Chapter 5

It has been a week. While we’d been locked up in a mansion on the small island, I’d learnt as much of myself, my kind and my mission as I possibly could. I’d brushed up my skills and instincts of fighting as a vampire with Mila, and even though Kain refused to let his ‘princess’ be put through any danger, I’d insisted to facedown Gabriel.

Yes, I ended up that fight eating dirt –literally –but at least Gabriel announced, in his haughty, I’m-better-than-you-voice that I was improving and had great potential.

Since Lucifer was my grandfather, his ability of calling demons, devils and spirits were passed down to me. Ren, though still trying to pretend that he was disinterested in the happenings of the vampire world, taught me exactly how to call them, and I made myself a familiar demon named Valrog. Valrog is a level five demon with body like a bull, wings like a dragon and claws best described to be werewolf claws.

Kain hadn’t really talked to me much since that day on the airplane. If he was trying not to be obvious that he was avoiding me, then he had failed terribly. He’d excused himself to be locked up in his room, saying that he needed to ‘strategize’ for the attack on the new Dragos kingdom, aka my old kingdom. Other times, he said he had to go to the mainland to meet some contacts from Lucifer, to garner more allies to our cause.

In the one week, we’d spoken only one word to each other on average.

In hopes of jolting back my memories, Mila spent days narrating some important events that were involved in my life. It turned out that Mila used to be one of my servant girls, so she understood most of my life. From her, I got the idea that I was quite a pampered princess, though she admitted that I had flashes of brilliance that were usually buried underneath the pampering my father showered.

According to her, the Seraphina right now was the woman she looked up to. The princess that was no longer a princess, but a warrior determined to regain what she lost.

Unfortunately, the only piece of memory I regained from a week’s worth of narrating was a flash of image of me sitting beside a fountain in my kingdom, staring up at the statue of the Moon Goddess and the full moon hanging behind her in the sky.

I sat by the beach at the end of the week, staring out into the open sea, and at the horizon of tiny lights shining in the dark night. The island was real close to mainland California, but I had not been brought there for a visit since I touched down. I wasn’t sure if they wanted to keep me locked here, or if they truly cared for my safety and security.

Cold sea breeze came my way, and I tightened my jacket, wrapping myself around my knees and huddling closer to myself to keep the warmth. There was nothing much more for me to learn on this island. I was just waiting. Waiting for Kain to say that I was ready to fight and regain my kingdom. Waiting for my memories to come back to me –if they ever will.

I drew soft symbols in the sand, symbols of the demons and devils that were at my disposal. I drew the symbol for the summoning of Valrog, but I didn’t call him to me. Valrog is a feisty demon who hated that I managed to catch him and enslave him. Still, I promised him bloodshed whenever I called him to me, and he seemed happy at that. Valrog isn’t a chatty demon either. He just likes to kill, though I had the feeling that he knew more about me than I did.

Sister, sister! Do it again! Call Val here, I wanna play with him!

The voice drifted past my mind, a figment of my past chasing up on me.

 Kelsey, you know Valrog is dangerous. You shouldn’t be playing with him as and when you like it. My voice, kind and gently replies the childish excitement.

Kelsey. Kelsey is my sister. I remember that name, that voice.

Aww… but Val is so cute! Don’t you think so, Dante?

Kels, he’s a demon. He is a bull’s body, he can easy trample you. How is that abomination cute?

Dante. Dante’s voice drifted past my mind. I remember that sarcastic, I’m-better-than-you voice. Dante is one century younger than me, but he always tries to act like he’s the eldest.

You’re being a spoilsport! Sister, Val is cute, ain’t he?

Kelsey, he’s dangerous. No matter how cute he is, promise me you won’t try to call him on your own, ok?

Of course! Only you can call Valrog, sister! Because you’re so awesome and powerful!

There was an irritated grunt from a distinct male voice.

What about me, Kels? I can summon a level five demon too.

Yeah, but not one as impressive as Valrog! I mean, Val is almost a level six!

Haha, you’re doing just fine, Dante. A hundred years ago, I couldn’t even call a level three. You’re way better than me in this demon-summoning sector.

Yeah, you say that, but you’re the one with Valrog under your thumbs. Kels, stop talking about Val, or I’m going to get angry. Then I’ll sic Khra on you.

There was a squeal from a horrified girly voice.

You wouldn’t! Fina will call Val then! Then Val will destroy your Khra!

Oh yeah? Not before I get you first!

If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine my brother launching himself on our younger sister, tickling her ribcage. She is giggling and laughing, squirming and trying to get away from Dante’s mischievous fingers. I’m sitting on a longue-chair on my balcony, looking out to our garden.

It is the conversation we had while we waited anxiously for a name, a result. Our father had locked us up in my room while he consulted with his vampire advisors. They were choosing my mate; my new husband. I’d met them all, and most of them hadn’t stuck on my mind.

Except one of them.

He loved me dearly. No, he didn’t love me for my kingdom or my money. He didn’t love me for my power; he didn’t love me for being Logan Lucifer’s daughter. He loved me for being me. Though it was against the rules for someone without official standing like him, he’d snuck into my room a few times, and courted me. We’d gone running out in the night, when everyone thought I was asleep, and we’d shared many memories together.

He’d promised me that I would be his. He’d promised me that I, my name and my heart would be his. He’d promised me that he would help regain my name as Seraphina. He promised that he will have my name called again. No longer a ‘princess’, but simply just Seraphina.

You hear that? Dante asks suddenly.

I strain my ears, and above the sound of the sea swishing against the shore, I distantly hear clicks of footsteps against marbled floor. The door to my room opens, and I turn to the doorway, anxious for a result.

My servant girl, who I had posted to stand outside the meeting room in hopes of eavesdropping on my father’s decision, stood in the doorway with a brilliant smile on her face.

My princess, a decision has been made. It is him. The one you wished for.

“Seraphina?” A soft touch on my shoulder jerks me out of my reverie.

He stands there, standing over me, a soft but worried look hanging on his face. I tried my best to muster a smile, but my mind is still trying to come back from the flash of memory.

“Are you alright? I couldn’t find you anywhere… I panicked for a moment there.” Kain continued softly, and his face flushes a little in embarrassment, at himself for overreacting and panicking.

“I’m fine. Thank you for worrying about my well-being.” I reply, surprised that this is the first time in seven days that I’ve talked to him without our conversation ending in one or two words.

“It is my duty to keep you safe. I promised to protect you, and I will not fail that promise.” He said, but took a seat beside me all the same. Almost instantly, I could feel his warm body beside mine. Whoever who said that vampires were cold-blooded creatures obviously haven’t met Kain before. Kain is the hottest vampire to be beside. He radiates warmth like a nuclear reactor.

A cold wind breezed up the shore again, and I instinctively wriggled closer to him, desperate for a little warmth, having been exposed to the cold for too long. He –thankfully –didn’t move away, but took off his coat and covered it over my shoulder, adding another layer of insulation that I was grateful for.

“It is a cold night, you shouldn’t be out here.”

“Vampires can’t get colds.” I pointed out, and while he nodded there was catch in his gentle smile.

“Yes, but being cold and numb means you’ll be hungry faster. You’ll drink more blood, and you’ll be blood-drunk.”

I recalled the Vampire 101 that Mila and Gabriel had spent two days grilling me with. Blood-drunk was the sensation of being drunk by drinking too much blood. We couldn’t get drunk by alcoholic means, but drinking too much made us drunk. Go figure.

We fell into comfortable silence, listening to the soothing sound of the waves, and me taking in the warmth of the extra layer, as well as being close to Kain. I don’t know why he is still here, considering that he has been obviously hiding from me all this while.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve been doing the past week, Seraphina. I shouldn’t have… avoided you like I did.” He seemed to be listening to my thoughts –though I had been informed that vampires couldn’t read each other’s thoughts –since he replied to my silent thought-question.

I don’t know how to reply, so I didn’t. He seemed fine with it, and ploughed on.

“But I stay by my point. Until you remember everything, at least between us, I can’t let myself lead you on like this. But how I’ve been treating you for the past week… it is unacceptable. I’m sorry for the stupid thinking of avoiding you. I won’t do it again.”

I still didn’t know how to reply him. I was glad that he was finally talking to me, but at the same time I was angry that he’d taken a week to find out that he still wasn’t going to accept me. How could someone with such expression in his eyes when he looked at me refuse to accept me? What was it about our past that he would only accept him if he accepted me?

“Seraphina?” He asks with utmost caution in his voice after a long period of silence which I played out a thousand and one scenarios of how things between us could have burnt down while I was still a princess of Lucifer.

“You told me the day that I woke up that you finally have me, my name and my heart… what do you mean by that?”

Kain hesitated for a short while before replying.

“I… promised you long ago that I would have you, your name and your heart. I courted you in secrets, and silence and in the nights when you were asleep in your bed. I promised you a million things… that I could not give.”

My mind screamed that he was the guy I had been waiting for in my short memory. He had been the guy I was wishing to be my chosen vampire husband, wasn’t it? The man I had wished had promised to have me, my name and my heart. The man had brought me out of the castle while everyone thought I was safe and sound, and courted me and made me love him.

It was Kain, wasn’t it?

“If I forgot, Kain, tell me. Tell me how we met. How we fell in love. How we fell apart and what went wrong.” I replied with such conviction that Kain’s wonder-filled blue eyes turned to me, as if he never expected for me to give him a second chance.

“Whatever that went wrong between us; let me judge our mistake again and give us a second chance. If I cannot forgive you after I know everything… then we will stay the way we are. I will not be angry even if you avoid me. But if I can forgive you… promise me that you’ll forget it too.” I insisted, and he stared at me for a long moment, as if wondering if the woman sitting before him was the woman he knew.

Who knew? Maybe he knew and fell in love with another Seraphina of another time, another age. But if I am still the Seraphina that they all insist that I am –a vampire who still can use her grandfather’s power to summon a level five demon named Valrog –then I wouldn’t give up Kain for such a lame reason.

He turned back to look at the sea again, as if he couldn’t bear to look at me. His hand played with the sand that we were sitting on, letting them run between his fingers.

“I was a simple guard. I came to your kingdom as a new guard, but I excelled in my training. It became apparent that I did better as a hunter-assassin better than a simple guard stationed in the corridors. I rose through the ranks, and my skills earned me a place in an annual competition that the King held to honor the kingdom’s best hunter. Coincidentally, it was the year which you came of age, and it was your first time in watching over the competition beside your father.

On the day of the finals, I was facing down the winner of the previous year. My master. There was a large crowd because of this controversial fight. Of course, the large crowd was also because there were a million men who wanted to have a rare glimpse of you, the just come-of-age vampire princess who had agreed to attend with her father.

My master, though my enemy, had forced me to give the large crowd a good show, no matter how I felt about hitting my master. My master, in every sense, knew my weakness. I was sure to die in that match; and we both knew it. It was just a matter of how long I could last before I took my last blow.” Kain closed his eyes, fisting his hands with a handful of sand crushed tightly between his clenched fingers.

“What worries about humiliation I had was swept away when I laid my eyes on you for the first time. You were sitting on the royal dais with your father, a look of disdain on your face. The competition is a men’s sport, and you were still horrified that innocent vampires died in the pit for ‘honor’. I shared the same sentiments, but had no voice for I was nothing but a lowly hunter, forced by my own master to fight.

I understood my master’s orders to put up a good show. It was for your sake; not so much the rest of the crowd. I didn’t understand what for, but my master did. He knew of my secret ideals, and your disdain for this particular sport. He was a master at hunting and killing, but he was no longer happy living his days in glory of being the best hunter. He wanted it to stop; through me and you.

To say my master thrashed me is an understatement. He beat me up so bad that I couldn’t even think straight. It took me weeks –even with vampire healing –to recover. Some scars stayed forever. But it was all for show. And the show was perfectly executed, because somewhere in your feminine heart, there was a space for disgust at the horrifying death I was about to be dealt with by my own master.”

I closed my own eyes, trying to tease out a memory of the same fight.

Distant sounds of cheering rushed into my ears. There were both jeers and cheers, but the roar of the audience was audible. Everyone was excited and on the edge of their seat, waiting for their spectacular ending. My father sat leaning against the barrier, a bright glint of enjoyment in his eyes.

I myself was trying to fight off nausea. One of my maidservants had pointed out that I looked a little green, and I sure felt like it. I didn’t even want to take a look in the bloodied pit anymore.

I heard another crunch of bones hitting against the pit’s hard walls.

Finish it! Finish him! The crowd chants. I can hear the almost winner’s howl of victory.

Wait! He’s still conscious! Damn, the boy’s resilient! Someone close to the royal dais exclaims, and I chance a look over the barrier, seeing the beaten vampire pick himself up. It was him, in torn jeans, blood covering him from head to toe. I am not even sure how he is still standing upright at all.

Come on, boy! I trained you better than this! His master’s still-strong voice taunts, and I watch with sickening fascination as he drags himself close to his master. He weakly draws his fists up, and spits a mouth of blood to the ground.

His master takes a look up at the royal dais, looking for permission from my father to finish his opponent. My father nods with eager, and disgust roils through my chest. Although no one ever cares at all about these fighters, I’d taken the liberty to do a research about their background before I’d attended the fight.

The boy had appeared out of nowhere, and had been taken in by one of the kingdom’s resident. They never registered his true name, only nicknames he’d been associated with. As a result, he was signed on to the kingdom’s army, where he’d shined as a hunter. He was sent here, for the king’s entertainment, and here he was.

Finish him up! The crowd roars, and bile rises up my throat. I have seen vampires die before me, but never this horrifically. Dante had told me –with the standard boyish excitement –that fights between hunters were the bloodiest and goriest of all deaths. This was definitely the most gruesome death that I was about to witness.

Unless... I could stop it somehow.

His master’s hand in swinging in an arc down on him. He brings up his hands weakly to protect his face, but everyone can see he has no energy behind that stance. All he is going to achieve is forearms with entirely broken bones.

STOP THIS AT ONCE! I shouted in my serious, king-ly voice, standing up from my seat.

The crowd is silenced immediately, and I note –with relief –that his master has managed to stop the flying fist just before it touched flesh.

Seraphina! What are you doing? My father asked, bewildered. My father might be the high-mighty king, but he cannot waiver my determination. Even if his orders outweigh mine, I have Mother’s uncanny ability to make him see things my way. I don’t usually do that, but Daddy always let things go my way when I insist upon it with conviction. That is the perks of being a princess and Daddy’s darling heir.

I want this gruesome scene to end. Now. It is obvious who has lost, so let the boy go.

He looks up at me with a grateful, tired-ass smile. Then his eyes roll back and he fell backwards, landing back on the pit floor in a cloud of dust as he has done at least a hundred times before during the fight.

Seraphina darling, we can’t stop this! Killing is part of the fight! A winner can only be named if the opponent dies. My father insists, trying to reason out with me as if I had thrown a tantrum insisting that I want a unicorn. Yes, I had once wanted that, when I was young and knew nothing.

Yes, we can. I reply fiercely. This fight is in honor for you. A show staged for you; if you will. If you’re not going to stop this, Daddy, I will. We both know it is stupid to have student fighting against master, and I’m not going to let some stupid manly excitement end another life. This boy could be a precious addition to our ranks; and you will waste his talent in this filthy pit, losing because he cannot win the only one vampire who knows his every weakness.

The pin-drop silence of the crowd is amusing, but I don’t let it show. My father’s face is frozen, stuck between trying to be angry at his daughter’s insolence, or softening up to me. My words made sense to him, but I know that his king-ly pride doesn’t allow himself to be declared the wronged party, no matter how he knows it is all his fault. I cannot expect him to accept his mistake before his subjects.

It is tradition of the fight to end with the killing. The boy can be replaced by another. This is just another death in the pit; a death of honor. My father tried to brush it off, but I will not take more of this bullshit.

If you will not stop this fight, then I will. I claim him. The boy; I claim him to be my escort. He belongs to me. If anyone dares lay a hand on him, I will exact revenge of the highest order. I might be a princess, but I am a Lucifer. You might have not heard of it, but I have recently discovered my ability to summon demons of the highest level so far. So if anyone desires a level five demon chasing their tail, feel free to harm the boy.

Seraphina! My father’s voice is both shocked and surprised. I don’t know if my claiming or my announcement of my ability shocks him more. Both should shock him, since I have not had an vampire escort ever since I found out I could summon demons to be my guardian, and my father’s ability of summoning demons only stopped at level four.

Will you stop me, father? That boy is now my escort, my property. You know how much I hate having my property touched. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a new toy to play with.

I turn around and strode away haughtily, but not before I made my orders clear for the unconscious bleeding boy to be attended to –revived back to health –and brought to my quarters as soon as he wakes up.

“Seraphina?” His voice pulls me out of my memory again, and I snap back to see him looking worriedly at me again. “Seraphina, are you okay?”

I manage a nod weakly. “I… I think I saw. I remember a little of how we met. I saved you, didn’t I? I stood before the crowd at the pit and claimed you for mine.”

Relief flooded his expression, and he let go his hands from my shoulders, which I hadn’t noticed.

“Yes, that’s what I was trying to tell you as you drifted off. What else do you remember?”

I shook my head sadly. “Nothing much. Just how I claimed you.”

“Don’t stress it.” He says with a gentle smile. I remember how he looked when he smiled at me, all bloody and beaten-up. He looks so different now, so grown up and charming. So… handsome and alluring. It’s hard to believe that he was that boy in the pit, but I saw some resemblance.

“You look like you need a rest. I’ll continue our story over the days. Is that alright with you? I don’t want to overload your mind.” He asks softly, and I guess it was for the best. He doesn’t know it, but this is my second flashback in the past one hour. My mind is still reeling from the first flashback to even think of the second.

I nodded, and he made a move to stand up. I don’t follow him, though.

“You go back first. I need to think some things through.” I say, though still keeping his coat captive. Hey, don’t judge, I need all the warmth I can get since my heat-source Kain was leaving my side.

“Anything you want to discuss with me?” He asks with a little concern coloring his voice, but I shake my head determinedly. “Alright. Call if you need help. We’re just a shout away.” He instructs and I nod in acknowledgement.

“Don’t stay out for too long, alright?” He nags, and I tell him he sounds like my mother –except that I don’t remember my mother, and only know she died giving birth to Kelsey.

He smiles softly and leaves my side.

I sit by the beach alone, staring out at the lights on the horizon that made the mainland California. Cold sea breeze continued to blow my way, and I tightened my layers of jacket and coat around me, hugging myself ever the tighter. Losing Kain is losing the warmth. I wonder at how this analogy is so close to my heart, not only to my physical self.

There is nothing much more for me to learn on this island, but yet so much more. I am just waiting.

Waiting for Kain to say that I was ready to fight and regain my kingdom.

Waiting for my memories to come back to me –if they ever will.