“Violet, this isn’t about you,” Hunter said.

“I don’t think our love was ever that strong,” she said. “You never loved me like you did Penelope.”

“Violet, set her free, you promised,” he said again.

Then all of a sudden, the guards came up behind him and put his blindfold back over his eyes and started dragging him out of the room. Then, he heard her speak again.

“I LIED!” Violet said, followed by a loud cackle laugh.

Chapter Seven

Inside the large gymnasium of the castle, Rachel stood there with the group of young vampires learning how to fly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t coming as natural to her as some of the others and she was feeling a bit depressed about it. But not as depressed as she felt about the idea of learning how to fly in the first place. She knew it was necessary to survive as a vampire, but she still wished this had never happened to her. She wanted so badly to escape all of this and return back to her former life.

“Let your wings protract naturally,” the coach said in a calming voice. “You are one with your wings.”

Rachel tried again to let them protract, but they wouldn’t come out far enough to gain momentum to lift off.

“I’m trying, I can’t do it. I think they’re stuck.”

“You’re thinking too hard, Rachel. This seems to be a common theme with you,” the coach answered.

Rachel looked around to see all her fellow young vampires each achieving a lift off and soaring high into the quadruple story gymnasium, their wings glistening as the light hit them. Even her new friend Georgia was flying.

“Rachel, up here!” Georgia said, showing off her shiny wings. “This is fun, come on up, what are you waiting for?”

The coach took hold of Rachel’s wings and helped her spread them out for her to see. She peeked over her shoulders to see large, bird-like wings. They too glistened in the fluorescent light from the gymnasium.

“On the count of three, we will lift off together, ready?” the coach asked.

Taking a deep breath in, she steadied her mind and body, preparing for her first flight.

“Ready!” she replied, suddenly feeling a surge of excitement.

“One, Two…Three!” the coach said, and waited as she tried to release her wings and lift off for the first time.

Feeling her wings opening wide for the first time, she felt the momentum she needed for a successful lift off and flight. Her body became weightless and as she got off the ground she could hear her fellow young vampires cheering her on. Then, all of a sudden, as if that never happened, her wings retracted and she fell a few feet back onto the gymnasium floor with a splat. The cheering and applause she was getting suddenly stopped and turned into shrieks of panic. “Oh no! Ouch! Yikes!” she heard, as she hit the ground.

“I give up!” she said in a frustrated voice. “I’m done for the day.”

She stomped away and sat on a bench on the edge of the gym. She couldn’t help but look out of the window and onto the large grassy knoll that lay outside. She wished she could go out there, to lay in the light of the sun, to feel the warm rays on her cheeks. She looked away, trying to get the idea out of her head.

She tried to change her focus as she watched Georgia and the rest of the crew flying around effortlessly. This made her even more upset. She couldn’t understand why it didn’t come as natural to her as it did everyone else.

Maybe I’m not really a vampire? She suddenly thought. Then she looked out the window and without thinking, looked for the latch to try and open it. It was a tall window, which looked more like a door than a window to her, so she knew she could escape if she wanted to. Fumbling around she felt a tap on her shoulder, “Excuse me?” the coach asked firmly. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

She jumped unrepentantly, completely forgetting that she was trying to escape. “Um, I just.”

“You just what?” the coach asked.

“I just wanted to go outside?” Rachel asked.

“You’ve got to be joking? This is the peak sun of the day, if you go out there, you will surely get singed and die,” the coach replied.

“Well…I forgot,” Rachel said angrily. “I just can’t do this anymore!”

“Step away from the window,” the coach said firmly.

Quickly moving her body away from the window, she stormed out of the gymnasium yelling, “I hate this! I don’t want to be a vampire!”

She ran through the castle, not stopping to catch her breath and into her hideous, smelly, dormitory room, which she despised with a passion. She slammed the door and lay on her bed as the tears started trickling down her face. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. Part of her really meant what she said, but the other part of her felt ashamed and embarrassed for making such a scene during training. She didn’t know how she would ever show her face to the crew again.

All of a sudden, she heard a quiet knock on her door.

“Come in,” she said, sniffling and wiping away hear tears.

The door creaked open slowly as she waited to see who was on the other side. Then, in walked Georgia, with her curly black hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“What happened down there?” she added, concerned.

“I can’t do this anymore,” Rachel answered as she began to sob again. “I HATE this!”

“Sweetie, you’re doing a great job. You’re new to this, we all are. What do you expect?” Georgia said, trying to console her.

“I’m not good at flying. I actually CAN’T fly. I hate wearing the Hex lotion and all I want to do is live my normal life, back home with my family and friends,” Rachel said.

“I hear ya. I know how you feel. I miss my family, too,” Georgia said, “But I know I can’t go back.”

“No, don’t say that!” Rachel yelled. “We need to go back. I need to go back. I can’t stay here forever. Spend my remaining days here? Die here? I don’t think so.”

“Who says we will be here forever?” Georgia asked, sounding surprised. “We are here for training and to get acclimated to our new way of life.”

“It’s all too much for me, I really can’t even think about it right now. Do you mind if I spend some time alone?” Rachel asked as the tears swelled up in her eyes again.

“Sure, Hun,” Georgia said. “I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”

“Thanks, Georgia,” Rachel said. “And thanks for coming to check on me, that was nice of you.”

“Anytime!” she said as she turned and left the room.

Rachel sat there and thought as she waited for the sun to go down. She knew once the sun was down, she could slip out onto the balcony of the ramparts and get a breath of fresh air. Better yet, maybe she could escape once and for all.

The minutes went by slowly as she watched through the patch of stained glass on her bedroom. She looked around her room, gathering up her things and stuffing them into a small satchel she’d found in the bottom of her closet. Luckily for her, she didn’t have many possessions. She had the clothes on her back, her journal, her watch and that was really it. She stuffed the journal into the bag and put it over her shoulder.

As her room got dark, she gathered her things and crept down the hall and into the stairwell, which led to the ramparts. She’d discovered this exit the other day as she was exploring, but didn’t think she’d actually be using it as an escape route. She turned around to make sure nobody was watching, as she pushed open the large brass handle of the heavy door. She pushed with all her might, but it wouldn’t budge. She pushed again, this time with her back, but nothing, the door was stuck.

She knew she couldn’t give up this easily, then without thinking, a magical strength came over her and she touched the door with her fingertips and it easily slid open. Effortlessly, she walked out onto the ramparts and looked out over the twilight sky. Taking a deep breath of the nighttime air, she felt suddenly rejuvenated. In the distance she could see a flock of bats circling the river just beyond the castle walls. Their screeching echoed loudly in her ears as she tried to find solace in what she was about to do.

She tried to tune out the loud noises, but one kept getting louder and louder as it crept up behind her. Suddenly feeling scared; she turned her body to see what it was, as the large black creature came into view. Its wings were protruded as it flew in and then she watched as the wings retract as it landed right in front of her.

“Benji?” Rachel asked.

“Rachel! I’ve missed you,” Benji said as he leaned in to kiss her.

“No!” she said, as she pushed his body away from hers.

“What’s wrong, Rach?” he asked concerned. “It’s really me, Benji.”

Feeling abandoned and betrayed, Rachel asked the question she’d been dwelling on: “Where have you been?”

Benji stepped back and said, “Rachel, don’t you understand? I was trying to protect you.”

“You left me here. ALONE. With all these people—or should I say vampires. I had to fend for myself, it hasn’t been easy,” Rachel said angrily.

“Rachel, love, I’m back now. I had to leave to protect you,” Benji said, trying to soothe her.

“Where did you go?” Rachel asked.

“I had to leave right away to find it,” Benji said.

“Find what?” Rachel asked, annoyed as if she was really supposed to know what “it” meant.

“The Blue Tablet. It’s our only shot at protection against the Greslin Empire. If I didn’t find that, we would probably be dead by now. It is our protection from the evil vampires,” Benji said, reaching into his bag as if searching for it.

Not really caring so much about the Blue Tablet, or the Greslins, or the war in general, Rachel said, “Yeah? Well I’m sure you’re going to leave again.”

“I will leave again. I have to, but not because I want to. Because if I don’t our people will die. We will all be exterminated,” Benji said.