"The best person in your life is the one who comes to your mind when you read this."

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I followed the guard closely as he led me up the stairs and down various hallways, with each step becoming harder to take. The guilt of two brothers fighting over me tonight slowly started to eat my insides. No matter who wins, either way it's bound to be a loss. If Damien wins, he'll lose his brother he grew up with forever, and if Valentino wins, the kingdom will lose one of the greatest Kings who had run it. Why should all those people suffer because of something happened to me?

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice when a fist collided with the guards jaw and he was knocked out on the floor in seconds. I looked up to see who had punched him, it was none other than Valentino, Damien's brother himself.

The man who tried to kill me.

The man who probably won't hesitate to do it again.

My eyes widened as I realized the danger I was suddenly in. There were no emotions on his face though, he just gave me a blank stare. Finally coming to my senses, I tried to make a run for it. Key word, tried.

I wasn't even five feet away from him before he had me trapped against the wall, with his body covering mine. I pushed myself further into the wall, only to feel the photo frame digging into the top part of my back.

"Let me go, please," I whispered, but my begging seemed to have no effect on him as he just continued to look at me, his eyes now filled with determination.

"Help! Someo-" I was cut off when he placed a hand over my mouth, making my heartbeat increase drastically in fear.

"I mean no harm, I just came here to talk,"

To talk? How did he expect me to believe a word he said when he stabbed me merciless not so long ago?

I silently prayed someone would come save me from this monster, I closed my eyes and tried to reach Damien, if he was really my mate, shouldn't he be able to sense that I'm in danger?

Damien, please save me.

Suddenly, Valentino grabbed my arm and pushed me inside a room next to us, closing the door when he was inside as well.

"I won't fight and kill Damien tonight if you just hear me out!"

That seemed to get my attention and I wasn't trying to get past him to open the door anymore.

"What?" I asked him, confused as hell.

"I'm here to tell you exactly why I tried to kill you-"

"I know that already, because I'm Damien's mate. You wanted to finish me off so that without me, Damien would be an easy target for you."

He simply shook his head, "No. The prophecy Destiny told Damien years ago, it's real. But you see, there's a slight twist to it. You're not just bound to be Damien's destruction, you have the power to destroy the whole damn Vampire realm."

I laughed at how pathetic he sounded, here we go again with the whole prophecy thing, they just never seem to leave me alone, do they?

Valentino continued, "I'm serious, there's something dark within you that I wanted to finish off by killing you, before you kill off each and every one of us! Realizing Damien wasn't gonna be much help because he decided to spare your life, Destiny and I came together to get the situation under our control. You don't know shit, Alexis. You have no idea how much stronger you're getting the longer you stay in our world. There's people out there who are willing to sacrifice their everything just to get you under their control. They want to use you as a weapon to their own means. But I won't let that happen, so I'm giving you two options. One, you leave this place and Damien alone, go back to wherever the hell you came from. I'll spare Damien's life and go run another kingdom with my mate. Or two, stay here and witness Damien getting killed by my hands tonight. Belive me, I've figured out the way to kill off his vampire side without using you as a weapon this time. That way, when I do kill Damien, you'll be as good as dead too without your mate. If you don't die completely, which is a possibility because you're not a vampire yet, you'll definitely become weak, you won't be a harm to us anymore. So whatever you choose, I'll win either way. Option one will secure the Vampire world and option two will grant me the throne of this kingdom. It's up to you how you want to make me win."

What the...? I decided to sit down because I was afraid my feet would soon give up because my head was spinning too fast. Nothing made sense. There's something dark within me that can destroy the vampire world...? How can I be the destruction when I don't even know how to fight?

"It's in your blood. We don't know exactly what you are yet, but you're not a mere human, Alexis. We've been trying to figure you out day and night, but everytime we come up with nothing because you seem so normal, but there's just something that separates you from other human beings. Tell me this, were your parents really your parents?"

How dare he ask me that?

"Of course they were! I may not remember much about them, but they were the best memory of my childhood, they loved me and cared deeply about me!" I said.

He held up his hands, "okay, okay. Just asking because you're different. We-"

I cut him off, "how do I know you're not lying? You tricked me once into believing it was Damien who tried to kill me, just so I wouldn't continue to fight for my life. You're just trying to manipulate me again so that when I do leave Damien, it'll be easier for you to kill him without his mate, isn't that it?!"

I think I had his game figured out.

"What?! Okay, I get that it must be hard for you to believe me, so what do you want me to do to prove myself to you?" Valentino sat on the sofa across from me, waiting for my response.

That gave me time to think this through. If I leave Damien and go back to the human world, isn't that what I wanted? But am I really ready to leave Damien yet? As crazy as it sounded, I've gotten used to his presence. It'll definitely be hard to live without him for a while, but I had to do this to keep him and his kingdom safe. They would only be safe if I was away from them.

"Call off the fight right now. If you really want me to leave this place alone, call off the fight before I leave, so that I know you're not going to betray me and still fight Damien tonight." I would be more than glad to leave, knowing Damien will be okay here, and no danger will come knocking on his door again, even if that danger was me. I couldn't be selfish enough to stay with him, he'll be safe without me.

Valentino was deep in thoughts for a while, looking down at his shoe. But when he looked up, he gave me a clear answer, "I promise to call off the fight right now if you promise to leave him tonight."

"I will."

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"Are you sure about this?" Emma seemed like she was on the verge of crying as she asked me the same question for the tenth time. I put the shirt I was folding down in the suitcase and sat on the bed, next to her.

"Yes, Emma. There's no point of me staying here any longer. Damien was going to let me go the day I was... stabbed. So it shouldn't matter if I leave now when I was gonna leave then anyways..."

I just told her that I was leaving because I wanted to, I didn't tell her anything about what Valentino said, as it was a part of the deal we made. She didn't know about Damien and I being mates either. It hurt to leave my only best friend behind but this had to be done, for her own protection. Knowing I can cause her pain in the future, was enough to make me back away.

"I know, but-"

"Did you find a place for me to stay at yet?"

"No. Because you're not going anywhere." she frowned.

"Don't be stubborn, Emma, if this is what she wants, let her leave."

My heart skipped a beat when I heard his voice, my back was facing him so I couldn't see his expression, but I didn't want to. I was afraid if I get a good look of him, I'll never want to leave him.

What was wrong with me?

Get it together, Alexis. This is the man who was behind those years worth of suffering. You should be happy you'll finally be free from him.

So what if we are mates? This had to be some sort of mistake, it won't be long before he'll forget about me.

I stood up and continued to pack my clothes.

"But Damien, she can't leave just like that! How is she gonna be able to survive in a world so unknown to her? She wouldn't have anyone to take care of her there, where is she gonna stay?" Emma continued to shoot a bunch of questions towards Damien but he didn't respond, I wonder why he was so quiet? What was he even doing here? I knew Valentino had called off the fight and decided to leave for good, I overheard the guards talking about it outside my room and Emma told me too.

"I'll be fine. I'll sleep on the streets if I have to, but I just want to get as far away from this place as possible."

Maybe if I act cold towards them, it'll be easier for them to let me go? I laughed internally, it'll be easy for Damien to let me go either way, he's probably happy that he wouldn't have to put up with me any more.

"Emma, I want to talk to her alone" I heard him finally say something.

"Okay, but you better convince her to stay or I'm leaving with her!" I heard her close the door behind her as she walked out.

"So, this is it then? Is this your final decision?"

With every word he spoke, he walked closer to me. Now that it was just the two of us in the room, I felt much weaker. I wanted nothing more than to tell him that no, I wasn't so sure, I wasn't sure if I'll be able to survive without hearing his voice or go to sleep without feeling his presence nearby. I didn't have the guts to tell him that I'll miss those tingles I get everytime we touch or the way my stomach turns just by the way he looks at me sometimes, as if those golden orbs can see right through me, into my soul. That's why I was afraid to even turn around and face him, I was afraid of the emotions I'll feel when he looks at me that way again.

I didn't want to feel anything towards him.

"Yes. I just want to get out of here" I said instead.

"If that's what you want, I won't stop you. But just say you want to leave me by looking straight at me. Why aren't you turning around, what are you trying so hard to hide?"

I simply closed my eyes but when I didn't respond, he turned me around himself by grabbing onto my shoulders. The moment I opened my eyes to meet his, the tears that I was trying so hard to hold back, escaped my eye. His thumb wiped it away the moment it fell onto my cheek, his eyes looking at me confused.

Even I didn't know why I was crying just thinking about being away from him.

I can't. I can't leave him.

But then I remembered Valentino's words, you have the power to destroy him and the whole damn vampire realm.

I had to be strong.

"Why are you crying, are you okay? Does the wound hurt? Let me see it-"

"I'm fine. Just let me go, and I'll be more than fine once I'm away from this place, away from you."

I could make out the hurtful expression he was trying so hard to cover, I wish I could take it back but this had to be done. I had to remember I was doing this for him as well.

"Alexis... If you really want to leave I won't stop you, but just hear me out one last time... I know the damage that I've done is beyond repair, nothing I ever say will bring back your parents, or make up for the years you spent locked up because of my insecurities, but I just want to tell you how much I regret putting you through all that. I wish I could take it all back, all the times I've hurt you, all the sleepless nights you had because of me, all the tears you've shed, the questions you had going through your head, I WISH I COULD TAKE IT ALL BACK. But I can't, and I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for it so I won't ask for your forgiveness either, because my sorrys won't fix anything. I just don't want to be a monster to you, yes I actually care about what you think of me which is weird because I've never cared about what anyone thought about me. I had always been happy to know people were frightened, I don't want you to fear me."

Why was he telling me all this now? This is just gonna make it harder for me to leave so I tried to not think of what he said, even though it touched my heart to know he really did feel guilty for putting me through so much. I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive him but knowing that he regrets it all, takes some of the hatred I felt towards him away.

"You're right, there's nothing you can ever say that'll take away some of my pain, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive you. So it's better if I just leave all of this behind, leave you behind and try to move on. I'll just pretend this was all a nightmare and start a new life, a life where you won't exist, Damien."

Why did I love the way his name rolled off my tongue?

Damien, Damien, Damien. It was as if I could feel his name running through my veins, evading my heart, taking over my brain. How am I ever going to be able to get him out of it, out of my thoughts?

He averted his eyes away from me, as if he didn't even want to look at me. He moved past me and zipped the suitcase, "I'll have my guards assist you to the portal that leads to the human world."

"You're not coming with me?"

I realized how stupid I sounded, so I added, "I mean, aren't you gonna at least come with me to the portal, just to make sure I-"

"You'll be fine," he simply said, still turned away from me.

Then he walked towards the nightstand and grabbed the medications I took this morning, "I should probably explain to you when to take these,"

I watched as his hand shook a little, and the bottle ended up on the floor, thankfully no contents fell out of it. The way his voice cracked didn't go unnoticed by me either.

"I got it," he said as he bent down to pick it up,"you need to take extra care of yourself 'cause I won't be there with you to remind you to take these pills. When you get there, take this one as soon as possible, and this- these blue pills are to be taken once in every 20-- no 12 hours, and these long ones right after you eat something, and this-- wait, you're not gonna remember all that, let me write it down for you..."

He started to search the drawer for a notepad and pen but snapped it shut when he didn't find any, walking towards the study table, he started looking for it again in a hurry.

"Damien, wait."

He ignored me, "Dammit, where's a damn paper when you need it!"

At this point, he started to move things around, making a coffee mug hit the floor and shatter. Making sure not to step where the cup pieces landed, I walked closer to him.

"Damien," without thinking what I was doing, I grabbed onto his arm to make him face me, but the scene infront of me left me speechless.

There were... There were tears in his eyes.

My eyes widened as realization hit me, Damien Knight was crying.

But why?

The exact moment he faced me, the tears started falling freely from his golden eyes, all I could do was stand there in shock as he literally fell onto his knees and held my hand, almost in desperation.

"P-please, don't leave me," he whispered, his voice cracked with emotions I've never heard form him before. His eyes found mine and there was something I've never seen there before, hope.

Seeing him like this, almost begging me to stay, made my heart drop to my stomach. That's when I knew this was a scene I never wanted to see again. I would rather see the Damien who never bows before anyone and carries himself with pride and dignity. I hated seeing him in pain.

"I can't live without you," that sentence alone knocked the breath out of me.

I wanted to tell him that I can't live without him either, every day would be like torture, worse than the last one I went through. But could I really put him in the danger my existence will bring him?

I reached down and took him into my arms, hugging him tightly, memorizing every muscle in his body because who knows if I'll ever get to see him again?

He hugged me back just as tightly, as if I'll slip away if he lets me go. With my arms around his neck, I felt the softness of his hair one last time. I felt the wetness of his tears on the side of my neck as his hand fisted my hair as well.

I didn't realize I was crying too until a sob broke through my mouth, I tried to stop crying, to not come off as weak, but it just got worse as I started sobbing more and more.

I didn't want to leave him.

But I had to.

When I opened my eyes again, they stared emotionlessly at the plain wall ahead of me. I slowly pried myself away from Damien and stood up, "I have to go now."

I felt more like a bitch, just ignoring his protests as I grabbed my suitcase which was waiting for me by the bed, and walked towards the door.

"Alexis," I heard him call out once more before I crossed the threshold, ready to start a new life.

Without him,

The Vampire King, who I had fallen deeply and utterly in love with.

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