Chapter 101
CAMILLA’S P.O.V
I knew I wasn’t dead but I was close to it. After Alastair bit me, all I could feel was pain radiating throughout my entire b*dy. It felt like a thousand tiny needles were going through me at the same time. I couldn’t move or speak at all and then everything went black. For a while, it was just black, like I was suspended in a limbo or something. I could hear everything that went on around me. I heard the physicians say that there was no cure. I heard Ryker when he whispered in my ears but I could not speak or even move until one moment.
I don’t know how it happened but one second, I was in a limbo and the next, my hand was grabbed and everything came crashing down. I wouldn’t be able to explain it even if I tried. I just blinked one moment and although I was in the darkness, I wasn’t suspended anymore. It was almost like I was now aware of myself. A part of me knew that it meant I was sl*pping further into death but I couldn’t bring myself to care when I noticed who was holding my hand.
“Mother?” I blinked a few times to be sure it was her but the figure in front of me did not change. She smiled softly at me and I couldn’t help but throw my hands over her shoulders.
She had not changed one bit. Her hair was tied in a perfect chignon and she had on a dress of rubies. She looked happier than she did while she was alive and I was grateful that death was treating her kindly. She deserved all the happiness in the world.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you around here soon,” she pulled back from me and then slapped the back of my head. “Maybe if you stop throwing yourself into bad situations then you wouldn’t need to be here.”
“What are you talking about?” I mumbled as I rubbed the sore spot that she hit. “I didn’t even do anything.”
“Camilla, darling, I have been watching every single one of your actions since I died; would it kill you to talk to Ryker every once in a while before you make a decision?” I opened my mouth to speak but she cut me off. “Don’t answer that, we don’t have a lot of time. I need to make this as quick as possible.”
“What do you mean?” Is something happening?”
“I shouldn’t be here. I was sent here by the goddess to speak to you. She thought it would be better if I was the one who came. There is only so much she can do
1/4
12:16 Wed, 10 Januoti
Chapter 101
before she upsets the balance of the world,” I was still so confused but I just nodded. “That vampire, Alastair, he has lived for longer than you can imagine. He was one of the first vampires ever created. To understand how to defeat them, you need to understand how they came to be.”
She led me to sit cross legged on the ground. I didn’t even realize there was a bottom because of how dark everything was.
“The vampires were created as a mistake. There were two witches who were in love. They were from different covens who were banned from ever relating with each other. They were both extremely powerful and everyone knew that if they got together, they would be unstoppable. They ran away so that they could be happy but they didn’t count on being betrayed. They were hunted like animals for sport and one day, while in the woods, the woman was cut down in the trees. The male witch felt her pain and he rushed over to see his beloved bleeding out on the forest floor.”
“He called out to the go ds to heal her but they wouldn’t. The go ds knew that what the covens feared was true. If they did procreate, they would be unstoppable. When the man realized that no one was coming to his aid, he decided to do something that no one should- blood magic. It was an old and forbidden practice because with blood magic, there is always a price,” she exhaled deeply before continuing. He brought his beloved back to life but for a cost- his soul. The man was never the same after that. He found that his canines had grown longer and he had an unnatural craving for blood. He didn’t realize what he had done until the go ds visited him to tell him the punishment of his actions. He had accidentally made himself the first vampire.”
“What happened to his beloved?” I asked. “Did she leave him? Did they get their happy ending?”
“She didn’t leave him. She tried to help him control his urges and to an extent, she did. They were happy together until she died. At that time, he hadn’t learned the proper way to turn others. When she died, he went on a killing spree-before hiding in the mountains never to be seen again.”
When she finished her story, I couldn’t help but feel bad for the couple. If the go ds had simply granted his request to heal his beloved then he would never have needed to use blood magic. We wouldn’t have vampires today and they probably would have lived a fulfilled life without bothering anyone. That was what they wanted in the first place.
“Things are not always that simple,” mother said and for a second, I feared she could hear my thoughts but then she laughed. “I cannot read your mind, Camilla,
2/4
you are just an open thoulk. I cannon well you what the goudle Reared but I can tell you that be upset the balance when the theme a vampire. They live forever, they have a bine with no cure and we woday, there had been no opening for them to fix what had been broken”
“What are you talking abou? anked and the book both hands in mine.
“The wrong will be made right and the balance of the world will be offset. By blood it carne and through blood it will be made whole again”
I didn’t understand what she was saying but it sounded very important. I wished f had a book to write it down in because there was a huge possibility that I was going to forget those words. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to remain in the limbo for or if I was ever going to live again.
“You will not forget, just stop fretting and trust me.”
“I am trying, mother, I swear I am.”
“You have done so well in these past few months. There is not a single day that I have not looked down on you with pride. You make some of the most stu pid decisions known to mankind but you make them in love. I could never have asked for a better daughter or a better queen to succeed me.”
She pulled me into another hug and I just sat there basking in the feel of her embrace. She still smelled like herself and she was warm all over. I didn’t realize
how much I had missed her until that moment.
“I will have to go soon,” she whispered and I wanted to protest but she cut me off. “There is one more thing that the goddess asked me to tell you. She said it would be immensely helpful on your journey. She said that you have to forgive your father”
“My father?” my brows scrunched. I had no ill will towards him. I wasn’t angry with him in any sense so what did the goddess mean when by forgive him?
“I don’t know the details, I just say what I am told. She said that your father would help you get to the bottom of everything. You just have to trust him and trust yourell”
As she spoke, her voice became more distant, I realized that she was somewhat fading away. I tried to hold onto her, I didn’t want her to leave but it was almost like she was evaporating right out of my hands. She smiled softly at me when she realized how hard I was trying to keep a grip on her
you are just an open book. I cannot tell you what the go ds feared but I can tell you that he upset the balance when he became a vampire. They live forever, they have a bite with no cure and until today, there had been no opening for them to fix what had been broken.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked and she took both hands in mine.
“The wrong will be made right and the balance of the world will be offset. By blood it came and through blood it will be made whole again.”
I didn’t understand what she was saying but it sounded very important. I wished I had a book to write it down in because there was a huge possibility that I was going to forget those words. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to remain in the limbo for or if I was ever going to live again.
“You will not forget, just stop fretting and trust me.”
“I am trying, mother, I swear I am.”
“You have done, so well in these past few months. There is not a single day that I have not looked down on you with pride. You make some of the most stu pid decisions known to mankind but you make them in love. I could never have asked for a better daughter or a better queen to succeed me.”
She pulled me into another hug and I just sat there basking in the feel of her embrace. She still smelled like herself and she was warm all over. I didn’t realize how much I had missed her until that moment.
“I will have to go soon,” she whispered and I wanted to protest but she cut me off. “There is one more thing that the goddess asked me to tell you. She said it would be immensely helpful on your journey. She said that you have to forgive your father.”
“My father?” my brows scrunched. I had no ill will towards him. I wasn’t angry with him in any sense so what did the goddess mean when by forgive him?
“I don’t know the details, I just say what I am told. She said that your father would help you get to the bottom of everything. You just have to trust him and trust yourself.”
As she spoke, her voice became more distant, I realized that she was somewhat fading away. I tried to hold onto her, I didn’t want her to leave but it was almost like she was evaporating right out of my hands. She smiled softly at me when she realized how hard I was trying to keep a grip on her.
Chapter 101
“Let go, darling, we will meet again. One day, after your journey is over, we will meet again. Hopefully, in a place much nicer than this one. It sure does look like a drab here,” I couldn’t help but laugh in the midst of the tears that had gathered in my eyes. “I love-”
She disappeared before she could finish her statement but it didn’t matter, I knew what she wanted to say and that was why I found myself whispering into the darkness. “I love you too, mother.”
I was alone in the darkness once ore but this time, I was filled with some form of reassurance that I wasn’t going to die. It didn’t make sense that the goddess would go through all of that and have my mother tell me all of those things just for me to end up dead. It was that knowledge that had me standing to my feet and deciding that I was going to look for a way out.
hat I was going
I had no idea where I was going and I could barely see in front of me but I trusted that I was doing the right thing. I stumbled through the darkness blindly trying to find a way out but it was like an endless maze. I walked for what felt like hours. before I realized that I was not going anywhere. I let out a sigh of disappointment and sat back on the ground in disappointment.
“If you have plans to rescue me then this is a very good time,” I called out into the darkness but I was greeted with silence. “I’m ready to go back now. I’m ready to live.”
It was almost like the darkness went still. I felt the exact moment that the air went cold and everything stopped moving. I held my breath wondering if I had unintentionally triggered something and then I heard a voice. It was as clear as day and it was soft- barely over a whisper.
“Then live you shall.”
