Chapter Twenty-Three: A Royal And A Sence Of Love In The Air.

My body feels faint, and I grip the servants wrist harder to support my wobbling body. He looks down at me, blinking ever so elegantly as if he was a royal subject; as if I should be the one attending to him and his wounds.

"Milady..." He pulls me closer to him, catching me before I fall. My chest hits his and I'm knocked out of breath. I can feel his heartbeat pounding against his chest, it's so real I almost forget he's a vampire.

He doesn't sound so dead to me...

"You are not well, let's sit." I breathe, suddenly in sync with his lungs.

I shake my head, "No, no."

Upstairs I hear Abe, "It's Koda."

With the sound of my brother's name I push away from the servant, he doesn't protest but follows me as I stumble for the staircase. I take a step up the wooden stairs, but can't balance on my own; placing myself on all fours.

Luke flips the chandelier on above us as I climb, it's light shimmers against the wood of the stairs and railing. Halfway up I acknowledge the vampire on my heels, but he disregards the fact that I shouldn't be walking at all.

An urge of adrenaline surges through my body when my eyes catch the thick railing. I decide to pull myself up to grab the smooth wood with both palms. I need to get up there now!

"Please, you will injure your leg more!" The servant finally speaks but doesn't touch me.

My throbbing leg is the least of my worries when my brother could possibly be dead and someone else could be upstairs hiding. Two thirds up the stairs I become dizzy, my confidence fading. My legs give out on me but the man grabs ahold on me with the blink of an eye.

"Let me go!" I cry out, suddenly tears beginning to stream from my cheeks. I hear one drip onto the wood below my shaking legs.

"Let me help you, I am your servant." He speaks gently.

"My brother! Koda!" I point towards the door that goes into the second corridor of the home.

Instantly Luke is running up to me and the servant. He passes us within seconds, skipping so many steps I worry he will trip. Once I'm to the top my servant grabs ahold of me once more but Luke is already running down the upstairs hallway.

I begin doing the same fighing away from the man, but he scoops me up and within a millisecond we are inside the big bedroom at the end of the hall. I blink, in shock looking around in a complete blurr. Luke comes in behind us, out of breath while Leddy and Abe stand in front of us.

How did we move so fast?

I freeze against the vampire's warm chest, seeing a heap of a person I didn't before. My brother lays lifelessly on the floor, sprawled out with his face against the carpet. I can only see the back of his head but the concerning matter is that his body is covered in dried blood.

I start smacking my servants chest, "Put me down! Put me down now!"

He abides and once my feet are firmly planted on the ground I try to spin around but once more my leg gives out. I panic forward, seeing red specks of blood dripped on the white carpet. Koda's shoulder and neck are covered in a thick red.

My body feels hot and I hold my breath as the rest of the room is yelling at each other. I can't comprehend what is going on, still feeling dizzy. My head feels like a balloon, growing bigger and top heavy. I feel faint, but before my balance goes two arms hold me around my weist.

Luke slips past us, pushing Abe out of the way and grabbing ahold of Koda. He flips him over, revealing his intact face and chest. Blood had dripped down Koda's shoulder to his chest and soaked into his clothing.

Luke pulls Koda's shirt up, sighing of relief at the sight of his stomach and chest uninjured. Koda's stomach moves up and down and I sigh of relief, he's just unconscious, "He's alive."

"Get that vampire out of here!" Leddy yells to me, "He will take your brother, he will hurt him. There's blood everywhere."

I pick my head back up, turning slightly to make eye contact with my servant; his arms still around my body. He appears just as in shock as I am that Leddy spat those words out so unapologetically.

It could be true...

He doesn't stick up for himself, only looks at me for an answer. I frown becoming frazzled, "Right now is not the time, Leddy."

She makes a sound, almost a growl, "I don't want him in here!" Is she being overprotective of my own brother? "GET OUT!"

I look up at the man holding me up, "Will you go back downstairs and tell everyone Koda has been found?" I suggest.

His attention doesn't leave my eyes and I can't help but wonder why he looks at me this way. The world stops around me once again, It's unlike anything I have seen before in my entire life. His piercing green eyes, so gentile and innocent. This makes me think that he'd never want to hurt anyone.

"Yes, milady. Will you be alright for a few minutes?"

I nod and with that he's removing his arms from around my body. He steps back as the warmth instantly leaves me. That strange tingling feeling has gone as if it never existed.

The man takes one more glance at me, his eyes moving up and down; then suddenly he's gone. My legs shake once more without the support of his arms and I spin back around on one leg despite the pain.

Abe announces from the bathroom, "If any of you didn't know, there's a dead werewolf in here."

Luke is attending to an unconscious Koda, finding a wound on his shoulder. Now seeing him I don't think it's as bad as I thought, he's only got scratches on his shoulder. The blood all over him may not even be his own.

Luke shakes his cousin's chest but he doesn't open his eyes, "Koda! Wake up!"

It takes him over a minute to finally open his eyes. They flutter as he falls in and out of consciousness. Luke and I glance at each other and I grip my wrist in my hand. Why was he out cold when he's hardly lost any blood? Something isn't adding up.

Luke tries to help my brother sit up but he shakily falls into the same position he was, his body falling back onto Luke. The groan coming from his lips make me think he's in way more pain than he should be.

A screech from downstairs echowes throughout the open air of the home. I'm guessing the girls have already been told about Koda. The others don't seem to notice, even as two sets of pounding feet against the downstairs wood flooring booms in the estate.

I look over my shoulder at the doorway already finding the stealthy vampire standing there. He has a guilty expression on his face, and after some moments when Estelle comes running from behind him hysterically I understand why.

Estelle and Lynn push past the group around Koda, out of breath while the vampire in front of me doesn't look phased at all. His eyes meet mine, "I did not intend to upset the young lady..."

"I'm not upset with you," I reassure him.

His shoulders immedietly relax and so I turn around again to observe the situation. Lynn crouches down to Koda first. His droopy brown eyes look up at her hazily and behind Lynn, Estelle is pacing, "We need to take him somewhere..."

Luke frowns and begins pulling off Koda's shirt, "You don't understand," He gestures for my brother, "I've had training in things like this, I can heal him. It's just his shoulder, he's going to be okay."

Her facial expression goes blank, and she looks at Lynn with her mouth falling open, "Did you see-"

Lynn cuts her off, "We have to talk about this later!"

Koda's eyes struggle to stay open but he keeps trying to converse with the two girls. I turn around, meeting the eyes of the vampire again. This situation is getting even stranger and I'm starting to think somebody here knows more than the rest of us. What is the matter with the two girls?

I suddenly become overwhelmed and look over my shoulder, "I need to leave."

The man's gentile features become stiff and he opens his mouth, "I can get you cleaned up."

Leddy gives us a glare before I turn around fully to step out into the empty hallway.

****

I sit on the black countertop in Jane's bathroom of the estate, exactly where the vampire servant had placed me. I'm still shaken up from the events of the day but now I'm just numb. The pain in my leg makes me light headed. It's not that I've lost tons of blood but I think because of how excruciating this pain is.

After stripping down and changing into shorts Jane has been rummaging through her cubbords getting out supplies to clean my wound. Without the vampire against me again I'm sweating and groaning in pain. I've looked at my leg a few times but the more I stare the worse I feel.

"You saw the symbol on his wrist right?" Estelle whispers to Lynn.

I look around the room but the other two don't seem phased by her words coming from the bedroom. Maybe they can't hear them?

"Yes..." Lynn says sharply.

"You know what that means! I've seen it on all of them, we can't trust him."

"He got me out, Estelle," Lynn's voice is faint, "He's on our side."

"It was fresh, he was just branded."

"Do you think that's where he was?" Lynn suddenly realizes, "He was taken back there. They branded him."

The cogs start turning in my brain, the girls think he was brought back to the Hunters. I feel physically sick, those men must have done something to him. What if they're watching us right now through Koda? I don't want to trust him.

Jane comes to me with a hot cloth and a bottle of something that I do not recognize. When she gets to her knees the light shines just right onto her face, blinding her for a second. The dark bags under her eyes and color that has drained from her face masks the truth that she really slept for hours.

My sister starts attending to my wound and instantly I'm flinching away from her, my arm falling backwards and into the wide mirror behind me. I clench my right fist and grip the other hand on the edge of the countertop.

I groan, she needs to be more gentile.

Behind her the vampire stands close, staring over her shoulder. His eyes are not on my leg but my face instead, as if reading my emotions or thoughts. He winces when I do once more and then suddenly he can't take it anymore, "Please stop!"

He covers his mouth instantly, as if he has done soemthing wrong. Jane glares over her shoulder at him, but he steps back in a millisecond.

He doesn't make eye contact with her, "My apologies." His voice is a whisper.

Janalyn brings her attention back to my leg but before she can touch it again the man spits out, "I'd much rather do this for milady."

With his words a tightness circles in my chest, and my heart begins to pound harder. He may have been given to me as a gift hours ago but he acts like he's known me for much longer. His kindness utterly shocks me, after all he was just given away like property.

My sister stares at me unsure what to do, while the vampire servant looks at me for approval. I forget he won't do anything for me like this unless I give him permission, "Let him do it Jane."

She seems weary but hands over the supplies and stands back. The man starts tending to me, placing his hand on my calf. A warmness fills my leg as tingles creep up it giving me goosebumps. I can't shake the feeling of his fingers gently holding my calf, it's almost intoxicating.

"Miss Jane, may I ask you a favor? Can you please take some time to rest? I feel as though your family is worried about you." He takes a pause before adding, "I will have everything taken care of with milady."

Jane is about to argue, I can see her expression become cold so I open my mouth, "You need more sleep," I then address the man crouched down below me, "And..." I realize we haven't been properly introduced, "...he is right here. You'll be able to see me from your bed."

Jane agrees but leaves with hesitation in her step. Everyone saying this vampire could be dangerous is putting the thought in my head as well. Even Jane has implied that she doesn't want to leave me alone, and I don't think she likes that he is even touching me.

While the man tends to me I watch his face become still and his lips are plastered shut. He is entirely focused on me, but works slower and more persice than Jane did at cleaning my wound. It stings but doesn't give me as much pain as before.

My voice is shaky as I speak, suddenly feeling shy, "What can I call you?"

"Whatever you like, you are my owner." He replies.

"What's your name?"

He stops what he's doing and lifts his head up to me. At this moment, in the yellowed but bright lighting of Jane's bathroom, I notice how dirty the man's face really is. His nose is even bruised with a slight indent on the side making it look crooked. He's a bit scratched up, and even though the rain might have cleaned him, he still needs a good wash.

His eyes blink at me a few times, while his mouth falls open. The man's teeth on the otherhand are a bright white, including his two sharp fangs. This is the first time I've really gotten a look at them, but they're not blood stained like I would've thought.

"What is the matter?" I realize.

"A slave or servant is never called by their first name..."

My chest clenches, "We can make you the first."

He frowns as if not wanting to say his own name, "I would rather not."

A feeling builds up inside me, something I don't think I've ever felt so strongly before. It's like a sadness in my chest but also utter frustration, but at the same time it is not the man's fault and I completely understand. I wish I'd ask him a million questions but I don't know how.

"Please tell me your name, your full name." I plead.

With my demand he finally complies, "Perry Donnan."

Donnan?

That name, I'm certain it's a royal name. I remember it so distinctly, I could never forget Lynn talking about her dream world to us when we first arrived on Elyria. We were talking about the end of the Vampire Queen's bloodline.

A scream of bloody murder suddenly rings though the estate, coming from the bathroom at the end of the hallway. The vampire stops moving and blinks up at me while in the bedroom I hear Estelle become worried and Lynn trying to keep her from running out of the room towards the struggle.

I know what is going on, because my ears pick up on the conversation- more like an argument, "Koda is going to be fine!" I announce, "Luke is just cleaning up his shoulder."

I hear my brother yelp once again, he's got to be in a tremendous amount of pain. I hope Luke isn't doing anything stupid because I am definatly not in the mood to go to a hospital and make up a lame excuse to why we are all injured.

Within a few minutes, Estelle and Lynn are running out of the room and I'm left alone with Perry while Jane is knocked out on her bed again. I can see her calm breathing and I realize she must be the heaviest sleeper to sleep through all of the ruckus.

"This might sting..." Perry pulls out the unidentified liquid and starts pouring it on a washcloth.

Once he starts working again he acts even slower and even more gentile than before. I wince, falling forward and placing my hand on his shoulder. He freezes, and that strange warmness and tingling sensation fills up my palm and goes down my fingertips.

Our eyes meet, and instantly I feel this strange feeling in my stomach; like something is flying around inside of me. His face feels extra close to me, maybe even too close...a prince? Is he a prince?

My mouth becomes dry, and I realize that my lips parted. I blink away from his face, my cheeks becoming hot.

"Are you part of the royal family?" I ask for affirmation.

His eyes go wide and I feel as if I've either upset him or made him uncomfortable. His pale freckled face goes even more ghostly white.

"Yes..." He whispers as if it is a secret.

I notice a big laceration on Perry's arm and a scratch across his chest where his old shirt was ripped. The vampire looks a bit beat up as well, and his bruised nose seems to have gotten darker within the time we've been in here. I look closer and see a tear in his upper lip, and a bit of blood on his nose.

"Can I clean you up?"

"I can do it in my own time." He rejects my offer.

After some moments of silence and Perry has wrapped my leg in a bandage I rope him into letting me clean him up. The scratches are easy to fix up, but as I touch his arm he starts wincing.

It takes a lot of time for him to admit what parts of his body hurt, and I discover the poor man had been going on to take care of me with painful ribs, a possible arm injury and a broken nose.

After some time I question the man once more, "How did you end up becoming a slave?"

The vampire looks over my shoulder, "These matters are things I should not discuss with my master."

I blink around, "Lets go somewhere more private."

****

The two of us end up stepping out of the front door, taking a stroll around the large estate. My anxiousness becomes hightened as I'm reminded this man could do anything to me now that we're alone. I force myself to breathe in the crisp breeze, a great freshness that I've wanted to enjoy but was too stressed.

"Milady, are you well?"

My stomach falls, "I- I don't need a slave..." I shouldn't talk to this man about my thoughts, what if he's a spy? What if I can't trust him? What if he's really the man I'm supposed to love? What if I get close to him and the Hunters take him away? I'm already endangering him enough.

He looks down at his feet shyly, "Miss, I am your slave, you earned me..."

Even though night time is falling and the sun has dissapeared behind the clouds the air is fresh, still moist from the rainstorm.

"I don't want you to be a slave." I sigh.

He shrugs as if it doesn't bother him, "I have been for many years, through the vampire Councils. I can not simply be freed, I must earn that. So from here on, I will take orders from you."

Suddenly I'm curious knowing he has something he wants to say but might be too frightened of me, "Are you scared of me?" I question as we round the other side of the home by the gardens and patio.

His eyes go wide and he looks away so I can't see his face, "I have not been treated well before. I am only property to do work..."

In the distance of the rolling hills and skyline, a valley of sparkling lights shine back at us. I'm entirely astonished, wondering what I am staring at. Distracted, I gradually follow him while my eyes stay on the fascinating view.

Out of the corner of my eye we pass the windows and garden on the left. We step across the patio stones and around the furniture. I stop at the railing of the deck, my eyes glued to these lights that give me this sence of serenity.

"Tell me what is on your mind." I demand.

"I want to be more than just your property, but a slave is not allowed to talk of such things with their master. You can do whatever you please with me."

A sadness overcomes me, he really is scared, "I didn't want a slave, or a servant..." I don't know what to say. "But I don't have any friends." I hint.

I look up at the clear sky and get a light-hearted feeling inside me. The stars are the brightest I have ever seen them, I swear I can make out the shape of the milkyway. I take a deep breath of the crips air and turn my head to look at the man next to me. He is entirely speechless.

I'm unsure of what else to say, "I need a friend..."

Perry opens his mouth but only takes a breath. My ears pick up his pounding heartbeat; it is almost as fast as mine. I hear the crickets becoming loud, new to the spring air. Whips of the nightly breeze follow, and blow my red curls into my face.

The yard infrount of me goes far down until there's a dark line of something across it, prabobly a fence or bushes. In the middle of the yard is a massive blob that makes up the large pine tree. Past the dark line is a field that goes down the the edge of the forest which runs as far as the eye can see.

Far in the distance, past the rolling hills and forest the lights flicker, and I even notice some of them blinking. The lights are a few different colors, white, blue and multiple hints of yellow. I conclude there's a city down there, along with people and places I've never seen before.

Those little specks of light miles and miles away on the horizon shine brighter than the trillions of stars in the sky. The mixture of both are magical, they actually make me smile over at the vampire next to me.

I'm unsure how to word my thoughs but it comes out quickly, "I want you to talk to me."

His eyes go wide, "Why are you so conflicted?" His voice is a horse whisper.

"How?" I'm a little lost.

"With me?"

It dawns on me, he must think I don't want him here, "I don't know you, but I want to know you." I admit, "I don't know if I can trust you. My life has not been normal and it never will be, but there's something different about you."

My awkward, jumbled mess of sentences must make sence to the vampire next to me because he nods with more confidence than before, "I am a royal vampire and a slave but I'm just a man. I don't have any plans of destruction and I never have in my life. I will not hurt you, master."

"Call me Ellie." I tell him.

"I will not hurt you, Ellie," He looks right into my eyes. "You confuse me too. When I first saw you something changed." His voice eccowes throughout the open air.

Something changed.

A door slides open behind me, interrupting our conversation. The two of us turn seeing a figure coming to greet us, "I thought you'd be here," It's Jane, she must have been awoken again. "...you were always obsessed with this view."

How come I don't recognize this unique place? The view is absolutely wonderful. The lights make out a horizontal line across the land and attached to that is a diagonal line going down to the right. Jane let's me stare for a while then proclaims, "You both should come inside, we still don't know if it's safe."

We agree and follow her through the sliding glass doors into the dimly lit kitchen. The light above the sink is on, but a calming yellow. I notice a faint smell of ketchup and hamburger. For some odd reason it gives me a good feeling; a sence of familiarity even though it is new to me.

My eyes go over to the vampire again, finally I'm able to see his features a little clearer. I can't shake the memory of when I was told about the man I'm meant to love. It can't be true right? No one can just predict such a thing. His eyes are on me, making me wonder once more if it is actually true.

I feel so good being here. Or maybe it's a sence of love in the air, a feeling I long to touch.