I couldn't close my eyes for a moment without having those painful dreams of Him. It was torture. Good thing Vampires don't sleep, but when Sebastian compelled me to sleep, I had no choice and after I woke up, I felt as though my joints were placed in the wrong places.

Speaking of that bastard Sebastian, he's been gone for four days now, with my cute Jay. I've been stuck with Sophie, and although I learnt that she was not after my man, she was after me. Each time she came near me, I'd have a seizure. Well, not really, I had to fake it and make it dramatic.

It was exciting to do that. After all, what's life without any drama?

So here I was, lying in bed with Sophie stroking my hair and a dreamy look on her face. I actually came to like her. I've never had a female so close to me since... that day. I've never had a female worrying about me or willing to be near me. Even though Sophie's intentions are not what I want them to be, she said she'd be there for me, and she is right now.

I've never had a female friend before.

Having her stroking my hair in a motherly or sisterly manner was comforting yet saddening. Her parents are still alive, obviously, whereas mine are no longer breathing.

Interesting fact that I learnt, Sophie is Jay's cousin. And she is only a century younger than him. She's 10,172 years old. And interestingly, Sebastian is the youngest unmarried Slade, whereas the rest of them are either children or married. So basically, he is the youngest man of the Slades.

"So tell me, why is Jay hardly around?" I ask, playing with Sophie's beautiful blonde silks. What a contrast to my pure black hair. But it's a good thing she doesn't have black hair, otherwise she'd have something in common with Sebastian. That wouldn't settle with me very well, even though it sounds childish.

She smiles, and then giggles, her green eyes twinkling cutely. "Jay has a secret of his own." I gave her a confused frown, making her giggle more. She scooted closer to me, as though she was about to tell a deadly secret.

"He has his eyes set on a human."

I gasped, shocked. Something in me became strangely alarmed. I had never expected Jay to be into humans. It never actually occurred to me that all this time he was not around, he was keeping an eye on a human he desired. I became curious, wanting to know what and how that human was like. What and how is she like, for her to have caught the eye of a Pureblood? Would she be innocent and naive, like I had been?

"Is this why he's hardly around?" I ask with a smirk, raising an eyebrow. Sophie giggles and nods, but then her eyes glaze over with a different emotion and she stills.

"What was your human like?" she whispers, interested yet hurt. I don't really understand how she'd feel hurt or sad for me. I could hardly feel anything if it wasn't about a certain someone, or someones.

"As in my human side?" I enquire, puzzled. Sophie shakes her head, her hand falling from my hair to gently caress my cheek. If Sebastian finds out about her touching me or lying in our bed, he'd kill her. He made it crystal clear for her to not lay a hand on me before he left.

"No, I meant the human you were promised to."

I stiffened, and Sophie's eyes instantly washed with regret. I smiled, appreciating that she was, at least, actually willing to know about my torturing past.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't—"

I cut her sentence off with a shake of my head. "No, it's all right. I actually want to let it out, talk about him to someone who wouldn't glare at me."

We both laugh, and I'm sure she was picturing Sebastian's gorgeous, irritated face. His features seemed to become more dangerous and seductive whenever he was vexed.

"Let me tell you, sometimes I irritate him on purpose, because his irritated face turns my insides to jelly!" I snicker.

"What?" she laughs, her words drawled lazily. "Insides to jelly? What are you talking about?"

"I don't know, the humans say that."

She laughs harder at my reply, but I join her as well. She shakes her head, and I know we are back on our topic.

"How long have you been hunting Vampires for?" she wonders.

I smile at the mention of hunt, remembering that I haven't done that in a long while. "I've been living for 153 Vampire years— 170 years in total, but I only started hunting when I was 151— so that's when I was nineteen." I explained, pausing to make sure she understood, and she nodded. "I needed an entire two years to pick myself together and become who I am today."

Sophie was quite for a while, as though she was hesitating, before she makes up her mind and mumbled, "Sebastian said you spoke about a child. Your child?" she starts to play with my hair again, massaging it soothingly and nearly making me hiss in delight. However, I close my eyes, and try to control the emotions that I do not want.

If Jonathan was a sensitive topic to me, then what did that make my child?

"You're expecting, my dear!" the wise woman of Jonathan's village smiled after she inspected me. She gathered her tools, and bowed to me with a proud smile on her face. The flames of the candles in the dark room were adding to her old features, making her look wiser than she was. Jonathan had instructed her to keep whatever happened between us, under no circumstances must anyone find out about me in his home, or whatever was going on with me.

"You're carrying a warrior's child." she whispered, her smile still strong. "May the Gods look after you and keep you from harm's way."

Then she opened the door, revealing a very anxious Jonathan. He hurried to the wise woman and gripped her shoulders tightly, fear and worry etched on his handsome face.

"How is she? What's happening to her?" he asked quickly, his features looking darker and more mesmerising with the light of the candles.

"She's carrying your child, Warrior." she smiled and then left without another word, leaving a stunned Jonathan frozen to his ground. His head snapped to me and in an instant he was sitting down on his bed besides me. He looked speechless, shocked and sincerely overjoyed. That made me smile lightly.

"My child?" he asked, his voice airy— breathless, his golden eyes glazing with joy. I nodded and his lips twitched, and then he pulled me into his arms, carefully embracing me in a way that wouldn't crush me.

"I adore you! I adore you so much! Oh, Gods, my child?!" he pulled back and gazed at me, beaming. "We're about to be a family!"

"You'll be a father." I smiled wider, caressing his cheek tenderly. He grasped my hand and kissed my palm, letting his lips linger there. No one must know about this, for Jonathan and I were still not wedded, yet.

"You'll be a mother, the mother of my child— our child! Am I dreaming or is this truly happening?" he grinned when I began to laugh quietly. He rested his temple against mine, and I pecked his lips with affection, feeling the warmth of our bodies.

"It's true, my adored." I closed my eyes, savouring the lovely moment. "You'll be a father... the father of my child— our child."

Sophie was smiling sadly, her eyes watery. The girl was a very emotional thing. She sniffed, holding back the tears that wanted to fall as I stitched my memories into words.

"My human was one of a kind." I smile, remembering his face, his eyes, his hair and everything about him. "He was my everything. My first love, my first time, my future man, everything. My entire world. His beauty, kindness, strength and intelligence were a rare mix that were hardly blessed on anyone, yet he had managed to possess them all, and out of all men, he was the only one able to capture my heart without trying."

I ignore Sophie's sniffs, and continue on with my memories as I tell them like a story, waiting to be heard.

I woke up with a gasp, feeling as though my soul had been renewed in me. I shielded my eyes from the blaring sun, and blinked a few times to allow my vision to readjust. I frowned with confusion, smelling a strong metallic scent around me and hearing sounds of faraway waterfalls and rivers. I slowly looked around me, my eyes widening and my jaw slacking at the sight.

Amongst the many bloodied and motionless bodies, I was about to stand up and run to him, but my feet felt sticky and wet. I looked down, horror and pain contorting my face. There was a hole in my chest, but my chest was closed, as though the hole was healed.

But that wasn't what made me horrified.

There was blood trailing from my legs and surrounding me in a pool. I shook my head, not wanting to believe it as I began trembling and breathing hard when I held my stomach tightly.

I felt no movement, no heartbeat... no child.

"NO!" I screamed, tears flowing from my blurry eyes. I shut my eyes tightly, letting out the most tortured wails and weeping louder than an ancient banshee as I rocked my body back and forth, like a woman driven to madness. My arms tightened around my stomach, and I cried louder.

"No, not my child! No!" I didn't know what I had done wrong in my life to be punished severely like this by the Gods. I had no family left, no home, no one I know and I had lost my everything. I was looking forward to becoming a mother, the mother of His children, His wife. I was impatiently waiting to belong to Him, to start a family with Him and to finally hold His child in my arms. I longed to be with Him for the remainder of my life, but what life did I have left, when I had lost everything I held dear to me?

"My child! My child!" I mourned and weeped, hunching over and hugging my stomach as though I was protecting whatever was left inside. I wailed and let my cries be carried by the wind, but I didn't cry for one reason only.

I cried for the loss of my family, my people, my adored and my child. Not even one of these I had with me to keep, not even one of them was spared for me, for they were all taken from me savagely without a second thought.

I wasn't aware of the tears that had slid down my cheek until Sophie wiped them away with her soft fingers. I wasn't aware of my voice cracking and shaking, until I had snapped back to reality to listen to whatever I was saying. When I finished, I stopped Sophie's fingers and used the back of my hand to wipe those disgusting tears.

"After listening to only a fraction of your past, I don't blame you for the way you are now." Sophie sobs, her dark lashes closing and veiling her green eyes. She was listening silently the entire time I spoke of my memories and my horrible past— if sobbing and sniffing is counted as silent, that is.

I shake my head and, despite the pain I was feeling inside my chest and the soft whispers of my soul, manage to grin. My fingers fly out to Sophie's waist, and without thinking I begin to tickle her mercilessly. I don't want anyone to pity me or feel sad for me. I didn't like it, didn't want it nor needed it.

Sophie's sad tears alter to ones of frustration and laughter as she struggles to push me away. But when she did manage to shove me from her, she returned the favour and tickled the Devil out of me. I kicked my legs and laughed loudly, my chest heaving up and down as I struggled to gather the oxygen I needed. Her giggles filled my ears, and my tortured laughter vibrated through my chest.

Thankfully, the phone rang, saving me from Sophie's torturous fingers.

With rugged breathing, Sophie opens the phone and speaks.

"Why do you sound so out of breath?" my ears tickle as I hear Sebastian's seductive voice over the phone. I get an evil idea for my revenge, a smirk playing on my lips as Sophie watches me warily. This will be so entertaining.

"Ah, Sophie, hurry!" I moan loudly, biting my lips to prevent a loud laugh as I see her eyes glaze over. Her breathing shakes, and her hand trembles. She catches on to what I was planning, and an evil smirk dances on her lips as well. She was wise enough to choose to play along.

"Sophie?" Sebastian's low, calm yet angry voice made my body shiver with anticipation. Damn it, even though he wasn't here, I could still feel my desire burning for him. Just thinking about his irritated face makes my body shake in amusement.

"Ah, damn!" Sophie moans away from the phone, her hand flying to cover her almost-giggling mouth. "Don't close your legs." she groans, and then I let out a shaky moan as I pinch my arms to stop from laughing. Sebastian was so going to be deliciously crossed and he would probably be preparing two graves when he comes back.

There's no guarantee that I'd get out of this without receiving any damage.

There was a dead silence on his end, and for a minute I was beginning to decide whether I should feel regretful or worried. The Calm Before The Storm, as the humans call it. It really suits Sebastian well.

"When I get back," Sebastian hisses, and I see Sophie flinching at the bone-chilling tone he used. I bite the insides of my cheeks, wishing for once that I hadn't took the joke too far. But I regret nothing, for when Sebastian comes back, he'll be gorgeously crossed, but there is a chance that he'll show me no kindness when he gets his hands on me.

"I'll make you regret touching what's mine."

✿❀ RZ ❀✿