The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (6 page)

"Never the less
your mother is furious that you are late for dinner. At least you are not in a
mess. You know how she would react to that," Meg says before a giggle
escapes our lips in union. In a joking matter, we say together what my mother
would have said if she was here "Anna, how dare you be late. Must I tell
your father about this?" And we both know what 'father' would have said if
mother ever went to him. That quiets our humorous mood.

"Alright Meg, I
guess I should join them in the dining room," I say reluctantly, before
making my way to my destination, Meg trailing along beside me. Meg goes off in
a different direction when I arrive at the door. I stare at it for a moment as
I take in a deep breath before I enter the room. When I enter the room I find
everyone in their usual seating, my father at the head of the table, and my
mother on his right hand side. Victor and Christian sit at the end of the table
across from each other. The heat of their hatred as they stare each other down,
makes the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I sit in my seat at the end of
the table in between Christian and Victor.

"It is so good
that you can join us Anna, our guest refused to eat until you arrived," My
mother says, I can see the accusing look in her eyes, and I swear I hear the
rumbling thunder of my father's stomach.

"Alright let's
eat," My father announces, digging into his dinner with all the grace of a
peasant at a feast. My mother sits there nibbling on her food; though I know
she will go to the kitchen later to gorge herself.

"How has your day
been, Anna?" Christian asks, starting his round of questions for the
night.

"It was fine,
thank you," I say sticking to as little words as possible. "And how
was your day?" I ask, keeping my eyes on my plate.

"It was wonderful;
I found the lair of the sleeping beast," Christian sneers and I can no
longer feel his eyes on me, when I look up I find out why; his eyes has strayed
over to Victor, whose face is cast into darkness, his crimson eyes burning
brightly within that darkness.

"You ought to be
careful of whom you call a beast Christian," Victor sneers, the hatred
between the two men more evident then ever.

"Besides that I
had a little someone on my mind," He purrs, his attention turning back to
me now that he has raised Victor up. His hand seizes my leg. I more so feel
than see Victor become tense at the very second that Christian's hand lands on
my leg.

"So this is how
it's going to be every night!" I want to scream at him to get his hand off
of my leg, but I don't want my parents to hear what is going on. At the moment
they are out of hearing range, and I prefer that it stays this way. "Get
your hand off of my leg," I say, my voice icy cold. He refuses to get his
hand off of me. I am about to slap him so hard that it will leave a bruise.
Then Victor speaks up "The princess asked you to do something. You ought
to do as she asked or you'll have to deal with me." His voice is harsh, a
heavy threat - that he would make him do as I asked - as the undercurrent of
his words.

"Jealous?"
Christian sneers, obviously trying to get Victor to snap.

"Of what? A dirty
little animal?" Victor rises and offers out his hand to me.

"Come with
me?" He asks, his voice becoming thick and heavy again, his crimson eyes
staring deeply into my own. I take his hand and rise to my feet. I don't look
back as we leave the room. If I had, I would have seen the concern evident on
my father's face. We walk in silence towards my room, but the usually long trip
towards my room, is too short in his presence. Before I know it we are in the
corridor that contains the door to my room.

"That's twice
now," I say, a smile on my lips. His own lips curve up into a small smile
as well.

"Let's not go for
three times," He says, his eyes burning brightly. He leans in towards me
then rocks back on his feet, as if he suddenly realizes what he is about to do.
My heart twinges with the pain of his physical rejection. Why does it hurt so
badly, that he refuses to be close to me?

"Never the less I
owe you my gratitude," I say, my body - without my permission - decides
itself how I am going to show him my gratitude by throwing my arms around his
neck, and quickly giving him a peck on the cheek. I quickly draw away but not
before I see the absolute awe and surprise on his face.

"Thank you,"
I whisper, my cheeks inflaming with the heat of my blush.

"You're
welcome," He whispers back. His emotions have gone back into hiding under
his mask, but they are still clear in his eyes. It is obvious that none of us
had expected what I had just done.

"Goodnight
Anna," He whispers before he disappears into the dark.

"Goodnight
Victor," I whisper though I know that he cannot hear me. I move quietly
into my room, following my usual routine before I go to bed. As sleep captures
me, my mind replays the image of an awed and surprised face that smiles back to
me.

Victor's P.O.V

I have to get out of
here.

I have to release the
beast.

I need to feel the heat
of the hunt.

I need to feel their
blood on my lips.

I need to feel Anna's
lips on mine.

NO! I will not think of
that, I refuse to think of it! It is too soon, she has seen too much. However
she hasn't said anything, my mind whispers to me but I know she hasn't said
anything because she doesn't understand what she has seen. My mind tries to
reason with me that there are ways to keep Anna close, without letting the
beast starve as well. However, I know the beast won’t stop with just a taste,
that the beast inside of me isn't the only problem. I, myself want her blood as
well. I have wanted it from the first moment I smelled her within that
Labyrinth, and then on the balcony when she had tried to thank me. It was a
miracle that I had been able to resist that night, which I had been able to
walk away. The only thought that had me holding on is that I knew I needed her
to stay alive, so that my plans will not have been in vain. If I had killed her
that night, there was no chance to do this all over again.

Tonight was a little
bit easier, for I have become more accustomed to her scent, but it doesn't help
when our bodies are that close! I hate the effect that she has on me, but not
as much as I hate him. When he called me jealous at dinner, he had been
correct. He knows that I cannot touch her, that I cannot allow myself to be
close to her and so he uses it against me.

He is a Skin-walker,
the worse kind of Shape-shifters there are. I know that he has the power to
take on any shape, size or form. His kind would even be able to become vampires;
it is only because of their hatred for us so many of them refuse to look into
the possibility.

However I can see the
cold calculation in his eyes. He will do anything to get close to her, to take
her innocence. The worse thing is that he is royalty too, a king of those nasty
Skin-walkers, and the one person he has his aim on is Anna. His ultimate aim is
me though and Anna is only another way for him to attack me.

None of them can see
him for what he truly is for they all believe that he is human; even Rupert
whom has already dealt with the supernatural. I have to admit I am a little
surprised about that. I thought he would have noticed the difference between
Christian and I, compared to his wife and child, but if he does he doesn't show
it. I know his mind would repress the memory until I showed up in his life
again, but perhaps I was wrong and the memory has been repressed forever.

My thoughts retrieve
when I hear the rowdy laughter coming out of the village that I am passing
through, the same village that I had passed through once before, a long time
ago. I can hear the rowdy laughter becoming louder as I get closer to the
middle of the village, and the main attraction there, a brothel house. It is
the perfect place to pick up a late night snack, after some late night fun. The
women there are easy and will do whatever you ask, as long as you pay them a
hefty price, or at least that is what they say.

Averting my eyes away
from the monstrosity, I move on from the brothel, though the temptation has a tight
hold of me. It will be so easy to walk in and do what must be done to calm the
beast. However, I cannot do that anymore, if I am to be worthy of Anna. My
search for blood is drawing near, and I take pity on a dying child on the
street; I decide that she will do. To ease her passing I will not harm her,
instead her last moments will be replaced with something pleasant, something to
make her pitiful life less so. It is the least that I can do for her, when
there is almost nothing to be done.

Anna's P.O.V

I open my eyes to a
dreary grey morning, it had begun raining a few hours after Victor had left me
in my room, and it has carried on throughout the night. It seems as if the rain
is crying for someone but that cannot be right, can it? Well if it is or isn't,
I know it is only my imagination and thus it could not matter.

He has been in my
dreams again. His cold crimson eyes and his blood red lips curving up into a
twisted smile. He is horrifying in my dreams, and yet in life - though I hardly
know a thing about him - he doesn't seem to be the same man. I only once
glimpsed a hint of a split personality from him, and it only last for seconds
before it ended so quickly, that I could have possibly been imagining it. In my
mind I know that I am only trying to scare myself away from him and yet in my
heart of hearts, in my
soul
I know that there is something much more to
it, than what my mind is trying to pass it off as, a horrid nightmare dreamed
in the darkness of night. What I feel in my soul towards Victor is scary; it is
if I am already bound to him. As if my soul belongs to him. I cannot explain
it, and I don't dare think upon it. Not only because it is impossible but
because it completely and utterly terrifies me. And what of Christian, my mind
asks. He is nothing, a thorn in my side, a pain that will not go away. I cannot
get rid of him; my only hope is that he will back off when my choice is made.
And if he doesn't? What will I do if Christian never lets me go? No, somehow I
know that it is going to be alright even though I don't know how.

I know that I have to
get up, but I don't want to run into anyone today. In fact I don't even want to
do anything today. I just want to sit beside the open glass, and listen to the
rain fall as I sketch all day long, but it is clear my mother has other plans
when she comes bursting into my room.

"Anna, get up. We
have the artist coming in today to take our portrait. You'll need to take one
with Victor and Christian as well." She says before she goes over to my
wardrobe as I climb out of bed. She pulls out a red dress with silver and ruby
jewels and a pair of silver shoes.

"Get changed into
this and I want you downstairs in half an hour. One of the maids will fix your
hair after you have eaten." She says before she leaves as quickly as she
has come. I reluctantly pull on the clothes she has ordered me to put on, as
well as the shoes and the jewellery. I check myself in the mirror before I make
my way downstairs. Thinking how uncomfortable it will be when he will have
permission to put his hands on me, but I also wonder how it will be if Victor
will do the same. Will there be a noticeable difference between the two men? or
will I just hate being in Christians arms and feel vulnerable in Victor's?

When I enter into the
throne room, I find that the artist is already painting my mother's and
father's portrait, he is only in the beginning stages of the painting but I
know by all of Alfredo's work that he will make it magnificent. Victor leans
against the large windows that stand before the balcony, his eyes fixed on the
view of the grey and foggy castle grounds and the ocean beyond it. Where as
Christian sits in a chair on the other side of the room, having his faced
shaved by a local barber as a bunch of maids sits around him. As soon as I
enter the room I see Victor's back stiffen and when he turns his gaze on me I
feel the full power of his gaze. For a moment I forget how to breathe as I
stare with abandon at him. His eyes scream with a fury that I lose all
connection to the outside world, his lips curve up into a twisted smile. Like
the one he wears in my dreams. It is only until Meg calls my name that I snap
out of it.

"Anna," Meg
says, finally getting my attention. I blink a few times to clear my head of the
fog that has swarmed in when my eyes had landed on him. "This is Mary.
She'll be doing your hair today," Meg says introducing Mary, whom does a
little curtsy to me. Either Meg hasn't explained to Mary that I don't like it
when people curtsy to me, or Mary just doesn't have it in her not to do what
she has probably been trained to do. It is most likely the later. I follow Mary
to the same side of the room that Christian is getting his face shaved. Mary
guides me over to a chair and tells me to sit. She takes her time to wash out
my hair. Christian is done with his shaving before she has even finished. She
gets out the curling iron next, and starts curling my hair. It takes her almost
two long hours to do my hair but she eventually manages to finish styling my
freakishly long hair.

"Your Highness we
are done. However I must insist that you do not go outside and that you try not
to get your hair messed up or I will have to do it all over again." She
says sternly, well as sternly as she possibly can to me.