Queen

I looked down at my blood soaked hands. What had I done? I told him to run, screamed at him. Why didn't he listen? All I could remember was the fear in his eyes, I could smell it. I looked down at his limp body. I fed again. I wished I could stop, those shiny bloodsuckers in the twilight movies could live off animal blood, why couldn't I? Why did I have to do this every two weeks? Leave some poor person in a dark alley, not knowing how or why they got there.

I walked silently to my apartment, eyes downcast, hands buried in my pockets. I wished I could die, I resented my lonely immortality. Just as I was about to turn onto the stairs leading to my apartment someone grabbed my shoulder from behind. I jumped and turned around fast to see my attacker. It was a young woman about my age. She had long red hair, completely straight. Odd for a red head, they normally had curls. She smiled a kind smile that lit her soft blue eyes.

"I have the solution to your problem, hon." She said.

"Sorry, not interested." I said, and turned away quickly, thinking she was going to try selling me something.

"No, wait. You want to stop drinking from humans, don't you?" That got my attention.

"What?"

She smiled again.

"Come here, I wont hurt you. I swear." She beckoned me to her.

"Right. How do I know I can trust you?" I asked skeptically.

She only grinned bigger and pulled her hair behind her ear. Her ear was slightly pointed at the top. Elf. Elves could not lie. If they did, they died a very painful death. They couldn't even twist their words. They were kind though and never really wanted to lie in the first place. The slight elvin girl grabbed my wrist and tugged lightly, questioningly. Was this okay? Her eyes seemed to ask. I nodded. I knew what she was going to do.

I was right.

The girl brought me to her village hidden high up in the trees, at the top of mountains no hikers ever went to. Vampires had to feed once every two weeks in order to survive. As I said, I would love to just die but it's a bit more complicated than that. If I don’t feed and just let myself die, I will just regenerate and be even worse, killing instead of hurting. Worse yet, I'd enjoy it. But there was one way to avoid any of this. Elvin blood. If I had elvin blood, even once, I'd never need to feed again. It was the only known cure to vapirism. The little elf brought me to stand in front of her queen.

I knelt down in a show of respect. "Why are you helping me?" I asked the fair haired, grey eyed lady. She seemed to glow, she was so beautiful, and tall. "Because my dear, you are my daughter." She said. I only stared, shocked. What had she just said? I knew my parents though. She smiled. I am not your real mother or else you would be immune to the disease you now carry. I am the mother your father chose for you. A godmother as the humans would say.

I was not to approach you until your disease got out of control. I know your father left you a note explaining everything, all but myself. I assure you, he had his reasons to hide me from you. I am a queen, if you had gotten upset with your father and had me hunted, that would be a danger to my people. Here is the other note I was to give to you when I was sure you would want my help. I nodded and the queen handed me the letter from my father. It said everything the queen just explained and apologized for being a terrible father, leaving me without any parents, to be alone on the streets. I'd never forgive him of course, but I couldn't blame this poor lady, she was offering to take me in as a daughter and seemed so kind. I would accept. If only to please her. She cut a small line in her arm with a gold dagger and let her blue blood drip down her arm. I bent and lapped the blood. It was like nothing I'd ever tasted before, sweet, if love had a taste, this would be it. I rose, looked in the mirror the near by servant handed me and smiled. My eyes had turned a bright pink and my hair was a radiant gold. I was now an elf. The queens gift. When I bowed my head and said,

"Thank you, your highness."

She touched the tip of her fingers to my chin and said. "From now on, you bow to no one, princess."

From The Flames

Lily looked up at her burning house. Her little sister, Jamie looking down at her from their shared bedroom window. Jamie slammed on the glass and screamed for help. Lily looked into Jamie's eyes and saw nothing but fear. She could hear her little sisters screams and pleas for help even over the sirens and the roar of the fire. Their parents were already gone, Lily knew this, because when she had tried to wake them up and tell them about the fire they wouldn't move.

 

As she thought about this, her eyes filled with tears. She wanted to stay with her mommy forever, leaving mommy felt like abandonment but she knew she had to go back for Jamie. Mommy would want Lily to protect Jamie. Lilly had run down the hall screaming for Jamie to come to her. She had turned the last corner before the little hall leading to her and her sisters bedroom and saw that the part of the hallway between herself and little Jamie was engulfed in flame. Lilly screamed as the fire just about burned her frail arm. She remembered what mommy had said one time about fires. Duck down. Smoke rises. So she did.

 

Lilly knew the only thing she could do was get out and tell the firefighters she could now hear outside about her little sister. Lilly knew her sissy was alive, she heard her calling Lilly's name. Lilly ran outside, to the first firefighter she could find and screamed that her sissy was inside, that they had to get her. The fighter went in and was taking way too long for Lilly's liking. Lilly had to get away. In all the chaos, escaping wasn't hard to do. Lilly just waited for the nurse to tend to someone else and then ran off toward the window where her little sister coughed and gagged from smoke inhalation.

 

The window was partly open but Jamie was only six and very short, she couldn't reach the safety latch on the window. Lilly was two years older and could reach it from the inside but the window wasn't open enough to squeeze her arm through and flick the latch from the outside. The metal on the window was hot, it scorched Lilly's arms and left blisters. Lilly's eyes filled again as she looked around. She saw a firefighters ax laying on the ground nearby. She ran over, grabbed it and ran back. Jamie saw the ax and nodded encouragingly, she smiled and stepped back so that when Lilly smashed the window she wouldn't get glass in her eyes or face. Lilly heaved back the big ax and swung it forward with all her might. The glass shattered and Jamie grabbed her slippers from beside the bed so she wouldn't cut her feet climbing out the window. She pulled her sleeve over the palm of her hand and pulled herself up, balancing on the window sill edge.

 

“Catch

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: Hailey Fowler
Lektorat: Hailey Fowler
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 02.06.2012
ISBN: 978-3-86479-889-4

Alle Rechte vorbehalten

Widmung:
Deticated to Kelley who's lack of a school project inspired me in the first place. Also to Danielle and my mom who've been there for me through everything.