Kindred Spirit

Chapter 3

I'm dragged from the depths of sleep by an unsettling feeling washing over me. My eyes slowly open, still filled with the remnants of sleep. Instantly, they focus on the dark shadowy figure looming over me. For a split second, I'm frozen, frozen by the icy terror that chills every limb, numbing them. As a normal reaction, I open my mouth to alert the guards to the intruder.

A rough hand clamps down on my mouth, silencing any screams or loud noises from escaping me, from helping me. My body is now beginning to understand the danger I find myself in. Quickly, I try to cause my attacker some damage in the hopes that he will release me long enough for me to scream or flee. I send a swift kick to him, it connects with his stomach, but he doesn't flinch. I struggle wildly as he grabs both of my hands in his, holding them tightly.

His movements are sure and quick and I am sure he has done this a thousand times before. This causes me to wonder who exactly this man is, and what he is capable of. How is it he even got into my room? Revelation soon follows after my question as I recall that most of our troops had been sent to the battle. This has left our castle with less protection.

How could this person have known that?

My eyes sting as his hold on my wrists increases. He holds them both easily in just one hand, since his other is still preventing me from making a sound. He holds me like this for a few moments, just staring down at me, my muffled cries and struggles don't seem to bother him or cause him any worry. I cannot decipher the odd way he stares at me, as if he cannot believe who he is looking at.

The wonder in his eyes vanishes completely and a cold look is now in its place. His hand leaves my mouth, but the movement is so quick that I barely had time to even form a scream before I felt something be placed over my mouth. The person who I assume is a man yanks me so I'm sitting upright. Something is tied around my head, a gag of some sort. Suddenly I'm lying back on my bed, staring up at the person. I whimper as he grabs my hands again in one hand and reaches down on the side of my bed; the rattling of chains horrifies me.

It becomes clear to me now that this person wants to use me, harm me, and possibly even kill me. He'll take me away from my home and I don't know if I'll ever see it again. Cold metal wraps around my wrists, binding them tightly. How has no one heard anything? Why hasn't anyone come to help me? Why did I not have a vision to warn me of this horrific event?

The answers are clear to me even as I think them. No one has come because this man has made sure to move his terrible crime along swiftly and silently. I cannot help myself because he caught me off guard; he had the upper hand. I'm usually the one who has such an advantage over others. Finally, I did not foresee this taking place because I still cannot clearly feel my gift. Without it, things are unexpected, things are unknown to me. Without my gift I am blind to the world and the people around me. Anything can happen to me or those I care for.

Something already is happening to me.

The man reaches down and pulls my body into his arms. He holds my body close to him, almost protectively. He hasn't said a word throughout this traumatic event. He begins walking towards my balcony with me in his arms. Once we're out of that door, I know there will be no coming back. I frantically begin struggling and attempting to scream. I know this won't stop him but at least I can hope to stall him or slow him down.

"You would do well to stop that now, Princess," he says my title sarcastically. These are the first words he has spoken to me; he whispers them harshly into my ear. "Or someone will get hurt." his threat looms around me, sending crashing waves of fear in my direction.

Tears begin falling down my face; I feel his lips at my neck. My body trembles with fear. He chuckles devilishly. "Don't be afraid, young one, I won't hurt you... Not just yet." He opens one of the doors, but another door opens at that moment.

Anne steps into my bedroom as she does every night to insure that all is well and that I am sleeping soundly. The shock and horror on her face mirrors my own when I first had awakened. The man sets me down, surprisingly gently. In one quick movement he is across the room. Anne never had time to blink, she never had time to run, and she barely had time for one final beat of her heart.

Anne is human, humans die easy, he effortlessly ends her very existence. The widening of her eyes is the only indication that Anne is aware of what is about to happen to her. There was one audible sickening snap of her neck, and just like that her life was ended.

I watch as her body crumples to the floor at the man's feet. Her beautiful red hair, which she had taken out of its bun earlier today, falls around her like dying flames. Along with her neck snapping there was one other sound, the sound of my shattering heart. I begin crying and shaking as I see her laying there upon my bedroom floor. My mouth may be silenced but my heart wails loudly, it releases all sorrow building within me. It feels as though my heart shrieks so loudly, so powerfully that every creature in the world can hear and feel my pain.

I beg for her to wake up, I plead with the world not to take her from me. I know she won't ever wake up, she won't ever return to me, and I have lost two mother figures in this life time.

I barely notice that the man had made his way back over to me until he reaches down and lifts my weeping body from the ground. He holds me tightly and this time, there is nothing to cease him from carrying me out of my room. The harsh night air wraps around me, causing me to shake more. Tears still leak from my eyes, and no amount of self-control can keep them in.

"Crying over a human, how pathetic," The man says glancing down at me. He then leaps off of the balcony with a tight grip on me. He lands smoothly on the ground and doesn't waste any time before sparing off.

I haven't experienced the speed of a full vampire very much in my life, but the few times I have I cannot recall it being this fast. In a matter of seconds we are a great distance away from the castle, and Anne's body. The man slows to a walk now, clearly wanting to make me fear more. We walk towards a dark horse with a small carriage attached. The man holding me walks towards the carriage and slowly lowers me into it.

"Now," he says as he inspects the tightness of my restraints. "Things could have been much easier if I could have forced you into sleep right from the beginning. But using my powers would alert your brother to my presence, and we couldn't have that, can we?" He smiles a sinister grin down at me. "But now, now I have you and he is miles away, so using my powers will not have any consequences." I know that Vampires can sense when another vampire is near if one of the beings use any vampire powers. He reaches down to me; I quickly try to move away. "Don't be so frightened of me," He says in a soothing tone. I refuse to fall for his act. "It's time you go to sleep," he says as he places his hand on my forehead. My struggles weaken as my body begins to feel weighted down. My vision becomes blurred and unfocused. "When you awaken we'll be home... my home." His voice sounds far away to me, and although the tone is calm I can hear the smugness intertwined with his words.

My eyes close and the man vanishes from sight along with the rest of the world. The chilling night air around me doesn't cause me to shiver any longer; I lose all feelings, all thoughts, and all parts that make up consciousness.