torture!”

Minutes went by—each one more painful than the next. They plucked at my eyebrows, put a white cream on my face, and a bunch of other things that I couldn’t see. When I asked what something was, including that white cream, they said nothing but kept muttering stuff to each other.

“All done!” The one in the big purple dress chimed.

“China, she looks great!” Rini squealed, grabbing my hand and pulling me from the chair.

“Wait, Rini, I didn’t get to look in the mi—”

It was too late. She already had me halfway down the hall before I could count to two. I swear, one day, this family was going to kill me…

We were coming toward an intersection in the wide hallways—each one as big as a road! I tried to slow down, but Rini was still going, making me stumble in my heels. We could crash into someone…someone with trays of food, and our dresses would be ruined—God, and my hair, too—

Rini squeeled as a flash of midnight dark hair came into view, and she slammed to a stop in her flats—being only human, and crashed into her back and we both fell on—who I now realized—was her mother.

“Whoa, girls!” She started out in a positive, upbeat way, but then her face changed to a startled look. I realized it was the same look my mother would give to me when I—we—were about to be late. “Rini! You need to get upstairs—now! And you—” she looked at me, “—you need to get out there.”

“Huh? Out where—?”

I had no time to wait for an answer. Rini ran off toward a skinny door by the hallway intersection, opened it, and climbed up the little staircase behind it. The door shut behind her. Meanwhile, her mother began pushing me down a hall. “You can meet Tempest when he comes down the staircase.”

I had no idea what she meant, but I still let her lead me down a hall. There was a turn up ahead, and it looked like that hallway was dimming. “Just go down there,” she told me, “and the party will be right there.”

When I turned around to face her after she released my shoulders, she was gone.

I turned back around, and began to walk down the dim hall. As I rounded the corner, I spotted a bright light at the end of the hall. A large doorway. Faintly, I could hear classical music coming from the light. I held my breath—here goes.

I started in a walk, but knew it wouldn’t take as long if I jogged. Deciding not to take my time, I jogged more on my toes then my heels. That would hurt a lot.

I slowed as I reached the end of the hallway, trying to look as regal as possible. I walked through the doorway…and I froze.

So many people. No, so many vampires. They walked, in the most beautiful dresses I had ever seen, and they held up wine glasses with a thick, blood-red substance. They talked, fangs protruding from their upper lips. Their eyes…if they had showed up to prom, the whole place would be glittering with them, and the girls would go insane. Red, yellow, green, blue, brown, silver, gold…all so vibrant it was hard to look away. And here I am with my dull ivy green eyes. Who am I to crash a vampire party?

Oh, no. People are staring. They looked at me, talking to their friends, too beautiful for me to even look at. Who am I to stare at them? This place could make any girl self-conscious. As soon as they saw me, their eyes met mine and they looked away in no hurry. Were they trying to make me feel comfortable by not staring?

I don’t belong here, I told myself. I looked around, for anyone—anything. A safe haven.

And that is exactly what I found.



I could hear the announcer start the introduction just as mother began straightening my tie. “Okay, Tempest, I need you to be…civil, okay? Ezekiel is here—”

“King Ezekiel?”

Serenity nodded solemnly. She didn’t really like him either. He had starved his kingdom to pay for war. He ruled a kingdom in the Far East.

I rolled my eyes. My mother patted my shoulders and smiled, then she hugged me and whispered, “Happy birthday.”

I smiled, and said nothing back. Then, she and Rini walked delicately down the stairs. I ran my fingers through my hair. I shouldn’t have, but I wanted to impress Blaze so badly it was killing me.

My name was called and I began to walk down the wide staircase. Spotlights shun down on me, but I didn’t bother me. I searched the crowd with ravenous eyes, searching for a splash of bright red in the crowd of purples, blues, greens, yellows, and grays…

I didn’t find her. But, I did smell her intoxicating scent. I was so glad that she hadn’t masked it with some stingy perfume. The smell of her was all I needed. Her scent, out of the hundreds of people in the room, was the only one that entered my system and made my body heat up.

The people clapped, but all I could hear was my imagination conjuring up something that she might say when she saw him.



“Add some salt.” I told the chef, and he tasted the soup. He nodded and then sprinkled a fancy glass of salt into the soup. He tasted it again.

“Ah, Blaze, you are a genius!” He said in his French accent.

The kitchen. What better safe haven then where I’ve spent most of my life? Well, besides the piano. Here, I made friends with the chef in less than a minute.

I smiled. “Here to help.”

“Now, I think the double chocolate German cake needs something, but I am not sure what…” He walked over to the table and pulled a pot of double chocolate German cake batter off it. He placed it on the metal table we were currently at, and it landed with a clunk.

I grabbed a wooden spoon and dipped it in. I licked, and almost recoiled. It tasted…eggy.

“Here.” I said, and went over to the other counter. I grabbed the carton of fresh chocolate and poured the rest of it in. “Now…” I grabbed the sugar, and a spoon, and put in about five spoonful’s of it. I put the spoon back in and stirred for a good long minute, and then pulled it out to taste.

“Here’s a tip: Whenever in doubt, add sugar.”

“But…it does not rhyme.” Chef pointed out.

“Um…it doesn’t need to.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, but I like it better when it rhymes.”

I rolled my eyes. “Here, does it taste better?”

He didn’t even bother grabbing a spoon. He dipped in a finger and tasted it.
He smacked the chocolate around in his mouth. “étonnant!” He shouted. I guessed that meant something good since he threw his arms in the air and was smiling. “Oh, thank you, Blaze. You are a gift from heaven to earth.” He kissed my cheek.

“You’re welcome, Chef. Oh, wait, you never told me your name.”

He chuckled. “That is for me to know, and you to find out.”

I rolled my eyes again and watched as he worked vigorously. But then, I heard the doors open, and I turned, expecting to see a waitress with an empty tray, but instead meeting the silver glow of Tempests beautiful eyes. “Tempest?”

His eyes met mine. “Blaze!” He walked over to me and gently gripped my elbow. “Rini’s waiting for you at the piano.”

“What? Already?” I asked, wondering why we would be playing so early.

“Yeah, ‘already.’”

I nodded and walked out of the kitchen, Tempest quick on my heel. I met Rini at the piano, and Rini smiled, her eyes reflecting the ballroom lights. The announcer woman caught my gaze, and I nodded to show her it was time. She nodded back, and began to introduce Rini, and then me. The slave. The one who taught her everything.

I looked around. Tempest didn’t seem surprised. Serenity, standing beside him, looked at Rini questionably because she hadn’t told her. Rini smiled and shrugged.

Ignoring the waiting audience, I sat at the piano bench, and pulled Rini onto my lap. “You ready?” I whispered.

She nodded, and then placed her fingers on the keys. I placed my fingers on the keys, too. ‘Feel the ivory beneath your skin, and connect yourself with the music.’ I told myself.

Falling a thousand feet per second, you still take me by surprise
I just know we can't be over, I can see it in your eyes
Making every kind of silence, takes a lot to realize
It's worse to finish than to start all over and never let it lie
And as long as I can feel you holding on
I won't fall, even if you said I was wrong

I'm not perfect, but I keep trying
'Cause that's what I said I would do from the start
I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave
Was it something I said or just my personality?

Making every kind of silence, it takes a lot to realize
It's worse to finish than to start all over and never let it lie
And as long as I can feel you holding on
I won't fall, even if you said I wrong

I know that I'm not perfect, but I keep trying
'Cause that's what I said I would do from the start
[From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/h/hedley-lyrics/perfect-lyrics.html]

I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave
Was it something I said or just my personality?

When you're caught in a lie and you've got nothing to hide
When you've got nowhere to run and you've got nothing inside
It tears right through me, you thought that you knew me
You thought that you knew

I'm not perfect, but I keep trying
'Cause that's what I said I would do from the start
I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave
Was it something I said or just my personality?

I'm not perfect, but I keep trying
'Cause that's what I said I would do from the start
I'm not alive if I'm lonely, so please don't leave
Was it something I said or just my, just myself
Just myself, myself, just myself

I'm not perfect, but I keep trying

As soon as it was over, the crowd clapped…and clapped…and clapped. It seemed to last forever. Rini slid off my lap and bowed. I stood and stared blankly at the audience. I met Tempests’ gaze. He was smiling, clapping, also. My heart pounded and my body became hot, my hands sticky. I shouldn’t have been, but just seeing him like this…it made my innards melt. I let a smile graze my lips.

And then my eyes met another man.

He was staring at me, a sinister look in his pale gray eyes. His gray hair was pulled back with pounds of hair gel, and was probably in his forties. His eyebrows drawn down, he stared at me like I had just fallen into a trap. But what trap?

My gaze locked with his. It was as if he could read my very thoughts. At that moment, he turned and walked back into the cheering crowd.

Rini tugged on the bottom of my dress. I looked down at her. She beckoned me with her small hand to bend down as if she were going to tell me a secret. I crouched down.

And then, she gave me a kiss on the cheek, and she hugged the part of my waist she could reach.

‘Oh, Rini.’ I thought, tears welling up in my eyes.

The crowd’s reaction was mixed. Some “Oohed, and awed,” while others gasped. After all, you don’t see a little vampire princess kissing and hugging her brother’s slave every day, do you?

Rini let go and giggled, then she ran off to her mother, Serenity, who hugged her and picked her up, saying, “Oh, Rini! I’m so proud of you!”

I made my way toward Tempest, who met me halfway. “You were great.” He whispered delicately in my ear.

I grinned and kissed his warm cheek. This moment, was absolutely flawless. Standing there, looking into his silver eyes was what I had longed for all day.

“Why don’t we go somewhere a little more private?” He whispered.

I looked him in the eye, and nodded. He gripped my hand so lightly it was as if he were afraid he would break me. He pulled me out of the entrance, and outside.

This was the first time I had been out here since I came. The cool night air was like a smack in the face—but it felt good. The many fragrances washed up on me, like water on a shore. They were flowers.

“Is this the garden?” I asked, as we entered a wrought iron arch. The flowers smelled exquisite, but there was only one smell that I was paying attention to right now: and it was his.

“Mmhm.” Tempest mumbled, than turned on a radio that was on the bench. “A Thousand Years,” by Christina Perri began to play.

“Aw…” I couldn’t help it. He was doing this for me, and only me. I was important to a vampire prince, even though I shouldn’t be. And he was important to me.

He pulled me into his arms, encasing me in his warmth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned on him. He led me across the stone ground, almost as if he were being my human shield.

And then, I saw that man.

The man with the gray hair pulled back with gel, the piercing gray eyes, the messy bray shirt under a tuxedo jacket and jet black pants. He stood three, right behind Tempest, staring right at me.

I gasped. “Tempest—”

The man’s face began to change—to morph. It wasn’t slow either. His gray eyes glowed, and he shrunk down on his hands and knees—the next thing I knew, he was covered in gray hair, with claws scraping the stone floor, and the piercing gray eyes glaring right at me.

I screamed. Tempest had turned around already, and as soon as the wolf came at us, his hand swung. The wolf flew to the side, and I saw blood trickle from his lip, where Tempest had hit him.

“Tempest, is that a…a—” I screamed again as…a tiger came out of the bushes, and jumped on Tempest.

If vampires were real, were werewolves real, also?

It spat and clawed, doing what it could to rip skin. Had a zoo broken out? What was going on? I hardly think werewolves hang out with tigers.

“Tempest!” I squeeled as the wolf stalked toward me. He stopped a few feet away, letting out a low growl, before howling, and then lunging in for the attack.

I could hear screams, the sound of heels clicking, and ferocious roars of different kinds of animals in the distance. Were the people at the party experiencing the same problem as we were?

My arm flew up to protect myself, and the wolf spat at my face, his claws scraping my sides. My arm at his neck, I fended off the ravenous teeth, screaming, not only in fright, but in pain.

Was I…were we going to die?