It was very, very dark. There were no lights upstairs. She was afraid of ghosts, of the darkness they might lurk in. She closed her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a crash coming from the closet. She didn't know if she could open her eyes. She didn't want to see the deathly pale face above her. She wanted to get up, but something wouldn't let her. It kept her stuck in bed, preventing her from moving. The blood in her veins was flowing faster and faster. Someone sensed it and came closer. Out of fear, she gripped the thread of her pajamas too tightly, and blood began to flow from her hand. The scent of it filled the air. She could feel it, and the creature above her could feel it too. She didn't know what to do.
"This is a dream," she kept repeating to herself. "I'll wake up soon, and the monster will be gone. I'll never see him again. I don't want to see him again. Never, ever..." she said very quietly.
But she began to wonder if this really was a dream after all. The figure standing over her began to lean closer to the bed… she didn't know what to do. Something seemed to be holding her in an invisible trap. She felt the cold flowing from the creature, a cold, icy cold. She wanted to cover herself, but her hands seemed to refuse to obey. To avoid thinking about fear, she kept her eyes closed and thought about vacation… it was still a long way off, but one could dream… The evil force receded from her, but she didn't notice. She continued to think about her parents, her loving brother, and the boy she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The figure standing over her continued to recede. Without thinking about anything else, she opened her eyes and saw the monster… it was huge… simply enormous… but its face terrified her most. It was… it was simply terrifying… it resembled the face of a devil, with teeth protruding from its lips. She realized that this was a real vampire… although she had never believed in them. She'd read books about them before, but the descriptions of their appearance had never been less real. They depicted a human with protruding fangs. And this...this was an animal that had nothing to do with humans. "
But you don't exist," she said to him. "This...this is impossible. You can't...You can't exist...this is just a bad dream, just a bad dream..." She looked at him, her eyes full of terror. "
We exist, and you'll soon see how real I am..." With that, the vampire began to slowly, very slowly, bring his fangs closer to her neck. She could already feel the warmth of his breath when a force flung him across the room.
"You're one of those..." he didn't finish. He tried to free himself from under the many books that had fallen on him when he hit the shelf with great force. "You're the one we've been waiting for for centuries. When Ymael left us, he left behind only a prophecy. It said that one day we would meet a human—" he looked at her. "A true human," he said. "No vampire, whom we are to care for, will destroy him. He is to save us. He is to lead us to a great victory against the Ristians, the order that wants to gain our immortality," he explained. "We can't let that happen. Apparently, you are our only salvation," he said with mockery in his voice. "I don't believe you'll succeed, but I don't think I have any other choice but to trust you.
" "But I haven't done anything," she said, terrified. "And why should I help you? You wanted to kill me! And should I help you now? It won't happen!" she shouted.
"As you wish. " If not me, others will catch you and kill you.
"But you said...
" "I said that vampires can't hurt you, not that the Ristians won't do it for us. They know you're our only chance for survival. They're humans, only humans with a great lust for killing innocent lives. To them, it doesn't matter whether a person dies or not; they'll finish them off without a second thought. Now that you've been discovered, you can only count on our help. Believe me, we will help you.
" "So if you don't take me where you're supposed to take me, will they kill me? If I don't have your protection, will I die?
" "That's more or less the right way to put it.
" "But I don't want to! I'm afraid of you! I don't even know you, so how can I trust you? Maybe you're the ones who want to kill me? Maybe... no, that's nonsense! You're saying that if I don't go with you, these... these Ristians will kill me? But how can they know you can't touch me?" How will they find out, or rather, from whom? She began to wonder
. "They sense when we're near a human, and if it's someone gifted like yours, they'll know immediately. I'm not sure, but I think they already know and are preparing a cruel death for you. So, if you don't come with me, they definitely won't pat you on the head. Quite the opposite. They have torture devices the likes of which this world has never heard. They'll let you go mad so you'll beg them for a quick death. Believe me, I don't want anything bad for you, although I don't believe you can save my nation from destruction," he said.
"It's good to have such optimistic visions." As he said this, she grimaced in dissatisfaction. "So I guess I have no choice but to go with you.
" "I guess you do have a choice, but I don't know if another option would suit you." He started laughing.
"Okay, okay, whatever you want. I'm going with you." She said.
"I just need to tell you that you'll be subjected to the Sacrifice ritual...
" "What?" She exclaimed. "Something else? What's that supposed to involve? You'll sacrifice me or something?
" "It won't be like that. I'm not here to let you in on these matters. Others will take care of that when I take you to them.
" "Then lead the way, just remember, I have to get home before dawn, or my parents will be worried.
" "I don't think you'll be home by this time. You won't be back here, ever. Don't worry, my parents won't remember you.
" "But how can that be?
" "They'll forget you existed, that they had a daughter.
" "But... but I love them, I won't forget them." A single tear began to run down her cheek.
"You'll forget about them, but it won't be as short-lived as it was with your family.
" "Fine. I just don't want them to suffer.
" "They won't suffer at all. So, are we going now?"
"Okay, I'll just pack," she said with resignation.
"I'll wait outside," and he disappeared.
She thought about how her life was changing in such a short time. She would no longer have a family, she wouldn't remember anyone close to her. She would abandon everyone, everyone she had ever loved, everything that held any value to her.
She packed only the bare necessities into a backpack and was about to leave, when suddenly her eyes caught a small figurine near the bed. It had been standing there before, but not in this spot. It was on the shelf. It was... she remembered that when the shelf had fallen over, the figurine had been standing on it. For
as long as she could remember, the figurine had always been close to her. It might sound silly, but she had treated it as her friend. Whenever she was sad or had done something wrong, she would run to her room, lock herself in, and talk. The next day, everything was fine. She always thought it was because her parents couldn't stay angry with her. Perhaps she was mistaken.
She went to the figurine and took it in her arms. It was the size of a palm, but it had always seemed larger to her. It depicted a black angel with folded wings, as if it had just arrived and wanted to rest. It had a beautiful face that now reminded her of someone. She just didn't know who. She considered taking it with her.
"I'll take it no matter what. She's always been with me, and I won't leave her now," she said, and put it in her bag. She slowly began to leave the house. She didn't look back, because she knew how much pain it would cause. She already missed them, but he… well, she hadn't even asked his name.
"Oh, you're here. We're going, but first I have to tell you that you can't make the entire journey conscious. I'll have to put you to sleep, but don't worry, no one will hurt you. At least no one who's a vampire," he said, and they began walking towards the station. Just before the tunnel, they stopped.
"As I was saying. I have to put you to sleep now, because you can't bear it right now. But rest assured, once the ritual is over, you'll be able to make these journeys on your own.
" "Before you put me to sleep. Tell me exactly where this journey will end?
" "We'll be traveling through the center of the Earth. I can't tell you exactly where we'll land, because I don't know what to do with you yet. Our world isn't as backward as yours, but that's none of our business. You'll get used to it somehow. You'll have to.
" "Okay, I don't want to know anything anymore. Take me there, as quickly as possible, or I'll change my mind. I don't know if it was a good idea to go with you, but if you don't, they'll take me and kill me. Then my family will suffer, and I won't be alive anymore. I don't want them to suffer, so I'm going with you. Just remember, no tricks." As she spoke, her eyelids began to feel heavy, as if there were kilograms of sand beneath them. She fell asleep, a very deep sleep...
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