The Fire Within (The Fire of The Soul Series) (8 page)

"I'm so, so sorry
Anna. I should have known that you would have never kissed him willingly."
He says, kissing my forehead, where his blood has left a mark. His arms are so
tightly wrapped around me that I can barely breathe but I don't care. I don't
want this to end, not now, not ever and that's when it occurs to me that I have
fallen for Victor.

"Victor?" I
say, my voice coming out hoarsely as if something is caught in my throat and
then the words leave my lips, "I choose you," I whisper so quietly
that I don't think he heard me.

He moves away and as he
looks into my eyes he asks "What did you say Anna?" slightly
confused.

"I said I choose
you," I repeat my words, a smile spreading across my lips. His eyes spark
with a soft fire, the crimson coming to life in the dark.

"Anna you must
know by now that I'm different, not exactly human." He says with a sigh,
pulling his fingers through his hair and tugging at it, easily getting
frustrated with himself. I wait patiently for him to say what he needs to say.
"Anna, I'm a vampire. I'm the vampire King." I just stare at him. I
do not exactly get the point that he is trying to make. "You know the type
of thing that goes bump in the night and drinks on blood." He suggests,
trying to make me see some unknown point.

"Victor, what does
that matter?" I ask, getting slightly confused by what he is trying to
tell me.

"That doesn't
bother you?" He asks, slightly confused himself. As if he being anything
other than a human is wrong. It isn't wrong, I think, it's unusual but it
doesn't change anything.

"No, it doesn't
bother me at all. I still choose you Victor, no matter what you are or what
you've done." I say, letting the truth show in my voice. He is exultant in
his joy, the soft spark of fire in his eyes burning brighter, until it is almost
a physically light radiating from him.

"Then come away
with me. Let us leave this place behind," He says, as if we can simply
pack up and take off; which is, undoubtedly, a very tempting idea.

"I would love to
but I can't. I can't leave Meg behind." I look into his eyes searching
them, trying to make him understand. He cups my face in his hands and kisses me
softly, gently before he pulls away again.

"She can come with
us, but let us leave now. Before any of them find out." Victor says,
holding me closer than he ever has before. I am relieved that he will allow me
to bring Meg with us. We kiss again before we part. I grab the first servant
that crosses my path and ask them to send Meg to me as soon as possible.

It is much later into
the night when Meg knocks on my door; I look both ways down the hall before
ushering her quickly into my bedroom. When she sees me smiling her fear
vanishes.

"Meg, you won't
believe it. I chose a suitor tonight," I smile and for once it is genuine.
"I chose Victor, Meg!" And I squeal and soon she is as jubilant as I
am, happy for me finding love in the darkness of my life, even though she had
only recently lost her own.

"That's great
Anna, but I have a feeling that you wanted to talk to me about something
else," She says, bringing me back down to earth for a moment, as she has
always been capable of doing.

"Victor and I are
leaving soon, possibly tomorrow after tea. I want you to come with us," I
say before I quickly amend, "That's if you want to come with us."

"Of course I want
to come with you. I'm so happy for you Anna, I'm glad that you finally are
leaving this place," She says, still as jubilant as ever though I know
that there is pain hiding underneath her layers.

"Alright Meg, we
both have to pack but promise you won't tell anybody about this," I say,
Meg promises me that she won't tell a soul. We hug before Meg leaves. I start
packing as soon as Meg goes; I pack everything I think I will need, and I know
that if I need anything else Victor would be able to provide for me.

I fall into a deep
sleep, and I dream about escaping this place, and achieving freedom with my
best friend, and the suitor I have chosen, whom may even be the man that I
love.

I wake in the
afternoon; I haven't meant to sleep in for this long. It is a lovely bright
day, and I think that it will be nice to be able to spend my last day here out
on the shoreline, underneath the radiant sunlight and so that is where I end up
spending most of my day. It isn't until Victor comes and gets me after the sun
has set, that I realize the time.

"Come Anna, we
must leave, now. I overheard Christian planning to stop us at tea. Meg already
has our things loaded into the carriage," He says as he sweeps me up into
his arms. He carries me as if I weigh nothing and he runs until he has me
safely in the carriage. Meg is already sitting inside, waiting for the two of
us. She smiles a grim smile at us, again worried for me, if not for all of us.
The carriage starts moving at a pace that I never knew was possible for such a
large thing. I am facing the back window – Victor is sitting beside me – and in
the twilight I swear that I see a flash of silver, and then a face so contorted
with anger that I do not recognize who it is at first, and then as I smooth the
features out into a smirk in my mind, I realize that it is Christian watching
us flee the castle. Victor sees him as well, and draws the back window's
curtains close so that we will not have to look at him anymore, before he wraps
his arms around me.

It is instantly dark,
but as quickly as it had gone dark, it is light again. However, it isn't
moonlight this time. Instead it is candle light and Meg is waving the match so
that the red, hot flame goes out. There is nothing to do now except to wait
until we arrive at Victor's kingdom, and even with that goal in mind, I don't
know how long it will take.

"Meg, did you
bring anything to eat?" I ask, but she shakes her head; her dark curls
flying around her face.

"No, sorry Anna.
There simply wasn't enough time," She replies. I tell her that it is okay.
Seeing that there simply isn't anything else to do, I lay my head upon Victor's
shoulder, and doze into a dreamless sleep. My entire body anticipating what is
in store for the three of us.

Anna's P.O.V

Two days later

We have to pass through the Fae kingdom, through
their forests and wastelands and around the city. It is scary to say the least.
I feel eyes watching us; watching me from every crevice and surface. As if I
fascinate them or as if I am a tasty delicacy.

Though this feeling haunts me during the time we
travel through their lands, I find that despite its citizens it is an
enchanting place. The forests shine with an inner light, their green leaves
sparkling like emeralds, and the trunks of the trees shining like brown
sapphires; their sky dazzling like one giant London Blue topaz. Their cities
shine like diamonds. Even their wastelands shine like precious gems.

Even if the Fae kingdom did not shine like it does,
it would still be beautiful though I doubt it would be as enchanting. The Fae
themselves are beautiful, though some are very strange indeed. Some had hooves
and some had claws, though these strange Fae lived in the forest. We didn't get
to see any of the Fae that lived in the city but I imagine that they looked
like enchanting versions of humans.

We continue to ride on in the carriage. We pass a
vast watery expanse and Victor explains that it is Mer-folk territory. He
explains that Mer-folk are vicious beings whom only care for their own kind.
The mermaids are rumoured to take sailors to the bottom of the ocean, wrapped
in a deathly kiss. The Mer-men are rumoured to be able to walk on land and when
they do, they are rumoured to go to a woman's bed and have his way with her. I
wonder at the time if any of the Mer-folk are queer but the thought doesn't
stay with me long. Now after two long days, we are finally zoning into the
vampire kingdom.

"Welcome to my kingdom Anna, at the moment we
are at the outskirts. My castle is in the centre," Victor says, breaking
the crippling silence.

"Are there other vampire kingdom's?" Meg
asks. I can feel a tightness on my chest and I cannot understand why it is
there. I hear Victor mutter something and see Meg nod her head. Something they
don't want me to know just conversed between them, but what exactly?

"So how long until we get there?" I ask,
my curiosity brimming even though I am soar from sitting for so long.

"We should be there in a few minutes."
Victor says smiling brightly, as if it is exhilarating to be back home; for all
I know it probably is.

A few more minutes of silence course between us but
now Victor has a hold of my hand. It is blissful silence rather than awkward
silence. Meg hasn't been herself form the moment we left home but that is
understandable, due to Simon's death.

It's not long before the carriage comes to a stop.
Someone helps Meg out of the carriage, leaving Victor and I alone for a moment.

"I really hope you like it here Anna. Once
you’re settled in may I call on you?" He asks tentatively, as if he is
scared that I will say no.

"Of course Victor," I say, grinning from
ear to ear. I give him a soft kiss on the lips, before I climb out of the
carriage, and into the new world I will come to call my home.

First impressions are everything. They help you to
decide on whether you like something or not. My first impressions of Christian
allowed me to know that he wasn't exactly normal or safe and my first
impressions of Victor were really confusing and I couldn't decide if I liked
him or not. My first impression of the underworld and of Victor's castle is
simply enchanting. I feel as if a veil has been lifted from my eyes, and I can
see clearly, for once, all the magic in the world; and it is beautiful.

"Do you like it?" I hear him ask from
behind me. I can feel his breath on my neck and it tingles the skin there.

"Yes, it's beautiful," I reply smiling
once more. I am telling the truth, it is beautiful. It looks like it has come
right out of a story tale. The spiralling towers, the Gothic arches, the arched
windows and the King of this particular castle is standing by my side; hoping
for my approval.

"It's all I've ever dreamed it would be and
more," I breathe, the words rushing forth from my lips.

"I'm glad you like it. Come on let me give you
a tour of the castle," Victor says, placing a kiss on my cheek before
holding out his arm for me to take, which I gladly accept. We walk around the
castle to the back, where the gardens are, our arms still linked together.

"What's your favourite colour?" Victor
asks, his crimson eyes shining with emotion. An emotion I cannot put a name on.

"My favourite colour is red," I reply
thinking of all of things I love with this colour.

"Why red?" Victor asks looking down to
meet my eyes, smiling as if he already knows the answer but wanting to hear it
from me anyway. Looking up into Victor's eyes reminds me why my favourite
colour has become more permanent.

Keeping my gaze locked on his I reply "Red is
the colour of passion, love, anger. It's the colour of fire and sunsets. It's
also the colour of your eyes." I pull my eyes away from his before I can
see his reaction, at the same time that I can feel a blush rising on my cheeks.

"And what about you Victor, what is your
favourite colour?" I ask, trying to pull his thoughts away from my
confession.

"I guess my favourite colour is the blue-green
of the ocean." He says, nudging me with his shoulder.

"And why is that?" I ask, curiosity
bubbling inside of me.

"My only memory of my parents is a day that
they took me to the ocean. I was a very young boy and it's the only thing I
remember clearly about them," Victor says, a sad smile forming onto his
lips. "They would have been proud of me, for having such a beautiful girl
to be mine. They would have loved you Anna."

The garden is beautiful; it is filled with every
kind of flower I know of and ones that I have never seen before. There is a
dark purple flower that is closed off to the world as it has not yet bloomed.

"What kind of flower is this?" I ask, as I
bend down to stroke my fingers against the soft dark velvety purple petals.

"That is something that a friend of mine
created, he likes to call it a midnight bloom. The flower, as he likes to tell
me, only blooms at midnight which is where he got the inspiration for the
name." Victor says from behind me. I raise back to my full height, my
fingers still lingering on those soft petals.

"It's beautiful," I say, a smile dancing
on my lips. Everything here seems to be beautiful, even Victor, as if
everything has been dusted in a light spray of beauty.

We continue to talk as Victor shows me around the
rest of the castle. I learn quickly that Victor loves animals and that he hates
having to speak in public; as he always gets nervous. I also learn that he has
never been a suitor for anyone before me and that spreads a warm fuzziness
throughout my body.

I am still giggling form the last answer he has
given me, to my question of 'what is your favourite past time?'