"You said you liked storms, so I let you in

Turns out you could only handle a little rain

And I'm a hurricane."

-Anonymous

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"Alexis,"

The voice woke me up from my slumber and my whole body became alarmed.

Was it Damien again? Didn't he tell me he would leave me alone from now on just last night?

"Alexis, wake up,"

Oh it was Emma.

When my tired eyes met hers, she sighed in relief, "I know you must be feeling down right now, but this is really important. Go shower, there's someone here to meet you."

She turned to the maids, ordering them to assist me and make sure my wound remains untouched.

Sitting up, I asked her," Who wants to see me?"

A small part of me was afraid that it might be Damien. I didn't want to go anywhere near him.

"Trust me, you'll know soon enough. Now come on."

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A Guest bedroom,

Crystalline Castle.

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I stared at the middle aged woman in front of me, wondering if I've seen her before. As she stood up from the love seat, I noticed her odd attire. She was wearing a peach colored gown with tiny beads decorating the borders. With her hair pinned back in a bun, she looked like a person who lived a simple and sober life. But there was just something about her that screamed power.

I noticed her two followers standing behind her as well.

"Hello, my dear. The name's Melinda."

I gasped. Melinda.

She's the person my life depended on. Damien was waiting for her arrival from the human world before he decided to kill me. I recalled him telling me she's one of the oldest witches alive, also like a mother to him. She's the one who saved him from Katrina and other vampires' torture.

She was finally here. But I was still debating if that's a good or bad thing.

"I- I'm -"

"Alexis Smith, reincarnation of Aaliyah Knight. I know, dear."

Rein- What? Wait... I've heard that name before, or read it. Then it clicked, the painting in the locked room. That was the name of the Queen who looked exactly like me.

Did she know the secrets behind that picture?

"I'm sorry for being late, Alexis. I just got caught up on some important issues in the human world. If I had known Damien has found his mate, I would have came back sooner. Now, I know you must have a lot of questions. We have a lot to discuss, why don't you have a seat first? I can see you're unwell."

Did she just say I'm... Damien's mate?

Feeling a little dizzy, I sat down on the chair the maid placed before me.

Melinda sat across from me, her eyes carefully studying me.

I was about to ask her about the mates thing but she spoke before me, "Did you notice the sudden change of Damien's attitude towards you yesterday?"

Of course I did. Ever since I've woken up after God knows how long, Damien has been awfully nice to me. It almost seemed like he wasn't the one who tried to kill me. Either that or he was a great actor.

Why was I even thinking about other possibilities? Of course he's the one who stabbed me. I saw him with my own eyes. It was him.

"Yes, he's been very kind towards me... Almost like he actually cares. But no matter what he does or says, I will never be able to look at him the same. I will never be comfortable in his presence again, not after his attempt to kill me," I explained to her, but it seemed like she already knew about the situation, "But what I don't get is... How did I survive? There is no way I could have survived that fall, unless someone..."

I drifted off in my thoughts again.

Melinda nodded like she knew what I meant, "unless someone caught you before you hit the ground. Yes, that's exactly what happened."

I gasped again," who was it?"

"You'll know soon enough, dear. For now, it's important for you to understand Damien's sudden change of behavior. The mysteries that you're about to solve, they have already been figured out by him. When he found out you're his mate, the guilt washed over him. He couldn't even face you, even though you were unconscious. So he came here, in this guest bedroom you used to occupy. He was searching for peace, and he found it here where your scent invaded the room. That was when he found the letter. The letter you took from the locked room, remember?"

Oh my God... He found out about me stealing that letter. I will surely be dead the next time he comes across me.

"That should be the least of your worries, Alexis. Why don't you open that drawer and find out for yourself why?"

I didn't waste a second more, almost knocking back the chair, I ran to the drawer. The wound in my stomach complained, but I ignore the pain. Opening the drawer, I took out the folded piece of paper and began reading from the top again.

Ezekiel,

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I know such a simple word would never be enough to erase this stain on my character. It will never be enough to make you forgive me.

I will always be the girl who made the first Vampire fall in love with her, just to rip apart his world. It was my fault your own people turned against you. They didn't want a human as their Queen, a race they thought wasn't capable of running a kingdom, a race which wasn't even considered a class.

But it never mattered to you, your strong love for me was reaching the sky that even these bat turning Vampires couldn't stop it from growing. You treated my like a princess when you first met me. You treated by like a queen when you fell in love with me.

You use to say "Queen, because Queens deserve only the best,". But this queen doesn't.

This queen doesn't deserve anything but death.

Some say that the life is a beautiful lie and death is a painful truth.

But now my life has become a painful lie and death... Death suddenly sounds like such a sweet truth.

But that is something I don't deserve either.

I wish... I wish I could experience the pain you went through.

Maybe that will take away some of this guilt.

I wish I could feel it all. The betrayal, the suffering you felt when you were killed by the love of your life, your soulmate, your other half.

I'm sorry for killing you.

You gave me all the happiness in the world, but I brought you death.

I swore to avenge my parents' death, but when the killer turned out to be my mate, you can't imagine how devastated I was.

This is hurting me as much as it hurt you, my love.

I can't go on with this pain.

Before I end my life, I only have one wish.

There's only one way to get rid of this guilt, for me to feel the pain you felt when I stabbed you in the heart.

I will pray till my last breath that may my wish come true.

Always yours,

Aaliyah.

My breath hitched as I read the last few words of the letter.

Who in their right mind would wish such things upon themselves?

Love is definitely a crazy thing.

I felt Melinda place a hand on my shoulder, "The saying be careful what you wish for has never made more sense."

I turned around to face her, " What does this mean?" I held up the letter.

Although, a small part of me knew exactly what this meant, but I still wanted to hear it from her. The woman who seemed to know everything. Fear overwhelmed me as I waited for her answer.

"You are a reincarnation of Queen Aaliyah while Damien is Ezekiel's. After Damien read this letter yesterday morning, the Ezekiel inside of him awoken and all your past memories together washed over him. He remembers everything now. But I'm having a hard time believing that's not the case for you. Do you feel any different after reading this letter?"

I thought about her question for a second. Did I feel any different?

No, I didn't. I felt like the same Alexis I was a couple minutes ago. If I was Queen Aaliyah in my past life, then why couldn't I remember? I didn't remember a thing, not even me writing this letter. I felt no different, maybe that's why I was thinking if this is even true or not.

"Don't stress yourself too much, maybe it's better this way. There are no limitations to what people would do to forget a haunting past, so consider yourself lucky because you don't have to live with the guilt anymore," she took the paper from my hands and grabbed a candle that was still burning from the night before. I watched as she put the edge of the paper on the flame. The flame expanded upwards, turning the paper into ash, burning away the past.

Was any of this even true?

It made so much sense though. Queen Aaliyah's wishes came true when Damien stabbed me.

Tossing the last remains of the paper on the floor, Melinda looked at me again, "Now comes the most important part. Close your eyes, dear, I want to show you something."

"What?"

"Trust me, you need to see this. Hush and close your eyes now."

Hesitantly, I did as asked, only to be met by the biggest surprise of my life.

As the scene disappeared, I opened my eyes again. I stared at her in shock.

"It wasn't Damien, it was Valentino who tried to kill me?! Oh my God..." I clenched my forehead and took a seat, barely being able to stand up after watching what happened that night play out before my eyes.

It wasn't him. It wasn't him. Damien didn't try to kill me, why was I foolish enough to believe otherwise?! And that jerk didn't even try explaining all this to me last night!

Okay... Maybe he did, but I was being way too stubborn to even listen to him. But can you blame me? The moment I opened my eyes, him stabbing me was fresh on my mind. It made me want to get as far away from him as possible.

I should have given him a chance to explain, God dammit!

Melinda placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, "It's okay, we all make mistakes and yours was justifiable."

"You don't know how bad I feel. I treating him like... Wait, why would Valentino want to kill me? What does he want from me?"

She sat by me and answered all my questions. I found out Valentino only wanted to kill me because I'm Damien's mate. If I die, then his vampire side won't be able to survive without his mate. Valentino wasn't alone in this wicked plan, he had a witch helping him, it was either Katrina or Destiny. She told me about Valentino and Damien being brothers, both hungry for the throne. That's the reason a duel was taking place between the two tonight. Sword fight until the other surrenders.

The image made me want to vomit.

I don't know what made me want to stop him. Maybe the fact that he might get seriously injured?

Another thought hit me," I'm Damien's mate?"

She nodded, "Yes, I have a feeling you already know what that means, right?"

Shock consumed me, while I was still afraid to even think about us being mates and what new problems that might cause.

"What about the prophecy that brought me here..?"

I watched her smile for the first time, "aha I've read the prophecy and yes, it is, in fact, true. The prophecy about you being the cause of destruction will be turning into reality sooner than you think, dear."

"What do you mean? What am I going to destroy?" I asked her, even more confused.

"I'm afraid only time will give you that answer. My job here is done, but I will be residing here for a week more until all these issues between the brothers are solved. You mind helping me with that?"

The prophecy still invaded my mind but I smiled and said, "of course. Just tell me what you need me to do, I owe you."

And I really did. Who knew a conversation with this woman would make me look at my life from a completely different angle? Although there were many other unanswered questions that I didn't know myself at the moment, It still felt like a breath of fresh air entered my lungs.

All those sparks I felt whenever my skin made contact with his, that bond I've always felt between us... It was a sign. A sign that it was meant to be.

I knew I sounded like a love sick puppy but-

Love?

Was I in love with Damien Knight?

No, of course not. This was just the mate bond making me feel and think such things, I didn't even know what love is.

"Actually I need you to do something for me," my attention drifted to Melinda again as she said, "go talk to him. When I met him yesterday, after he walked out on you, he was very angry, blaming himself for all the unfortunate events in your life. Knowing Damien, he's probably somewhere in the training room, letting out all that anger built inside him. You're the only person who can put him out of his misery, Alexis. What more can a mother want than her son to be happy?"

Smiling sadly, I placed my hand on hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

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The training room,

Crystalline Castle.

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The training room was pitch black when the guard closed the door behind me. Moonlight was the only source of light that peeked in through the window, and under that ray of brightness, stood none other than his majesty himself.

He didn't notice or acknowledge me yet, since he was too busy doing tricks with a long, wooden stick in his hands. My gaze fell upon his chest which was covered by a layer of sweat, glimmering under the moonlight. His body moved naturally, handling the stick as if it was a part of him. No doubt he was practicing for the sword fight tonight.

Just thinking about what might happen tonight made my stomach turn. I had a bad feeling about this, the same feeling I experienced the night of his birthday.

I had to somehow stop him from fighting with his brother, who knew what tricks Valentino had up his sleeve this time.

As I walked further into the room, I noticed it wasn't as cold in here.

I didn't realize I was just standing there admiring his beauty until Damien fell on one of his knees, ending the practice. The sound of the stick making contact with the floor brought me out of my stance, while Damien lifted up his gaze ever so slowly. His eyes looked at me so intensely that I forgot how to breathe and my mind went blank.

All of a sudden, he stood up and walked closer to me, looking rather concerned now.

"Alexis, what are you doing here? You should be resting in bed instead to touring the place," he frowned.

"He remembers everything now,"

Melinda's words repeated themselves in my mind but I was having a hard time believing them.

There was nothing different about him, except for the concern directed towards me.

Maybe he's just a good actor. But was he ever planning on telling me about it?

Knowing he can read my mind, I quickly pushed the thoughts away.

"So you want me to stay in bed, bored out of my mind all day?" I asked him.

"Aali-" his hand reached out to touch my cheek but he closed his mouth, realizing what he was about to call me. I let out a small gasp as his hand made contact with my skin.

Why was his touch ten times more electrifying?

I closed my eyes tightly for a second, trying to ignore the sparks that spread throughout my body.

"Alexis, how are you feeling?" His voice was just above a whisper.

"I'm feeling better," my voice came out a little squeaky so I cleared my thought and said, "yeah, I'm fine now."

"Are you sure? I'm a little confused, see. Why aren't you trying to get away from me like you were last night?"

The whole time he was talking, my eyes were glued to his lips, those soft kissable lips of his.

Jeez, what was wrong with me?

Quickly averting my eyes from them, I noticed the fact I've been ignoring since yesterday.

The always sharply dressed, fresh and clean vampire looked like he just woke up from the dead. His eyes were a little red and tired, while it seemed like he hasn't shaved for a couple days.

Could it really be because he was worried about me, like Melinda said?

I snapped out of my thoughts, realizing he asked me a question.

Why am I not trying to get away from him?

"You know how to read minds, so why are you asking me this when you probably already know the answer?"

He looked at the floor, dropping his hand from my face and running it through his hair, "I've... I've decided that I won't be trying to read your mind without your permission again. I want to fix the mess I've created and I think respecting your privacy is the first step I should take."

How can he change this much in such a short amount of time? Was this Damien or Ezekiel talking? Did it matter?

Maybe he really was guilty...

"I just talked to Melinda," I announced.

His eyes widened, "You did? What did she tell you?"

"Everything. She told me you didn't stab me, in fact, you're the one who saved me," I paused as he let out a sigh of relief, "I don't know what to say but I think I should apologize for jumping to conclusions so fast."

"Hey," he took my face in his hands again, "it's not your fault. We haven't really been buddies ever since you came here so it's pretty obvious that you would believe what you saw."

How can he be so calm after knowing our past? How can he even look at me after knowing I killed him in our past life?

"She told me about King Ezekiel and queen Aaliyah, too. All about this reincarnation thing."

He was shocked to here this, and that's when he didn't even meet my eyes anymore.

"She did? So you remember everything now?"

"Not really. I read the letter... But I don't remember anything about our past life. Melinda told me you do?"

"Yeah," was all he said.

The air suddenly became tense. As the time passed, I could feel the awkwardness getting thicker.

"So I'm guessing you hate me now? I mean I did ki-"

"I don't hate you, Alexis. I know that must be the hardest thing to believe but trust me, I just can't. I don't even know what to feel anymore. I feel like there's two different beings in me, and I'm conflicted between who is right. I'm divided in half, one side of me wants to cause you pain for betraying me like that, while the other side understands why you did it. I- Ezekiel killed your parents, even though it was on accident in the dark night. Maybe he should have been more careful, maybe he deserved what he got. Aaliyah wanted to revenge her parents' death, so she killed her own mate. I just know it must have caused her an equal amount of pain as Ezekiel, if not more. I just hate her last wishes, they made you suffer her consequences. That's what prevents me from hating you, because you've already suffered enough. Ezekiel got what he deserved, the Aaliyah within you got what she deserved, end of the story. I think it's best if we just forget about the past and move on. Start a new life without any thoughts of revenge or hatred towards each other."