Demon in Ruins

Chapter 9

“In my deepest parts of sadness, I’m always making a joke or being sarcastic.”- Lea Thompson

Chapter-9

-Karen-

He was gone. Jon was gone. I felt sad even though I knew he had to go, leaving me alone in this hell where bloodthirsty monsters were roaming around.

“Karen,” The honey voice called. “Are you happy now?”

I looked up at him. His green eyes were searching mine. Nate was trying to get his answer and I was reluctant to fight with him for my rights. I wanted to go home and he had already asked me to stop thinking about the option.

“I’m very happy.” I lied.

I knew there was no sign of happiness on my face.

“Jon will be alright.” He said softly.

“Of course he will be,”

“What are you think about?”

Home. I wanted to say but I didn’t.

“Nowhere.” I said instead.

Nate smiled his brilliant smile.

I sat on the chair next to the window when he was out of my room. I watched the birds flying high in the sky and tears rolled my cheek. I was caged. A prisoner here. The birds made me realise how much I missed my freedom.

The sunlight came through the window leaving no effect on me or my skin. Nate was not lying when he said the mansion was shielded from it. It was like an illusion. The sun was a mere object here that shined but left nothing to trace it.

I cried for more than an hour remembering my happiest times in life and the biggest mistake of coming here. If this was my destiny, I was not ready to embrace it. Ever.

I picked up a book from the bookshelf. It was a very new edition. I looked at the date of publish and jumped with happiness. The date of publish was 2015. It raised some hopes in me. If Nate travelled to my world often then he would don’t mind taking me with him.

Then I sank back with fear when a Victor’s laugh interrupted my short-lived happiness. He was standing there, leaning on the wall. He was staring at me with a smirk on his face.

“I brought the book for you,” He said. “My brother is so weak. He cannot even think of travelling between two alternative worlds and I, on the other side have travelled so much in my life.”

Victor was Nate’s notorious and gruesome (he was not gruesome from outside but from inside…well, he was really gruesome) brother. He did not seem to care about anyone but himself. And I was scared of him. Our first meeting wasn’t nice. He was a true monster.

“You think a lot.” He licked his lips.

“Why is Nate weak?” I asked.

“It starts with a story.”

“Then tell me.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t have time for this.”

“Trust me; I’ve the whole time in the world.” I mocked.

“Okay, I trust you.” He smiled. “Sit down.”

I sat down on the bed and he sat down beside me.

“Some years ago, maybe a two or three hundred years ago our father Lord Valentino ruled this part of town in this alternative world. In your world, he was another person who had come to settle with his wife to the Escoffier mansion. In this world, he was a ruler. A fierce one. He cared about his kingdom and his small family.” He paused and looked at me. “Then comes Nathaniel. He was adopted by our father and turned into a vampire.”

Nate was adopted. He never told me this and why would he. He never talked about his family whenever I asked him.

“After getting turned into a vampire he was taken as the best vampire by my father. He regarded him as the best son while I was here, waiting for the throne. My chances were high since I was one of the best warriors in his kingdom and his son but as Nathan came, I stood nowhere.” There was hurt in his voice. “He took over my father affection. But he did a mistake. A mistake he wasn’t supposed to do.”

-Nate-

The storeroom looked as old as it had been. The pictures made by famous painters of our time. Father loved art. It was the next thing he loved besides fighting and us. The storeroom had cobwebs everywhere.

There were broken pieces of pots. The pots reminded me of coming in this mansion the first time. The memories came rushing to me.

I was bleeding. The monster and bitten me, and left me for dead. He needed blood to keep himself going on with his life but he did not glance back at his prey once he was done with it. I was screaming in pain, begging him to finish me off. It was better to die than take the agony and pain.

He never looked back and fainted into deep darkness.

“Pick him up,” A voice said.

I opened my eyes. I was still alive.

I saw a handsome face I knew. He had these big blue shinning eyes. His angular face was young as I had seen him last time. He was Lord Valentino.

He was the ruler of our kingdom. The guards picked me up and brought me the mansion where I could only dream of coming.

There was another boy of my age. He had his grey eyes focused on me like he wanted to come and talk to me. I winced in pain as the guards placed me on the stone surface of the mansion.

Lord Valentino looked at me and smiled. It was an animal smile. The one I had seen on the monster’s face but it was somehow very different from it at the same time. He came near me.

“You’re in pain.” He whispered.

The fangs came out of his mouth and I had no power left to scream anymore. My body was exhausted. He raised his arm and bit it. The red thick blood poured out of the wound and he placed it directly on my mouth.

“Drink, young man.” He ordered. “Drink the blood.”

I hesitated for a moment and then tasted the blood in my mouth. It was tasty, not what I had thought the blood would taste like. It was taste of heaven. I drank the blood as fast as I could but then I fainted again.

I heard faint voices surrounding me.

“He will not be saved, Valentino.” A feminine voice murmured.

“I’ll save him no matter what come ahead.” The voice I recognized of Lord’s. “I can save him.”

“But there is only one way and you know it can be dangerous.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

This was the last thing I heard before falling into deep unconsciousness.

When I woke up once again, I was all alone on a comfortable bed in a room. I felt the power to stand straight up on my feet and to breathe. I got up on my legs and wavered for the first time. I walked to the near mirror and stopped.

I had no reflection!

I checked my arms and legs once more. They were intact but there was reflection in the mirror. My mouth opened wide.

“Son, you shouldn’t be so surprised.” Lord Valentino entered the room.

I bowed out of habit. He patted my shoulder.

“Miracle! You’re alive and fit.” He said. “I had half expectations on you.”

“About w—what lord?” I stammered.

I wanted to ask him about the reflection but I was afraid of him.

“I’ll tell you about your reflection, Nathaniel.” He said as if read my mind. “You’re a vampire now.”

I remembered the conversation between Victor and me. The boy who was staring at me from the shadows with his grey eyes was Victor, Lord Valentino’s one and only son.

I remember the first time we had talked. He was a nice person.

“Where did you say you’re from?”  

I looked into his grey eyes. He was a year older than me but there wasn’t any difference in his age to mine.

“I’m from the East side.” I answered sheepishly.

“Isn’t that the poorest part of the town?” He asked.

I nodded. We had nothing to hide from each other. He was acting as a real brother to me since I had come here in the mansion.

“You are sweet and good natured. Not what I had expected a person from east side to be like.” He said. “They are rough and ready for fight.”

“No, we aren’t like this at all.” I said.

The East side people weren’t rough when they didn’t need to. Some werewolves attacked us now and then and it made us pick up our weapons and fight for justice.

“Come, I’ll show you the rest of the mansion.”

 He was a brother, a friend and a well-wisher to me. He always shared his sorrows and pains with me. But then suddenly everything crumbled.

I met her. Kate. She was from the werewolf community and this changed our lives forever.

-Karen-

I listened to whatever Victor told me.

“What was the mistake?” I asked.

“I used to like him like my father and mother did but when he became a candidate for the future king I started hating him.”

Could the hate for becoming someone’s favourite could lead to this kind of hatred?

“You are angry because he won your parent’s hearts?” I asked amazed by the lines he had said.

His expressions changed. His jaw was clenched.

“Do you really think I would be so mad at him because of a simple thing?” He asked me.

I couldn’t decide what to say.

“I don’t hate him for childish reasons, Karen.” He whispered. “They can be a part of my hate but they aren’t the real reason.”

“Then what is?” I asked.

“Kate…” He breathed.

“Who was Kate?” I asked Victor who had stopped proceeding with the ancient story.

He had told me about Nate had come to this mansion. But he had stopped on a girl named Kate.

“I’ve to leave you here so that you can guess it yourself.” He grinned.

I had realised Victor wasn’t so bad I had thought him to be. He had talked to me without drinking my blood which was a big achievement on his character.

“Take care, Karen.”

Victor said and when I looked up to see him, he was gone.

I sighed and picked up the book. I started reading the book with heavy heart. The mystery of this place was getting more complicated with every lock that was opening in front of me.

If the reason for Victor’s hate towards Nate was a girl, who was she? Did Lady Adeline know about this? Where was Lord Valentino now? And the most anticipated question of the year was…why was I here?

I had no connection to all these and still I was staying here. I had to know the hidden truth behind all these situations. I had to know what was going on between the two brothers and there was only one way to know all.

I had to ask Nate about this.