Escaped the Night (19 page)

The vision was
foggy
at first
, but
then
began to clear.
We were
in a cast
le and I was
wearing
a beautiful pink gow
n while
Daray
was
dressed in black tails.
The
grand ball
room
was
filled with sweet flowing music and laughter.
People in
other beautiful dresses and handsome tails danced throughout the
magnificent
room
. Daray
pulled me off
to the side and a
s we stood
alone,
he
took my hand and got down on one knee
. “My sweet Shanntal. I will love you forever
and always
. Will you marry me?”

I
threw
my arms around him
.
“Y
es, my love, yes!”

Daray and I
left
the ball
room
so we could go
somewhere
a little more
private
to
celebrate our engagement
.
We
strolled
through
the
glorious gardens
,
when a stranger appeared from
out of nowhere. He
stood
somewhat hidden
by the rose bushes
. At first
,
we paid
him
no attention, but th
en he spoke our names. Daray
told me to run.
I tried to
pull
him
, make him
run
with me
, but the stranger
moved so quickly, he
flew
over to us
in
no time
.
He
ripped Daray from my arms and
I stood helpless
,
watching
in horror as blood began
to spray. The stranger looked at me with a smile
that exposed
his
mouth
full of fangs. Then
,
he
went
back to what he’d come for and
sucked the life out of my sweet Daray.

Gathering
up
my gown, I ran
back
to the castle as
quickly
as I could.
I pushed open the doors and
begged
every
one inside to help
. “Daray’
s been killed. Please,
you have to…
please someone come help
!” I pleaded.

No one came to the
rescue
. They
knew
what
happened to Daray, i
t was evident
by
the
blood
all
over me.
Someone shouted, “She’s one of them!” and e
veryone
turned
.
The
angry
crowd forcef
ully removed me from the castle, dragging me
back out to the gardens. I
kicked and screamed
,
trying
anything
to break free
,
but
they were too strong
. Six men held me tightly
once we got to
the
area
covered with the blood of
my
beloved
.
A
man with a long
grey
beard came over
and
looked
me in the eye as
I begged him
, trying to
explain
that I was not a vampire.
He
reached his arms up
high
in
to
the air
and
came
back down with an
excruciating force, stabbing
the wooden stake directly through my heart.

M
y blo
od began
spill
ing
out
as
I gasped and choked
,
taking
my last
living
breath. Then
I lay there, as still as death
.
My
next
breaths came a while later, long after the crowds dis
sipated. I awoke
remembering
I
had
died
;
yet here I was
,
still breathing. It was remarkable.

As the days passed
,
my memories began to fade. I
could no longer recall
who I was or where I’d been. I wandered alone day afte
r day until a family took me in, my family.
They ha
dn’t been my birth parents, but
treate
d me as one of their own
children
. They were
an
immortal
family who
felt badly for me becaus
e of how I’
d been turned
.
I was alone
and had no memory
.
There wasn’t any immortal throughout history
that was
created li
ke me and they wanted to help
ensure I
survive
d.

I did die
that night along with my love; o
nly neither one of us had really died after all. We had just taken different paths. He walked the night and I
walked
during
the day. It wasn’t until th
at night at Ginata’s that
Daray
found me again. He
’d
searched
for me for
a hundred y
ears
and
I felt overwhelmed by his loyalty.

Daray
whispered more
information to me. “Due to the fact you
weren
’t
a normally made immortal
, born or bitten
,
you
weren’t able to
retain
memories like
other immortals.
It’s the price y
ou had to pay for the ability to live
forever
.
”

I
suddenly
understood why I
’d
never questioned
why
I
hadn’t
age
d
like others did. With my
family being immortal
, they
also
never aged.

Daray spoke
softly, his cool breath, upon my skin
. “You’re
different bec
ause you
’r
e
more human than anything else.
You’
re
alive because of the blood of the new
born vampire
,
not it
s
bite. When my tainted blood
twined with
yours
, it gave
you
just enough immortal
ity
to ensure
you h
ad everlasting life.
My
blood
ensur
e
d your survival and helped you
live
throughout time
and now y
ou’
re back where you belong.”

What kind of im
mortals had my family been?
Were Uncle Dane and Auntie Steph immortal too?
How had
they
kept
this hidden from me for so long?
Now
,
I understood
why I had trouble remembering pieces of my past.
I couldn’t remember going to sc
hool, family vacations or even
birthday
parties
.
A
ll I could
ever
put together were
simple flashes. I’d
had a case of immortal amnesia.
My memories were back
now
and
there wasn’t any way I
would
forget again.

I opened my eyes. I’d fo
rgotten
we were down on t
he beach and what was happening.
I
felt
startled for a brief second
,
seeing
everyone’s eyes on me.
I broke out of the embrace and
looked over at Jayce
, but was drawn back to
Daray who
still
stood
in front of me. The
way he
looked
now
was just like he
had
in my memory.

A
nother
realization came to me
; they
never
attacked when
I stood
before them
bleeding
because
I had
immortal blood running through my veins. D
aray was no enemy of mine.
He was
my
savior and o
nce upon a time, long
ago
,
he was
the love of my life.
I moved a step forward
,
placing
my hands all over his cold face
, taking
in every single detail
.
He
was slightly different than I re
membered
. The ti
ny scar along his lip where he
’d
fallen
as a child was no longer there. The
one
along his eyebrow had also vanished. Ironically,
he
now
sported t
w
o new beauty marks
in
the
exac
t
spot
where
t
he stranger bit
him.

Our reunion had
cooled off the confrontation.
I was relieved at that much anyway.
Everyone
around us was immortal
,
either
good or evil
,
and t
his left me feeling torn. A few hours ago Jayce had bee
n my world. Now,
everything
changed because of Daray.

I looked
over at Jayce
who
did not meet my
gaze
.
He kept his
eye
s
on
the ground.
I tried
speaking
to
him
without words, but
our
connection
was
no longer
linking
us
together
.

I managed to pull myself away from Daray
and
walked back
over to stand
between
Garrison
and Kaleb. I felt safe with my protectors.

Layla and the
elements
were
coming down the beach towards us. Lakyle
e
let go of her
grip on Jayce and h
e walked
past me without so much as a look
. He
headed toward
the others
and I wanted to go after him
, I wanted
to
follow
my friends, but I was so uncertain
,
all I could do was
sta
y where I was. I
felt like I’
d been turned into stone. I wasn’t sure how to move or where to go.