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

Rini stood beside her mother in the hospital. She hated the smell of it. So many people had gotten hurt—and all she could smell was blood. Vampire blood. Small traces of human blood, too, and she knew that some people had brought their slaves.

She looked up at Serenity. Her face was stern, almost as if glaring at the world. She was in her queenly mode. When she was with her children, her motherly face was always on, but war had broken out at her son’s birthday, and now she was just mad—but you could still see the traces of sadness and the faint outline of a worried mother on her pale face.

Serenity’s eyes glowed red with anguish, and her night black hair shone in the bright lighting of the hospital. Of course, this wasn’t just any hospital. It was a vampire hospital, outside the castle.

Rini didn’t actually like this side of her mother—but she envied it, too. She wanted to be as powerful as mommy when she grew up.

Rini tugged on the bottom of Serenity’s dress. She looked down at her. “Can we go see them now?” Rini asked in the softest voice she could have.

Serenity looked away, over at the woman behind the counter. She quickly figured that she could do anything, since she ruled the kingdom, and nodded at her daughter. They began to walk down the hall, Rini trying to catch up, but her mother was fast.

Serenity opened a door at the very end of the hallway, and the smell of blood drifted out of the room. A vampire’s blood and a human’s. Serenity, disgusted, rolled her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she let Rini slide in first.

Rini cried out in a whimper. In the room, her brother lay on a hospital bed, his shoulder gouged. The bed was matted with her brother’s sweet insides. Next to him, Blaze lay on her bed, her face matted with blood and her dress ripped to shreds. You could see the many bloodstains the fabric, but if you were to be far away, you could have hardly seen them because the blood would have blended with her bright red dress.

Tears streamed down the little girl’s face. Why did they do this to us?

Rini ran to her mother, and she gladly wrapped her arms around her.

Serenity was on the verge of tears, too, but she shook them away. “Let’s go.” She told Rini, and they both began to leave the hospital.

“There’s nothing we can do for them now.”



I woke up before I opened my eyes. My body was so stiff it hurt to move.

Everything—it came flying back at me, making my head hurt. The wolf, the tiger…

Tempest.

I shot up—and then cried out in sheer agony. Tears spilled over my bottom lashes, both from the unstoppable pain and the smell—the scent of blood was drifting through the air. I had never smelled so much of it before.

I looked around. I was in a hospital room, bundled in a thin sheet as if I had gotten myself tangled in it.

My heart pounded as I found Tempest in the bed next to me. How could a night so wonderful go so wrong in a matter of seconds?

I couldn’t help it. Tears streamed down my face as my whole body pulsed with pain. I screamed, but it fell quickly because my lungs couldn’t take it. I kept moving, slipping out of the bed. Just when my feet hit the ground, they collapsed and I went crashing to the ground. I could see blood smear the floor beneath me—I had opened up a wound.

I got on my hands and knees, blood spilling slowly from my stomach. I was revolted, I felt my insides—or whatever was left of them—try to crawl back up my throat.

I struggled to my feet, slipping in my own pool of blood. I gripped Tempest’s bed, holding myself up. He was so pale—paler than he usually was. I saw nothing under the sheet, but the smell of blood was stronger…or did I just smell mine?

I opened my mouth to speak, my mouth dry and my throat sore. “Te—” The rest of the word escaped back down my throat, making it sorer. “Tempest…”

I coughed, each one making my body ache a little more. I coughed into my hand. When I pulled away, I saw dots of blood on my palm. The tears were unstoppable, as if waterfalls were running down my cheeks. It hurt so much.

I heard a door open—but then all I could hear was my blood pounding in my ears. I could feel my heart going faster until it couldn’t go any farther, and it slowed down. Slower and slower it went.

A blurry woman held me in her arms, brushing hair off my face. Had I fallen? I couldn’t tell. Up and down seemed the same—left and right combined. She was talking. No, maybe yelling. I could tell because her head was moving around so much. All I could see was her pale face and brown hair around it. The lights in the room shone so bright—

And then everything went gray.



Blood. It was all that entered my nostrils. I coughed, but the smell didn’t go away. It was human blood—and the smell of dog.

Dog. No, wolf. It was mixed in with the blood.

I opened my eyes, and looked around. From my aching body I already knew I wasn’t going to try to get up. That tiger had pretty much ripped a part of shoulder from my body, and it was taking a while to heal.

Blaze. I could see her, right beside me. A painful smile overtook my face. She’s alright. She’s alive. That’s all that even mattered, anyway.

I sniffed the air again. I could faintly smell Rini and my mother. They were alright if they had come to visit us earlier. It meant they weren’t hurt.

Blaze was so pale. Taking a look at my skin and she was paler than me, but her lips were blood-red. She shook as she slept, one hand dangling off the edge of the bed.

A nurse came in, a mop and a bucket in her hand. When her eyes met mine, she yelped. “Oh! Your awake! When did you wake up? Did you need something? Is there anything I can get you—?”

“No. I’m fine.” Tempest put in before she could continue babbling. Embarrassed, her cheeks flushed red. Her cheeks flushed? Could that possibly mean…?

“You’re human?” Tempest asked, unable to hold it in his throat.

The nurse looked down at her feet, covering her red cheek with her small hand. “My mom was…turned.” She told me. There was no need for more. A vampire had fallen in love with her mother and her mother was turned, making her a part of the vampire world, also bringing her daughter into the vampire world. It happened more often than you think.

The nurse began to continue with her work. She dumped the mop into the water and brushed it against the ground a few times. The smell of blood magnified, and when she pulled up the mop, it was soaked in watery blood.

My eyes widened. It was human blood.

“What…?” That was all I could manage.

The nurse dumped the mop into the water. “Oh, uh…the girl.” The nurse’s gaze met the pale girl on the other bed. “She had gotten up, and…we watched the camera’s. She had gotten up and, since she was so weak, she had fell on the ground, opening the wound in her stomach that the wolf had inflicted. She…had been trying to reach you.”

“….Me?”

The nurse nodded. Then she continued to mop until it had been all washed up.

“Miss…” Tempest continued.

“Marcy.” She told him, picking up the bucket of bloody water.

“Marcy, could you do me a favor?”

Her cheeks blotched themselves red and she nodded a little too quickly.

“Could you…push the beds together?”

“Um…sure.” Marcy said, shyly. “I’ll get right on it.”

Marcy started to make her way to the other side of his bed. Steadying her feet, she began to push, but the bed wouldn’t budge. She grunted, pushing harder, and finally gave up. She stood up and wiped her forehead. “You know, maybe I should try the girl, instead. Oh, not that I’m saying you’re fat or heavy…it’s just—”

“Marcy, I don’t think the beds are going to move with only one person’s help.” I told the hopeless nurse, and she nodded.

“Okay, I’ll go get someone.” And she scurried out of the room.

I turned my gaze back to Blaze. She looked almost dead. Her hair everywhere, her hands so pale against the sheet she almost looked like she was a part of it. I’m so sorry, Blaze. I shouldn’t have gotten you into this.

How could I have stopped it, though? Was there anything I could’ve done…?

“I’m here!” Chimed the nurse, Marcy, as she made her way back into the room. A burly vampire nurse came in behind her, a stern and serious face. “This is Rod! He’s gonna move the bed.”

I smiled thankfully at her. Rod cracked his muscles and walked to Blaze’s side of the bed. He put his hands on the base of the bed and pushed, not even struggling to get it over to me. I felt so much better now that she was in reach. They had bathed her, I could tell, because she smelt sweet, even though you could still smell some blood on her.

Blaze shifted, than winced in pain. Still asleep, her lips parted, making her look child-like.

“Thank you,” I told Rod. Rod nodded, than escaped the room.

Marcy looked at the door, and back at me. “Tell me if you need anything!” And she ran out of the room.

It hurt, but I tried to make it over to Blaze. When I got close enough to feel her body heat, I stopped. I breathed her in. Guilt swept through me, but why? How could I have known they would attack at my birthday?

I leaned in and kissed the pale girl on the cheek. Her eyes fluttered open.

“Tempest—?” She suddenly cowered, holding her stomach with her eyes clenched shut.

“Blaze! Are you alright?” I grabbed her shoulders lightly.

“I’m fine,” she reassured, opening one eye to look back up at me. He voice suddenly dropped into a whisper. “It’s just…I can’t talk too loud—it hurts my stomach.”

I nodded.

“Now, please.” Her eyes stayed closed, her voice in a whisper. “Tell me what’s…going on.”

Her eyes opened to stare at me. I couldn’t think of an answer at first. Where to begin?

“Shapeshifters.”

“Shapeshifters? I’ve…never heard of them.” Blaze shook her head.

“They’ve always been very good about hiding themselves from humans. Their even more careful about humans than any other race.” Tempest explained.

“Why did they attack the castle?”

Tempest sighed. “Blaze, you have to understand. I’m….not completely vampire.” Her eyes widened. That was a big shock for her. When I met her, I treated her like human scum when, in truth, I was one of her, too. “You see, a long time ago, it was degreed that vampire royalty should be half human, so they could give birth. If we hadn’t, the kingdom would be made up of different vampire families, and not just one, like it should be. They had kept it hidden from the other kingdoms—witch, lycan, and shapeshifter— but they soon found out.

“We explained that if we didn’t remain half-human, then we wouldn’t be able to give birth. If it weren’t that way, then we’d have to adopt stray vampires and raise them as kings and queens—when they weren’t part of the royal family.”

“What does this have to do with the attack?” Blaze questioned, her eyes glazed with a flaming curiosity.

“The witch and lycan understood—but the shapeshifters shamed us. They said if humans were to be a part of the royal vampire family, there shouldn’t be a royal vampire family at all. They were determined to destroy the half-breeds.”

“But…why would they care so much about what you do?”

“To shapeshifters…humans are the cause of every problem. They treated each family like shit. The Salem witch trials, the werewolf hunts, people being accused of being vampires, were all just a part of it. The shapeshifters, after seeing what humans did to other kingdoms, never showed themselves to them. They wanted to destroy them.”

“And they still want you guys dead? After all this time?” Blaze asked. Her eyes shone with sadness. It was kind of tragic—we having to be blamed for our weaknesses. That weakness being that we can’t give birth. I nodded.

“And they’re going to keep coming back until they destroy you?”

I nodded again.