One moment she was drowning and the next she was waking up choking to find the people who took her home all staring down at her with the exact same expression of worry. The silence drifted through the room, the cold wind creeped under the bathrobe reminding her of her own bareness. Part of her was shocked the memories were ringing in her ears, reminding her of the terrible accident, without her own knowledge hot tears of desperation, fear and grief clouded her eyes. She pulled her legs up to her chin and sobbed silently.Read Full Chapter
Everyone around her was confused, “Amy, it’s okay you’re fine” her sister whispered gently, placing her hand against Amelia’s cold arm, but Amelia could not look at her. How could she tell her sister that their parents have died because of her? If she wasn’t in that car her parents would have been alive, and her sister would have had a family. After all that creature was looking for her, but why? She did not know. She looked up at Clary, “I remember what happened on the day of the accident.” She pleaded for fogginess from her sister, begging her with her eyes.
She explained how they were going towards the shop when something had attacked their car, killing both their parents, and hurting her gravely that she had finally lost her consciousness and how she woke up in the hospital. She didn’t dare to tell her of what the creature had said, before it had left. Until she realizes what truly happened and why it would be her secret. But in the corner of her eye she noticed Zaiden watching her with his emerald eyes. He knew, she realized, he knew that she wasn’t telling the whole truth to them. But it didn’t matter. If she asks, she would tell him the entire truth because some part of her knew that he was the only one she could trust.
Everyone looked sympathetically at her, but pity wasn’t something she wanted. She wanted to be absolutely alone. And Zaiden seemed to understand her perfectly, “let’s give her some space”, he gently whispered to the others. After they left Amelia started to go through everything, she remembered. She knew whatever that creature wanted it has not achieved yet and it will find her. And by taking her in these innocent people have only put themselves in more danger. She knew she had to tell them the truth but she couldn’t.
Exhaustion quickly clouded her mind and she began to slip away slowly, in deep peaceful darkness, but not before she was dragged into a merciless dream. She stood in an abandoned building, it was in the center of a town where she saw the man with the hood, he was covered in ebony clothing and he had different chemicals around him. The pungent smell of rotting flesh reached her nose, it looked as if he was conducting an experiment, suddenly something dropped from above, “master …” it hissed but before the man could answer the vicious creature looked up directly meeting her ruby eyes. Amelia woke up screaming, she was sure that she must have awoken half the sleeping house by now. But no one came in, so she decided to let herself calm down. She changed clothes from the bath robe she wore to a pair of black jeans and a black hoodie she picked from her vast cupboard. Putting on a pair of boots, she grabbed a candle from the kitchen drawer and lit it as she crept out of the safety of her chambers. The hallways of the great house were lonely and dark, the silence that crept throughout the house did not make her comfortable. The pillars in each side of the lengthening hallway created enormous shadows lengthening into different shapes, she felt as if they were great giants waiting watching her patiently as she wondered. The house was filled with rooms she quite did not know where to go. She came across an indoor balcony that looked down on the living room, dining area and kitchen. Above that she could make out different rooms, she walked through them, as she went, she could identify different rooms which had different smells with each person in them. Then she came across a room with a dark door, it smelt refreshing and calming it made her feel safe, she felt like she was near Zaiden. This must be Zaiden’s room, she thought to herself. She could not ignore the blush that crept across her cheeks nor could she ignore the thundering of her heart just at that thought. Should she knock? She needed to spill her guts out about everything, she had to tell him.
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It had been a long day, Zaiden could not get the feeling that Amelia was not telling the entire truth to them, some hard part of him knew that Amy was indeed his mate, staying away from her was painful he could feel both his wolf and his vampire sides demanding that he go see her immediately. But he was afraid, he knew that if he went now, she might reject him and it might tear him apart. But staying here was killing him even more, he did not know if she was safe. Suddenly a soft knock on his door surprised him, bringing him back from his long chain of thought. He walked towards the door, wondering who would be awake during this hour. Opening the door his heart nearly stopped, as he saw Amelia fully dressed and a candle in her hand. “Hey, you okay?” he asked in a worried voice. She nodded, “can we talk, please?” She looked nervous. He could not believe it yet, he could clearly hear both their rapidly beating hearts. She walked into his room and he closed the door and walked beside her to his bed, once they sat down Amy started talking.
Amelia was worried, she told Zaiden everything, about the accident, about the voice, the dream everything. In the end she felt relief filing it, she was glad she told it to him. Zaiden was patient the whole time listening silently. After she finished, he gently held her hands and told her his share of nightmares too. “you must promise that you won’t tell anyone what I told you? There’s so much I don’t know yet.” she asked him. He nodded, he was nervous, she realized, “do you want to practice your powers?” he questioned. She smiled nodding. A trumpeting smile spread across his beautiful face, “Give me a minute.’’ He asked her, because currently he was dressed in sweatpants and a gray t-shirt that was sticking to his body, emphasizing the muscle in his body. Amelia sat patiently until he changed, she was surprised when he appeared with a dark pair of jeans, a black jacket and boots, she smiled secretly to herself, god! he was strikingly handsome. He met her eyes, “shall we go?” she nodded in reply.
They came out of the door, Amy did not forget to take the candle with her, the house was so big that it casted a shadow upon itself, making it difficult for a normal person to see. But her new precise sensors quickly adapted to the darkness. She noticed Zaiden watching her with interest, “you can see?” he asked. She smiled,” yes, but it’s still strange”. “Vampires are adapted to see in the dark, because we need to hunt. But we have other talents as well, like extreme sensitivity to smell, sound. But others have different kinds of powers.” He explained, “I’ll teach you your powers, they seem to be quite similar to mine, but the venom in your skin still surprises me,” He smiled. She looked down at her hands, at the moment they remained plain, her marble skin glittering, like a thousand diamonds embedded in her skin. The sunlight reflecting on it mesmerized her, gasping as she watched paralyzed in its beauty. “Were you expecting to burn to death?” Zaiden whispered beside her. She nodded dumbfounded by the fact. “It’s a myth, original vampires like us do not burn sunlight or have an effect on holy items. People just believe them to make themselves better.” He chuckled, “however shadows do have some effect.” He continued to lead them to the arena, they stopped in front of some double doors, “this is our library, and we have a special way to go to the arena.” She looked up at him questioningly, but she was astonished, the library was colossal, the book shelves situated in circles creating a maze. “don’t get lost,” Zaiden whispered, the book shelves were like sky towers, in between were long ladders to reach the tallest shelves. She felt as if they were tall giants looking down upon them. The silence that kept spreading was starting to get on her nerves, she herself could hear her own pounding heartbeat. Suddenly, gentle fingers slipped into her hands, she looked up at Zaiden surprised. “Don’t be afraid.” He reached out a thin book from the top shelf giving her a silent smile.
The dark steps of the archive echoed beneath their feet as they descended down the steps. After quite a climb down they arrived in front of a large iron door. “Welcome to our arena!” Zaiden said softly leading her into a large area that included an obstacle course and all sorts of weapons. “This is where we learn to fight, and train for battle. We must be ready at all times because the magical dimension is filled with all sorts of creatures, always hungry for power.” Her eyes wandered around the room, she didn’t think she was going to become a warrior but Zaiden seemed to have a lot of faith in her so she was determined to give it a shot. Besides she knew he was right if she was going to find out about her past, she had to learn how to defend herself because she was going to face her enemy without flinching and to do that, she had to learn fast. She took a deep breath and exhaled, looking deep into Zaiden’s pine green eyes, “okay, I’m ready. Let’s start.”
Zaiden wasn’t expecting this, he’s met various vampires in his life but Amelia was nothing like them, she was calm and quiet. She did not question his knowledge or challenge him, she simply listened and followed. It was strange like she was meant to be in this life, meant to train hard. She acted like a soldier, part of him wondered about his dream, was it truly okay to tell her everything or had he put them all in trouble. And teaching her to fight, was it the perfect option after his dream he knew that she must have a connection to the dark lord but he felt that deep within she was fragile. This was a risk he was taking and he hoped that it would not backfire on him.
Zaiden taught her all sorts of defensive techniques, then they moved on to weapon practice. He taught her all sorts of weapons, sword fighting, archery and even guns. At some point where they were, she was practicing archery when she couldn’t get it on the target right. “let me help,” Zaiden whispered. He placed his fingers on her hip and the other hand on the bow, now she really tensed up, unable to breath in his close proximity, her heart was thundering against her ribs, if she wasn’t a vampire at the moment, she sure would have been embarrassed by the heat she felt against her cheek. But her pale complexion did not change one bit, she remained pale despite her feelings. But the small smile in Zaiden’s lips told her that he knew exactly how she felt. “Focus, take a deep breath”, she looked at the target and inhaled sharply, but as a vampire she did not have to necessarily breathe. Her vision focused on the target, “now exhale”, Zaiden’s voice echoed behind her, his lips brushing the tips of her ear. a shiver ran down her spine, creating goosebumps. His presence affected her more than she thought. Strange what is happening to me? She wondered to herself, she has never experienced something like this before or she could not remember feeling these kinds of feelings before. After teaching her to fight, Zaiden disappeared once more from her sight. She finally got her bear back and time to process everything that was happening, even though her heart was not supposed to beat because she was a vamp, she could feel it thumping against her breast bone rapidly.
“Breakfast time”, a soft voice chirped from behind her, startling her while her arrow flew straight across the air and hit nowhere close to the target. She released a furious breath willing herself to calm down, once she was sure that she would not turn around and attack her intruder. She looked at Clary who was still waiting for Amelia to join her. She took her time changing the armor in her arms and placing the bow and sheath of arrows delicately beside the other weapons. And pulling her long dark hair into a single braid before following the eager young girl down to breakfast. When they arrived downstairs Esme was arranging the table and the others were watching a movie in the living room. But Zaiden was nowhere to be seen, where did she disappear to? Part of her was wondering if she did the right thing by telling him everything about her recovering memory. But as she went to the tap to wash her hands something peculiar happened, instead of directly falling on her hands the waters in the shape around them like a shield she stared at it in wonder and fear. “Amy”, Esme’s voice behind her startled her, making her lose her concentration and the water splashed into the sink. A feeling of dread evolved around her. If Esme saw what she did, what would happen to her? She looked up into her adopted mother’s green eyes. They weren’t Blazing like Zaiden’s but they looked kind and compassionate making her feel calm.
“Is everything alright?” She looked worried but did not look suspiciously at her, she nodded in reply knowing that if she opened her mouth now, she might say something that would threaten her. She sat down at the breakfast table silently and watched the others sit and eat, but she was not feeling hungry, the breakfast toast and orange juice was not her cup of tea. However, as she watched the others eat her eye caught Zaiden, he was silently eating but cautiously watching her. Their eyes met for a second and then her eyes drifted towards his neck. The thick vein moved as he ate, she could feel his pulse beating steadily beneath his skin and the warmth spreading through his body. It was strange the others did not appeal to her as much as he did. She felt as if her throat was on fire, her veins burned and her fangs lengthened underneath her lips which parted to let out a soft sound.