2

My first thought when I awoke was that this wasn’t my tiny bed at my apartment. It felt different, yet at the same time more comfortable, cozier. I snuggled further down under the warmth covering me, feeling better then I had in years.  My mind was comfortingly blank, the desperate, dead feeling I’d had was gone, it was replaced by just a warm feeling of… just right-ness.

      Finally I opened my eyes, the room around me was dim, the only real light was emanating from a small lamp on the other side of the small room, illuminating a girl maybe my own age, most likely a little younger sitting and reading. The rightness feeling just continued, I wasn’t the least bit worried about where I was or who I was with. Contently I sat up, stretched and yawned, feeling a little like a cat who’d just eaten the canary and washed him down with a huge bowl of cream. The girl turned a pair of cornflower blue eyes up at me and smiled lightly at me; closed her book and started to get up.

      “You don’t have to get up on my account.” She laughed, it sounded like small bells,

      “Oh don’t worry; I’m supposed to tell them when you’re awake anyway. So don’t worry yourself.” She crossed the room and half leaned out the doorjamb and called, “she’s awake!” it didn’t sound loud enough, but soon I heard a loud pair of running feet. She turned and smiled at me,

      “Not to rush you, but you might want to move to that chair…” she pointed to one across from the couch I was laying on. I nodded and moved, carrying the blanket I’d been covered with, with me. In a second I realized why she’d had me move; the guy who I realized had been the one to take me here last night (tonight?). But now he wasn’t wearing his vest and he’d replaced it with a bright grin.

      He got two steps through the door, jumped and came sailing into the room and landed heavily right where I’d just been sitting.

      “Hey Lenora! That’s my Companion, Baby, and I’m Cobie.” An average sized man in his late twenties with copper-brown hair came in, a girl a few years older then me with dark brown hair on his arm.  “That’s Dorian and his Companion, Korine.” He turned to Dorian, “where’s James?”

      “I’m sure I don’t know.”

      “I believe he’s in his room, my dear.” Baby said settling her small frame into the space between his head and the arm of the couch; Cobie rested his head in her lap. She began to play with his ungelled hair while Dorian turned to me,

      “I’m sure you have a few questions for us.” He smiled at me gently; his companion just gave me an icy look. I thought for a second, did I have any questions? I still didn’t care who, what, they were and where I was. But I did have one question.

      I looked Dorian straight in his honey brown eyes, I wanted him to understand the importance of what I was about to say.

      “You’re not going to make me leave are you?” Baby gave a little cry, nearly leapt from her seat and sat down, half on top of me and hugged me tightly.

      “No, hunnie, they’re going to keep you here for as long as possible, don’t worry.” She was near tears, which set me off. I can’t ever keep myself in check when someone else starts crying. I just hugged her back and prayed that she wouldn’t really begin to sob like it seemed she would.

Cobie came across the room and reclaimed his “pillow”, leading Baby back to sit with him on the couch. I scrambled off the loveseat so Dorian and Korine could sit comfortably, I settled myself on the floor, smoothing a blue gigume skirt that would have made Dorothy slap me for wearing her outfit.

“Since you have no questions I’ll just explain everything to you.” Dorian said, and cleared his throat before speaking. “You, Lenora Jacobs, are a Companion. You were born to ‘fall in love’ with a vampire. Now which one has yet to be determined, it’s not really up to us…” Cobie broke in here, seeing my slightly confused face,

      “Lemmie break it down for you, simply, vamps are real. James, me and Dorian are vamps. Tell nobody. You, Baby, and the Ice Queen over there are Companions, mostly like ‘soul’ mates for vamps. I have this annoying ability to be able to sense Companions, even ones that aren’t mine, from miles away. Eventually we’ll figure out who’s Companion you are and they’ll bend over backwards to make you happy as hell. Any questions yet?” I raised my hand like I was still in school, Cobie smartly scanned the whole rest of the room with his eyes before calling on me, “Yes, Lenora?”

      “How was that simpler?”

      “He would have taken a half an hour.” He held the same straight faced expression I wore for a full minute before we both cracked up. Baby laughed along with us, Dorian tried to hide a chuckle while Korine just glared icily at both of us.

 

      Twenty minutes later Baby was unlocking the door to an empty room at the end of a hall upstairs. She opened it and there was just a nondescript wooden framed bed with white bed sheets and only a small side table with a lamp and a dresser. All light stained wood and boring. Almost like a hotel room, and just as spotless.

“It’s not much, but it’ll do until we find your vampire I suppose.” She said, crossing the room and opening the window to get the air circulating in the room.     I stepped in and felt a stab of the same emptiness in my chest that had just so recently been lifted. It was empty; alien; I didn’t belong here. Not in this room. Not in this wing.

      I suppressed the tears that started to well up in my eyes, the only people I’d connected with in almost five years were just here until they could ship me off somewhere else… like my mother had the instant I turned 18, she didn’t want me as her “problem” anymore. I didn’t fit with her otherwise perfect new family. An eight year old son, a six year old daughter and a new husband almost ten years younger then she was. It was easier to pass for younger when you didn’t have a seventeen year old daughter hanging around the house.

Baby turned from the window and looked at me curiously,

      “Are you alright?” I nodded, not sure I should trust my voice, “do you need anything else?” I decided to risk it,

      “I’m just tired.” She nodded and gave me this little smile that seemed a lot older then she looked.

      “If you need anything, just let me know. I showed you my room on the way up.” I hadn’t been paying attention; I was marveling at everything else that I couldn’t have found Baby and Cobie’s room by myself if my life depended on it.

Baby sent me one more kind smile, then hesitated for a second, as if she wanted to hug me again, but decided against it.

      “Goodnight.” Then she left me.

      I heaved a huge sigh and walked over to the head of my new bed, flipped on the small lamp on the nightstand, and curled up on top of the white comforter. With nothing else to do I finally drifted off to sleep, my mind once again exhausted from processing everything, though I’d awoken only an hour or so before.

 

Everything around me was glittering and bright, my clothes felt heavier then I remembered. Glancing down I realized why; I was wearing a gown! A pale coral with tiny pearls stitched into every seam, more wealth then I’d ever worn, gold and diamonds graced my neck and wrists. I lifted my head to glance across the room, standing at least two heads taller then me was the most handsome man I’d ever seen, even standing in the midst of a huge room filled with the most beautiful people I’d ever seen, his dark copper hair and honey brown eyes stood out like a beacon. (A distant part of me realized that it was Dorian, the other vampire. Did that mean that these people were vampires? Were they in danger? Or was I? ) A woman approached me; mouth turned up in a bright smile, her eyeteeth sharp and elongated, her eyes bright with happiness. I still wasn’t sure if I should run or not by the time she reached me. She grasped my hands and started talking excitedly to me. I couldn’t hear a word. The only thing I heard was slow, classical sounding music drifting from all sides. It seemed like this woman’s nearly black hair had been sparkled with stars, her dark brown eyes held the same shine. Her lips met my cheek just as her equally dark haired companion whisked her away to dance. I continued my trek towards Dorian, people stopping me every few feet to spew words that I never heard into my ears. Finally I reached Dorian; he encircled me in his arms as if we’d been lovers for years. I felt his face near my ear, actually heard the words he spoke, though I’d heard no others.

“You put on a wonderful party, my lovely. I’ll hate to lose you when the time comes…” here he gripped me tighter, as if I’d be snatched from his arms at this very moment. “My Abril…” suddenly everything was engulfed in a blinding white light then everything was black.

 

 

Reviews

[Corey Lunare-]

hmm....very interesting and quite the unexpected twst in your plot. I had no idea this was coming! As for how quickly they told her i suppose that is due to the charecter of Dorian. I like this all very very much so far! There is only one thing i do not like: The fact tha this girl isn' freaking 0out or at least questioning whats goign on and the fact tht she found out they were vampires didn't seem to phase her much. Or maybe this isbecause the woman is half-inane and just desn' care nemore like u said in the story. Either way. Well U got me hee Dream so i will return for another soon!