Art credit to @/ NanFe on DeviantArt.

The crimson pool was an endless stretch of oblivion. I may have been stuck in the eternal blanket of the lake forever if it wasn't for the moon glinting high in the sky, coated in the colour of gore as it breathed incoherent murmurs in my ears, urging me to push past the surface and feel the water trail off of my face as I rose. And as zephyrs caressed my skin, so did a cloud of bats, fluttering their wings as they half merged into me.

Bewildered, I tried to flail my hands, horror churning my stomach as I watched the wings mould into my flesh.

I woke up with a gasp, adrenaline pumping faster into my veins than a horse could run.

The second I opened my eyes, they were blinded by the glaring luminescence, so much so that it immediately stung my eyes, forcing me to close them shut.

Next came the obnoxiously heavy thumping of boots, which further multiplied into the thumping of several boots or clicking heels as if the people were walking right over my head. I clamped my ears shut with my palms but it was impossible to block out the rustling of leaves, the murmurs and the birds chirping loud enough to drive someone deaf.

I crouched my knees closer to my chest, shaking as I felt myself going insane with the thunder of noises in my head. A door swung open too close to my ears.

"She's awake!" a woman screeched.

Tears welled under my closed lids from the harshness of the voice. "Stop screaming!" I cried out, crushing my body against the headboard in a vain attempt to block out the world before I fell to the wooden surface with a thud. I needed the world to stop for a minute, everything was too loud and too bright. The light was hurting my eyes even through my shut lids.

An abrupt rattling of curtain rings jingling along the rod caught my attention moments before I felt fingers wrapping against my wrists and pulling them away from my ears. Alarmed, my eyes shot open to settle on a pair of warm hazel orbs that peered at me with a hypnotising gaze.

"You're okay."

I could see the full pink lips spilling those words straight into my soul and calming me down like a sedative being injected in my veins.

But it wasn't enough, even though the curtains had been closed and the brightness no longer blinded me, the crows were still croaking too loudly and the cars were still honking too painfully.

"Focus on my voice," he commanded, pulling bits of my attention to him.

I couldn't. I desperately pulled at my hands, begging him to let go as I tried to bury my ears in my shoulders.

"Listen to me," he whispered once again. His velvet-like fingers slipped under my chin, drawing it up and urging me to look at the flecks of gold and brown amidst the faint green irises. "Close off to every other sound."

"I can't," I whimpered, hitting my head back on the cream walls, hoping if I did it with enough force then unconsciousness would help me return to silence.

"You can, you're just not trying. Stop listening to everything else! What does my voice sound like?"

"I don't know!" I screamed in anguish, wincing when his grip tightened on my wrists sorely before he jerked me to himself.

My breath got stuck in my windpipe as his lips hovered inches away from my nose, his breaths fell over my face like a cool autumn breeze. And the world did seem to stop when he fixed my hand over his smooth moving lips.

"Focus," the hum fell onto my skin like snow melting off and gradually the noises started fading out, leaving me in a world where all I knew of was his lips grazing my fingers and arousing an allure so unlike any I had ever experienced before.

I felt the adrenaline slowly leave my veins and let him softly pull me up. He supported my weight with such delicacy as if I was a fragile doll that could break any moment rather than an acceptably functioning human. His fingers left my wrists as soon as I was stable on my feet.

I frowned at the instant crave to once again feel his touch.

I had never wanted to feel someone's touch before and the only times I had willingly allowed it was when someone would let me sleep in their bed. Craving someone's touch felt so extremely foreign, what bothered me more was the fact that I could not stop thinking about the way his voice had sounded in my eardrums. The imperceptibly husky hum that made his vocal cords vibrate like a mellisonant violin.

"Well, well, the Aurora is awake." The calmness that had begun to dwell in the now silent atmosphere broke when black heels strolled into the room.

My eyes travelled up to the bright silver orbs sitting in stark contrast to the deep hazelnut that coated the insanely angelic face. Instant recognition struck me, deeming her as the hooded one that had wedged a stake in the heart of my tormentor.

"The dress suits you!" She pointed at me.

Frowning, I looked down at my form, only now realising that I was no longer naked but rather dressed in a thin slip dress that was about two sizes too short for me. Blood rushed into my cheeks as embarrassment returned home. I tried to pull down the dress, hoping it could cover at least a little more than just my mid-thigh.

I had gotten so used to snuggling in my mother's oversized sweater and pants that anything that even remotely clung to my skin seemed too small.

My fingers slipped from the edge of the lavender silk when his eyes caught my moment, his lips pressing into a displeased line.

My gut clenched immediately, fearing that I may have angered him. Instant regret filled me at not having thanked him since short clothes were absolutely better than standing naked in his sight. And not to forget, he was too angelic to be disgraced with the presence of my marred skin.

He opened his mouth and my eyes fell to the floor in shame, awaiting the words that would convey his hatred at my ungratefulness.

"Get her some decent clothes, Rosaline. And by decent, I mean something that's not from your closet," his thick voice commanded.

My eyes snapped back towards him and my lower jaw must've dropped to the floor.

He didn't scold me . . .

As if having read my mind, his lips loosened up just a bit into a smile that made my knees go weak, so much so that I had to dig my nails in my palms to keep myself from melting under his gaze.

"Apologies, I should've seen that someone other than Rose dressed you up."

"Excuse me, do you have any idea how much that dress cost me?!" Rosaline slammed her hand into the door, causing me to flinch and take a step back as her voice pierced my ears like a sharp knife.

"Yes, it cost you two extra bodies to clean up."

"If she doesn't like my dress-" she seethed as she shot me a narrowed glare strong enough to have set me ablaze on the very spot- "then it's her problem, not mine."

I gulped under her threatening gaze, wrapping my arms around me as I tried to shrink into the wall. I opened my mouth to apologize but before I could he spoke up again.

"Avorey!" he called right before a red-head peeked inside the room, her dark scarlet hair reaching barely above her pale shoulders.

"Sir?" she asked, not stepping in.

"Get her some decent clothes, please, and then bring her down." He grabbed Rosaline by the elbow and pulled her out of the room with himself before she could protest.

I stood there, involuntarily tugging at my dress, as the Avorey scanned me from head to toe before she vanished.

A breath of relief left me as I fell to the floor, finally alone. A thousand questions swarmed in my head as I tried to keep my focus away from the sounds that were once again threatening to turn me deaf now that he wasn't here to help.

Who is he?

What did he want? What did they want? Why was I here? Where was I? What happened to me?

I could remember when Rosaline had killed my tormentor, and I could remember the slow black dots clouding my vision as the blood left my body. But I couldn't remember anything after or before that. The last thing I could recall prior to that was getting sold and waking up in a dull stone prison. I tried to put pressure on my brain, searching for any hint but the longer I tried to think about it the more I could feel a headache approaching nearer.

Before I could possibly crack my head open from the pressure, someone knocked on the door, dragging me out of the spiral of questions and calling my attention to themselves.

I looked up to find Avorey standing with a pair of neat black jeans and a full-sleeved olive green top.

"Sorry it took me this long, I had to go buy this as I couldn't find anything in your size. People here are either far too towering or far too exhibitionary." She chuckled, dropping the clothes on the bed before she walked away after closing the door.

I stared at the clothes, not moving an inch.

Someone had bought something for me.

They could've just given someone's used up clothes, and as Rosaline had said, if I didn't like something then it was my problem, not anyone else's. But right in front of me sat the pair of brand new jeans and the top, bought specifically for me.

When did she even buy them? It had barely taken her five minutes . . .

Pushing my curiosity away, I stood up and picked up the jeans, a small tag that read Levi's hung on its waistband. I slid my feet into it, pulling it up to my waist. I couldn't help but relax in the comfortable material. Granted it wasn't as loose as my mother's, but the fabric rested on my skin almost weightlessly.

I glanced towards the door to make sure that I really was alone and pulled the tight silk fabric towards my head. Halfway through, it got stuck at my arms and a strange heaviness dropped in my stomach.

What if someone was to walk in now?

Alarmed I tried to push it down without accidentally tearing it but the more I tried to push it the more the silk kept rolling into itself and digging into my arms. I jerked my arms forward, my feet staggering as they lost balance and I fell to the floor, not before a ripping sound granted me freedom from the cloth.

I slammed my eyes shut as a sudden evocation intruded my mind. I could feel myself falling to the floor all over again and breaking my ankle, I could feel someone crushing the already cracked bone as they dragged me to themselves. Tears welled in my eyes as the memory cleared away, leaving a sting in my head.

I had broken my ankle . . .

I pushed myself in a sitting position, bringing my ankle closer only to gape at the smooth surface as if no injury had ever taken place there.

Was I just imagining things now?

It would make sense, wouldn't it? The world had finally made me lose my mind and go paranoid. Any moment that I wasn't being tortured would be spent as me just imagining being tortured.

My eyes travelled to the torn cloth that lay sprawled out on the floor as the reflection of my ruined sanity. My lips urged to be lifted in a sour smile, I wouldn't have to wait too long to be tormented again. The dress had been expensive after all.

Weakly lifting myself off of the ground, I picked up the olive-green top and tugged it on, pulling the sleeves over my hands before my eyes would dance-off to my scars. As long as I didn't have to see them, I could just pretend that I wasn't a Medusa stuck amidst a bunch of gods.

I picked up the torn dress and scanned the room in hopes of finding anything that could allow me to stitch it back.

My mother had always kept a bunch of threads and needles in her bedside table, I had found those one day when I had accidentally ripped my sweater while returning from the bar and had feared that my so-called father would punish me for ruining the sweater.

It had taken me about an hour to figure out how to stitch the hole back correctly.

The only problem was that there was no bedside table in this room. There was only a bed dipped in soft maroon sheets and an umber cabinet.

I walked over and searched the cabinet, but it was completely void and untouched as if kept only for the purpose to fill the otherwise empty room.

"Ready?" The door sprang open making me gasp.

I hid the dress behind me, coating it from Avorey's sight but the movement of her eyes told me that I had, once again, failed at being discreet.

"Oh don't worry about the dress, Rose has too many anyway." Her lips perked up in a smile as she made her way towards me.

My fingers fumbled with the cloth in a moment of uncertainty; what if she was was just lying?

Not like I could do anything anyway. . .

I dropped the dress on the cabinet, flinching when her hand enveloped mine and pulled me towards the door. My gaze lingered at our interlocked fingers as she shut the door, contemplating how to remove my hand from her grasp without offending her.

"Come on, someone's waiting for you." She tugged me out of the hallway.

I couldn't help but catch the few paintings that decorated the polished dark-grey walls, monsters drowning in the glory of the crimson carnage as they ripped their preys apart were some common depictions. Humanly faces bathed in demonic beauty as vicious fangs snarled at the onlookers, orbs enveloped into the colour that coated their lips and claws.

"Where am I?" I asked Avorey before I could stop myself.

"Vurelior," she answered before coming to a stop a bit away from the balustrade.

I leaned over, taking in the number of people swarming in the hallway as some went about their business, shuffling through the crowd and some stood, cheering at a fight that commenced inside a large glass-cubic structure that sat right in the middle of the hall. In the centre of the cube, I could make out dark-chocolate waves flowing along with Rosaline's movements as she crushed a sturdy man to the ground.

"And where, exactly, is Vurelior?"

A shift in the air alerted me to someone's presence behind my back. I turned to find hazel eyes boring into my skin, causing me to shiver as my fingers clutched the edge of my top.

"Romania."

Dread filled my veins at the firmness in his answer.

I was over a thousand miles away from home. Over a thousand miles away from where I had originally entered an eternal nightmare that I was bound to never forget.

A thousand miles away from the beginning of everything.

🌙

What do you want from me?
Why don't you run from me?
What are you wondering?
What do you know?
Why aren't you scared of me?
Why do you care for me?
When we all fall asleep, where do we go?

-Bury a Friend
(Billie Ellish)
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*Vurelior is a fictional place.

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(WORD COUNT: 2620)

QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER:
Which vampire movie/book/show has been your favourite till date? Why?