Chapter Text
Chapter Three: Waking Up
Alexandria woke suddenly with a bright light blinding her eyes. Panicked she bolted up right only barely aware of the glass her body smashed throught. In her hurry to get away from the painfully bright light she fell off of whatever it was she had been lying on and hell in a heap in the floor.
As quickly as the light came it went leaving her confused and disoriented on the floor. For a moment she simply let herself lay there, blinking her eyes rapidly trying to regain her vision. She felt so weak, even the thought of moving seemed to exhaust her. She lied there waiting for her sight to be restored. When it finally was she look up, not sure what she would see. The sight that met her gaze caused her heart to stop. Staring back at her were a pair of familiar green eyes she could never forget.
“Salazar?” She whispered gently, but she knew it was not so almost immediately after she said it. Though the boy before her had her brothers eyes, it was painfully obvious upon further inspection that he could not be him. Her brother had a long sallow face, and long raven hair that he always kept immaculately groomed.
Though this boy had raven hair as well that was the end of their similarities, his face was rounder and had a gauntness that suggested he wasn't eating properly. His hair was an untidy mess on his head and his clothes were obviously far to big for him. Who ever the boy was it was obvious that came from a struggling family.
Across from her the boy shivered, it was only then that Alex realized that he was sitting in a pool of water that had to be freezing. Pushing herself up on to her feet, she moved towards the edge of the walkway and held out her hand for him to grab. The boy shrank away from her fear evident in his eyes. For a moment Alex was confused, children usually took to her quite well, but one glances down into the reflective pool revealed why.
The woman staring back at he was not the one she remembered seeing the that morning in her vanity mirror. No the woman looking back at her was pale as the white marble used to tile the floor of the pool, her raven hair held an unnatural shine and her deep brown eyes seemed to glow in the candlelight. Most startlingly about this strange womans appearances was the sharp fangs that peeked out of her thin lips.
Upon studying her appearances Alex’s memories started to flood back to her. The carriage ride back to her family's castle, the argument between her parents and the strange man named Vladimir, a sharp pain in her neck and her mother's screams. Yes she remembered that man, Vladimir had bitten her, she could remember the way her mother cradled her as she bleed into her arms, how they rushed her to the nearest healer hoping to save her life only to find out in horror that Vladimir had never had meant to kill her.
He had infected her with his venom, he had meant to change her into one of them, into a vampire. If the sudden rush of information had not left her feeling numb she may have respected his cunning, if he meant to hurt her father turning his only daughter into the very monster he hated was enguines way of doing it.
Onces it became clear to her father what would happen to her he arranged her death to be falsified. He had all the document signed and healers paid off so well that even her mother and brother had not know the truth. Alex could still see the disgusted in his eyes as hex her into a slumber that she had just awoken from.
How long had it been since the spell was cast. A few months, a few years? Her mind raced as she thought of all that could have happened over the time she was asleep, it was only the boys increasingly violent shivers that brought her back to the situation at hand.
Turning her gaze back on the small boy, Alex couldn't help but feel compassion for him. Here he was in what seemed to be burial crypt alone with a creature that he had probably been trained to associate with terror and pain. He had to be scared out of his wits along with freezing cold. She had to some how convince the poor boy that he had no intention of hurting him.
With new determination Alex held out her hand again, but this time she made sure to hide her fangs behind her lips and soften her eyes as much as possible. The boy still looked at her with distrust but the cold he was feeling seemed to make him less cautious. Slowly he reached out to grab her hand. Alex smiled internally as he firmly grasped her hand and she pulled him up out of the water.
That internal smile only lasted till the boy’s feet touched the walkway. As soon as he had gained his footing and that it hit her. A hunger unlike anything she had ever felt before welled up inside the pit of her stomach. It crept up through from her gut and leaked into her throat causing it to feel unbearably stiff and dry.
The sudden wave of hunger caused her to release the boys hand and stumble back. It was then that she realized what had caused it. On the hand the boy had grasped her hand with was a cut, it was only a small cut most likely made by one of the near by flowers but it was enough to cause him to bleed. Blood, that was it, that was what she desired.
Alex’s eyes grew dark as they fixated on the boy. When she had grabbed his hand she could feel it, the warm liquid pulsing under his skin. It was right there in front of her all she had to do was reach out and take it. Somewhere in her hunger addled mind Alex knew that she should leave and get as far from the boy as possible before she hurt him but she simply couldn't convinces her body of that fact. She couldn't fight the urge to drink, not after going without for as long as she had. Even in her weak state the little boy would be easy to take care of.
Slowly she started to stalk towards the boy, the closer she got the more he scurried backwards. It didn't take long for him to run out of space and become cornered and the predator in Alex smiled at the sight of her prey helpless. With the boy now firmly within her reach, Alex prepared to pounces, but one quick glance at his eyes caused her to freeze.
The eyes that meet her gaze were bright with fear and welling over with tears. The sight of the boy’s eyes, Salazar’s eyes, staring up at her in such fear was enough to break through to her. Her unbearable hunger was overshadowed with immense feelings of shame. Taking the opportunity granted by this new feeling Alex forced herself to turn and run.
Moving faster than she had ever thought possible, she made her way through the corridor and up the stairs, only stopping ones she could feel the wind brush her hair back. Now away from the intoxicating sight and smell of blood Alex slowly regained some of her composure.
There was no way that she could approach the boy before getting a hold on her hunger. The question was how would she do that. There was no way she could feed from someone else without killing them she knew she didn't have enough control for that, beside from the looks of her surroundings there many not anyone else near by.
Slowly, Alex sat down leaning her body against a near by tree, there she sat weighing her options. As she thought the scent of blood caught her attention. Immediately rising to her feet, Alex took another deep breath. The smell was definitely blood but it was vastly different to the boys. Both scents had the base smell of copper but this new scent smelled sour, whereas the boy’s smelled sweet.
Silently Alex crept towards the sound carefull not to alert the sources of the smell to her presences. Through the trees not to far from the entrances to her crypt was a deer lying alone in a field. The poor creature had been attacked by something and managed to drag itself away to die in peace. Alex bit her lip as she studied the animal. It was certainly going to die, it would probably be best to put it out of its misery and it was definitely a better option than attacking another person.
Sighing gently Alex crept closer to the wounded animal. The deer, finally noticing it was not alone, tried to spring to its feet but only managed to slightly shift its body. Before it could attempt to get away again Alex had latched on to its neck, sinking her sharp fangs into its flesh. Though the smell of the blood wasn't nearly as appealing as human blood the result was the same.
The feeling of warm blood sliding down her throat slowly satiated her hunger. The animal only gave a few weak struggles before it finally went still. Alex held onto the creature for a little while longer determined to not waste anything, before finally letting go. Sitting back Alex allowed herself a moment to gather herself.
Slowly she could feel her fangs retreat back into her mouth and her strength began to return to her. She felt better then ever, her mind was clear and focused everything around was sharp and in focus. Now without the hunger to compete with for her attention, Alex’s shame threatened to overwhelm her.
She had nearly lost control, she could have killed that poor boy. If he didn't have eyes so similar to Salazar’s there would have been no way to stop herself. She had to get herself under control. She had to ensure that she never lost control like that again because if she killed an innocent person to satisfy her own blood lust then she would never be able to forgive herself.
Gracefully Alex pushed herself back onto her feet and wiped away the blood from her lips with the back of her hand. She was careful to make sure she appeared semi-suitable before entering the crypt. She had much to do if she was to get her life back on track but first she had to make sure the boy was ok. She had gained his trust once and could only hope to do so again.