A Thousand Years (A Vampire Love Story) - 12

Chapter 12

When Bree woke she felt like she had slept for a year. She wondered what time it was, what day it was. The last thing she remembered was Zane’s gentle feeding on her, and then there was nothing. But not before she faded into a state of pure bliss. She could have been flying, weightless in his arms, sailing through the night, past the moon, past the planets, the stars….

Zane? Bree tried to move her lips and could not. In fact, she couldn’t move anything at all. Are you here? Is anyone here? She teetered on the line between a dream state and consciousness.

“Bree?” She could feel a cool hand on her cheek, stroking her gently, brushing her hair off of her head. “Bree, can you hear me?” The cool hand rubbed her forehead now, from her brow and through her hair. Gentle fingers combed her hair, caressed it, and then a light kiss on her head. “Bree? Can you hear me?”

Zane? “Z-Zane?

“Yes, I’m here. I was so worried. It’s been days. I thought I had killed you.”

Bree struggled to open her eyes. Her lids fluttered and finally her eyes opened half way, then focused on Zane’s wonderful face. She lit up when she saw him. He was looking down at her, the light was behind his head and his face was in shadow because of it. But his eyes sparkled like liquid silver. Then she saw another face before her, looking at her from the other side of the bed. It was a woman’s face that smiled sweetly when she met Bree’s gaze. She had beautiful auburn hair that was piled loosely on top of her head and she wore a crimson red empire dress that was trimmed with exotic blue and gold laces and embroideries. When she smiled her green eyes seemed motherly as her round face dimpled.

“Jasmine?” Bree looked at her questionly.

“Yes dear?”

“Bree, I’d like you to meet my mother.” Zane graciously swept his hand in her direction.

“I need to go and see what’s up in the rest of the castle. I haven’t popped in on the slaves in several days. They might be getting lazy or unruly or something annoying like that.”

Bree looked lazily at him. “Please, don’t drain anyone.”

“I can’t promise you that. You know I can’t.”

“Then at least don’t be-.”

“How about you let me worry about my slaves. You still have a lot of healing to do.” Zane scowled a bit when he said this, then up and left, but not before hastily kissing Bree on the forehead again.

Then Jasmine and Bree were alone together.

“Bree, Zane wanted me to keep an eye on you while he went about checking up on everyone. He’ll be gone a while, the castle is pretty big, I’m sure you know. He told me you used to mop the floors.”

“I did.”

“When he told me about you, I couldn’t wait to meet you. You should have seen his face. He was – happy? Zane has never been the happy type.” Bree tried to sit up and managed to get maybe a few inches up on the pillow. She felt like her head would get swallowed by it, it was so plush. Jasmine helped her up so she could rest her back against the headboard. “I hate it that my son can be so stubborn and heartless, but you have no idea how much I love him.”

“He told me about the curse.”

“I know.”

“That was a great thing that you did. Begging for your tribe by asking Arrio to spare just one. But what happened when the few that escaped? Could it be possible that some of your tribe still exists today?”

Jasmine shifted her weight on the side of the bed. She took Bree’s hand in her own. Her hand was so elegant, so perfect, where Bree’s looked haggard and worn. “No.” She seemed sad. “They were caught going up the side of the mountain above the caves. The vampires scented them out and got all of them. They never should have gone up where the wind would carry their scent.”

“Don’t be sad.” Bree looked down, then met Jasmine’s gaze again. “Your tribe still exists in you, and in Zane.”

Jasmine smiled sadly, then began to speak distantly. “Zane was born a vampire. He has no idea what it is to be human. He is so bitter about the curse, it will destroy him.” Then Jasmine took Bree’s hand and placed it on her chest. Her voice cracked and her eyes plead. She was beautiful when her eyes were so big and sad. Bree understood then why Arrio spared her when she begged him for the life of just one of her tribe. “Zane really likes you. Please, maybe you can make him see that not all humans are bad. He has begun to change, but there is little time left. I’m afraid it will be too late.”

“No.” Bree sounded confident. Zane must have done well at hiding his cruelty from his mother for her to not realize that Zane still had a good amount, if not all, of his power still.

Jasmine had a look of urgency on her face. “He told me that he gave you the largest dose of venom that he had ever given anyone before. You are still alive. It is a sign that he is weakening. He’s terribly frightened, Bree. He is probably taking it all out on some slave right now.”

“Then we must stop him!”

“Bree, you can’t. You don’t understand him enough yet. He will be very angry if you try to stop him and that is the last thing we need right now.”

“But a life might be lost!”

“Lives are lost here at every week.” Jasmine looked out at the anti-room and the golden light highlighted her profile. She seemed hopelessly sad. “Zane won’t let any vampire in this castle feed anywhere else but in the dungeon. It is a wretched place, a place we all have to see. It is a curse we all have to bear because of his anger and hate toward the humans that have cursed him. He doesn’t realize it but his temper affects his own kind in a negative way, too.”

“How many are in the dungeon? Is it big down there?”

“A labyrinth. The castle sits on top of the mountain that housed the caves where my father’s tribe hid from the vampires. That vast maze of tunnels and caverns is now the dungeon.”

Bree’s face filled with horror. “So you have to revisit where you stayed during the war every time you feed?”

“Yes. But I am used to it, the memory of that time so long ago has faded. The room, however, where Arrio found me, is closed off.”

Bree yawned and her eyelids started to droop. Jasmine stroked Bree’s head. “You are sweating again. You have a fever. Please rest a while more. Zane will be back before you know it.”

As much as Bree tried to fight sleep, she lost. Soon she returned to her previous slumber and slept for a while more.

Until Zane came storming through the door, raging and furious. He called out to Bree but she barely moved. “Bree! BREE!” Zane grabbed her wrist and yanked on her to wake her. She nearly tumbled out of the bed and rolled right into Zane. “GET UP! NOW!!”

A Thousand Years (A Vampire Love Story), © 2009 Hurricannah