I Know you, but how? chapters 8 & 9

A Chapter by Phoenix

I Know you, but how? chapters 8 & 9

Some confusion is cleared up, but some is still there. Questions are answered, but still some remain. After I had reminded him again about what questions I wanted the answers to, he gently put his hand over mine and said, "I will answer your questions to the best of my ability. There will most likely be some questions that only Rain and Lucain can answer for you, though."

He paused then said, "You and Aleena look exactly the same. It is why, when I first saw you, I picked you up and brought you here. I had spent many years attempting to find Aleena, with no trace. We were in love, and I knew that she did not choose to leave me."

"So, you brought me here and took me away from the life I knew out of love," I softly said, looking over at him.

"Yes, I did," he said. "I did not know what else to do. I could think of nothing else, but bringing you home."

I heard what he said, but didn't say anything for a little while. Before, if I'd heard him mention about bringing me home, I would've questioned him about it. I would've said that it wasn't me he wanted to bring home, that it was Aleena. Now, though, as I sat beside him on the couch, I didn't want to say that. Instead of commenting about that, I said, "How did you know it was me, that you'd found the right person?"

"I was not completely sure if you were Aleena," Nick said, admitting his uncertainty. "Now that you have been here, however, I know that you are. If you were not Aleena, then you would not have enjoyed spending time with me in the garden, have known that I was in the music room, or enjoyed me kissing you."

I silently listened to what he was saying, thinking everything over. I'd already thought that may be Nick was right, that I was Aleena. Now that I'd thought about it, and heard what he said, I knew he was right.

"You're right," I said to Nick. "How else would I feel like I'm supposed to be here, or know about you and this place if I wasn't Aleena. I had dreams about this place, before you even found me."

I paused then said, "Why didn't you explain things earlier?"

Nick was silent for a while, before he stood up and started pacing, before he said, "I was not sure what to say to you. It seems that there are two sets of memories and dreams in your mind. How exactly would you expect me to explain things to you if I am unsure of who I would be talking to?"

I sighed then said, "Yeah, I'd see how that could be frustrating. It's been confusing for me too, though. Of course the question is, why do I have two sets of memories and dreams in my mind?" I had a theory about why, but I really wasn't sure. I'd just have to wait and see if I were right.

Nick stopped pacing then said to me, "I am not really sure how to answer that."

I took a breath then said, "Do you think maybe I was Aleena in my past life?"

"Yes, I do," he said, before walking over to me. "Do you think that you were Aleena in a former life?"

I looked away from him and said, "I'm not really sure what to think. Part of me does think that, and another part of me just thinks it's crazy to even think it. I know one thing, though. I'm going to have to wait to get more answers."

Nick sighed then said, "Yes, you will. Rain and Lucian will be here very soon. They may be the only ones who can answer your other questions. I have a feeling, though, that it will not be the easiest to get answers from them."

"Yes, well, I at least have to try to get answers," I said, looking at him. "If I do, maybe things wouldn't be so confusing. I mean, even now I don't feel like I want to run from you. I feel like I should be planning for a wedding and begging you to turn me into a Dhampire. At the same time, becoming a Dhampire scares me and I'm not sure if I'd actually want to marry you."

I paused then said, "I feel drawn to you, in love with you, but I also feel scared of you. I feel scared, because I barely know you, yet I feel like I want you to kiss me and never stop. And if it's the case where it's because now I'm Caleigh, but I was Aleena before or it's that there's still a bit of Aleena there, in me, right now, then it'd make sense I'm feeling what I am, and that things have been so confusing."

There was silence between us for a while, neither of us seeming to know what to say. After a while, Nick said, "Would you care to take a stroll with me?"

I smiled a little, for the first time in a while, and said, "Yes, I would." I looked down after I said that, noticing that I was still in my sleeping gown, and said, "I need to change, though."

A few of the female servants were called after I said that, and before too long I was back in my room. After helping me into a cream colored dress, with a little lace around the sleeves and neckline, and into a pair of tan colored shoes that were tall enough to keep the long dress well off the floor, after I had insisted that my ankle was fine and wearing shoes wouldn't be a problem, my hair being dressed up a bit with a couple of combs, I went and left my room and was led back to where Gustave was. I didn't have any problem walking in the shoes, which was something I was a little surprised about but mostly not.

Once I was back with Nick, I took his hand and we started walking so we could leave the mansion. After getting to and leaving through a door I hadn't used before, well at least not recently, we walked along the path that led to the main road. Once there, we walked along until we reached a pond, that wasn't all that far from the mansion. When we got there, I remembered it. It was somewhere I'd been before, somewhere I liked to walk with Nick so we could talk alone. It was as beautiful as it ever was; water so blue and clear you could see yourself in it, and the flowers, plants and trees were just as pretty and colorful as they had ever been.

We went and walked around the pond for a while, talking at different points but at other times saying nothing and just being there together. After walking around for a while, we headed back to the mansion. Once there, Nick led me to the music room and then started playing a musical piece. It was one that was his favorites. As I listened to it, I realized it was one that was my favorites too. I walked over to the piano at one point, and sat beside him on the piano bench. As he played I leaved my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes and just listening.

When he stopped playing, I was disappointed. I'd wanted him to continue, loving the way he played. When he asked me to play, though, I wasn't so disappointed anymore. I went and put my fingers over the keys, hesitating for a short time before deciding on what to play. Eventually, without even really noticing or realizing it, I started to play a song that was a bit complicated for some but not really that much for me.

The rest of the day was spent playing the piano and with me eating and having tea at different points. Eventually, I got tired and fell asleep right beside Gustave as we sat on the couch. I hadn't planned it, it just happened. As I slept, I dreamed about our day together, but also about other things that had happened before. I didn't think about what would happen soon, about Lawrence and Emma being there. It was too unpleasant to. Pretty soon, though, I'd have to. Emma and Lawrence show up at the house and the confrontation happens. It doesn't go the best, though. But out of it comes something that Aleena has wanted for a while.

Confrontation and Transformation

Today was the day, the day I had been dreading. I hadn't realized it, though, until after I woke up and was told that today was the day. I reluctantly had gotten up, a few of the servants helping me dress and fixing my hair not too long after. Once I was dressed in a lilac colored dress, the same shoes as before, and my hair was in a Braided Up-do, I went and left my room.

After having breakfast, Nick sitting with me in the kitchen and having his own breakfast of blood, we went and left the kitchen and headed to the parlor for a little while. It was the first time, since I'd recently been there, that I'd seen Nick drink blood. I knew he was a Dhampire, but it's just that he hadn't actually drunk blood in front of me.

Time seemed to tick by extremely slowly, as we both sat and waited and tried to think of things to talk about. A few hours later, though, one of the servants came into the parlor and told us that Rain and Lucian had arrived and had been brought to the drawing room. I grabbed Nick's hand when I heard that, really not wanting to face them but knowing I had to now.

There was a bit of hesitation from both of us, but eventually we both stood up and started walking in the direction of the drawing room. The walk seemed longer than it actually was, feeling like it took an hour but in reality took several minutes. We didn't say anything to each other as we walked, probably because neither of us knew what to say. So, we just walked in silence and headed for where Rain and Lucian were.

Once we got to the drawing room, and walked in, I held onto Nick's hand a little tighter. I looked over at Rain and Lucian and glared at them a bit.

Rain just laughed and said, as she looked at me, "Well, look who wants nothing to do with us. I see you still remember us, even with everything else that happened to you."

"Yeah, I do," I said. "It took me a little while, but I remembered what happened. You and your husband... you just... how could you kidnap me? How could you hurt us?"

"Very easily," Lucian said, much too casually. "You were in the way."

I'd let Nick's hand go and started moving towards Lucian, angry with what he said and how casually he said it, as I said, "You're heartless! You and your wife are! You don't care about anybody, do you?!"

Before I could get too far, though, or Lucian and Rain could really be given much chance to get near me, I felt my arm being grabbed and myself being pulled back. It wasn't a hard tug by any means. It was just something to get me to step back, away from those who'd hurt me. When I was back standing beside Nick, he said to me, "I know they hurt you, and you are angry, however they can do more damage to you than you could do to them. They are the Elder vampires, just like the coven."

I sighed then said, "Fine! You deal with them then, since I can't." I really wished I could, but Nick was right. A human fighting with a couple of vampires, which is probably where it'd end up, is never good. I really didn't want to get extremely hurt or worse. So, I'd just let Nick deal with things. I'd ask questions every now and then, but if it came to an actual fight, he'd have to be the one to do that.

Nick let go of my arm, and moved forward a bit before saying to Rain, "How dare you betray me, your own brother! How dare you abduct the love of my life and make her forget me!"

Rain smirked and said, "My dear brother, you forget just who you are talking to. I will do what I can to get what I want, even if that means destroying someone else's happiness. It just happened to be your happiness that was destroyed."

She paused then said, "You are wrong about one thing, though. I did not make Siren forget you."

I looked over at Lucain when I heard what Rain said. What she said didn't surprise me, especially because of what I remembered. At the same time, it didn't really make me feel calm or anything. It made me feel just as angry and upset as I had been. "You made me forget Nick, didn't you?" I said. "Well, made Aleena forget."

"I did," Lucain said. "It took a good amount of time, but I was able to do it. You see, your will was very strong when we first took you from your home. You had to be... weakened a bit before your memory could be erased."

I didn't ask him to go into details about how exactly my will was weakened, not sure I really wanted to know. Instead, I said, "You killed Aleena, didn't you? And she came back as me. I was Aleena in a past life, am I right?"

I looked over at Nick after I said that, noticing how angry he'd gotten, was getting, from what he'd heard. Not too long after I heard Lucian say, casually, "Yes, we killed Aleena and it would seem that you were her in a former life," Nick had quickly moved the rest of the way over to where Lucian and Rain were and went after Lucain. Pretty soon, though, Rain joined in the fight because she didn't like that Nick went after her husband.

I watched what was going on, but moved when one of them would be thrown across the room, they picked up something to throw, or ran back to the fight. At one point, it looked like the fight was getting really out of hand and that being in the room wasn't a great idea anymore. When I started to leave the room, though, I didn't have a clear path to do that. So, I went and started to run behind the couch. Before I could get there, though, I felt myself being picked up and held. When I struggled, whoever had me held me tighter. When I looked over, I noticed that Nick currently had the upper hand on Rain. That told me that Lucain had to be the one who had me.

I felt his fangs on my neck and screamed, "Nick, help me!"

I felt tears falling from my eyes, from fear and from pain. I saw Nick stop fighting Rain, noticing the situation I was in, and start coming over towards Lucian. "Let her go!" he said, as he moved over to where we were.

Lucian squeezed me a bit tighter, and a strangled cry escaped my throat, as he said, "Not so fast, Nick. I can end her life , again, without a second thought."

As he was saying that, I tried to struggle and get free even though Lucian's grip was very, very tight. I wasn't sure if Luciane's grip tightened even more or not, but I didn't feel like I could breathe. I felt like the air was being squeezed out of me, which was exactly what was happening. I vaguely heard what was being said around me, but couldn't really, completely, make things out. I could tell that Nick was trying his best to get Lucian to let me go. At one point, though, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out. I could tell Lucian still had me, but I could breathe. I coughed a bit and gasped for breath.

At one point, I thought I heard Rain say, "Well, it looks like she is just as strong willed as she was before. Anyone else would have most likely passed out."

She paused then said, "If you are going to do away with her, though, I think it would be a better idea to drain her dry."

I really didn't like hearing that. Really, really didn't at all. The next thing I knew, I heard a good amount of footsteps rushing into the room. I saw a couple of the servants rushing over to Rain, as I heard, "I think that is an excellent idea," before I felt fangs bite me in the throat, it hurting a whole lot. I could feel my blood leaving my body, and myself getting weaker. At one point, though, I felt myself being let go and me falling to the floor. At that point, I felt so tired and weak. I didn't feel like I could move at all.

I heard a whole bunch of noise, not really sure what was going on. After a while, though, I heard footsteps leaving the drawing room and dragging sounds, as well as both Rain and Lucian arguing and refusing to go with whoever was trying to bring them out of the room. Not too long after, though, I heard less and less noise before there was none. At one point during the commotion, I was pretty sure I felt myself being picked up. Nothing was said to me, though. At least, not for a little while.

When there was no noise, I heard Nick say, "I'm sorry. I told you that I would protect you and I could not."

I looked over at him, it not being the easiest thing to do, and said, "I know. I'd told you that I thought something bad would happen. I didn't expect this, though."

My hand slowly went to my forehead, and I said, "I feel really dizzy and tired."

"You lost a lot of blood," Nick said, softly. "You may also have other injuries that we cannot see."

"That doesn't surprise me," I said, then coughed a bit.

I paused then said, "Will I be ok?"

Nick was silent for a while, as if he really wasn't sure what to say. Eventually he said, "I do not know."

I really didn't want to hear that. I wanted to hear him say that I'd be fine, that I wasn't hurt as badly as I felt I was. When I heard what he said, though, I knew it was bad. I took a shaky breath then said, "Turn me into a Dhampire."

Nick was silent for a little while, before he said, "Are you certain?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. "I don't want to leave you again. I want to be with you, forever. Please, Nick." It seemed like Nick was still reluctant to turn me into a Dhampir, even though I was hurt and he didn't know if I'd survive my injuries or not. This time, though, I really hoped he'd want to turn me into a Dhampir.

When I felt myself being picked up, and being brought out of the room, I wasn't really sure what was going on. I didn't say anything, just let Nick carry me. After a little while we reached a room, and I felt myself being lay down on the bed. I didn't know which room I was brought to, and I didn't care. All that mattered was what Nick was going to decide to do.

I looked up at him, watching him and reaching out to him a bit. I felt him take my hand, as I watched a lot of emotions such as guilt, happiness, sadness, worry, and anger show on his face. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, he softly said to me, "I need to take some more of your blood. You will also need to drink from me. I am not sure how long your transformation will take. It could take a few hours or a couple of days. I must warn you, though, that you will be in pain at first."

"It's ok," I said. "I understand. As long as the pain goes away, I'll be fine. Please, just go ahead and do it."

There was more silence, as Nick moved my hair and moved his mouth to my throat. Not too long after that, I felt him gently sink his fangs into my throat and start drinking my blood. When everything was starting to look extremely fuzzy and I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open, he stopped. Not too long after, I felt Nick's wrist at my mouth and could taste some of his blood in my mouth. I hesitated for a short time, before I swallowed. It actually didn't taste too bad to me, and I went and started drinking from Nick's wrist.

At one point I latched on, not wanting to let go. I felt like I needed that blood, like if I stopped drinking, I'd stop living. I didn't really think about whether or not I was hurting Nick, or whether or not I should stop. I couldn't think of that at all. I just felt like I needed more. At one point, though, the blood flow stopped. I felt Nick forcefully taking his wrist away from me and when I tried to sit up to try to grab his wrist, to bring it back closer to me, he gently pushed me back down on the bed.

I lay there for a little while, really out of it and not sure what was going to happen next. Out of nowhere, though, I felt pain starting to enter my body. It started off slight, then it grew and kept growing until it was almost unbearable. I thrashed on the bed and screamed a bit, kicking as well. I didn't even notice Nick then. If he tried to grab my hand, or tell me that it was ok and that it'd be over soon, I didn't notice.

After about a half hour or so, I felt the pain slowly leaving my body. Eventually, it was completely gone and Nick smoothed some of the hair around my face. He then said, "You need to sleep now. When you next wake up, there will be blood waiting for you."

I was awake for a little while after that, but not too much longer after. I could feel my eyes closing, and myself falling asleep. When I did fall asleep, it was different. It wasn't like when I normally slept. When I normally slept, I dreamed. I also, at different points, would feel like I needed to wake up because of a bad dream I'd had. In this case, though, I didn't have any dreams. I just felt like I was in a dark, hazy fog and couldn't move. My eyes didn't open once, though, just stayed close as the rest of the transformation took place. Pretty soon, exactly how long wasn't clear, I'd be just like Nick and we'd be together forever, with no one to interfere. Now a Dhampir, Siren has to get used to her new life. And pretty soon, Nick's family will arrive. I wasn’t sure how long it was before I woke up. I just knew that when I did, I noticed that I could see pretty well in the dark room. I also noticed that the room I was in wasn’t mine, it was Gustave’s room. I hadn’t remembered being brought there, at all. Then again, right then, some of the stuff that happened recently was a little fuzzy. I also noticed that I felt different. I definitely didn’t feel like I had before. I remembered back to what happened last night, to what happened. I was a now one of them.

I wondered what day and time it was, and how long it had taken for me to become a Dhampir. At the same time, it wasn’t totally important. There was something else I was thinking about more, something that I really felt like I needed right then. So, I went and moved the covers away and started to get up out of bed. It really didn’t work so well, though. Just getting up wasn’t going to happen right then.

I went and started calling out for Nick, not having seen him in the room with me and not knowing where he was. I kept calling out for him for a while, eventually stopping when I heard footsteps outside the door. Not too long after that I saw Nick come into the room and rush over to me. He hugged me and said, "Everything is ok now, Siren. You do not need to worry."

"I feel weak," I said. "I tried to get out of bed, but I could not."

Nick was silent for a little while, before he said, "Yes, I know. It is something every new Dhampir experiences. You will feel better soon, though. Just rest here for now."

I went and leaned against him, for a while, before there was something in the room that smelled really good to me. I looked and noticed a really big wine glass, that had some red liquid in it, being handed to Nick. I tried to grab for it, but I was stopped. I frowned, wanting to just yank the wine glass away from Nick and gulp down the liquid in it. I couldn’t, though.

Instead of me having to bring the glass over to me, Nick did it for me. When I started drinking, I ended up drinking a little too fast and Nick had to slow me down. After I drank that first glass of liquid, with Nick helping me, the empty wine glass was taken from Nick and another filled wine glass was given to him. After that one was emptied, I felt so much better.

I looked up at Nick and smiled a bit then said, "Thank you. I feel much better now."

Nick smiled a little at me, before he said, almost carefully, "Yes, of course. Drinking blood has that effect on a us, especially a new one."

I was silent for a little while, not really sure what to say. Eventually I said, frowning a little, "I did not realize that I drank blood."

"What else would a we drink?" Nick asked.

"I don’t know," I said. "I just…"

Nick stopped me, before I could say anything else. "What did you think would happen once you were a vampire?" He asked me. "Did you only think about the fact that we would be together and you would survive your injuries, or did you actually think about the fact that you would need to drink blood in order to live now?"

I was silent for a while, before I said, "I wanted to still be with you, for you to save me. I didn't want to die, again. I didn't even think of the fact I would need to drink blood."

Nick sighed then said, "It is something you will have to get used to. Every new vampire goes through a time of wishing they didn't have to drink blood. It will pass."

He paused then said, "You will realize that there is nothing you can do to change it, that drinking blood is what keeps you alive."

I swallowed then said, "I’m sure it will. Right now, though, it is still a very strange concept for me."

I paused then said, with a bit of a smile, "Despite that, I wouldn't change anything about what happened. I am sure, though, that there are some other things I need to get used to."

"Yes, there are some things I need to teach you," Nick said. "Do you feel well enough to start learning about your new vampire life?"

I was silent for a little while, as I thought, then said, with a smile and a nod of head, "Yes, I do."

Nick was silent for a short time, before he went and grabbed my hand and said, "Good. I am very glad to hear that. We have a little over a day left before my parents and brother arrive here, but I will teach you as much as I can in that time."

After he said that I went and got out of bed, with Nick helping me up a bit, and we started to walk out of his room. When I walked, I noticed that I felt a little off. It felt like my legs wanted to buckle a little, at different points. Nick had noticed and supported me, not letting me fall once. Eventually, though, after walking for a while, I didn’t feel my legs buckling anymore and I was walking just fine.

After walking for a while, we ended up in a huge room that looked like it could’ve easily fit a few hundred vampires and/or humans. Once there, Nick started going over things with me. He started off with teaching me about my new speed and strength, about when to use it and how to use it. He also told me about how I wasn’t to go around telling humans that I was a vampire and to be careful about how I hunt and stuff like that. For pretty much the rest of the time before Nick’s mom (Mirabelle), his dad (Bernier) and his brother (Amiel) actually showed up, he not only taught me about being a vampire but also how to fight, just in case I ever needed to.