Once Awakened: Chapter Two

Without Romulus if I had healed, it would have been months, if I had even lived, I probably would not have even done that. He had pulled me away from the clutches of a terrible and lonely death at the last minute. 1

Then, after I was well again, Romulus got me new clothes. He had a dressmaker come to his house shortly past midnight, and, though she was not very pleased at all with the time, she made me beautiful clothes of the kind I had never had before in my life. I had only torn and destroyed clothes. More like rags. He got me dresses, coats, and even a cloak. I loved it I had never gotten new things before we had no money. It would be many years later before I would find out why it was at night2

After he got me healed, clothed, and fed Romulus began to teach me of the world of Nintor. It no longer held any secrets for Romulus had seen it all and he knew all the languages and all the places. He taught me everything I needed to know, and I learned quickly. By the time I was eight years old I could speak five languages fluently. 3

Every night from the moment I turned five years old Romulus gave me a small amount of the powerful blood he had in his veins. Romulus would hold me in his arms or I would sit with him, curled in his lap very near to sleep, and he would kiss me softly letting blood from his mouth pour into me. And for a few minutes after I tasted his blood, I would be more alert then I had ever been, then I would fall into sleep. And he would carry me to my bed just before the sun rose. He didn’t change me, for I was far too young then. But he was healing me and preparing me for the change that would come when I was older.4

With his blood running in my veins if I got sick or if I got hurt I would heal by the end of the night. But still I did not question it.5

When I turned fifteen Romulus told me everything. Why I healed so quickly, why he slept during the day and taught me to do the same, why he never aged while I did, everything. All there was to tell Romulus told it to me. He even showed me his coffin, as I had never seen it before. 6

When I saw it, I was so terrified I couldn’t move, but movement quickly returned to me and I turned from him and tried to run to the door. I hadn’t made it two steps when he was in front of me at an impossibly fast speed. This only terrified me more. 7

Romulus held my arms tightly and through my tears I heard him speaking to me.8

But I would not listen and he moved his hands to either side of my face and gently lifted my chin so I would see him. I still tried to get away but he held me tightly.9

“Look at my eyes, Sarah. Do you see cruelty in my eyes?” Romulus’s eyes were inches from my own and the glow of them seemed more pronounced the ever. But when I did look into his eyes I saw he spoke the truth, there was no cruelty in his eyes, no hate. But I saw something else that terrified me, a blazing fire of an ancient death that burned darker when my gaze met his. And that terrified me more then ever.10

“What do you see?” Romulus asked. His tone was patient but only now do I know the pain it must have caused him to see me try to break away and run from him when he loved me as much as he did.11

I could barely speak through the sobs that shook my delicate mortal body but I answered him.12

“I s-saw death, m-my lord.” I cried and he wiped away my tears with his cold fingers as they fell from my eyes.13

“Yes, there is death my eyes because I am of death. But I am not cruel, child. Think, you know it to be true. I am not a monster and I never have been.” He wrapped his arms around me and continued, “I love you so much and I could never hurt you.”14

“M-my Lord, please f-forgive me.” I said through the tears that poured freely from my blue eyes. He held me tightly and the soft velvet ribbon of my dress crumpled beneath his fingers. 15

“There is nothing to forgive, Sarah. Your fear is understandable” I didn’t care then, I didn’t care what he was. A vampire or not I felt safer wrapped in his arms then anywhere else in the world.16

He lifted me up effortlessly with one arm and carried me to the couch on the other side of his room. He then sat down and set me beside him so my head fell on his chest. Romulus held out his hand and an empty wine glass from a table ten feet away flew into his hand immediately. I jumped in surprise and Romulus looked at me with the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes.17

“Relax,” He said, and the power he put on the word made it impossible to argue, “I’m going to use my powers around you as you know what they are now. Don’t fear me, Sarah, I won’t hurt you.”18

Don’t fear me, Sarah, those were the first words he had said when he saved me.19

Romulus brought his wrist to his mouth slowly, so I could see what he did, and I saw his pearl-white fangs for only a second before he sank them into his wrist and his blood rose to the surface of the wound and spilled out. 20

He then held his hand over the glass and let the blood fall into it and when no more then an inch of the glass was filled up he turned his wrist over and I saw the wound heal in less then a second. With the same hand, Romulus picked up the glass and handed it to me.21

I took the glass in violently shaking hands and looked up at him in shock.22

“Your blood?” I asked in a whisper of a voice and his answer surprised me.23

“Yes, you’ve tasted it before.”24

“When?” I had no idea until right then that I ever had tasted his blood or any blood for that matter in my life.25

“Every night when I kissed you,” He said and kissed my forehead before continuing, “and I told you to drink.”26

I stared at the deep red contents of the glass and watched as the blood glittered brightly almost as if it were made of glowing red jewels. I looked at Romulus in surprise when I noticed this.27

“Its immortal blood,” He said kindly, answering my unasked question, “all immortal blood glitters.”28

I still stared uncertainly at the glass and Romulus, sensing my worry, spoke to me the words he had told since I was a child. Only now I knew what they meant.29

“Drink, Santante.” He had whispered those words so many times to me in the dead of night with only me and the stars to hear. It was still night and the stars still heard, but did they hear the change? Now I know what he truly gave me, that life was what he gave me. That in my young weak hands in a simple wineglass was life.30

If Immortal blood runs in your veins and you wear the blood amulet around your neck then to you blood is sweet and you crave it. But if you are mortal then to you blood is not as sweet. You do not crave it or perhaps you don’t even want it at all. But I? By then I was half vampire and half human. Romulus’s blood ran in my veins but I still had mortal blood and I was still mortal. I still had my human name. The Vampiric language had no name for me yet. But it was immortal blood and I still found that sweetness lurked in it and my fears were eased.31

The next night when Romulus came to me in my room I pleaded with him to make me as he was but he refused.32

“My lord,” I had said to him “I want to be with you, forever. I want to be as you are. Please, it’s what I want. I’ll die, my lord, and you will be here forever. Please change me so I can be with you.” He gave me a sad smile when I told him this.33

“I will, Sarah, you know I will. But you must be older, you must be stronger. I could not do it now. It would destroy you. You do not know the pain you will feel, the things you will see, you could not know. But I assure you Sarah, if you truly want that, you will be my blood child when you are fully grown.” 34

“But I want it now, my lord. I don’t care about the pain; it’s worth anything to be with you.”35

“You are with me now, Sarah, do not forget that. And I swear to you I will give you the chance to have immortality when you are grown. It would break me to put you through such pain now.” The pain in his voice was enough, and I did not ask again.36

“Yes, my lord,” I replied, “I understand. I don’t want to bring pain upon you. I’m sorry.” And I was silent about the matter, and though I thought of it often I did not speak of it. And I was quite sure Romulus did not know of my thoughts. He had told me before that the only time he had ever let himself read my thoughts was when he found me and I could barely speak enough to tell him what I needed to say.37

Every night he gave me blood, more then before. But unless he removed the mortal blood from me I would remain mortal. I grew older and aged, yes. But I felt like a vampire trapped in the body of a mortal. The only mortal feeling I had left was that I did not have to feed. I only did that because Romulus gave me his blood.38

He also gave me knowledge, Secrets of the Vampires, advice, vulnerabilities, and stories. He also told me the story of his maker, Morpheus, a forbidden one, who shamed the vampire race by turning on his own kind and destroying his sire, Athena. Athena was the mother of us all. He is rarely spoken of any longer. 39

He taught me how to defend myself as well, not just from mortals but even from his kind as well. 40

“Most of us will not simply end a fight with our minds. It’s considered dishonorable. I have only done it out of anger, and I do regret it. We fight with knives for the most part, either made of fire or metal.”41

As I was mortal, and it would be a couple hundred years after I was made into a vampire that I would be able to manipulate fire, he did teach me how to fight with steel blades. 42

And I learned directly from him, so, while I could not move as fast as he could nor was I as strong, I was a lot faster and stronger then most humans my age. It helped that I had his blood in me.43

He first taught me using his own knives, he had a lot of them, but after awhile it became clear I could fight exceptionally well and he gave me one to keep. It was meant for mortal hands though, and he would have broken it had he tried to fight with it. I still have it, though I can no longer use it.44

The only thing that I didn’t like about when he was training me was the fact that he wanted me to act as though it were a real fight. When he won he would never stab me, but when I won, as I sometimes did, he wanted me to stab him. He healed of course, which was why he wanted it that way. He did not teach me to show mercy when it came to fighting, he said I could get killed that way.45