Lorelei’s eyes opened slowly. Now, she could see what was around her. A small collection of cloaked figures. Clothes from clearly another era. She could see the brown-haired man much more clearly as he leaned forward. “Child, do you know what you are now” Lorelei found herself suddenly standing. She was not even aware she had moved. “Alive.” A tiny blonde girl by his side focusing on her. Suddenly, there was whole different sort of pain. As if her body was on fire. Lorelei falling to her knees on the ground. She felt herself choking, but at the same time she couldn’t actually feel the act of choking. Nothing was being cut off or scratching her. All the pain was coming from the fire within her. Lorelei clutching at her throat. “First torn apart and now this.” She could feel the pain beginning to rise.
The same man put his hand up, and the pain suddenly vanished. Lorelei immediately standing up again. “You are aware you must come with us.” She looks around at the tiny crowd. “It’s not like I could put up a fight.” He suddenly smiled softly. However, Lorelei felt a suddenly cold chill run through her entire body. “No, it’s not like you could.”
…
Lorelei finds her eyes focusing back on the room as her recollection ended. She turned away from the mirror hung on the wall and towards the sound of an opening door. Tall, lean, she was the exact sort of women that would have never existed in her world. In her hands was a set of folded up clothes. “The master has drawn you a bath.” Lorelei watching her walk past her towards another door. Opening it to reveal a large bathroom. Something similar to the roman ones she had seen in her old school textbooks.
Lorelei felt the fabric as it falls off of her onto the floor. She had never known before that cotton did have a soft feeling, or that jeans felt like a woven mesh. This was all still new for her. Even entering the adjoining room was a new adventure. As she couldn’t tell how fast she was moving. Only noticing she was in the water when she felt something stop. A wet warm edge lapping at her skin. Looking around she could realize she was now in the water. Shallow enough that it only hit her waist.
The other worldly woman walking past her to open another door. A group of six…seven people of various ages walking into the room with curiosity. Lorelei’s mouthwatering. Truly, a new sensation. The woman turning to her. “Master has informed us you have yet to eat.” She found herself walking through the water until she reached the edge. Lorelei’s childish features leaning against one of her palms over the stone. “Here I thought I had already eaten.” The woman standing in front of her didn’t flinch. Something Lorelei felt curious about. For a mortal of her position there was a lack of expectant fear there. Had she developed Stockholm Syndrome. “They are yours to do as you wish.” She said as she stepped back out of the way. Lorelei noticing the clothes were still in her hands. Lorelei turning to the people. Her hand underneath the water already digging its way into the stone. “Come in.” And they did…
The water a murky red when Lorelei next turned to the woman. Still standing there. As if she was trying her best to remain a statue. Lorelei could feel the exhaustion starting to grow. A soft smile appearing on her lips as she turned around and leaned her head back. “Can you wash my hair for me.” Lorelei hearing her put down the clothes, pick up a bowl and walk over to her. With her eyes closing, she listened to the sound of the bowl scooping the water out besides her. It was such a new sound. The warm water pouring onto her hair. The woman’s hands scrubbing her head. Lorelei waiting until the soap was out before speaking next. “What is your name?” The woman’s hands paused for a moment. Fear. Anxiety. Apprehension. Nerve. Conviction. A jumble of emotions appearing to break her statue façade. “Carlotta.” Lorelei nodded her head as more water was poured over her. “That is a nice name.” The feelings swarming around her shifting in tone. Only slightly. It was starting to give her a headache, so went back into a day dream.
…
Lorelei’s head turned to the right. A new scent was filling up her senses. An overbearing drumbeat that blocked out all other noises. Her eyes settling on a figure in the tree line. A girl. No. It was a Violet. Violet Chambers. What a waste of life she had been. Born to the only wealthy family in forty miles of here. Violet had it all. She had chosen to use it for the stereotypical vices. Men, torture, drugs, denial. That was all she ever was as a person. She turned to look back at the brunette man. He nodded his head. “You will need to eat if you are to make it back with us.”
She wasted no time or thought on getting over to there. Lorelei ignoring whoever held the girl and sinking her head in towards her neck. A small part of her remembering later the sound of her name screamed from her lips. At that moment, nothing else mattered. Lorelei needed to eat. She needed to get rid of a nuisance.
When the girl fell to the floor, she turned to look back at the others. The man who had been holding Violet draped a dark grey coat around her shoulders. The two making there way back over. “Now then. Let us go home.” Lorelei turned to look back at what was once her house. What held her mother. Her eyes turning to watch the cloaked figures move to burn it all. Maybe if things were different. Maybe if she had more time, Lorelei wouldn’t have just turned around without a second thought. But that is what she did, by the time the fire began to crawl from the house to the neighboring trees.
…
Lorelei lifted her head up from the cold stone. The day dream was over. Now it was about why someone as important as that brunette man saved her. Why was she being treated like a guest. There’s no reason for a back-wood daisy to be put in such a place. Lorelei wasn’t supposed to be alive.
For the first time since she had become this predator, Lorelei moved slowly. Her hand lifting up into the light as her already pale skin began to shine like crystal dust. Her arm reaching back and latching on to Carlotta’s collar. The woman easily pulled into the war. The muddled compound of feelings starting to drip away. Her head finding relief as only one solid emotion formed. Fear. Fear of losing one’s life. Perhaps, the headache could go away permanently. Lorelei pulling her up from her drowning to bite into her. Nothing much changed when she was done. The slight pokes…like soft waves that didn’t want to die persistent in their annoyance of her.
She sighed as she got out of the water. Walking forward to the pile of clothes left on the side. A combination of dark greys. Lorelei was lucky she liked black. The clothes, however, were clearly picked out for her. A dressing style that was not only old world, but emphasized her softer features. Lorelei would have never made herself look more like a deer than she already did. Lorelei walking away from the bath and out through the doors she had originally gone through. Waiting on the other side was the man who had held Violet just before she had arrived here. Lorelei following him through a maze of halls.
…
Lorelei entered the room that held the men who turned her into this…statue. A dangerous appealing demon. Standing besides the three masters were a small collection of creatures in varying grey attire. They seemed even more statue like. Her eyes suddenly being drawn to one. An unusual thought appearing in her head. I want him. How unusual. Lorelei didn’t want men. She wanted ambition, power and success. The brown-haired man stood up from his throne. “Lorelei. I must say I am glad to see you so well looking.” The blonde turning to glare at her. “It’s surprising you survived.” She perked a brow at him. “It seems I survived the odds.” The brown-haired man smiling at her. “How fortunate for us. Come here child.” His hands were out. She walked forward and put her hands in his. His wrapping around her. “Interesting life you’ve lived, so full of want.” The prickling sensation of prodding running through her. Uncomfortable. His attention. His wanting to know everything about her and if he could use her made her shudder. “Let go.” Lorelei said flatly. The man withdrew his hands and then for a moment seemed to look at her perplexed. “How odd.”
The pain of a thousand fires suddenly pulsating through her body. She could feel herself begin to sway. She gritted her teeth and whispered to herself. “Stand.” The man suddenly bursting out laughing as he watched her sway and refuse to kneel from the pain. “How marvelous. What a treasure indeed. Jane.” The pain stopped. Lorelei’s issues switching to the blonde girl. The one standing besides the boy. Her name was Jane… The brown-haired man stepping around her. Appraising. “I wonder how does it work.” Lorelei raised a brow at him. “How does what work?” The blonde still sitting on the throne sighed in annoyance. “Your gift. You ignorant child.” Lorelei found herself irritated by his attitude, but said nothing. The man before her smiling. “Not everyone can do what I do. Some have their own unique talents.” She looked at him confused. “And you think I have my own.” The man nodded and walked back to his throne. Sitting down quite comfortably. “I wonder…”
She found herself moving her eyes to look at the boy. Lorelei felt drawn towards him. An interest coming from her that had no explanation. She wanted to understand. The man smiling wider. “Oh yes, child. Alec has a gift, just like his sister.” She turned back towards him. “He lights a person’s soul on fire. Comme c’est delicieux.” The boy, Alec, shook his head no. “No, I prefer making you feel nothing.” Lorelei smirked at him. She could feel the arrogance and self-assurance rolling off of him like gentle waves. The man clapping. “And you. You seem to deal with feelings as well. In crafting them.” She simply shrugged. “Must be the want in me.” The blonde besides him growing more annoyed. “What a greedy monstrosity. Aro, just dispose of her and be done with this charade.” Aro. The brunette was named Aro. How old he must be.
Aro shook his head no. “Patience, brother. You can’t always know how something can be sculpted into.” The man to his left finally speaking. Sighing out the words in a lazy exhaustion. “You know what you want to do with her.” Aro nodded his head. “Sculpt.” He smiled at her. “My dear girl, do you wish to stay with us. To survive.” Lorelei made no reaction to his statement. Instead, she looked at him lazily. “You saved my life. It is now tied with yours. There is nothing to go back to.” Again, the extreme desire crashing out from hitting her like a slap in the face. “How nice…” He turned to Alec. “Alec, be a gentleman and show her to her quarters.” He nodded at his master. Alec’s sister Jane seeming annoyed. Lorelei couldn’t help, but glance over at her. She felt like a pulsating red. If she was to try and explain the feelings that constantly seemed to be a part of her since she met her. Alec walking towards the door. “Come. We must find you a bedroom.” Lorelei nodded. “Apparently, we must…”
…
Lorelei walked among the stone corridors for what felt like awhile. How the underground twists and turns beneath the Italian city. Her companion had been quiet since they left the chamber. When they reached a door, he stopped and chose to speak. “A newborn like you must be struggling to control your thirst.” Lorelei finding herself suddenly ignoring the arrogance to struggle with the burning sensation within her throat. She turned to glare at him. “So, you are as pointy as your sister.” He smiled at her. “Pointy. No one has called us that before.” Alec’s hands resting on the door handles. Lorelei sighing. “Probably not to y’all’s faces.” Alec smirked at her as he pushed open the door. “Perhaps.”
She turned to look inside the room. It seemed like the casual living space that appeared before a wealthy person’s bedroom. There was even a large balcony of sorts, so they had ended up above ground. Scattered amongst the couches were human’s in leisure. She could feel their intense desire and hope. Lorelei looked down at the boy. “Y’all will probably turn me into a glutton.” Alec smiled at her. “I don’t see the problem in indulging in vices.” She turned away from him and entered the room. Lorelei not waiting to drink her fill.
When she tossed the body down she turned back towards him. “I suppose there is a person who cleans this all up.” Her attention turning to the stone flooring. It must be easier to clean than carpet or wood. Perhaps, instead, it had just simply been here before. They seemed like the type who appreciated that sort of thing. Alec who had been waiting in the door way walked deeper into the room. “Naturally.” Lorelei sat down on the now empty couches. Her eyes glittering slightly. “Sit.” Alec looking at her for a moment before walking over to join her. She looked at him smiling. “So is my magical gift controlling your actions. That would be something.” He smirked at her. “I can tell its not that sort of gift. No need to be so confident.” Lorelei smiled at him. “Tell me then. What do you think it is? To make someone like Aro save me and then not kill me off.” Alec looked at her softly for a moment. The angelic features on his facing finding their natural light. “You know master is important.” Lorelei rolled her eyes at him. “I may be from the woods, but I have a brain.”
He smiled at her. “I suppose you do.” She tilted her head up at him. “So are you going to tell me or not.” Alec shrugged. “It’s only a guess.” Lorelei leaning closer. “Enlighten me, garcon special.” He leaned forward, so he was not to far from her face. The arrogance hitting her in waves again. All the confidence he possessed. It overpowered almost every other feeling he had. The singular point of self-assurance a relaxer to her. As if it was teasing her to zone out. “You think I’m special. How nice of an evaluation for a man you just met.” Lorelei leaned away from him. If she was still human her face would probably have turned red. “Why avoid the question so much.” Alec shook his head no. “I’m not. Parts of it are obvious. You can feel emotions.” Lorelei nodded her head. “You should probably work on that arrogance of yours. History has shown that as a blind spot in well thought out moves.” A hint of irritation appearing on his features before it quickly whisked away. “I’m not required to tell you the rest.”
Lorelei took the initiative to scoot closer to him. “Oh, but you want too. I can feel it. How much you enjoy games.” Alec stayed a silent for a moment before speaking. “There exist vampires who can alter a person’s emotions. Perhaps, that’s you.” Lorelei scooted even closer. “I doubt that would be a reason for y’all to keep me, or give me such nice robes.” She could feel the sensation of appraisal, curiosity, seeping out from him again. “No. It is not.” Lorelei tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. An old habit that seemed to persist. “What do you guess, Alec?” He seemed to smile at her brightly. “I wouldn’t say it’s the emotions you alter, but a person’s thoughts toward it. As if we feel like we are making the decision for what you desire.” Lorelei smiled. “You think I can manipulate you. That must be a nice crow pie for you to swallow.” Alec leaned away from her. “I don’t think you are that point yet. You are a child.” She leaned away from him smiling. Lorelei could feel the tiniest sliver of insecurity that weaved its way through his feelings. “And yet, you sat on this couch. You told me your guess to.” His face flinched for a moment again before answering. “I like games.” She nodded. “Y’all seem to.”
Alec stood up from the couch. Lorelei thought he was like a child still. Some essence of him that could not be scrubbed away. “I’m afraid I can’t keep you company any longer. Some of us are busy men.” She leaned back into the couch. Ah, there it was. The simplest and smallest hint of insecurity. “Well, go on then, Mr. Busy Man. You mustn’t fall behind your duties.” He nodded his head and walked out of the room. Lorelei turning to the balcony and sighing. “This is the strangest of lives I’ve been given to live.” She stood up slowly and went to enter her room. Lorelei finding it completely filled with lavish decorations, arts and books that would probably make most humans envious. Her attention turning to another balcony. “I wonder what it would have been like to live that simple ordinary life…”
Previous Page / TOC / Next Page