My Beloved (13 page)

“Okay. This is going to be a long night,” she uttered at the end with a sigh.

Wendy

Her heart beat like drums with the possibilities that this night could bring. Licking her suddenly dry lips, she sat up straighter on her bed as she looked imploringly at Vincent. “What has the necklace got to do with anything? You never really answered.” She would start with that one, she decided.

Vincent nodded and then sat beside her, taking her hand in his. “It’s a long story, but that necklace controls me in a sense. It controls my heart, because in essence it is my heart.”

Wendy gasped as she picked up the ruby locket and looked at it closer, with it now seeming to weigh more. “H-How?” she asked, still looking at the finely detailed necklace. Vincent sighed and looked to the window. “A witch by the name of Serafine charmed the necklace in hopes that it would force me to love her. This was hundreds of years ago. We met as I was hunting for another feed and I happened to fall upon her. Compulsion doesn’t work on witches, as I quickly found out. The night was dark and cold and I found it odd that a young damsel was out on her own. Not caring since all I wanted was to quench my thirst, I then bit her.” He looked down at Wendy with a faraway look in his eyes.

“She didn’t scream, didn’t move… just stood there and waited for me to finish. It was startling but when I tried to make her forget, it wouldn’t work. She simply started to walk away while I was panicking. I had never crossed a witch before therefore I’ve never had that happen. Deciding it would be probably best to kill her, I was about to when she turned around. ‘Follow me, Vampire…’ Her voice…” Vincent trailed off before shaking his head. Wendy wouldn’t admit it but she was starting to feel the telltale signs of jealousy. “Something about her urged me to follow her, and so I did. No words were spoken during the short journey into the woods. Little did I know I was following a snake.”

Wendy took shameless pleasure knowing he didn’t like the girl from the tone he was using.

“We got to her place and I followed her inside like a lost puppy. Her blood was still coursing through my veins, so I was still feeling this weightless kind of aura around myself. Well after a moment, we, uh, we got intimate-”

Wendy’s face burned as she uttered a small, “Oh.”

Vincent paused and held her face in his hands. “I wish I could take it back-”

This time Wendy cut him off. “No, no, continue. What’s done is done.”

He nodded but didn’t continue until he kissed her forehead. “Afterwards, her blood had all but left my system, making me think more clearly. I wanted out of there and intended to do so quietly until she caught me near the door. She was so angry, screaming about how all of my kinds are the same and that she loved me. You can imagine my surprise at that. We didn’t even know each other and she was declaring her love for me? It was absurd! I told her, I was somehow under the influence of her blood. Otherwise I wouldn’t have bedded her. That set her off even more however. She screamed at me how she’ll get me to love her. Not wanting to stay there another second, I flitted out the door before she could say more, fully intending to stay away.”

Wendy was hanging on every word that spilled from his lips. “And then what?” she encouraged with a whisper.

He chuckled darkly and shook his head. “A few nights later I began to feel dizzy. Darcy was aiding me with the horses when I fell ill. For a vampire, that was extremely unusual and it scared us both. I felt like my heart was ripping out of my chest. He ran to get help and the moment he was gone, I got this urge to walk. Like I wasn’t in control. I heard ‘Come to me’ over and over again. For the first time since I was turned, I felt compelled. It was unnerving but there was little I could do about it. I flitted to where the voice was guiding me and to my shock I was at the young witch’s house.”

Wendy could tell he was reliving all of this so for support, she squeezed his hand.

“I’ll never forget when I walked in. Her hair glowed like fire, and her eyes were this bright green that literally glowed! She looked amazingly terrifying. In her hands was that very necklace around her neck. She clasped it around her neck and at once the pain and the feeling of being sick stopped. The second it stopped, I demanded her to tell me what was going on but she merely cackled. She told me, I was hers and now she owned my heart when she gestured to the necklace. I felt so enraged and tried to kill her but she grasped it, making me stop short. My mind went blank after that. I only got small bits of what happened that night. Most of which sickened me to think of. I was her puppet for the next five years.”

Wendy gasped and without her wanting to, she started to tear up at the thought of someone being imprisoned for so long in their own mind.

“What about Darcy? Couldn’t he help?” she asked, trying to somehow rewrite the ending, even if it already happened.

Vincent chuckled humorlessly. “Of course he tried. But he was newly turned and no match for a witch like her. Every time he came at her, she hit him with some detour spell. I never could figure out why she didn’t kill him Hell, maybe she was sweet on him, too, if that woman could have ever been sweet. I eventually got away from her though. One night after using me to kill a woman in town who denied her friendship, she was in a particularly good mood and decided to bathe. She fell asleep in the tub and I took that opportunity to quickly take the necklace off. Of course, she woke up but I still got it off and ran.” Vincent looked down at Wendy with a small smile.

“I learned beforehand though that only three people were ever able to wear it. Her, myself and My Beloved… you. It works differently when you wear it though. You see, when she wore it, it controlled my actions. But when you wear it, you can influence my feelings, but ultimately I decide what is best.”

Wendy cocked her head to the side as she tried to process all the new information. “Why does it work like that?” she asked as she played with the fringe of her overly used blanket. She was feeling more and more tired but refused to go to sleep.

“Well, because the necklace was made for you. Serafine knew this, but intercepted the spell and created a new one. A hybrid one, if you will. It’s why she was able to wear it, and even why I could wear it without it burning me.”

Wendy shook her head and looked at her lap. With her glasses threatening to slip off her nose, she pushed them back up. ‘I need to get contacts,’ she thought with a small frown.

Vincent’s finger came under her chin to lift up her face to his. “Such a terrible frown to be gracing such a beautiful face.” His comment made her blush ten times over and her heart fluttered.

She snorted to hide her blush. “That was cheesy,” she joked but had to really laugh at his bewildered face.

“Cheesy? How can words be any substance of cheese?” he asked innocently, and that just made Wendy laugh louder. She had to grab her pillow so her dad wouldn’t hear and laughed into it, and his face just made it all worse. He waited patiently though, silently enjoying her laugh.

When Wendy had finally got over her giggling fit, she sighed and wiped away a stray tear, still smiling. “Cheesy is a term now. It means… kind of a rendition of clichéd,” she said with a shrug.

“Well, even if it is ‘cheesy,’ as you called it, it was nevertheless true. Any more questions?” he said with a lazy smile.

Wendy thought about it for a moment and again, shrugged. “Tell me about yourself. Anything and everything. Your favorite color, what you like to do, that kind of thing.” She spoke just above a whisper, like she was suddenly self-conscious again. He nodded and surprised her when he suddenly had his back to the headboard of her bed and she was leaning back against him. “If you keep doing things like that, then I’m going to throw up all over you,” she warned him once the room stopped spinning. He simply chuckled and Wendy shivered when she could feel the vibration of his chest rumble into her back.

“Let’s see. I was born on January 16th, 1437, roughly 576 years ago. You have it so much easier than then… and it’s so much cleaner now as well. I was born into a wealthy family. My parents were a Lord and Lady of that time. I won’t go into specifics, but there were many bugs and people hardly bathed. A rich family would bathe maybe twice a year while the peasants would bathe twice in their lifetime!”

Wendy’s face screwed up at the thought. ‘Gross,’ she thought with a small snicker. Vincent lightly tapped her thigh to get her to listen again.

“My favorite color was gold, but I have to say it is now a sea blue, much like your eyes.” Wendy flushed and had to settle her heart from the indirect compliment. “I had a dog growing up named Archer, and he was a basset hound. I miss the old mutt. One time, he got into the chicken coop and killed two of them by simply barking loudly! My mother was so angry while my father was too busy laughing. I had twelve brothers and sisters. Six of them died before they were a year, which was quite common back then.” He paused to kiss Wendy at the top of her head. “I was twenty-three when I died, and came back as this.”

Wendy interrupted him. “How and who turned you?” she asked, feeling her curiosity peak.

He was quiet for a moment and Wendy wondered if she overstepped her bounds until he spoke. “I was walking along the path back to my home from the market. The sun had just set so I hurried along, knowing there were bandits and thieves in the area. I was a skilled swordsman, but knew they tended to come in packs, so I would be unmatched. I heard some rustling in the bush, making me start to run. I was foolish to think I could ever outrun him.”

Wendy’s heart picked up as the story began to unfold, only knowing too well how scared he must have been.

“Suddenly he was there, right in front of me. I quickly pulled out my sword to defend myself, but he just laughed. I was confused to see it was only him when I expected a band of thieves! When he grinned, I then thought I was dealing with a demon when his fangs flashed. I remember thinking, ‘This is it, I’m going to die.’ It was terrifying yet strangely exhilarating at the same time. I wouldn’t go down without a fight however and began to swipe at him, all of which he easily deflected. I was growing tired as it looked he was growing bored. He yawned at my attempts but I used that distraction and cut his arm. It was a shallow cut, but I nicked him. He was impressed and I’ll never forget what he said. ‘Maybe you’re more than a meal after all.’ It was then he lunged and turned me. I later learned from him that it was fighting skills that impressed him. He saw potential in me, which was the reason he turned me.”

Wendy was stunned and slowly turned around to face him, only then realizing just how close they were.

“Just like that?” she whispered and had to fight the urge to look down at his lips.

He gazed at her mouth though without trepidation and leaned in. “Just like that,” he answered and pressed his lips more firmly against hers. Would she ever get used to this? The fire that curled through her veins at break-neck speeds was alarming but so exhilarating. When he kissed her, she forgot all that was the cons to this twisted relationship, whatever you wanted to call it. All she could think about was how to get closer. She let out a startled squeak against his lips when he abruptly turned them over so he was above her. They broke apart with slightly labored breathing.

“Tell me about you. I want to know everything, Firefly.”

She would never tell him but she secretly liked his nickname for her. At least, a lot better than ‘Little One.’ She was dumbfounded by the serious look in his eyes though. No one had really asked about her, so it was a little unnerving. It was hard for her to concentrate with him pressing against her so intimately, yet so casually. “Uh… my favorite color is royal purple,” she blurted and wanted to face palm at how random it was. She closed her eyes tightly, reprimanding herself. It seems compared to Vincent, she was always clumsy, even in her words.

His silky chuckle met her ears as she peeked an eye open. He was smiling down at her. “Go on,” he urged as she slipped out a nervous laugh.

“Uh, my favorite animal is a horse, and I lived in this town and house since I was born. My birthday is December twelfth, I’m seventeen years old. Uh… I only have an older brother, whom I am close to.” With that last statement, it brought back the reality that she’d have to leave her family behind. Sighing, she looked to the side and closed her eyes so tears wouldn’t escape. Vincent captured a stray one that managed.

“I wish there was a way for you to stay safe and still be in contact with them, Firefly,” he murmured. Wendy could detect the slight note of regret in his voice, making her turn back to face him. “I hate that I am the cause of your sadness.” His voice was quiet and anguished, causing her to place her hand on his cheek.

“It’s going to be a while for me to get over any of this, but if I had to leave with anyone, then I’m glad it’s you.” Her words touched him as he placed a soft gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Go to sleep, Love. We have the rest of our lives to get to know more of the little things.” His voice lulled her to sleep even though she knew she would need to be up in a few short hours for school.

“Where are you going to go in the morning?” she asked through a yawn.

She was barely awake when he answered, “Never worry for me, Love. Go to sleep.”

She shut her eyes and let sleep claim her, knowing she was safe, even if it was in a vampire’s arms.

*****