Sweet Cries of a Canary

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I realized was the familiar ceiling of my new bedroom and the feel of my head against the soft pillows. I closed my eyes again as I was lying in my bed with a fluff ball pressed against me. That had to be Layla. She was with her head on my chest, surely looking at me. It was warm and comfortable but I felt naked for some reason. I frowned and lifted the blankets to find out I was indeed naked. I groaned and clutched my head and looked back at Layla.

When she saw me staring at her with my eyes finally wide open, she licked my face and barked happily. Even though I thought I had woken up for good, for some unknown reason I fell asleep right then. I kind of felt light-headed and drifted off. I was that weak from what it seemed and that wasn’t all, but the next dream -that welcomed me- was very pleasant.

My heart felt warm; the kind of warmth you were supposed to get from family members and people you knew that loved you and they’d keep you safe. Yes, that was it. I felt a strange sense of security in an unknown place. I was walking out from what seemed to be a dark cave and into the moonlight by the lit lake.

I walked down some huge rocks with slight difficulty as it came to my attention that I was barefoot and when I finally I reached the lake, tears dropped from my eyes. Not knowing why I was even crying, I brushed the tears away as I let myself calm down and take in the sight that this beautiful scenery had to offer. I could smell the wet trees and feel the cold air against my skin so much that it made me shiver.

I went beside the the lake and sat there on my knees, moving a bit forward to stare at my reflection in the lake. My reflection; myself, wasn’t how I imagined it to be. My dark red hair was filled with mud and I hadn’t realized how they felt against my neck and my back till that very moment. There were purple purple bruises on my face; noticeable on my forehead and left cheek, and marks of fingers around my neck and I saw the white straps f what I was wearing; a white v-neck dress covered in dirt.

Why I was in that sorry state of an appearance? Where was I? Someone was trying to kill me. That much was clear, but I didn’t feel any fear. Why was I feeling so secure when I had obviously survived something I didn’t even know of? It was a really strange but comfortable dream. And what was the weirdest thing about that dream was that I knew I wasn’t conscious. I knew I was in a dream.

I kept staring in my reflection. The lake’s waters were very calming, not even moving like they should. Watching myself again, I saw that my dark brown eyes where nowhere to be found, just that black abyss of mine. I always found it strange how these black eyes of mine could actually see anything…just a blackness watching over the colorful world. What a strange sight…a sight for the world to see.

I knew what everyone would have said though. They’d keep themselves far away from me. I was a monster; a creature that looked human but my eyes spoke the truth about my real form. Human would always be afraid of the unknown and the different from what they knew as right. A sigh escaped my lips as I took my reflection in, my sorrows too.

‘’Don’t you worry, my child.’’ A melodic voice whispered in ears. It was a warm breath on my ears but no one was actually beside me to whisper those sacred to me words. Was I hallucinating? No, I was dreaming; so that couldn’t be…

I turned around to see a creature I had never seen before. A black entity coming out from the dark woods and the dark cave I had came out from. I could slightly make the difference of it as it came out of that dark place. A slender figure; like the blackness of my eyes, walking gracefully towards me. Her womanly, delicate hands moved from behind her back to her sides and I could see the ocean blue painted nails.

Then, as in a fairy-tale, the stars came down from the sky and slightly lit her body as she kept coming closer to me. Her features could be seen more as she approached me. She was like a drawing coming out alive from a canvas. Sharing the same pair of eyes I had, that dark abyss was surrounded by dark gray lines that could make out the shape of her eyebrows, her eyes, her nose, her lips and even her neck as well as the rest of her body.

‘’You are Nyx,’’ I whispered to her as I got up, and she finally stood in front of me in her nightly glory. He lips twisted in a kind, understanding smile. She was happy I had realized who she was, I could tell.

She raised her hand and caressed my cheek, and all the pain I didn’t even know I was feeling till then, disappeared, and I felt a strange feeling in the deepest parts of my soul. I felt alive, I felt powerful. Every fiber in my body screamed how strong I was.

I lowered my head and was about to bend my knees when she lifted up my chin. ‘’You don’t have to do this, Agatha, my sweet child...’’

‘’Are you real? I’m not dreaming, am I?’’ I asked her, staring deep into her eyes of a black abyss with an endless black abyss of my own.

‘’You’re dreaming my child, but I’m into your subconscious to bestow on you all the blessings you will need as your journey is finally starting.’’ She gave me another small smile with her black teeth glowing in their black attire.

‘’What journey? And what are those marks around my neck? Why am I not afraid anymore, Nyx?’’ The questions left my mouth without me even realizing it. From then on, it felt like I was watching myself. Like I was watching a movie, not having any power over my body as I watched from somewhere else; almost like I was someone else.

‘’There are things only you can do. That’s the reason you’ll marry the first prince of the vampire nation. There are many things in store for you my dear child, but they won’t come without any pain and sorrow. You have to be prepared to display your powers and make them fear you, my dear.’’ As she finished those words, I lowered my head. I could see the discomfort of my self as I stared at myself a few feet away from me, yet I could still hear everything perfectly like I was right there.

Realizing my discomfort, Nyx spoke again. ‘’I know this isn’t what you wanted, my child, but they must fear you if you want to make it out alive.’’ And then her voice became filled with fury. ‘’Do not be afraid, child. They are the ones that should be afraid, not you! The day will come; the day that you’ll rule over them all. And everyone who was betrayed you,’’ she pointed to the marks around my neck as she stared st them before turning her eyes back on mine and continuing, ‘’ will be dealt with what they deserve; a death like no other. A death they wish never existed. So, fear not! For, you will always have me by your side. So remember, Agatha! Remember your roots, remember who you really are and what you can do.’’

With a loss of words I tried to take in everything she had told. I should remember this when I would wake up. I had to remember. I had to remember everything. ‘’You’ll remember, Agatha! You will.’’ And with that she walked passed my self a few feet away from me and walked into the lake as my self turned around and watched her disappear into the cold lake.

I woke up to something licking me and as I opened my eyes I saw Layla licking both my cheeks. ‘’Okay-okay, big lioness. I’m awake.’’ I said to her and gave her a smile. I focused behind her towards the big mirror in my bedroom, glad to see my eyes were back to their earthly color.

At that moment, the door to my room swung open and Ryan rushed in. When he saw me awake he ran forward and grabbed me pulling me up out of the bed and into his arms. I yelped in shock and struggled to keep my body covered while saying, ‘’Put me down you savage man!’’

‘’I'm so glad you’re okay.’’ He said oblivious to my naked state and that was when his brothers came running in.

‘’Agatha!’’ They cried and I gasped.

I turned to Ryan presenting my arms to him in a manner that said: Pick me up! Wihout saying anything to him, Ryan suddenly realized I was naked and held me even as I pulled his shirt off.

‘’Can you wait a bit and don't look?!’’ I half asked and half stated to the two completely dumbfounded brothers. When the older one realized what was wrong, he smiled and turned around making his younger brother do the same.

The small child blushing bright red, saying, ‘’we can wait.’’ I wanted to hide my embarrassment as I pulled the shirt over Ryan’s head.

‘’No, we’ll come back later,’’ the elder brother said rushing the small kid out of the room.

‘’But I wanna talk to Agatha.’’ Tristan whined but they disappeared as I put on Ryan’s shirt over my head but not before I felt his cool face pressed against my breasts and heard him mumble something like, ‘’Don't ever leave me again, Agatha. You scared me. Do you know for how long you’ve been asleep? For three whole days. It’s night time.’’

That stopped me and I looked down at the vampire. ‘’You were worried about me?’’ I asked completely in shock that someone seemed to care and especially him.

He looked up blood tears sliding down his cheeks and he kissed my cheek saying, ‘’Of course I did.’’ I turned away blushing and realized once again that I was naked from the legs down and he was naked from the waist up.

I blushed harder and said, ‘’put me down, you savage.’’

As soon as he set me down and my feet touched the floor, I ran into the bathroom. Three days without a shower, I needed one bad... I took of Ryan’s shirt and got into the bathtub. I turned on half hot and half cold water and let it fall on my head and down the rest of my body. The water against my body felt so relaxing that I debated, filling the bathtub and staying there for a good hour. Instead, my shower took less than twenty minutes, even though I hadn't taken one for a while.

When I got out, I wrapped myself in a towel and looked in the mirror. I saw a perfect face, absolutely nothing wrong with it except for my eyes. I sighed and saw no bruises, though I was supposed to have some from my fall but then, there was that strange dream, and I remembered every single bit of it like I had wished in it.

I looked at my features a bit more closely examining the high cheek bones, the straight nose, the medium ears, the unruly hair, the lush mouth, my slightly arched brows and lastly, my black eyes; the black abyss was there staring at my own reflection. They must have turned while I showered but I didn’t feel the pain like I used to. Weird!

I kept staring, only to say to myself, ‘’these eyes of mine are so strange.’’

‘’How could you like this face? How could anyone like this face?’’ I thought to myself but said it out-loud in a whisper as I walked out of the bathroom to find Ryan perched at the end of my bed with no shirt on. He looked up as I opened the door and smiled. His smile took my breath away. It was so beautiful, almost seemed pure – as if a man’s smile could ever be pure- and it made my heart ache, but I chained my heart down after remembering my ex.

‘’How are you feeling?’’ he asked standing up and I gasped enjoying the sight of his muscles rippling under his skin. He stopped and a look of concern was crossing his face, ‘’are you okay?’’ He went to move closer to me but I fled to my walk-in closet to pick clean pajamas and underwear.

‘’I’m good.’’ I called and went to close the door but remembered there wasn't one. That was when I saw the changing screen all the way in the back and I grabbed my undies, and a set of baby-doll pj's. I ran in the back and as I got dressed quickly, I started to think about that weird dream with Nyx, what she had said and then out of the blue, I felt light-headed a bit and I had to hold on onto a shelf filled with clothes for support and I steadied myself to keep standing on my feet.

There was a sharp pain in my head and all I remember before closing my eyes and letting myself go into the blackness was that I didn’t have enough strength in me to yell for Ryan, though I seemed to be in top condition earlier, so I could only whisper his name, ‘’Ryan.’’