Desire of the Soul (8 page)

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I woke no longer in my bright bedroom, but imprisoned in a room lacking any light. I saw nothing but a dark huddle beside me, and heard nothing but soft and shallow breathing.

“
Hello?” I whispered to the huddle, my voice shaking the man from what was probably sleep. His breathing quieted and he turned toward me, golden eyes glowing in the darkness.
 

“
They will come for you soon, Queen. The Lucis, or Light, Council now knows that you have been notified of the prophecy, and they have many tests in store to tell if Duke was indeed correct about you. When they learn that he was correct, there will be a war. That is what I am here to notify you about. I fear if you are not prepared for the war, you will die a gruesome death.
 

Your species is the ruling species at this time, and once you have become Queen on the Council and Duke King on the Council, the Council will be complete. But the Ater, Dark, Council will not agree with you being on the Lucis Council. They will want to use the powers you possess for different deeds than the Lucis Council. There will come a time that you will have to choose between the Lucis and Ater Council. Just know when you are making the choice between the Lucis and Ater Council, that Light doesn’t always equate to good-”

I cut him off with a sharp laugh, biting my lip softly. “And Dark doesn’t always mean bad. Yeah I’ve heard that before. Very original. It definitely hasn’t been written in different books and told in different movies, no not at all,” I snorted, then looked away from his haunting golden eyes. “Who are you anyway?” I asked, wanting a change of topic.

“
You will find out very soon,” he answered, his voice deep and rich. It was unfamiliar, and I wondered how he had gotten to me in my dreams. Before I could ask though, he spoke up again. “Wake my Queen, and ready yourself for what is to come.”

My eyes closed with their own will, the world around me melting slowly and my body relaxing against the cold floor.

---

I woke again, this time in my bed. Duke was no longer in the wooden chair beside me, and I heard my parents bustling around in the kitchen below. My arms stretched out, a yawn escaping from my mouth. I had slept fitfully, it was almost four in the afternoon and I was surprised that my parents had not woken me up. It was most likely because it was Sunday though, and they just wanted me to catch up on my sleep.
 

I rose from my bed and undressed, then slipped into my warm shower. The jets hit me, massaging my body at all sides. I really was glad to be home, able to use my own facilities instead of Dukes. I was really picky about my bathroom supplies, and I had missed being able to dress in my own clothes. The ones Duke had supplied me with were cute, but not mine.
 

Thinking of Duke made the memory of my dream hit me, and I fell onto the shower floor. I landed roughly on my ass, and gasped at the pain. Within seconds though, I felt nothing but a tingling as my Amatores powers worked their magic. The Lucis Council would be calling for me soon if the man in my dream was correct, and I assumed that he was. I would have to get prepared for the war that would be fought over me, and choose whether I wanted to be Queen on the Lucis or Ater Council.
 

Wow, I was only seventeen and I had to make choices that normal people made, although their choices were not as weird, at like the age of seventy. The only difference was that I wasn’t a part of the people group anymore, and I sure as hell wasn’t normal either. My life had gone from only having to choose which shirt I was going to wear and whether Luke was really worth all the shit he put me through, to which Council I would reside as Queen on and how I could possibly stop this idiotic war from happening.

Another thing popped into my head, words that I hadn’t really focused on when the man had said them. He’d said my species was the ruling species. Did that mean that Amatores Sanguinis and humans were not the only species? It was a question of which I would definitely have to ask Duke later on. I assumed he would come here to tell me about the Council’s plans for me. At least I hoped he would.

A knock at my door shook me away from my thoughts, and I quickly turned off the shower. I grabbed the thick white robe beside the toilet, and slipped it on. There was another knock on the door, this one more persistent, and I rushed to open it. My parents were at the other side, a distant look to their faces.
 

“Hello Tammy,” my dad said, his voice a monotone. He blinked slowly, and I looked at him with confusion. What was wrong with my parents?
 

“We will both be away for the week, and so you have the house to yourself.” My mom’s voice also had that same monotone, and she grabbed my dad’s hand. “We are leaving now, goodbye and see you soon.”
 

I nodded, unsure how to respond to my parents’ odd behavior. No doubt it was because of an Amatores, maybe the Council? Or Duke. Duke probably compelled them, trying to get me by myself, because my parents never leave so soon after coming back.

My mom and dad left, their eyes still distant as the bright yellow cab carried them away to where ever their destination was. Within seconds of them leaving, Duke appeared out of the air with wide eyes, making it obvious that I was right. He was at fault for my parents’ behavior. “The Council has prepared to come here for a meeting in forty-five minutes. We have to get ready!” he exclaimed, running to clean my already spotless house.
 

I quickly got moving, dressing into more appropriate attire as I saw that Duke had on a tux. When the forty-five minutes were up, Duke and I were sitting calmly on my dirt brown suede living room couches, a pitcher of iced tea sitting on the glass coffee table.

One by one the Council members appeared, until all ten of them were seated in their own chairs that surrounded Duke and I. My jaw had dropped almost to the ground as each member arrived, because none of them were Amatores. There were two Shapeshifter’s, although what shape they shifted to I did not know, two golden winged Fey, two
 
 
Duke had said they were called, two
 
 
were another species that Duke had supplied me with their names, and two Witches.

The
 
 
pumpkin colored skin, their ears and lips boxed shape, and their eyes a light aquamarine. They glowed slightly, their words slurred by a thin tongue and teeth as boxed as their ears. They were medium-sized, maybe 5”2, and both had thick hair on their head that matched their skin. The only obvious difference between the two that showed how one was a girl and one a boy, was the fact that the girl had long hair and the boys hair was short. They both wore dark brown rags for clothes, the guys just shorts and the girls a shirt and shorts.

The Expletus both had an inhuman beauty to them. Their features were sharp, their eyes a cold glassy color. Their skin was a perfect peach color, and when they talked you could almost see their words as they wrapped around you, putting you into their spell. The female wore a strapless long emerald dress that sparkled in the light, and the male wore a tux similar to Dukes. Not once did they smile at either of us, only stared without emotion.

“Tammy Maynard, today is the day that you are tested to see if you are indeed the one mentioned in the prophecy. Should you pass this test, you will become Queen of the Lucis Council. Do you accept?” the female Expletus asked, her voice as cold as her eyes.
 

Thoughts raced through my mind, tears threatening to seep out. I was only seventeen! It wasn’t fair that only a couple weeks ago I had a normal life, and now this! I should’ve at least been allowed time to say goodbye to my old life. I can’t handle the pressure this is putting on, I feel as if I’m going to explode! Don’t they get this? Don’t they understand? Why? Why can they not wait until I’m...I don’t know forty or something to take this test? That leaves me a hell of a lot of time to run away and never come back.
 

Duke. His name intruded in on my thoughts, a sharp pain in my chest. You’re doing this for him. If you ran away, you wouldn’t see him ever again. And I couldn’t be selfish enough to think he would come with me. That wasn’t fair for him. So, my only way around this mess I’ve been thrust into is to get these stupid tests over with. What’s the worst that could happen?
 

“Tammy Maynard, do you accept?” The woman’s voice sent a shiver down my spine, and I slowly breathed in air. If only I could have more time...more time to decide what I really wanted. But I didn’t have that time. All I had was this moment, and so the most I could do was push past the blocks that were holding me in place right now. Push past the fear I felt while looking in the Expletus’s eyes. Push past it all and step toward my fate.

I nodded once, not wanting to show my fear. “Yes, I accept.”

The Test

The living room blurred around me, and I felt the Council and Duke disappear from sight. My eyes fluttered shut as the world spun and shook, and I felt sick. Suddenly, the world calmed down and I was able to open my eyes again.

I was in a bright room with no furniture, the floors and ceiling painted white, and no windows. There was a door in the room, although the door had no doorknob so I couldn’t get out. Something was telling me that the point wasn’t to leave the room, whatever the Council had planned was going to happen in this room...and soon.
 

I sat down on the cool linoleum floors, my back against the wall. My ears were listening for any noises in my surroundings and my eyes were glued to the door, waiting for it to move even an inch. Waiting for whatever was supposed to walk in with a fear that turned my blood cold as it rushed through my veins.

Hours passed and my eyelids started to droop closed. Maybe I wasn’t so right about this soon thing. For all I knew, this was only a prison for me to stay in and rot for all eternity. The most I could do was sit here and watch as it all faded away to nothing, watch as my world crumbled.
 

A noise shook me from my thoughts, and I watched with apprehension as the door creaked open. I felt sweat gather on my hands, and I bit my cheek roughly. Thoughts flew through my head like a tornado, threatening to tear it apart. Who was coming in? What was about to happen? Should I be scared? Or should I just act like I don’t notice anything happening?
 

My thoughts slammed to a stop, when the person in question walked in. A smell, the smell, slithered slowly up my nose. A musky, rotting, death-like smell. Without a doubt I knew it was a vampire. But why would they send a vampire in here? What would that accomplish?

“Tammy, so glad to see you again my darling,” His voice, one I had before so loved, crawled on my skin like a million tiny spiders. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be! Not him....not the one person I actually cared about now. The one person I loved. Why, of everyone in the world, would they pick him? It doesn’t make sense!
 

I fell to the ground, clawing at my heart as though it was ripping out. It can’t be! It can’t be! Bright red tears dropped to the ground, and my face twisted in agony. I couldn’t even try to kid myself. There was no mistaking the voice, even covered in layers of coldness. Layers of death. I could never mistake his voice, the one I had come to love in the last couple weeks.

Duke, the Duke I had just seen as a perfectly healthy Amatores, was now a vampire.

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“Oh Tammy, don’t cry. Just know that I love it much more like this! It is like I had fallen asleep on all things I had used to love, and have now woken up again! I feel so different, so much more alive. You understand, don’t you?” No emotion flickered across Dukes face as he spoke, and I felt my stomach cramp.

“No. Duke this isn’t you. The real Duke is somewhere in this world, floating as a soul. I don’t-I don’t know what convinced him to let go to the Red in the last couple hours...but something did. You are not Duke. You-you’re a monster. A true vampire. Nothing more.” I forced the words out of my mouth, each word feeling like a tear in my heart. Duke looked at me with pursed lips, and then closed his eyes slowly.
 

“I have never liked playing with my food. That did not change with my transformation to a vampire. So playing with you is just furthering my hunger, but what am I to do? I would much rather enjoy you slowly, then take you all at once.” Duke smiled, his fangs sliding out menacingly.
 

He ran towards me at full speed, eyes blazing a crimson red.

I felt the world slow around me, Red creeping into my vision. I watched as Duke flew through the air towards me, and moved swiftly aside. A cracking noise came from behind me, the sound almost vibrating in the cold air. I turned to see the wall in which he had crashed had small cracks encompassing it in the shape of Dukes body. I followed the wall down watching as Duke peeled himself off the wall, blood dripping into a small puddle below him. The smell permeated the air, crawling down my throat and giving the Red fuel to burn.

It smelled like chocolate, brilliant, luscious chocolate, calling to me. A shiver went down my spine as my fangs popped out, and my tongue flickered out to lick my lips slowly at the thought of tasting Dukes blood. My body filled with a desire, a need, to have his blood. It was like an ache that spread from head to toe, making it harder and harder to keep control of myself.