Maybe I hope too much.

Maybe I dream too much.

Or maybe I love too much,

To just give up on you."

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The guest bedroom,

Crystalline Castle.

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Alexis' POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What was happening to me?

Why did my stomach feel like it was getting stabbed over and over again?

What or rather who was causing this?

All these questions were jumping around in my head, giving me a headache as well. So many questions but yet not a single answer. All I could do was scream, as if that will make the pain dissappear. But it didn't, no matter how much I cried, the pain continued to grow.

Clutching my stomach with my arms, I looked up when I heard his voice. He telepathically appeared in front of me, rubbing a thumb over his stomach, his eyes confused, "Why does my-"

He stopped talking when he noticed the scene in front of him. When the pain got worse, I couldn't help but kneel on the ground.

I felt sick.

Even though I was sure Damien must have figured out what was happening to me, he didn't make any attempt to help me. His face was blank, not giving any hints about what he was thinking. He still continued to watch me as I found the last bits of strength left in me and whispered, "D-Damien, it hurts."

At that point, it felt like even the small amount of energy left in me was being sucked out.

That was when I heard Emma's voice as she appeared into the room. I heard her yell something at Damien but I couldn't make out the words. As I felt my head land on the carpet, I realized I was too far gone to even open my eyes and see who was touching my forehead gently.

Too far gone to make out who the feminine hand belonged to. The hand that made the pain completely dissappear.

But, unfortunately, that hand couldn't pull me out of the darkness that surrounded me.

Then everything went blank.

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"You were out for a day."

Eric, who was standing by the bed, answered my unasked question.

I had just woken up from what felt like years of sleep, but according to Eric, it had just been a day. I was sleeping for an entire day but I still couldn't find the energy in me to get up or even move, so I let myself lay flat on the bed as I pulled the blanket up, closer to me. When I turned my head slightly to the right, trying to ignore its heavy weight, I noticed it was dark outside. That meant I had been passed out all day.

Memories of what happened the day before rushed back to me, making me wince a little. That horrifying stomach pain, me screaming as Damien just stood there silently watching me. Watching me as I cried my eyes out, begging him to help me.

What I got out of that was something I would rather not think about. But a voice still whispered at the back on my mind.

He just didn't care.

Realizing this isn't the time to be stressing over him, I blinked back tears. I had much more important stuff to sort out. Much more important things to find out.

I looked to my left to find Eric standing next to the bed, hands in his pant's pockets while Emma sat beside me, I made an attempt to sit up as well, but she stopped me, "No, it's okay, you shouldnt move around. Just lay down."

I listened to her and let my head hit the pillow gently before I threw any questions towards her.

"What happened to me?"

She glanced at Eric for a second before giving me an answer that seemed confusing even to her, "the doctor shrugged it off by saying it couldn't be anything but a minor stomach ache. He took your blood sample and everything, he didn't find anything wrong."

My frown mirrored hers, "a minor stomach ache? That was not a minor stomach ache. I felt like I was on the verge of dying!"

When I tried to sit up this time, Emma helped me and placed two pillows behind me so I could lean back.

"I know. I saw the pain you were going through. I can't believe my idiotic brother just stood there like a statue. I'm telling you, it must have something to do with Katrina. My brother turns into her puppet whenever she's around. That's what I've always heard, but now I've seen it."

Eric joined in, "there's another possibility as to what might have caused that pain."

"What's that?" Emma asked.

He turned towards her as if the information was private, "that type of pain usually occurs when someone's mate... When their mate sleeps with someone else, Em."

Emma's eyes widened," why didn't I think of that?"

Suddenly, her eyes became more distant and angry. As if thinking of different ways to kill someone, but who? Emma was the kindest person I knew, besides Maria, who I barely saw anymore since she was always busy with her work. So when someone as nice as Emma fisted their hand in pure rage, there was bound of be something wrong. Something was definitely wrong.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" She asked Eric.

Eric was in deep thought for some time, his eyes concentrating on the floor, as if the answer to all his problems would soon be written there. I took the silence as an opportunity to finally make my presence known.

"What's a mate?"

I quickly scanned my brain to remember if I had ever heard that word before. But I came up with blank, which meant I had no idea what it meant. If it had anything to do with the minor stomach ache I experienced last night, I had to know what it meant.

Eric and Emma exchanged a look again, probably communicating through their minds. Finally, Eric turned to me and tried to explain what it meant.

"A soulmate. Beloved. Mate. They're all the same thing. It's when a person is destined to be with you, romantically, they're your soulmate. Your other half. I don't know much about humans but every Vampire has one. It's pretty unheard of now since barely any Vampires find their true mate any more. But those who do, they're the lucky ones. Because having a mate is one of the best feelings in the world, as corny as that sounds."

More questions were growing in my mind but I decided to ask the most important one, "how do you know someone's your mate?"

"You can tell by many different way. Like you might feel your entire body becoming calm once they're near. When they touch you, you will feel these tiny little sparks on that spot. I've heard Vampires can usually tell if someone is their mate by looking in their eyes. It all depends on how educated one is. If someone who's never heard about mates might not be able to figure it out when someone is their mate."

"Someone like me?" I raised my eyebrows. Something about the way he was describing how this mate thing worked, was ringing a bell. I felt like I was missing something, a line which completed the entire sketch.

He nodded, "and someone like Damien."

"He doesn't know what mates are either?" I questioned, surprised. Being the king of the Vampires, you would expect him to know everything as in, everything.

Emma laughed, "nope. I don't think so. He laughs at ideas that has anything to do with love. He says mates don't exist, everyone in this world comes alone and dies alone. He believes those who claim they're in love, are the ones who jump into an ocean to find a source of life. But they'll soon realize that they can't breathe, that in the end, love really does kill."

"Do you expect someone with that thinking process to know what a soulmate is?" She asked me.

Of course not.

Suddenly I thought of something that should have drawn on me minutes earlier.

"So you and Eric are mates?"

Emma started coughing as if she was choking on air. I noticed all colors draining away from Eric's face as if all of his secrets have been revealed. I didn't realize it was such a dramatic question, and that I would receive an equally dramatic response.

"So...?" I dragged on as none of them seemed to be in any position to answer my question.

"No! Why would you think that?" Emma finally spoke up.

"It's just when Eric described what mates are, you guys were the first to pop up in my head. I've seen those not so secretive glances between you guys."

At that point, Emma was full on blushing, something I've never seen before.

"I wouldn't know. Eric missed out something, Vampires are able to tell if someone is their mate when they're of age 18. So I wouldn't know. Ask him." She suddenly crossed her arms, looking away.

I noticed Eric scratching his neck, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Are you her mate?"

"Yeah, Eric. Am I? Even Alexis wants to know now."

Why did I have a feeling that they've had this conversation before?

"I can't answer that." He finally said.

"See, Lexi. When someone refuses to accept their mate, it's either because they want to play hard to get, or they have someone else in their life."

"It's neither one of those. You wanna know what's stopping me from being with you? Really wanna know?" Eric seemed mad now.

Then what he said next was something I would have never expected.

"It's your scary ass brother who would drop that stay away from my lil sis or I'll kill you speech on me."

I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud, Emma soon joining me. I couldn't believe even someone as strong as Eric was scared of Damien. Even though they were close friends.

"Remember when I said he walks around with a stick up his ass? I wasn't kidding, he even admitted it when he said he'll take it out and hit me on the head with it."

That made Emma and me laugh louder, while Eric just scowled at us, "yeah it's so funny, I'm living everyday trying to think of a way I'm going to explain this mate thing to him without making him want to sentence my death right then and there. Glad you guys find it amusing."

He turned away from us. My eyes almost fell out of their sockets when Emma grabbed his hand lightly. But then my eyes narrowed again as he brushed her off and shoved his hand in his pocket.

I tried to take away some of his sadness, "Eric, he only wants what's best for his sister. And what could be better than knowing that the person who has always supported you, the person who has always been by your side, is the one destined for your sister? Sure, he's going to be a little over protective but I just know it won't take him long to realize that Emma couldn't have a better mate than you."

Both Emma and Eric were shocked for a reason I wasn't sure of.

"Did someone ever tell you how smart you are?" He asked me suddenly.

"What can I say, you tend to save up all of your intelligence when you're locked up and never really get the chance to use it."

"Even though I believe you would be a really good mate for Emma, I still haven't forgotten about the time you pretended Damien was dead."

I saw Eric lower his gaze onto the floor, looking rather guilty and I could hear that emotion in his voice, "I know. I'm sorry about that but I just couldn't say no when Damien basically ordered us to do as we were told."

I guess I somewhat understood. Damien was their king and he had to listen to his every word, even if he didn't agree.

"But I was actually surprised by the amount of concern you held towards the guy. The way you were clutching onto him made it seem like a part of you was being ripped apart from you. What I don't get is, why? Why were you crying over him being hurt when he has hurt you countless times before?"

I would like to know that too, Eric.

"You already know, you're just afraid to even think about it," Emma placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I hate how you guys can read my mind. You, Eric, Damien. I Hate it."

She frowned in confusion, "Damien can read your mind? I thought he wouldn't be able to anymore 'cause it's been a while since he gave you his blood."

I nodded,"yeah but he told me he still can for whatever reason."

I decided to leave out the part where I had to basically trick him into admitting it. That thought alone made me think about how yesterday was. The day was going pretty good without any arguments between me and Damien. It was going great when Emma and I watched movies and shared popcorns. But then it all came crashing down with that pain in my stomach. I shuddered a little just thinking about it. Why is it that whenever I feel even a slightest bit of happiness, it always turns out to be the calm before the storm?

"Oh, you forgot to tell her one important thing about mates, Idiot." Emma accused Eric while he just raised his eyebrows.

She turned towards me as if to make sure I caught every word she would say, "When the mates meet, they feel a connection. A connection which might be ignored at first, but with time, it only grows. The more time the mates spend with each other, they would feel the bond between them becoming stronger and stronger. Usually Vampires can block their mind, but if you share a strong mate bond with someone, it might become impossible to block them. With time, they also feel a stronger need to be closer. That need will only get worse until they decide to finally give in if they hadn't already. If one of the mates is human, that person might not feel a strong desire but it would be hell for a Vampire, being away from their mate. They might even die without their other half."

That made me realize just how serious this whole mate thing is. It's almost unfair to have the fates choose who you get to spend the rest of your life with. But who was I to question things when this has been going on in their world for centuries.

"So a vampire can have a human mate?" I had to ask.

"Yes. It has only happened once in the history of Vampires. But that doesn't mean it can't happen again." Eric said.

His statement made me think about that locked room Emma and I once stumbled across. She had told me that room was the place where the past Vampire King and his human mate spent time in. It was their own little paradise, away from the cruel reality of their subjects, the people who didn't want them to be together. My fingers strangely itched with curiosity, something made me want to unlock that world and see what lies inside it. Their powerful love story made me want to unveil the dusty secrets of that room.

Was that the couple Eric was talking about?

"Yes. He was the only Vampire in history to have a human mate, but their love story only ended in destruction." Emma answered my thoughts.

"Stories end. Love stories don't." Eric stated surprisingly. He never seemed like the hopelessly romantic type.

Even Emma was surprised, "well aren't you incurably romantic."

"That's not the only thing I am," Eric's voice dropped, as he lightly touched her hand that was placed casually on her lap.

"Damien," I said as I turned my head to look towards the door.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Eric retrieve his hand quickly away from Emma, stood up from his sitting position on the bed. The movements were so fast that I barely saw them play out. It took less than a second for him to stand away from her, due to his Vampire speed.

He turned his head to the side, towards the door. His eyes turned confused when he found no one there.

Then, I couldn't hold in my laughter any longer as the sound came out nonstop. It didn't take long for them to realize the trick as Emma soon joined the laughter.

Eric's light brown eyes playfully glared at me, "you-"

"Hey! Leave my friend alone." Emma gave him a slight push to make him step away.

"I don't know about you guys but I'm starving, it's almost dinner time. How about you join us, Alexis?"

I hesitated because I wasn't sure if I could sit at a table and eat with a bunch of Vampires who drank my own kind's blood.

"Didn't you just eat before coming here?" Emma asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I shower with my clothes off."

A blank expression took place on Emma's and my face.

"What? I thought we were listing things that don't matter," turning towards me, he said, "Oh and don't worry. It'll just be a few people and they're not gonna try and drink your blood."

"You guys go ahead, I'll join you later. First I really want to shower."

"We'll meet you downstairs, Eric." Emma said.

I guessed she wanted to stay in the room while I showered in the attached bathroom. I was grateful for that since I didn't want to be all alone after what happened last night.

As Eric left, Emma told me she had my clothes transfered from Damien's room to this one. So I made my way to the closet, and picked out a pair of leggings with a maroon colored sweater. With clothes and a towel in my hand, I closed the bathroom door for a much needed relaxation that only a shower can provide.

As I stood under the shower head, letting the warm water wash the tears and the stress away, something clicked.

It felt like I had suddenly found the last puzzle piece of a big picture. What Eric and Emma told me about mates suddenly made perfect sense. I had been afraid to even think about it when they were near, but now it was as clear as the water falling from the shower head.

Damien might be my mate.

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As we made our way down the long sets of stairs, I wondered why they had the kitchen so far away from the rooms. If I was hungry, I would want to have the kitchen as close to me as possible so I didn't have to waste so much energy just to get some snacks.

"Well maybe you can readjust these things as you wish, one day." Emma winked at me.

As if I will ever get that chance.

As we entered the main dining hall, I suddenly stopped walking.

My mind turned into a cloud of emptiness when my eyes collided with his. But then all I could see was red as I noticed the hand that was placed on his shoulder.

The hand that belonged to none other than Katrina.

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