Sindie and Ashley

As I walked away I thought that I heard her start to cry but I was to pissed to notice. As I walked out of her gates I remembered that there was a park near her house. So I decided that that was where I was going to go.

And so that is where I am at now. My walk was what I needed to calm down and really think about what I did and said. I was so frustrated with her for not telling about who she was that I never gave her a chance to really explain things to me. I guess that the only reason that she did not tell me was because she was only trying to protect me but I have no real way of knowing with out actually talking to her. And now that she won't answer her phone I can't give her the chance to explain things better to me.

I had most likely been sitting here for about a couple of hours when I saw someone walking up to me. The way they were walking told me that it was a male. But the way he was walking made me think that he was trying to keep his pace slow and deliberate. It kind of made me think of the way people approach someone that they have never met and was uncertain if it was that person or not. When the man got close enough for me to make out details I could tell that he was an older gentleman, about forty five years of age and very fit/athletic.

As he sat next to me he bowed his head in greeting.

"It is nice weather we are having don't you think so?"

"I do think it is pleasant." I replied out of courtesy.

As we sat there I could tell he was watching me. It was starting to freak me out a little bit I stood up and started to say good by until he told me something that shook me to the core.

"Sindie you need to know that if you leave I will just kill you before you have a chance to scream unless you listen to what I have to say."

"How... how do you know my name?" I asked as I sat back down scared that this man could very well do as he threatened.

"Ahh, forgive my rudeness my dear. My name is Marcello. You see Miss Ashley has asked me to come to find you even though you have hurt my dear sister." I was about to protest but he stopped me before I could get a word out. "I know that she has also hurt you by not telling you the truth sooner. I tried to advise her that it would have been better for her to tell you when you guys first started to be friends but unfortunately she would not listen to me but to the will of the others.

She was so sorry that you got hurt, she would have followed you here but I warned her against it. You see she was in no shape to come, she was to upset to come. So in order for her to agree to calm down was for me to come after you and talk to you. You see she only gave you a short explanation of who she really is, you see, she was telling you the truth about being a vampire but what she didn't tell you was that there are also half vampires, or dhampires as we call them. You see us dhampires are not like a true vampire we have all of there strength, speed, sight, and everything else that makes them a vampire but the need to drink blood. She also forgot to mention that vampires age about five hundred years to a humans year. As do us dhampires. The other thing that she forgot to tell you is that not only did she inherit her uncle's home she also inherited his title. You see her uncle was the famed son of the legendary Dracula. I know what you are thinking. 'Dracula? But he is just a fictional character in horror films and books.' but you could not be more wrong. He was the greatest vampire that the world has ever known.

Yes the world feared him but they were unjust. He never had the need for blood that vampires today need, although they do not need to kill in order to survive. They drink it to maintain their strength. Well not the ones that are apart of our clan. There are other clans that feel the same way then there are those few that think that we should just kill those that they feed from. And it is those that she told you briefly about. You see they are the ones that sent the person to your door with the gun. They wanted to get to Ashley to get her to fight an out right war. But you see by calling her you saved yourself. The rest of the clan does think that by killing you would make things easier but they are a minority. And they are new to our coven. The majority think that she did the right thing by getting to you as fast as she did.

You see the longer you were here without one of us the more danger you were in. she knew that but I also knew that she would not be able to protect you like she would have if she came to you as upset as she was."

He remained silent to let me digest all of what he said. Marcello gave me a lot to think about. We sat there for about a half hour while I thought everything through. I stood up and he joined me but he still looked like he would still try to kill me if I tried to walk away from him.

"Ok You say that her uncle is the son of Dracula, and that she inherited his title. What title did she inherit any way?" I asked.

"She is the Queen of the vampires." he replied.

"Oh"

Great I gave my heart to the queen of vampires and she gave me hers. Now I understand why she didn't tell me sooner. She was trying to protect me. But what I don't understand is why some one would come after me to get at Ashley. I was going to ask Marcello but I asked him something else instead.

"Can you take me back to her?"

"Will you trust me if I promise not to hurt you?"

I nodded yes and he offer me his hand. I took it and he picked me up in his arms. And then he ran. Before I could blink an eye we were back at her house. He set me back down on my feet but caught me as soon as he let go of my arm. I was so light headed from the experience. I made a mental note to never do that again. I told him that I was ok to stand on my own and he let go of my arm. He told me that he would take me right to her room so that I would not have to deal with the others.

As we went upstairs to her bedroom I thanked him for his kindness and he bowed and left me alone to see Ashley. I opened the door to her room and I was knocked to the floor.

The last thing that I remember was seeing Ashley looking at me with a tear stained face and then she moved and that was when I got knocked to the floor. When I woke up I had a pair of arms wrapped around me. At first I thought that it was still morning then my memory came back to me.

"How does your head feel Sindie?"

"Painful." was my only response.

"I am so sorry about that. I didn't think that Marcello would have been able to get you to come back. In fact I don't understand why you did come back."

"Well if you can answer me one thing I may not leave, your highness."

I heard her groan behind me and I had to quickly hide my smile in order to keep her from seeing that I was teasing her as she rolled me over to look me in the eye.

"I wish that he would not have told you that, that little piece of shit. But I suppose that he had to. Ok so what do you want to ask me?" she said.

"Ok really I have two questions but the one that I really want you to answer and the most important one to me is do you really love me?" I asked of her.

"Yes I really do. I would do anything to keep you safe from harm." she answered.

I could see in her eyes that she was telling me the truth. And believe it or not she answered my second question with out even realizing it.

"So what was your second question, my queen?"

"You have already answered that question. But you have to swear to me that no matter what happens you must not give control over to those that would rather kill than to live with us humans."

"I guess that when my half brother explained things to you he told you everything huh?"

I nodded to answer her question. She just sighed in resignation of everything that I could possibly know. Before I could stop myself I burst out laughing.

"Sindie, why are you laughing?"

It took me a full five minutes to settle down enough to give her my answer.

"You know you guys really suck right?" then I just started to burst out laughing again. And she gave me a and if I wasn't looking at her I would not have braced myself for her smack on my rear-end. Then she started to laugh with me.

I was finally able to calm down enough to give her a kiss and before she was not expecting it. She just lay there and when the shock of my lips on hers faded she started to kiss me back. I think she heard someone approaching because when a knock sounded at her door I just about jumped out of my skin but she just looked over my shoulder.

"Your highness..." The woman at the door faltered then corrected herself, "Ashley we need you downstairs when you are ready."

"Ok." As the woman started to leave Ashley added, "Oh and have them place one more seat at the table."

The woman nodded her head in respect but before she left she shot me a cruel malicious look. That, thankfully Ashley saw.

"And if you ever look and her like that again, and I don't care how few numbers we have, I will kill you with my bare hands."

I leaned back to really get a good look at Ashley and I could just see the power radiate off of her. It kind of spooked me but when she spoke to me her voice was gentle and kind.

"Come my dearest Sindie we have a meeting to go to. That and I can introduce you to those that are my loyal and trusted friends."

I nodded ok but when she asked if she could carry me to the meeting room to get us there quicker I vehemently shook my head no. She looked at me confused then it dawned on her that Marcello had already treated to the speed of a vampire. So she understood how I felt and so we walked at my speed until she pointed to the left. I saw that she was taking me to the side of the house that I have not been to yet. She warned me not to look in any of the rooms. I may not like what I found there. I nodded that I understood.

When we reached the end of the hall I was surprised by the sheer beauty of the artwork that was hanging on both sides of the door.

"Would you believe that it took me ten years to paint the both of those?"

"You painted those? They are absolutely beautiful." I answered.

She blushed and said thank you. Then her hand rested on the door handle.

"Are you ready my dear?" I was going to ask ready for what but then I remembered where I was. I told her yes but every nerve in my body was screaming no. She opened the door after she checked a second time if I was ready.

"Honestly no but lets just get it over with. Are you sure that I won't be attacked when I walk in the room?"

She just shrugged her shoulders but I saw a smile play at the corners of her lips to say that she knew for certain that I would not. Before I could do or say anything she had the door open and walked in. She noticed that I was not beside her she laughed and grabbed my arm and walked me into the room.

But when I entered I would have been safe to say that all hell literally brook loose. Every one was shouting about why I was there and that I should be killed on the spot for daring to walk in this chamber. It was all the same but said differently. I went to start to back out of the door but Ashley put her arm around my waist.

I could feel the power that she used earlier when that woman looked at me start to radiate from out of Ashley.

"Ashley please I can go if they don't want me here." I told her.

"It's about what they want but what I want." She said just loud enough for me to hear her but the effect was enough to receive a bow and curtsy from those that were gathered.

"Now if you all would please take your seats I will introduce you all." she was not mad but the others knew that if they dared to refuse that they would pay the price later, because Ashley was still radiating such a powerful aura. "Now as you all may have heard earlier this morning Sindie here was wise enough to call me to save her. And then again after we got here. Needless to say that the anger that she felt was understandable. I did not have enough time to explain everything to her on the way here. I thank you Marcello for making sure she was safe and that she fully understand what I was unable to tell her. Though I wish that you would have let me tell her that I had become the queen myself. Please note that I am not mad at you. You did what you had to make sure that she understood everything. I am grateful. Sindie shall we take our seats so as to be on equal grounds with my council?" she asked me and I was understandably dumbstruck. She laughed at me and grabbed my hand and led me to the chair next to hers. "Please sit my dear. I promise that I won't bite, unless you want me too." I knew that she was trying to make a joke out of it but I was starting to get a sick feeling in my stomach.

I leaned in to her to ask "Where would the nearest bathroom be?" She rolled her eyes and told me to close mine. I did and before I could protest I was in her arms like I weighed nothing at all. Then when she told me to open my eyes I saw that we were back in her master bathroom. I went straight to the toilet and got sick.

Ashley was kind enough to get me out of the hallway and somewhere safe. I thought that I was ready to accept this but I was not.

"Sindie are you ok? Is there anything that I can get you?" she asked I could hear the concern in her voice and that was hard but not as hard as what I had to tell her.

"A glass of water. Then I need to talk to you before you return to your meeting." she must have noticed that I said she was going to go to the meeting and I was not going to go. "Please let me say what I need to before you misunderstand. I was not ready for this. Any of this. I need time to think and I can't do that with that much power in one room. I was scared Ashley. I have never been that scared in my life. Not even when that man with the gun was at my door. I don't know if I can be in a room with that kind of presence. I will never leave your side but please if you still want to introduce me to them please do so as I see them around the house. I could literally see the aura of power you used to get them to quiet down and take their seats. I need to be brought into this slowly. I can't just be thrown into like that." I told her what I was feeling and she seemed to understand.

"Sindie I am sorry that I did that to you. I should have been more thoughtful. I should have been more considerate." She would have said more but there was a knock at her door and Marcello entered.

Ashley almost let go of her self control but she felt my hand on her arm and she took a deep breath and spoke calmly. "Marcello please go back to the meeting I will be there shortly. And tell the rest of them that I am going to be there in a minute."

"I would Ashe, but they understand that dear Sindie here may take up the rest of your evening so they have decided to convene until tomorrow. Also I did not tell her everything when I talked to her at the park. Just so you know." he walked over and gave her a brotherly kiss on the top of her head before he left us to ourselves.

"What did he mean that he did not tell me everything?"

"I will tell you later I promise you that. I am curious about something though. You said that you could see an aura of power around me when I was upset. What did it look like?"

"It was like you body was covered in purplish transparent flames. I have never seen anything like it before. Then I saw the auras of the rest of the members of your council. Though I could not tell what color they were. They all just seemed to combine into one aura, even yours was the brightest one that I could see. I think that was what made me sick. All of that power was combining. Thank you for getting me out of there."

"You are welcome Sindie. Since you answered my question I will answer yours. All of us has a special gift. Marcello and his fellow Dhampires also though not as great as a true vampire though. Mine is that I know someone is feeling though it seems that I am unable to read you. Ok enough talk you should get some rest." I was about to protest but she stopped me with a kiss and it felt nice.

"One more question please?" I asked her. She nodded and held up one finger. I knew that she meant she would answer one more question then I would need to try and get some sleep. "Did you really mean it about biting me?"

To answer my question she gently and tenderly bit my shoulder. "That's not the kind of bite that I meant and you know it." She nodded her answer. "How do you know when to stop?" I asked in response.

"I would listen to your heart beat but since I have been around for a while I have learned self control. And no it would not hurt you, at least not after the initial break of the skin. I would make it feel wonderful. Unless of course you did something to make me mad then I could make it be unbearable. But for you, if you let me, I would make sure that you felt no pain what so ever."