The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (57 page)

I wondered why I
had never taken
in these details before but then the answer spoke behind me.

“
It was a gift
.” He was refer
ring
to the old looking picture that ancient fingers had constructed God only knows how many years ago. The edge was a series of different symbols boxed round their own frames and inside the main p
icture consisted of a peaceful
sunrise casting its
warm
glow over a
sandstone kingdom. Little
yellow homes topped with terracotta roofs that wound round and round the hills until they
met up with a spectacular curved stone palace
.  The
palace
itself was a work of art and reminded me of somethin
g right out of the Lord of the R
ings novel. I couldn’t help
but
reach my fingers out to touch the material, as if checking it was real. I could feel Draven behind me, watching me as usual, which is what made me hesitate.

“
Its
fine, go ahead
,” h
e whispered and I ran my fingers over the thousands of little bumps that made up one of the most beautiful
pictures I had ever seen. I don’t know what it was about
it
but it captured you into
its
world. It made you want to see its own view from those windows and feel the heat on your skin from those powerful sun beams.

“It’s beautiful
!
” I wanted to ask him about it but befo
re I formed words,
he was making it disappear with one
strong sweep of his arm. H
e had it gathered up and pushed it to one side like a curtain. I turned
and looked up
to ask him what he was doing but he just nodded back to the empty space which now wasn’t so empty. The magical picture had gone but it had been replaced by a dark
,
mahogany door.

“Do you want to know why I told you
not
to bring anything?” I stared at him blankly before speculating.

“I thought you meant…well you know, girly things, which I found
,
thank you
.
” I was referring to the box of supplies that had been left out
for me to find in the bathroom, w
hi
ch I had been greatly thankful for while completing my
morning
routine
. He laughed lightly before shaking his head.

“That you can thank Sophia for but this…well you can blame me for, she was only doing what I asked,
so
please
,
keep that in mind
.
” I didn’t see his face when he said this as he was opening the door for me to walk through first. He didn’t give me much time
to think about what it could be, because as soon as I walked in, I quickly discovered what it was he thought I might freak out at.

I took one step down into the biggest walk in wardrobe I had ever seen. The ones on MTV cribs had nothing on this baby!

I
t
was a huge room
, almost double my own at home,
and
had every wall covered with hanging material. I couldn’t tell but I think my mouth was hanging open. I looked to one side and it was obviously Draven
’
s side as it had hundreds of suits hung in
a
specially
designed closet that looked as if
it rotated. There were lights above that made the colours stand out, not that there
was much colour to speak of
. Draven obviously preferred his black suits above any other but there was another section that held his more casual stuff, t shirts, row upon row of jeans and then there was a whole other section with nothing but men’s footwear.

There was a massive isl
and in the middle that was suitable
for Draven
’
s
height but I just felt like a child next to it. It had frosted glass doors that fronted different size draw
er
s, which filled every space on all sides.

I heard him laugh behind me and before I could turn
to him
he had turned my body to face the other side opposite his.

“This is your side
,” h
e said happily and I nearly lost my balance. Was he joking?! Of course when I saw what he c
alled my side, I knew he wasn’t.
There was a wall full of clothes that looked all to be in my size. It was only when I looked closer that I noticed it was everything that I had seen yesterday. Tops I had picked up and put down because I refused to pay the s
tores prices, some I remembered
hoping they would be o
n sale and I could get them later at a much lower cost
. I even recall Sophia frowning at me when she would see me put
ting
the clothes back.

I walked up to the endless amount of clothes and ran my hand along them. It was then that I would see some of Sophia’s choices for me that she had seen in her expensive designer stores. Oh my God, there was even a dress the
re that had a price tag of six
months wages!

“You…you can’t. I can’t let you do this
!
” I stammered out but I had a feeling as soon as Draven heard it
,
that it would
n’t
make much of a difference.

“And why not?”
He said unfazed by my refusal
.  

“Because
,
it’s too much!
I don’t need all this
…I can’t pay you back for all this”
This made him come up behind me and take me by the waist.

“You know I don’t want you to pay me back, that’s not why I did this! And besides, don’t you think I owe you from all the clothes I have destroyed. This way at least I won’t have to feel guilty” My mind was swimming with excuses and w
ays of saying no but it was as though
his voice was trying to smooth over these thoughts with ones of acceptance and approval.
Of course the added arousal his hands created on my sides did make my
own
thoughts harder to hear. And then he tipped it his way by speaking but a few words at my neck.

“Please
,
just let me
do this
.
” At this I couldn’t refuse him.

By the time I had finished getting fresh and ready
,
it was now lunch time and I was starving. Draven had left me to conduct so
me business which I refrained from
asking him about. After last night I thought it best to give myself a little brea
thing space between me and his ‘Work’
.

I had showered the last traces of the
night’s horrors away. H
owever
,
I still couldn’
t bring myself to look at my image
in the mirror. The thought of me changing again was just too much to
bear
. When Draven had been around I had used every ounce of will power I had to pus
h that vision from my mind but
now I was alone
,
I just couldn’t do it.

What the hell was happening? Was this the power that Lucius had over me or was this part of his sick plan
he had
in store for me?
I kept repeating over and over the part when Draven had first explained about Vampires. He had told me that Lucius couldn’t change humans, only the supernatural. So why me? Surely this was just a trick, a sick and twisted stunt to make my mind weak. I didn’t feel any different that
w
as for sure, ok maybe a little stronger but that had happened ever since I had been with Draven. I had put it down to the happiness I felt whenever he was near.

But most importantly, why whenever I found enough mental power to think about telling Draven everything, was it quickly replaced with doubt and denial?! I was fighting myself and it was so exhausting I felt like crumbling to the floor every time I thought about it. 
 

I had hoped the shower would have worked in washing away all my fears but a
s I let the water flood my skin I had still felt his hands on me. I scrubbed and scrubbed my skin until red
and blotchy
but
that didn’t help the feeling that gnawed
away at my brain. It was as if
Lucius
was right behind me mimicking my every move. When my hands were washing my hair, his fingers where running through every strand. When my palms soaped up my body there were his thoughts of desire looking down at me. Those icy eyes taking note of every curve, every mark years of living in this skin had
made
. I closed my eyes and tried to banish what the idea even did to me. Why was I getting aroused by the idea? I wanted to hate myself! I wanted to sc
ream out “What is wrong with me?
”

I felt like I was in some way cheating on Draven. I wanted to put it all down to Lucius and his control but deep down I was just terrified that there was some substance behind it. I couldn’t help myself feeling something more for this tortured soul that had been consumed by bitterness. His touch had been gentle but I had to keep reminding myself that the motives behind them were deadly. 

Now
,
of course
,
here I was
with a towel wrapped round me looking at the vastness of colour which was my new wardrobe. Trying to pick from all of t
his was,
I know
,
the least of my problems but for some reason I was finding it next to excruciating. I mean
before I didn’t feel that
what I wore around Draven was that important but now I felt like it was an issue. I started to question what he actually thought of my dress sense. Well not that there was much sense to it…I mean comfort
always
played a big part.

I let out a big sigh and after standing there for near
ly
twenty minutes I decided I was being paranoid. When I started to filter through the clothes they were all items that I would have chosen for myself
anyway
, so that meant if he did have a problem with the wa
y I dressed, then wouldn’t he have
picked other stuff? New outfits that he hadn’t seen me wear? But the more I looked
,
the more it just looked like a replica of the stuff I had at home.

In the end I just picked out a two, layered t shirt that had long sleeves. It was black and light grey, which made my eyes appear a shade dark
er. This I matched with a tight
pair of faded jeans that flared at the bottom. I then started to search around for underwear and socks before getting dressed in my new outfi
t that had
had
all the tags removed. I smiled at the thought of Draven not w
anting me to know how much everything had
cost. Well at least he k
new I wasn’t with him for money.

I felt funny about going through his draw
er
s but that was the only place left for them. I started at the top and almost screamed when I saw what was hidden there. It was completely filled with very expensive looking watches. One looked so full of diamonds that it would soon start bleeding them. I saw the name Piaget’s Emperador Temple and bit my lip. There were other names like Franck Muller Aeternitas that looked like it had more functions than a Swiss army knife!
Another said Louis Moinet’s
Meteoris and this one looked like it didn’t only tell the time but also the solar system! There were other makes, some I even recognised but you would have still needed to re-mortgage a house to purchased one. I gulped down the hard lump before moving on to the next draw
er
. Thankfully
,
this one just had men’s underwear and socks,
so
this one I closed quickly so that I couldn’t see any designer names. I dreaded to think how much he spent on his boxer briefs.

Lucky number three it was and I hit
the
jackpot.
I was a bit surprised when I saw it was very similar to the one I had at home. I half expected it to be full of red and black l
ace but when my favourite white
cotton, short briefs filled the space
,
I smiled. Of co
urse there were
some other varieties
but I grabbed the most comfortable one
s
as any of the others wouldn’t be seen anyway, not until I was off and ready again
for the naughty
. The next draw
er
down held bras and the last one, socks. I took out what I needed and changed.