ROSES FOR RACHEL: EPISODES 11-20
Episode 17
We sat in that dark corridor silently for a few minutes, the only sounds were our breathing and water dripping somewhere in the distance. “Rachel?” Calvin said my name sounding strained. I looked over at him, my eyes a little blurry from loss of blood. “I need to get you to a doctor, but…”
I followed his eyes down to the wound on my leg. “Is it bothering you?” I asked quietly.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He countered, still staring at it. “But, yes…badly.” He whispered, the color going away from his eyes. I shifted away from him, trying to hide the gash, and he finally looked back up to my eyes. “I won’t hurt you.” He said it like a promise, but whether or not it was a promise to me or himself, I was unsure.
I used the wall for support as I stood to me feet, wincing at the burning sensation from my leg. “I think I can find my way from here.” I told him, staggering up the hall.
The second I had my back to him, suddenly he was right in front of my face, grinning from ear to ear. “You know, I think you are actually insane.” He laughed lightly when I raised my eyebrows at him. “You honestly think I’d let you walk all the way back to you room, through dark passages filled with vampires, while your leg is bleeding profusely, after you’ve literally just had an attempt on your life?”
I laughed a little. “Well, if you’re going to make it all that dramatic, I guess it does sound a little dumb.” I started to take another step forward, but I lost my balance.
“Woah,” Cal said as he caught me by my shoulders, steadying me. “I’ve got you.” His voice was a low whisper and his eyes dropped from my eyes down to my lips.
I took in a ragged breath, biting my bottom lip and staring into his dark eyes. “Cal.” I whispered his name, making a tiny smile pull the corners of his lips up. He lifted one hand from my shoulder and cupped the side of my face with it.
The cold was shocking on my warm cheek at first, but then turned to comforting. I sighed into it as he brushed his thumb slowly across my cheek bone. He lowered his other hand to my lower back, pressing gently for me to move closer to him. When my body was flush with his, he brought both hands to my face, tilting my head back just enough, then he leaned down. My heart started pounding and I knew he must be able to hear it the way he smiled so big just before his icy smooth lips gently pressed against mine. He sighed, leaning further into the kiss, and tangling his hands into the crazy waves of my hair. I brought my own hands up tentatively to the tops of his shoulders, squeezing softly, and pulling just a little, trying to get even closer to him.
Despite the fact that he felt so cold, my body was on fire.
Never in my life had I ever imagined a kss could be like this. Reading about something, or daydreaming is one thing, the actual experience set fire to all of my expectations. I wanted nothing more in the whole world in this moment other than to stand in this cramped corridor pressed against this perfect man for the rest of my life. I crept my shaking hands further up, one hand on the side of his neck, the other exploring his tousled brown hair. I was in heaven, feeling his mouth move with mine and hearing the small moans escaping his lips, until he grabbed my face roughly, and pulled me away from him.
He dropped his hands to my shoulders again, holding me at arm’s reach away from him. I was panting, my head feeling even fuzzier than before the kss. I looked up at him and saw he was staring down at the ground between us, his eyes were jet black and his lips were going back and forth from normal, to being pulled up over his shiny teeth. “I’m sorry.” He muttered. “Just…Just give me a second.”
“Ok.” I answered. At least this gives me a second to get my head together, and stop grinning like an idiot while he gets himself together. “Do you want me to distract you?” I asked when I noticed he still seemed to be having a hard time.
He chuckled lightly. “If you believe you could do such a thing.”
“Oh, I have total faith in myself.” I laughed.
His mood was already lightening, and he smiled glancing his black eyes up at me for a second. “Go ahead then.” He replied. “Before I make a total ass of myself and rip apart what’s left of that little dress of yours.”
I leaned myself back against the wall to take some of the pressure off of my leg. “What was that place back there?” I asked curiously, while at the same time not trying to think too hard about it.
He sighed. “That’s the dungeon.” He told me. “Only the worst of the worst go there.” He said taking a step back and leaning against the opposite wall. “Most crimes warrant death here, we don’t have a lot of crime because of that, but the truly horrid things, those people don’t get the mercy of dying. They must live out their eternal lives, starving, in that dungeon.”
“Oh.” I said. “So like what kind of things get you sent in there?”
He covered his face with his hands. “Mostly anything against the crown, or brutal murderers of our own kind, turning children, things like that.”
“Turning children?” I repeated.
He nodded his head, looking up to me with his normal smoky eyes. “Yes.” He said. “Turing any human under the age of 20 is illegal. I know most places view a human as an adult when they are 18, but we take it a little further. There is still a lot of maturing to do between 18 and 20. Only people who want to be turned are, and in order to be able to make such a decision, we require that the person be at least 20 and of sound mind.”
I nodded, looking at the ground. “Interesting.” I mumbled.
Calvin pushed away from the wall and walked over to me. “You seem to be the one who was distracted here.” He pointed out my vacant expression and I laughed.
“You seem to be better as well.” I reminded him, reaching out to hold his hand.
He smiled down at it, squeezing it gently once. “Any other questions bouncing around in that head of yours?” He asked as he leaned down and kissed the top of my head.
Now that he mentioned it. “What was that stuff on the door, it like, burned you or something?”
“Juniper.” He replied. “It’s a plant, and it is highly toxic to vampires.”
“It can kll you?”
“No.” He laughed. “But it can make you wish you were dead.” He added. “Juniper berries can be melted down to create an oil, and we use that oil on those doors to keep the vampires on the other side, in. Once that stuff gets on your skin, it will burn for eternity until you get it off. That’s why they have no clothes. Nothing to wipe the substance off on, just in case someone were to get brave enough to try.” He shrugged. “No one will though.” He tacked on. “The air systems down in that area are laced with juniper too, so it keeps them weak.” He looked at my concentrated expression and smirked. My legs got uneasy again while I stared at him. “How do you feel?” He asked, holding tighter to my hand.
“A little lightheaded, actually.”
He smirked. “Kssing me has that effect.” He joked with a wink.
I smacked at his shoulder with my free hand. “I think it’s more to do with my leg, although that kiss…” I trailed off.
“Yeah,” He said. “That kiss.” I felt like his cheeks actually got a little red, but I decided it was just my foggy mind playing tricks on me. “I’ve got an idea, if it is ok with you.” He smiled almost shyly. “I don’t know how long it would take to get a doctor here to stitch that up, but I could try using my bI.ood.”
I pulled my brows together. “But I don’t want red eyes again, then I won’t see you for days.” I complained like a child.
“Oh, well we can’t have that.” He teased, mimicking my voice. “I was thinking of trying to just put my blood on the wound itself, not having you drink it, but I’m not sure I can…touch it…you understand?”
He looked nervous, so I nodded with a smile. “I’ll do it.” I replied bravely, even though the thought kind of grossed me out.
“Ok.” He said sharply, bringing his hand up to his mouth and biting his palm hard. “Hold out your hand.” He instructed me, and I did as I was told. He held his hand over mine, letting bI.ood run into my palm. “Now cover your leg with it.”
I knelt down on the ground and placed my hand with his bI.ood in it on top of the angry slash in my leg. “It’s working.” I said in amazement as I watched the wound close up and disappear miraculously. All that was left after a few seconds was my own dried up bI.ood, and the left over from his. I stood up, marveling in how it didn’t hurt anymore either. “That was amazing.” I told Calvin.
He leaned down to look at it for a second, then stood back up, holding my face again. “You’re amazing.” He whispered. “I still can’t believe what you did back there.” He said in awe. “You could have, and should have, just left me. I would have been able to handle them.”
“I’m sure you could have, but I just got so scared when I saw them biting you and…I didn’t want anything to happen to you.” I whispered.
There was a strange emotion cross his face that I couldn’t read, but then he smiled, leaning down to press his lips to mine again. “I need to get you back.” He said taking my hand in his and leading me out of the crazy maze, back to the actual elevators. He started grinning when we got in and pressed the button for level 2. “You know,” He said. “I think I’m going to have to have you a personal map drawn up.” He chuckled. “One that covers all of Castrum de Petra, so that you don’t wander off to the blood storage room, or some other more depraved rooms next.”
I started to argue with him about how this wasn’t technically my fault, but the doors opened up and we were caught hand in hand by at least twenty nervous looking people.
“Oh my god.” The little redheaded woman closest to us shouted. “Prince Calvin found her!” she yelled and more people crowded around the elevator.
Calvin pushed us through the crowd, but then we were cut off by three guards. “We will take the prisoner, your highness.” The bald man bowed.
“Prisoner?” Calvin and I both said in unison.
Master Pedro forced his way over to Cal and me. “Rachel, thank god.” He said pulling me over to him and hugging me weirdly.
“Explain, now.” Calvin demanded him.
Master Pedro dropped his arms from me and stood a little straighter. “Your highness, Rachel’s handmaiden found a note in Rachel’s room saying that she was sick of this place and running away.” He explained. “Guards have been searching everywhere for her for hours.”
I turned to look at Calvin and he looked down on me with a worried expression. “Whoever set you up wanted it to look like you ran away.” He muttered. “No one would have ever found your body in the dungeon.”
“The dungeon?” Master Pedro gasped, bringing his hand up to his mouth.
Calvin looked extremely agitated. “Pedro, escort Rachel to her room, and I would like for you plus three guards to stay in the room with her tonight.” He said to him and Pedro nodded once.
“I’ll straighten all of this out.” He said to me, then disappeared.
Pedro shook off his suit jacket and wrapped it around me. “What on earth happened to you?” He asked in a hushed tone and we spent the walk to my room going over everything that had happened. Well, almost everything, I didn’t think he needed to know about the kissing. “I’ve never seen a man that looks like that before.” He said shaking his head. “I can’t believe you went into those crypts and came out alive.”
“Well, I almost didn’t.” I informed him.
We turned down the corridor that leads down to my room but then Master Pedro stopped walking. “A human.” He whispered.
“I smell a human, but not one of the six girls.” He added, still standing motionless. He looked back up the hallway and then back in front of him. “Somethings wrong.” He said barely louder than a whisper.
“What?” I asked, feeling a chill run up my spine.
“Guards!” He shouted and when only one showed up, he called again until we were surrounded by five. “Stay with her.” He directed the first to show. “The rest, check her room.” He demanded and then he followed a few steps behind them on the way to my room.
I stood with the guard just up the hall. “I smell…” The guard next to me whispered ominously.
“What?” I prompted. “What do you smell?”
“Smoke and death.” His face was hollow looking as he said it and I was drawn into his sad expression until I heard shouts coming from my room.
“Fern!” Pedro shouted. “Sweet, Fern! No!”
Now that my door was opened, I could see the thick white smoke seeping from my room. I took off in a sprint, ignoring the calls from my guard, until I was right in front of my door. The guards were walking around, checking under my bed and behind doors. Pedro was down on his hands and knees wailing, and in front of him was a body broken into hard pieces and stacked like a pyre, and covered with blue flames.
Fern.
ROSES FOR RACHEL: EPISODES 11-20
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