The Curse Of A Stranger's Gift 19 The Dream

After the son and father staring contest, three vampires wearing gray cloak entered. Their knees. .h.i.t the ground as they bowed. They were all concealing their faces with the hood. It's clear the men, though. Their muscles were bulking on their cloaks.

The king cleared his throat. "Escort the young prince to his quarters, and find a room for his dear Zheira." He waved his hand, and the three vampires led them outside. Vladimir glared to his father for the last time before walking out of the room.

"I know how to walk, thank you!" Vladimir snapped when one vampire tried dragging him like what they're doing to Zheira. He inclined his head. "Put your filthy hands away from that girl." He relaxed his balled fist on his back.

"The king's order—" the vampire holding her tried to counter, but Vladimir gave him a steamy glare.

"Don't force me to cut that hand, you lowly Elite. I can ensure your misery with nothing but a flick of my thumb. So, when I say you put your hands away, you do it for your sake!" His teeth chattered as he gritted his teeth. However, they ignored him totally. It happened so fast, Vladimir flicked his thumb and an unseen force plummeted towards the vampire's arms that have been sliced. For a moment, there was silence until the vampires piercing scream filled the air. He was writhing and shaking as he endures the pain he deserved. It didn't take long before his bones regrow.

Vladimir wrapped Zheira's waist by his arms while all the while giving the Elites a sharp look. They did not dared go near him once more.

A deafening silence rang in Zheira's ears. It was overwhelming her that she couldn't even praise the lane they were pa.s.sing through for having such glamorous diamonds. She's way too busy swallowing the stench of awkwardness filtering in the air.

He moved closer to her. "Do you want me to take you home?" His lips nibbled her ears, sending sparks to her nerves.

Zheira breathed deeply. "I don't have a home." Her voice broke when her throat gone dry. 'My home is long ruined by my doing,' she supplied in her thought.

"Oh!" Vladimir said, his eyes bulging slightly. He brushed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension building beyond them.

After a while, they arrived in silence beside an oak door. It's engraved with a crown and below it, was neat lettering: Princess.

Her brow furrowed. She raised her hand and traced the neat carvings. There's a certain amount of energy floating with it, sending some vibes that made her hair stood.

"Who's the princess?" she asked all of a sudden.

Vladimir looked at her for a while. "She's gone for good." A sad smile curved his lips.

"S—she died? How did she—"

He cupped her cheeks. "No more question, Zheira. You need to take a rest for now." Sadness danced in the corner of his irises. She was looking to it closely, trying to decipher what's beyond those gold irises. He turned rigid. "You promised, Zheira. You promised not to read me."

Her brows creased. "I'm not trying to read you," she denied.

A grin made its way to his lips. "You're never really good at lying." He pinched her nose. She diverted her gaze when her cheeks flushed red.

"Fine!" Her voice sounded like a whisper. "I just want to know what you're hiding from me. Why don't you want me to read you?" She rolled her hands over and over.

Ruffling her hair, he said, "My life is a constant haze of dark mystery. Its stain will cover anyone who strays in its depth. In fact, my past is darker than that serial murder case you're so worried about."

She looked up abruptly. "You know about that, too. How?"

"I have ears and eyes, Zheira." He leaned towards the wall and crossed his arms.

"Then you know they're not really dead."

"I know what you're up to, Zheira. If Louise was really behind this, there's no doubt that my father would be involved. He's his puppet, after all. Interfering over that affair is the least of our concern—"

"But they're still alive. Are you saying we let them die in this h.e.l.l of a place?" She started walking back and forth while biting her nails.

"We can't help them. For all we know, they might be dead. My father showed he's more than capable to do such a thing. I know you're worried about that child and Celestine but—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" She waved her hand in the air. "How did you know all of these?" Her eyes narrowed. "Tell me, you can read minds, right? You have such gifts, too."

He merely smiled. "I am gifted. Why else would you be? But, I'm not a mind reader. I've been keeping an eye on you for more than seventeen years, and I think that's enough for me to memorize your every move. Decoding you was the only entertainment I can manage."

Her face fell. "I thought perhaps you can read the mind. I've been stopping some of my thoughts for months in the fear that you might be read. My efforts were in vain."

"Before you raise another topic, I'd like to remind you that your room is waiting for your presence."

He opened the door and helped Zheira be comfortable with her new room. The gesture made Zheira's heart flatter that her smile seemed glue to her face.

"Sleep tight." He planted a soft kiss to her forehead hastily before vanis.h.i.+ng in thin air.

Her heart started racing. A heat like no other washed through her body. She could still feel the softness of his lips, and a fleeting image of his lips touching hers crowded her thoughts. She grabbed a pillow, stuffing it to his face while she screams her heart out.

After a while, she found herself unable to sleep. "What's wrong with me? My body was tired and my eyelids were drooping, but why can't I sleep?" she murmured as she turned for what felt like a million times.

Her eyes traveled to the ceiling. A minuscule diamonds were twinkling up there. It's beaming down at her, making her lips curved. She raised her hand while squinting, pretending that she could touch the diamonds.

"I hope I can s.h.i.+ne just like you," she whispered, her heart stench with a pang of jealousy.

A light-hearted laugh bubbled out of her throat when she realized what she's doing. She shook her head. "What am I doing? I might have lost my mind."

She relaxed her hands on the lower region of her stomach and tried closing her eyes, humming bluntly in an attempt to drift to unconsciousness. Before she knew it, Hypnos' hook grabbed her by navel to throw her into unconsciousness.

Although, her soul was under a deep stupor, her mind worked differently; it showed her something that she hadn't seen before.

She's walking into a dark alleyway accompanied by the silence stretching to the thickness of the surroundings. She knew nothing of where she's leading; the only thing she's aware of was that her feet knew where to go.

Her eyes traveled fast to the environment, and she couldn't decipher whether or not what her eyes were showing was beyond reality. The walls were standing bluntly in the corner, embraced by a gold coat she had never seen.

As though hungry to touch its feature, she sprinted towards it. She raised her hand and it trembled slightly with antic.i.p.ation. A soft gasped issued from her throat when her fingertip met the coldness of the gold; it was oddly metallic and was rough.

She had been distracted, however, by a loud noise coming from somewhere. Her head turned towards the source. There was a tall door standing beyond her vision. Her heart beat rapidly at every step she took; she didn't know why she felt nervous about approaching the unknown noise. It's like she's about to face something that she hadn't been able to antic.i.p.ate.

"How dare you mock the king," a cold feathery voice screamed. Zheira swallowed. She's now standing beside the door, but she didn't understand why she was hesitant to open it.

"We are mocking no one, your majesty! We are merely suggesting that you change your ways," a thick raspy voice countered. Zheira blinked. Her heart constricted longingly at the voice. Somehow, it's strangely familiar.

"Change my ways?" he snarled, "You have bo rights to talk against my will." An agonizing scream followed his statement. It reverberated to Zheira's ears. Her hands shook.

"No, no, your majesty! Please forgive us for being presumptuous. We will never do it again. My Zheira needs her father, my king! I'm begging you!" a thin voice plead.

The king cackled. "I can hear her heartbeat in your womb. I might say, you both are so brave to enter this place with that baby barely clutching to her life. Fine! Don't ever appear in my eyes again." It was the last thing she heard before a pop perked her ears.

Silence ruled for a moment 'till the king's deep voice rang. "Go after them. Murder anyone related to them. It's the least we could do. At least, they will have each other in the afterlife."

"Yes, your majesty!" husky voices chorused.

Zheira didn't know what triggered her to do it, but she bustled through the door. However, when she opened it, she found herself sitting in her bed. Sweating profusely accompanied by the loud tickers of her heart.

A gust of wind blows the hem of her night robe. "Are you okay?" Vladimir's voice made her safer. It was just a dream. Yet, it felt so real. Her heart was still heavy.

Tears fell in the corner of her eyes. Her lips were shaking as she tried talking. "Tell me my parents weren't dead." She shook his shoulders. "Tell me!"

Vladimir diverted his gaze. "I'm sorry, Zheira!" He balled his fist. "I'm sorry!"