Alina
I didn’t know how long I stood there after he left. I felt empty and alone somehow.
I wiped my cheeks with the back of my hands and went to the kitchen. Clearly, I was losing my mind if I just kissed my nightmare. What came over me? It was like I had no control over my emotions. It couldn’t just be physical attraction, could it? No, I was sure it was just that.
By now, the omelette that I was making was completely burnt and inedible, so I took it off the burner and threw it in the trash can. I hated wasting food, but I lost my appetite. I took the boiling water which had reduced to half its amount off the stove, poured some instant coffee mix into it, and drank from it. It was too hot, but the pain helped me forget some of my unease.
What happened today wasn’t supposed to happen. Then again, what was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do now? Things were so confusing, I can’t even think straight. Why did Erick have to come back? Where was he until now? So many questions kept circling around my head, but I had answers to none. I wasn’t even sure I wanted answers.
Finishing off the scalding hot coffee, I washed the cup and left it on the counter to dry. Then I took some ice cubes from my freezer and placed it on my burnt tongue to provide relief. I stopped being self-destructive a long time ago. Why start now that my life was finally going somewhere? I was an editor at a fairly popular local magazine, I had an apartment of my own, and I was no longer that girl who couldn’t speak out to save her life. I couldn’t take three steps backwards just when I took two steps forward. Erick’s arrival couldn’t change things for me. I wouldn’t give up the life I’ve made for myself just because I was supposed to marry a vampire.
I sighed as I sat on my sofa and tried to think of a way to deal with my life, but I just didn’t think I had the strength to fight anymore. With Erick’s return and my dad’s worsening condition, I felt like my life was spiralling out of control.
Erick
I swam harder and pushed my legs to their limit until my hands touched the other end of the pool seconds later. I didn’t stop. Turning, I swam even faster until my fingers touched the other end of the pool again. Frustrated, I rose from the water, pushed back my blond hair from my eyes, and punched the side wall of the pool. The tile cracked and a chunk of tile fell to the bottom of the pool.
Cussing, I got out of the pool, wrapped a towel around waist, and started drying my hair with another one. Right now, I was at my private beach house off the shore of Hudson Bay, a good four hours away from Alina’s apartment. I wanted so badly not to screw things up with her, but in the end, that was exactly what I did! Damn it!
She wasn’t making this any easier for me either. Why would she? What reason did I ever give her to trust me? I had to focus on making this work, though. Alina’s mom was a very close friend of my mother, and I wanted to honour her last wishes, not only to protect Alina but for my sake as well. Vampires didn’t have mates, no matter what modern fictions let everyone believe, but we remained faithful to the ones we chose, and Alina was chosen for me a long time ago. I might not have accepted that before, but I did now.
I brushed back my hair from my eyes again. I really needed to cut it short. It was getting too long for my liking. The swim helped a bit with the stress. I always swam when I was stressed out, but it didn’t help me find answers to what I needed to do next. I needed to form a plan to make things right and to at least make things a little less awkward, but my mind kept going back to the kiss we shared.
It was the briefest kiss I’ve had in my entire life, but it was also the most special. It felt like my whole body was on fire. She must have felt it too. I felt her shudder before she got all ninja and jumped away.
Damn! Focus, Erick! Ok, so our wedding was pretty soon, so I had to take care of the wedding preparations. It would be a private wedding in full vampire style. There would be vows and all, but nothing fancy. It would be in front of hundreds of witnesses, vampires mostly. And there would be the blood bond.
The blood bond binds two vampires or a human and a vampire to each other, forever. We would have to drink the ceremonial blood that would be a combination of both of ours after our blood has been accepted by the Gods as a sacrifice. Then there was the matter of Alina turning into a vampire. I wasn’t sure if Alina wanted to stay human or turn into one of us. If she did stay human, she would always be fragile and prone to danger, and she would grow older, but I didn’t want to force her into anything right now. She had to want to turn by herself because if she didn’t want to, she could become a very dangerous newborn.
So I sat there on a bench, debating on what to do the next day when I suddenly remembered her boss, Ryan.
That prick was taking my girl out somewhere, and I really needed to interfere. That was when a plan formed in my head.
I smirked. This would be very interesting.
AlinaI woke up to my phone ringing. Groaning, I reached over to my bedside table and picked up my cell. The time read three fifteen in the afternoon.“Hello?” I answered groggily without looking at the screen.“Hello, sweets! I’ll be there to pick you up in two hours. You okay with that?”Shit! Ryan!I had completely forgotten that I had to attend a business dinner with him. I went to visit my father at the hospital this morning, and he seemed to have gotten even worse than before, so I came back home and cried myself to sleep. I haven’t been eating anything since yesterday either, surviving only on coffee.“Yes!” I answered, remembering Ryan was still on the phone. “That’s fine by me. Thanks for giving me a heads up, Ryan. I completely forgot!” I had no need to hide the truth or feel ashamed. Ryan understood my situati
AlinaHe wore a steel grey suit with a royal blue shirt underneath that made his eyes stand out. His blond hair was perfectly styled, and he looked just out of a fashion magazine kind of gorgeous. His lips were formed in a mischievous smirk, and his eyes were sparkling with excitement. He hasn’t shifted his eyes from me since the instant I walked into the room.How on Earth did he get here?“Is something wrong?” someone’s voice cut through my trance.I looked towards the person to see that it was the restaurant manager, Mr. Davis. Ryan was waiting for me to have a seat, and I didn’t even realize I was staring back at Erick from the moment I walked in. We were like two different poles of a magnet drawn to each other.“Nothing, sorry.” I apologised and sat down on the chair which just so happened to be right next to Erick.Everyone got down to business as
AlinaI slowly came to when I felt cool hands touch my forehead. My eyes fluttered open, and I woke to a dimly lit room I had never been to before.“Sorry, did I wake you up?” a familiar voice asked.I looked to my right and saw Erick sitting on a chair next to the bed I was on. I only shook my head when my throat felt too dry and scratchy. Taking in my surroundings, I sat up against the headboard with Erick’s help.I was in a large room which appeared to be painted sky blue in the dim light. The lights were out, but several candles were lit in all corners of the room that gave it a warm glow. I could sense the cold sea breeze and the sounds of waves crashing on the shore, so I assumed we were somewhere near the sea. There were two large open windows with drawn curtains to let the wind in, andthe candle lights occasionally flickered with the wind but didn’t go off. I could see that it
AlinaMy eyes were burning.That was the first thought I woke up to. The second, however, was to realize that my eyes weren’t really burning. I opened my eyes a bit, only to shut them immediately. It was under the scrutiny of the direct sunlight coming in through the huge floor-length windows on the wall opposite to the bed.The third thing that crossed my mind was, I don’t have gigantic windows in my bedroom!Oww!I jumped up in bed, looking around the unfamiliar room to search for the source of the voice I just heard. However, all I got was a room devoid of any other humans or vampires for that matter.I could’ve sworn I heard someone talk. How come no one was here?I did talk, but it’s in your mind.Then I remembered about last night, of being escorted to the restaurant by Ryan, bumping into Erick, fainting in the bathroom, and ending up at his
AlinaMrs. Stayton was, just like all the other vampires I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, utterly gorgeous.With her long blonde hair in perfect curls that reached to her lower back, neat facial structures, and an hourglass figure, she could easily give Hollywood actresses a run for their money. However, she preferred to stay out of the limelight. She wore a sky blue knee-length designer dress embroidered with real silver threads and paired it up with a silver hat. Erick didn’t have that much in common with his mother in terms of looks, except for their ice-blue eyes. She had a more delicate build and a heart-shaped face while Erick was all hard angles and sharp features.“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Stayton. How have you been?” I greeted politely. She was, after all, a very powerful vampire of over three hundred years. Unlike popular belief, vampires weren’t immortal in the true sense
Alina“What on Earth is this?” I asked while holding up the red knee-length dress in my hand that Erick had just handed over to me.“Your wedding dress, of course!” Erick answered without even looking up from his tablet.“What the hell!” I screamed, turning every customer and salesmen’s attention towards me.“Sorry,” I mouthed before turning to glare at Erick.“Alina, there you are! Oh! What a lovely dress!” Kenna passed the fabric through her hands. “This’ll be perfect for the binding ritual after the wedding! Don’t you think so, Erick?”Binding ritual? Why don’t I like the sound of that?Of course, you wouldn’t. Erick smirked and placedthe ten point one inch screen of the tablet in front of his face. I glared at him anyway. What was with giving me only half the info?“Oh, dear
Alina“Alina?”“Alina, say something.”“Alina!”“Huh?” I was startled back into reality as Erick’s face faded away and Ryan’s face appeared in front of me.“What’s wrong? You’ve been spaced out this whole morning,” Ryan asked as he sat himself down on one of the chairs in front of my desk.“Nothing. I’m just stressed, I guess,” I answered, putting my pen down on top of a bundle of papers and running my hands down my faceThe article that we worked on in the restaurant was going to go on air today, and I had to write the speech that our Editor-in-Chief will be broadcasting since I was the one who took down the notes. Ryan had, thankfully, kept all the equipment on my desk yesterday and covered for me when our boss noticed my absence. All that hard work would be for nothing if I wouldn’t be able to w
ErickI decided to wear black dress pants and a jacket with a crisp white shirt underneath. Today, we were going to the inauguration of my new blood bank in Moosonee, Ontario. The main press release already took place this afternoon. Now, it would be followed by a tasting ceremony just for vampires. This day, our subjects would see me and Alina together for the first time after the announcement of the wedding.We already had blood banks in Ontario located in Ottawa and Toronto. However, supplying blood to all vampires in the north was becoming a problem, so we opened another bank for easy supply. It reduced chances of suspicion, too. Now, we didn’t have to explain to the government why gallons of blood were being transferred across the state to specifically those two blood banks when there was no emergency.A knock sounded at my door. “Come in.”Kendrick, my chauffeur for today and the chie
For The Last ChristmasA The Vampire’s Bride Christmas BonusZaira sat crouched in front of the high walls that surrounded the old manor. According to some very reliable sources, this particular vampire had chosen the most obvious of clichés and decided to reside in an old castle that scared the crap out of even the most badass hunters.Zaira contemplated going in guns blazing since her spies had informed her that only a single vampire inhabited the manor, but then she looked up at the darkening sky and knew that she was at a disadvantage. Even though it was only around one in the afternoon, dark clouds had gathered in the sky out of nowhere, and it kept getting darker by the minute. Soon, there wouldn’t be any difference between day and night.It’s gonna be a white Christmas this year, Zaira thought to herself as she looked away from the sky and took out a gun from her thigh holster. Sing
Secret SantaErickAlina stood in the middle of the Grand Hall, her dress a stunning gold with intricate flowers embroidered from one shoulder to the other. That same embroidery was present on the skirt of her gown, thin at first, but they flared out at the end. Her hair was in loose curls down her back and her green eyes sparkled with fake joy that only people closer to her would understand. She looked like a glorious golden goddess who would rather be anywhere other than the Royal Christmas Party.
Interview for The Vampire’s BrideFor AlinaYour relationship with Erick didn’t start out so well. Is it hard to fall in love with a man you thought caused your miseries?Alina: Falling in love with Erick had never been the hard part. The hard part had been to accept the fact that I had. We’d
Erick and Alina’s Great EscapeAlina“I am so done with this!” I slammed the humongous book shut and would’ve thrown it across the room if I had the strength to lift the damn thing.Emiel pushed his spectacles down his nose to witness my tantrum before burying his nose back into another book. He didn’t really need the spectacles, vampires being unable to have any diseases unless they were magically induced, but Emiel apparently likes to look nerdy.“Is something the matter, highness?” A maid poked her head from another isle. By now, it seems everyone was accustomed to my tantrums.“Where on Earth is Erick?” I snapped at her, needing an outlet for my frustration.“His Highness is having a meeting with the Nobles.” The maid answered, head bowed.“Argh!” I grunted and stomped out of the library and headed straight for o
EpilogueAlinaSix months laterThe Royal Castle was abuzz.Flowers were being brought in, curtains were being changed, fancy dresses and glittering diamond jewellery were donned by pretty maidens, and elaborate attires were worn by the gentlemen. It was a day of celebration and a day to rejoice. After all, Erick and I were being crowned today.We had to go through another one of those cleansing rituals and then ushered into different rooms to get dressed. Come to think of it, Erick and I had been too busy for the last six months that we barely had a proper conversation with each other; me with lessons after lessons on vampire culture, dancing, and etiquette, and Erick with learning statecraft from the nobles.It was in these six months that I had come to learn exactly how attached I have become to Erick. It was like he was so near, yet still far enough that I couldn’t reach him.
Alina“How are you feeling?”“Like I’ve spent enough time in this damned place and am ready to finally move out.”“But you know that’s not possi—”“Of course, it is, Alina!” Papa sat up straight, taking my hands in his wrinkled, trembling ones. He looked far too old for his age, yet he looked happy. “Darling, I’ve already spent a long time here, and it’s enough. The doctors have done all they could. They tried everything in their power, but they can’t do any more than they already have. It’s time I live my remaining days reminiscing about the life I’ve had. I want to relive every memory I’ve cherished, and I can’t do that if I’m here. It’s time you let me go.”I understood what he was trying to tell me, but I just couldn’t imagine a life without him. I’ve been
Alina“What’s going on? What is she chanting?” Erick yelled at Kendrick, the howling winds making it near impossible to listen to anything.“It’s the transfusion spell!” There was urgency in Kendrick’s voice as he turned to face me. “Alina, your transformation isn’t complete yet. Do you know about anything that connects you to Tuhin? Something that Tuhin or Aaron had given you?”“The necklace!” Erick and I said in unison.“Aaron said only Tuhin can remove it from me. I tried to, but it electrocuted my hand,” I yelled at Erick as the chanting got nearer and nearer.“I think I can get it off,” Erick replied then unsheathed a huge sword with a blade completely made of ice. “Hold up the strings.”I did as he told but removed my hand as soon as sparks began to dance on the surface of the penda
Erick“Erick!” Both Kendrick and my mother were by my side as I teleported back to the throne room of the castle.“Oh God, Erick! You’re freezing!” Mother knelt down next to my slouched form on the floor.“We don’t have time, Kendrick. We must leave right now,” I told him while gathering my strength to get up again. “Emiel, you’re coming too.”“Me?” Emiel asked, eyes wide in surprise.“Yes.” I made that conscious decision moments ago. “You’ve been their bitch for long enough. You just might come in handy.”“But Erick, we still don’t know the location of Aaron’s hideout,” Kendrick pointed out.“I might be able to help with that.”“Erick, take the guards—”“We can’t, Father. If we take the guards, we&rsqu
Erick“Arctic Blade?”Mother sounded just as surprised as Father. “I haven’t heard of any such blade, son. I’ve already asked the elder historian, but he doesn’t have any idea what it could be.”Both my parents had no clue about the existence of the Arctic Blade, and neither did Emiel. This led me to the only option I had left: the Dark Council that was out of my reach as of now. Which was appropriate since the Ancient itself was a mage of unparalleled power.“No,” Ken answered, “I don’t know of any such blade, but the Chrone might.”“Ken, Merida hates me,” I said, referring to Ken’s grandmother, the elder of his coven of mages. “She’s always been against you becoming a part of the Vampire Royal Guard.” Ken, however, was no longer a guard. He commanded the Royal Guard itself, but Merida Blackbur