"If I began to draw myself away from you, we'd still be like two mixed colors of paint. Impossible to separate."

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The King's hallways,

Crystalline Castle.

**

"Is Damien back yet?" I asked the same maid who woke me up yesterday as I was passing by her.

She nodded, "Yes, I was just going to his room to drop off his suit for tonight."

In her hand, she held a hanger that was sticking out of the plastic bag the suit was wrapped in.

"Here, I can give it to him," I held out my hand.

She sighed, relieved, "thank you. I really wasn't ready to face the King's morning rudeness. He's not much of a morning person."

I took the suit from her, saying it was no problem. In fact, it gave me a reason to show up in his room this early in the morning.

As I stood right outside the King's bedroom, in a casual white buttoned shirt and jeans shorts, my mind started to debate if I should even go in or not.

It was around seven thirty in the morning, and it was his birthday. That is the only reason I'm here, to wish him. It's not like I was dying to see him after a long day of being away from him yesterday.

Who am I kidding?

Today was my last day here, and something made me want to spend as much time with him as possible. Just for today, I wanted to forget about what he did. I knew I could never forgive him for making me suffer for years, but I just wanted to make the best of today.

I wanted to start my life again tomorrow on a positive note, because a hateful beginning only ends in destruction.

Before I could chicken out, my hand reached out and knocked twice on his door. As I waited patiently for him to open the door, I ran a hand through my damp hair. I knew I should have dried them, I should have combed them.

I stopped, realizing what was going on.

Since when did I start stressing about how I looked? It's not like I wanted to impress anybody, especially not him. So it shouldn't matter if my hair was messy or if my clothes were alright.

I knocked again because he clearly didn't hear the first time, even though he has super good hearing abilities. Maybe he knows it's me.

Conciously, I pushed the right handle down, and the door opened quietly.

Damien was sleeping peacefully on his stomach, his arms and legs sprawled on the bed. The sheets were tangled around his body. The fact that he was shirtless didn't go unnoticed by me. Or maybe it was one of the first things that stole my attention.

I mentally shook my head, internaly telling myself to stop being a creep. For a second, I thought I should let the guy get some rest and I'll just come back later, but my feet made no attempt to go out of this room.

Placing the suit carefully on the sofa next to me, I walked towards the dark drapes hanging off of the huge windows. I pushed them apart, inviting the sunshine in, while saying rather loudly, "rise and shine, your Majesty. It's a beautiful day."

I heard movement behind me, I turned around to find out that he had pushed his head under the covers to block out the light. He acts like such a baby sometimes.

"And what makes it even more beautiful is that it's your birthday!" I said, in an overly exaggerated tone.

"And you know what else will make it even more beautiful? If you shut the hell up and get your super cheerful ass out of my room." he replied, grumpily.

I took some deep breaths. I will not let him ruin my last day here.

"By the way, how old are you now? A hundred and what...?"

I didn't even notice that I had been walking closer to his bed, until I was standing right by it. So it wasn't hard for him to just remove the sheet off him, and pull me completely onto the bed. He took a hold of my arm pulling me forward, which made me lose my balance and stumble onto him. His arm reached around my waist to flip me over while he caged me with his body. He wasn't putting all of his weight on me, but half of his frame was covering mine.

My breath got stuck in my throat at our closeness.

"D-Damien," I started but he shushed me.

I tried so hard to think about anything else but the present. I tried to avert my attention from his carved to perfection facial features. My eyes locked onto his dark ones, trying to find the reason as to why they were looking at me with such... Intensity.

"Why didn't you open the door when I knocked?"

At the moment, I could desperately do anything in my power to keep my mind from thinking about the way my body was feeling. If asking numerous questions made me forget about the need to be close to him, then so be it.

"I'm just tired," he sighed as he lowered his head to rest it against my neck, making my eyes automatically close. Did he have any idea what he was doing to me? I was trying so hard to ignore the tingles, the shiver his touch sent through me. I didn't know what I was feeling, but I just knew it was wrong to feel this sort of emotions towards him.

"I couldn't get any sleep the day before yesterday, locked up in that room, or last night."

"What time did you get back?" I asked him.

"Around five."

I could hear the tiredness in his voice which made me a little upset. I never expected his kingly duties to be a piece of cake but I just thought being a royal came with more luxuries than struggles. But I had been proven wrong over and over again.

My hand, having a mind of its own, reached up and my fingers got lost in his silky hair. He ran his nose up and down my neck, as if he could smell the blood running through my veins.

"I- I should get going then. You need to sleep."

As I made an attempt to get up, one of Damien's legs fell upon mine, pinning me down.

"You're forgetting something," he lifted his head so his eyes could meet mine again.

"What..." I said, "Oh. Happy birthday, Damien."

He frowned,"that was lame."

I raised my eyebrows. I didn't know wishing someone a happy birthday was lame nowadays. Guess a lot can change in ten years.

"Where's my birthday present, though?" he smirked.

Well, shoot. How can I forget about that?

"You'll get it tonight before I leave."

He suddenly fake gasped while I stared at him in confusion, "I didn't know you liked to play dirty, Lex."

As I realized what he thought I meant, I hit his shoulder. Were all men this dirty minded or did I happen to be the lucky one to be stuck with a pervert?

"Okay, but seriously though, what if I say you can give me my present right now?"

Right now? I didn't have anything to give him.

"Believe me, there's a lot of things you can give me," he let out a chuckle, "but for now, a kiss will do."

I gasped, trying to push him away from me, but failed. The memories of our last kiss at the royal Ball rushed through my mind, making my cheeks feel hot.

Suddenly, he reversed our position, so that I ended up being on top of him. But even then I was caged due to his arms gluing me to him. He lifted up a hand to run his fingers through my hair, "I don't know about you humans, but in our world, nobody ever denies the birthday boy or girl."

Had he suddenly gone crazy? I couldn't kiss him, for God's sake!

"Yes you can. You want me to teach you how? You bring your face close to mine, tilt it a little to the side. Then you just place your soft lips against mine, then part them a little so that I can--"

"I get it!" I was sure my face was turning redder than his wall paint. It didn't take me long to realize there wasn't an escape, I had to do this or else he would never stop convincing me. Convincing me? He won't stop forcing me to.

I placed my hand on the

pillow by his head, while his eyes watched me carefully.

"What are you looking at? Close your eyes!"

His eyes instantly fluttered closed. I made sure he wasn't peaking before closing the distance between us as slowly as possible. I found his patience surprising.

I was overcome with a sudden need to close the distance between us as soon as possible. The thought of me leaving tonight just increased that need to the point where I wanted to kiss him. Everything inside me was begging for just one last touch, for just one last kiss.

I did what he told me to not too long ago, but when our lips met, there wasn't much I could think about. He immediately responded, pulling me closer as if he was a dying person and I was the last bit of oxygen left.

This kiss was different than the last one we shared. That kiss was filled with rage, our anger towards each other. This one was filled with a strange longing. It was like he wanted to memorize this small moment just like I wanted to paste it in my mind.

This kiss was more careful, he was treating me like I was fragile enough to break. But his hold was still firm, like I would disappear if he let loose.

Our last kiss was his way of proving he could control me. While this kiss... This time he was teaching me how to fly.

And I let him. I let him take me higher and higher, without fearing the consequences of crashing down. Without fearing the heartbreak I'll experience when I leave.

The most strange part about this kiss was that it felt like I had done this a million times before. This was barely our second kiss, but I felt so used to it. I felt so used to the way his lips molded perfectly against mine. The moment our lips had touched, a bell was ringing at the back of my mind. As if a memory was slowly unfold, I had known exactly what to expect. His movements, the way he caressed my jaw before gripping the back of my head to pull me closer, seemed oh so familiar.

I missed this.

I don't know how I could miss something I've never had, but I just missed this.

For once, there wasn't fear in my heart or guilt in my mind. I let myself get completely lost in his kiss. His lips pulled on my bottom lip gently. I gasped as I felt him swipe his tongue on it. That's when it became too much for me to handle so I pulled away, taking as much oxygen in as possible.

I couldn't help but rest my cheek on his chest, to hide my blushing face from him.

"Now that's a nice way of wishing happy birthday."

"Shut up and sleep," I replied, closing my eyes as well. His birthday party was at 6 o' clock, so it wouldn't hurt to take a nap. With that being the last thought on my mind, I fell asleep in his arms.

That's only two times in a row, I'm sure I wouldn't get used to it.

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The ball room,

Crystalline Castle.

**

"Ladies and gentlemen, the moment we all have been waiting for has now arrived," the announcer said as Damien and I stood on top of the staircase.

I looked down at my dress to make sure everything was in place. The red ball gown that Emma had picked for me made me feel like a princess. The top part of my dress was covered with lace that embraced my body elegantly. The tightness of the dress broke apart at my waist, as the silky material went down to the floor, hiding my heels completely. The dress was so long that it was sweeping the floor behind me, if someone stepped on it, I'll be a goner.

I shook my head to get rid of the negative thoughts.

The party theme was the seven deadly sins, which were pride, wrath, lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, and envy. Yesterday, the witch had told everyone their most powerful sin, and mine turned out to be wrath. Everybody was required to wear something that represented their sin.

Mine was wrath, so I had to wear red to represent anger. My hair stylist had dyed the bottom part of my hair a reddish orange color that glowed in the dark, which made my curls look like flames.

I noticed Damien glancing at my hair every so often, probably amazed by it just like I was. I took this time to take him in. He was professionally dressed in his signature black suit. Underneath it, he wore a red vest with black designs on it. A black colored shirt was glued to his body while a red bow tie was placed around his neck to complete the look.

He looked like the definition of perfection today. I mean he looked good everyday, but today his body was just screaming for attention. His freshly shaved jaw looked like it could cut a finger. His hair stylist made sure that my fingers itch to comb through his soft looking hair.

He looked like a present ready to be--

I stopped myself right there. His smirk reminded me he could read my thoughts. My eyes quickly averted from his, focusing on getting down the stairs in one piece.

"Now presenting King Damien of the Vampire World, and lady Alexis Smith." The guard next to us announced while Damien held out his arm so I could place my hands on his elbow.

The moment my eyes fell upon the ballroom, my mind was overwhelmed with amazement. It looked nothing like yesterday, it was transformed into a perfect place for Damien's birthday celebration.

The center of the room was packed with people, while all around them, the ballroom was divided into parts by small wooden fences. I quickly scanned to count about seven different stations inside the ballroom, probably one for each sin. Different colors were radiating off the different sections of the room. The first one to steal my attention was the station to my left.

With the dance floor occupying most of its space, that was the biggest station of all. Everything there was dark and red, even the disco lights, giving it the lustful atmosphere. But that wasn't what stole my attention, it were the four poles set up around the dance floor.

Each pole was accompanied by a stripper wearing the least amount of clothing possible to hide the body parts which needed to be hidden. They were dancing and doing tricks that made my eyes widen and my face cringe.

I was so glad that Emma and her friends had explained all this to me before getting dressed, or else I would have been so confused.

The nervousness hit me again as I realized we had made it to the bottom of the stairs. I was glad that I didn't fall on my face or something. People didn't waste a second to surround us, well surround Damien to wish him a happy birthday. He shook everyone's hands and accepted hugs from all the girls.

I saw Emma standing a couple feet away from me with a group of people, gesturing for me to come over. Her sin was sloth, laziness. So she had her designer make a pink Sleeping Beauty gown for her. The diamond tiara made her look truly like a princess, which she was.

I was about to walk towards them but then I felt Damien take a hold of my hand as he turned towards me, "just gonna abandon me?"

"I'm not like you," I referred back to the royal Ball where he abandoned me when I didn't even know anyone, "I'm just going to Emma. Besides, you have plenty of company."

It was true, the girls in front of us were giving me impatient looks, I knew when I wasn't wanted somewhere. Damien gave me a smug look, why did I have a feeling he was planning something?

I took my hand out of his, uniting with Emma and Eric. She introduced me to some new people who were very inviting. We talked for a few minutes before someone mentioned they were hungry.

We decided to eat at the "gluttony" section, which was right by the kitchen. Gluttony was consumption of food or drink more than one needs, to the point of waste. But for today, everybody could eat as much as they wanted to because of a special ingredient that took out the fat from the food. From the labels on the counters, I could tell there was food from different parts of the human world, Indian, Italian, Chinese, and much more. A liquid was being passed around that made it impossible for ones hunger to die down for tonight, so they could try all sorts of different food at the party.

I wonder how sick that would make them in the morning...

I saw a sign that said, chocolate comes from cocoa, which is a tree. That makes it a plant. Therefore chocolate is salad.

We sat at one of the round tables, while Tanya challenged us for a pani puri competition.

A girl named Mahi explained Pani puri was an Indian snack, thin and crispy round balls filled with mashed potatoes, chopped onions, super spicy water and sweet sauce.

And that is how we ended up stuffing our mouth with as much as we could eat, the person who ate the most pani puris without giving up would be the winner.

I came second, giving up right before Eric and I heard Emma say something about me having an advantage because it was human food, made for humans.

"People tend to make up excuses to cover up their defeat," I winked at her.

She stick her tongue out, before Eileen said we should explore other stations.

We walked into the sloth station where the lazy bums were receiving a massage while a movie was playing on the big screen. The floor was no where insight because blankets and pillows were covering the entire area.

A slow relaxing music was also playing.

I quickly walked out, leaving Emma there, because the sight itself made me yawn. Tanya came with me to the next station which I belonged in, wrath.

I never understood how could that be my most strongest sin. Maybe because I had been angry at Damien for locking me up my entire life?

There were mini boxing rings set up, while people were fighting with each other. But what made me confused was that in every ring, there was one person who wasn't fighting back at all.

"This is where people can take out their anger," Tanya explained," when you step in, all you have to say is the name of the person you hate, and their illusion will appear in front of you. Just their simulation, not the actual person."

I laughed, "I would rather hit him than his fake image."

"Who?"

I shook my head, "Noone. By the way what's your sin?"

She was wearing a forest green dress that sparkled against her pale skin while her hair was up in a high messy bun.

"Envy,"she sighed but I barely caught the word because I was too busy looking at the scene behind her.

Damien was sitting on the throne like chair meant just for him, while a girl was sitting on his lap. She had super short white shorts on with nothing but a red bra. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets as I thought that maybe her sin was lust. I saw Damien's hand was casually placed on her waist while he talked to people sitting in front of him.

Suddenly, all I saw was red. A fire sparked inside me, which made it impossible for me to hear what Tanya was saying.

I told her I'll be right back as I didn't waste a second more to make my way over to where his majesty was sitting.

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