Escaped the Night (25 page)

We made our way
upstairs
into a rather large room
that
looked
quite
different from the rest of the house. It
was clean,
the furniture
well kept,
and
surprisingly even c
olor
was present
,
in
d
ark
er
shades, but a
t least a
start.

“A bed?” I said
,
puzzled. “Don’t vampires sleep in coffins?”
I couldn’t imagine myself sleeping in something so confined, so awful. The thought made me shiver.

“Yes,
yes we do.” He chuckled. “The bed is for you
,
love.”

“
Thank you
for your thoughtfulness
.
It’s perfect.
”
I
walked
in further,
observing the ancient
beautiful
items
he had
.
I touched a
shiny silver
mirror
and it surged
with
memories
of a girl brushing her long brown hair
.
It was mine
and I was the girl,
the
mi
rror
had been
a
gift from Daray
.
I ran my hands over
it
,
reeling in
old memories.

My memory
flooded
back
quicker tha
n
I could absorb
. With e
very
new
experience
an old memory
resurface
d
.
I
moved
around
the room
, eyeing
and touching
every tiny detail. I
t
was
truly
amazing
how
he’d
kept everything in
such
immaculate condition.
If we
would’ve
been married
back then
,
this is
what our room c
ould
’ve
resembled.
It was amazing.

I noticed
as
Daray
walk
ed
to
wards
a
small
chest
on a table
over
on
the far
side of the room.
He opened
i
t
,
pulled something out
,
and tried
inconspicuously
to hide
it behind his back
.

“D
aray
, ar
e you hiding something?”
I walked over to him
and
tried peeking
. “
W
ha
t do you have
there
?”

“
It’s something
I gave
you a
very
long tim
e ago and well…
it will always
belong to you.” He
hugged me tightly
—
the c
hill
of his skin
oozed
straight
through my
clothes.

“
Let
me see
.
”
I
reached around
taking
his hand, h
e allowed me to pull
it
out. I
looked
at him
holding
his clutched fist in my hand
s
. He looked
back deeply
, but i
t was
n’t hard
to see that
his eyes no longer held
warmth as
they
once
di
d. T
hey seemed hollow
,
making a chill race
through me.

“I asked you a question a hundred year
s ago.” He got down on one knee
. “Shanntal, will you be my queen for
all
eternity?” He opened his
fist
,
showing
me my ring
. It was
just as beautiful as
the first time
he’d given
it to me.
It
consisted of
a one-carat
circular
diamond
,
accompanied by three smaller diamonds down e
ither
side and
it
spark
l
ed brighter than the stars on a clear night.
All o
f this
shine
lay embedded
in a delicate
band of gold
.

“Oh Daray
,
I can’t believe
you
’ve
kept it
after
all
these years
.” I
was blown away for a minute, but
knew deep down
inside
,
I couldn’t
bring myself to
say
what
he wanted
to
hear
.
I
pau
sed
,
unsure of how he was going to handle my
response
.
“I cannot honestly say that I’ll be yours forever
…
well…
right now
anyway
.”

He
pulled
away
.

“Please
,
let me have the
chance to explain
myself,
” I said
,
holding
his hand
tightly. “
We’ve lost
so much time
together
,
my memories are just coming back
.
I’m
asking you to be patient and
let me
take
the
time
I need
so we can get to know one
another again. We have eternity and don’t need to rush.
Please
, keep my ring safe, until the time
come
s
for you
to
present it
again
.”
I
placed
the ring
back in his hand
.

He al
lowed me to hold
him briefly
, and
then
h
e
shoved me away
,
causing me to fa
ll
o
nto the floor
.
I
looked
at him
in
disbelief.
“Daray, what the…”

“
I won’t wait forever!
”
h
e snapped.

“
What can I say?
I’m sorry
.
This i
s
all
happening too fast.
”

He
snarled
,
b
aring his fangs
.
My heart
almost
popped out of my chest.
I stayed
still
on the floo
r
.
He
returned
my ring to
the
chest
, slammed it shut,
and
stormed
past
me
,
growling
as he
left
me
alone in the room.

What had I done?
Self-pity started
to hit and t
ears and sobs streamed out
.
A few minutes passed when I f
in
ally
decided
I’d had enough
and
stopped
crying.
I’
d
gi
ve
us
some
space and go
home for the remainder of the night. I
got up
,
and
twisted the doorknob to find that
it
would
n’t tur
n. I tried again; over and over, it
w
ould not
budge.

“Daray, are
you out there?
” I shouted.
“
I’m stuck
,
could you open the door
please
?” I s
hoved
my ear
up close
trying to
hear
if he was coming,
but there was
nothing
but
silence. “Daray
? Anyone? Let me out!” I
hit
the door
with
some force,
then
stopped
and placed
my ear
back
against the door. A
gain
no sound,
nothing but
complete silence
.

Now more u
pset,
I
went over and
sat
on the bed, sobbing
even
harder.
Unbelievable,
I
was simply
another
one
of his man
y prisoners.
Wh
at
ever
made me
think
he could be the
same man I
once loved? C
le
arly
, he
was a monster and
I’d tossed away my
one
chance of
true
happiness
for this.
Why
ha
dn’t I listen
ed
when
everyone
warned
me?

Minutes passed.
I
wandered
around
reminiscing through my
old belongings
.
A
s m
ore memories
returned,
the more I
resent
ed
Daray. H
e
was
n’t
anything like this
figment of
my imagination
.

I
searched through
my pocket
s
; in my hastiness I left my phone at home. Perfect!
I glanced around
,
searc
h
ing
for a clock of some kind. There
wasn’t one to be found and
I had no idea what time it was.
All I knew was
that
it
felt like time
was standing
still and m
y patience
was wearing
thin. I wanted out,
I wanted to go home.

I
ripped
open the dark blinds
and
leaned
against
the wi
ndow
,
hoping
for
some
sign of movement.
Hoping for a way out.
Nothing.
There was no way down.
They’d
have to retur
n before sun
up, w
orst
case scenario
I’d
have to
stay
locked up until then.
I perched myself
up on the
window
ledge
,
and
twisted a blanket around my legs
as I waited
for sunrise or Daray.