Scarlet Sweetheart

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"The sound of it chasing was not so far from me. Because of the darkness, I did not know which way to go. The trees passed by while I was running. My heart pumped so fast and it was difficult for me to breathe. How did I get here? I did not know. Light!! There was a light beaming through the trees. Maybe I could figure out which way to go from there. Its sound was long gone when I stopped in the middle of the open space surrounding by huge dark green trees. The howl came from behind; I turned around and all I could see were big white fangs..,"

My eyes opened wide with fear; sweat was all over my body. That was so scary! I sat up straight with a big inhale that calmed me down. "Moonlight Fetch" should be banned from the library. The view of everything was a little blurry to me; I guessed I lost my glasses again. "Silvia." Somebody called out my name. The voice sounded very familiar as it belonged to someone I had known for three years. I was trying to find my glasses, when the smell of cologne that could swept you off the floor came along with a light wind brought by the open window. "Here you are." A guy handed me my glasses. I took them and my view was clear again.

"Oh! Gabriel," I was quite surprised to see him in the library. "How are you?" No words were spoken, but the stretch of his lips.

"Interesting book you're reading. How is it?" he asked.

I could not say anything, but smiled back at him. I wish I could be more fun to talk with when he was around. It was hard for me to speak when my heart raced inside. It felt like I could not breathe.

"I was looking for you all over the place," he said. "Luckily, I know where your favorite place to stay is."

After he sat on the chair next to mine, he asked me if I would like to go to his birthday party next week as a special guest. Of course, I would not say no. However, doubt was what I had in mind. What did he mean by 'special guest?' The bell rang before I got an answer.
The last class of the day was Social Study class. I was almost late after mean students pushed me in the hall way. I could not believe it. I was not a freshmen but a senior. Was I really that small for them to bully me? Surprisingly, Mr. Stanley finished the lesson so early today. There must be an explanation for this, and voila!! We had a trip to visit some old Mansion next week. Boring!

"Silvia!!"

"Oh hey!" I met Gabriel again. How could he find me so easily in the hall way that packed with people?

"I want to tell you that because of the trip, there won't be a party for my birthday next week."

No birthday party? Dang it!! I thought I could go and be his special guest that night. It was on my mind all day because I thought this could be a date. Disappointment must be written on my face when he looked at me. Gabriel looked away and thought for two seconds. He looked at me again then said that we could celebrate his birthday while we were at the Mansion. Just only the two of us, it sounded very romantic to me. Who knew we could end up kissing under the moonlight.

Zap! Back to the reality please! What a dreamer I was. It was hard to control myself especially when he was near. Before we could talk more, someone called out Gabriel's name. He turned around and there he went, to his gorgeous guy friends. WOW!! It was like there was a light grew out from the place where they stood.  None of the girls in school, including me, could take their eyes off from these guys especially when they were together. I looked at the clock and it said 3:00 PM. I should go before the school bus said good bye to me. While I was sitting on the bus and watching Gabriel and his friends at the parking lot, someone pierced through my heart as a group of popular girls walked toward the most gorgeous creatures on earth. They were equal in number as if they had been made for each other. Rumor said Gabriel is dating one of the girls. I wish it was really just a rumor.

Time flew as always. It was Monday again. All my bags were packed and I was ready to spend the nights at the old Mansion. The trip was for exploration in the Old Mansion which belonged to some family who had a very interesting background. I got to school at six thirty in the morning. It was pitch dark and cold outside. Though there was no snow, winter was definitely here. I saw the light from the bus so I walked toward it. I chose to sit almost the very end of the bus where somebody already fell asleep. I did not have many friends, you knew. Actually, I was a bit of a loner. All of my friends were in Europe and I did not think I could be friend with girls here. They thought I was too quiet and boring. Of course, I tried to fit in but it did not work out that well. The only friends I had were two girls from drama club and three guys from History class. Of course, Gabriel was one of the guys. He was the only friend whom I felt really close to. I could not find Gabriel when there were many students on the bus, so I fell asleep within 10 minutes after school bus drove off. The last thing on my mind before I closed my eyes was about Christmas schedule. I promised my parents that I would visit them on Christmas Eve and spent my holidays there. It was difficult for me at first when I moved out; the empty room and not hearing mom and dad talk almost killed me. Even though it was very difficult, I still believed that it was a time for me to be self-reliant.

"Wake up Sleepy Beauty!! We're here." I slowly opened my eyes. The most gorgeous face was right in front of me.

"Let's go Silvia. We need to walk to the Mansion." Gabriel spoke while he was looking outside the bus window.

"Walk?" I murmured, "For how long?" Without an answer, Gabriel pulled me up and held my hand all the way until we both caught up with others. He even carried my bags. What an angel. Now, I could tell why we had to walk to the Mansion. The drive path was so terrible, bumpy, and looked as if no one had used this way for many centuries. Stood on top of the hill was the huge old isolated Mansion. There was something about the place that I could not tell; it gave me goose bums. The sun shone brightly, but the cloud gathered above the Mansion which made it look like a haunted place. Unexpectedly, the owner and the family were very friendly; they gave us a warm welcome with a great delight. Inside the Mansion was nothing like its outlook; beautiful, luxurious, and elegant. We had our dinner together. Odd, I did not see any servants in this house. It seemed like Mrs. Castlevane was responsible for all households. Before we went to our room, which I did not know where it was until the older brothers of the family showed each one of us, Mr. Castlevane told us the rules of his house. No walking around the house after midnight, do not disturb any family members during the day or before dinner, and we could go anywhere in this Mansion except the East zone for it was a forbidden area. After the long day, I fell asleep right away when I finished taking a shower. Luckily, the room with a king sized bed was all mine.

AHHHH!!!!  What was that!!? I woke up because of the horrifying scream; I shivered. Was it in my dream or the scream was actually real? The room was quite dark and cold. Good thing, there was some dim light from the moon. The clocked told me it was one thirty in the morning. I could not go back to sleep so I turned on a bed lamp. Suddenly, my heart skipped the beat. The oldest brother of Castlevane was in my room. He stood by the window and stared at me. How long had he been in here? How could he get in? I swore I locked the door.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" I asked nervously.

"I'm sorry but I find it captivating, watching you sleep," he answered. I could see him clearly. He looked pale in the moonlight but, somehow, attractive. I was under the spell, unable to speak or move. I only blinked once and that was it.  "I'm sure I haven't introduced myself to you. My name is Seth. You must be Silvia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His voice sounded like a beautiful melody. I was astonished by his rapid motion; he was standing near the window, but now he was sitting on the bed next to me. He must be older than me two or three years because he did not look that old.

"I'm sorry but you need to leave," the spell broke. "It's inappropriate."

"Leave?" he asked.

There was a smile on his face, not a friendly smile though. If I was not dreaming, I swore his eyes changed their colors. I was about to ask him to leave again when he pushed me down on my bed hastily. His hands were extremely cold as ice when he grabbed my wrists. My body was numb. He was looking down at me, examined the details of my face. Something told me this was not a good sign. Seth leaned toward me and whispered "Such an offering." I gasped when I felt something wet on my neck. It scared me when he made a deep low sound in his throat. His lips pressed against my bare neck. Why was he doing these things to me? I screamed but there was no sound; there were million thoughts in my head. His teeth scratched on my neck; it hurt and I thought I bled. Somebody helped me!!

Someone shook me. A youngest child of the Castlevane family woke me up. "Dinner is served." She was only ten years old, Isabella. How long had I slept? Was it really a horrible dream? It was too realistic. I still remembered his voice, his actions, and the feelings that I had. It took me fifteen minutes to come down stairs. Seth smiled at me when I sat on the chair. I shuddered. Apparently, two girls were not at the Dinner with us. Teachers thought they went for a walk. After dinner, I asked Mrs. Castlevane if there was any bakery nearby because I wanted to buy a cake for Gabriel on his birthday. She told me I should not bother because the nearest one was 100 miles away; she said she would bake a cake for me. That was very nice of her. She was a very sweet and gentle woman. I decided to go to the library in the house for taking things off my mind. While I was going to the library, Gabriel ran to me.

"Going to the library?" he asked lively.

"Yes. Want to come with me?" I invited. He nodded.

While I was scanning the books, Gabriel grabbed my shoulder.

"What is it? Blood? Did you get a scratch or something?" he asked curiously.

"On my neck?" All of a sudden, I remembered the feeling of pain and those emotions when Seth was in my room again. If it was just a dream, how come a blood stain was on my neck? What about the scream that I heard? Was it real too? I did not know. Ever since that night, I never saw Seth again. Three days passed and it seemed as if many people had disappeared. Teachers were worried but there was nothing for us to do. I meant we searched everywhere except the East zone. Today was Gabriel's birthday. He told me to meet him in the garden at the back of the Mansion. He said it was a perfect spot and there was something he would like to show me. I was really excited, could not wait for it. I decided not to eat dinner with the family as usual, but got ready for Gabriel's birthday. He would be 20 this year. Gabriel should be in college by now, but he had a serious family problem when he was a freshmen. He transferred to study at our high school, Zeerfummers, when he was a sophomore. I was a scholarship girl from Europe and I moved to USA a year before he transferred.

"You're late."

"Sorry. I was searching candles for this," I held out his birthday cake. "Happy Birthday Gabriel!!"

"WOW!! Thanks," he said happily. "Here, come sit next to me."

I obeyed like a little child. We sat, ate, and talked for a while. I had never felt this happy since I moved here. Gabriel was such a nice, sweet, and charming person. I did not notice that tonight was a full moon; the view was so clear and I could see how wide an ocean was. It really was a good spot indeed. A fresh air came from the North, it blew my hair. I stood up, hugged myself, and closed my eyes.

"I love it when your hair is blowing in the wind like this," Gabriel whispered in my ear. He hugged me from behind. The warmth of his body drove me crazy. My heart was pounding heavily; it would come out in any minute now. Could he feel the beat of my heart? I felt too warm right now. Somehow it felt strange because we had never hugged each other before. Should I tell him to let go? I did not know. We stayed in silence and listen to the sound of the wind for a moment.

"What is it that you want to show me?" I asked to stop the silence.

"The moon, Silvia. See how beautiful it is," he said and then let go off me. "There is something else I also want to ask you."

"O.K" I said.

He looked at the ground as if what he was going to say is not easy. He held my hand and looked me in the eyes. I waited patiently.

"Would you be my girlfriend?"

"WHAT?" the word came out before I could stop it.

"I know that I've never acted like I like you or interested in you. We're good friends but..," he paused and my heart skipped the beat. "The more I pretend, the more I feel empty and the pain grows stronger. I really like you, Silvia. You are the most generous, sweetest, fantastic, and intelligent girl I've ever met. I would do anything just to get a chance to be with you."

I could not believe this; the most gorgeous and popular guy in school was confessing to me and asking me to be his girlfriend. I was dumbstruck. I could have screamed or said anything but no words came out. My hands were over my mouth.

"Say something," Gabriel said hopelessly.

"Oh boy! Oh No"

"You don't feel the same way?"

"No, no, I..." I spoke as I looked at him. His face was telling me that he was in pain. "NO! I mean I do."

He looked puzzled. I decided to throw myself over him. My embrace calmed him as he stood quietly and stopped shaking. I whispered in his ear, "I would love to be your girlfriend."

He looked into my eyes, a deep passionate look. The light was gone as the clouds covered the moon. I could feel his warm breath when he pulled me closer. The light appeared again when his face was an inch away from mine. Unexpectedly, Gabriel paused and fell down to the ground. Agony showed on his face.

"Gabriel, are you alright? What's wrong?" I asked anxiously.

He did not answer, but struggled as he fought with the pain inside his body. I touched him and had to pull my hand back as he looked at me with his blood-liked color eyes. He struggled again. What should I do? I was terrified. Bravery was what I needed right now. I made a decision to take a hold of his arm. He looked at me; this time his eyes were in blue-green color as normal. Gabriel told me to leave. How could I do that? Something bad was happening to him. I told him I would go get some help before I ran back to the Mansion. It was dark inside. What time was it? Where was everybody? I went for the Castlevanes for some help. I found Mr. Castlevane in front of his bedroom; I told him what happened. He told me to go back to my room. He said he would take care of everything and I should not be worried.

"Sorry, sir. I don't think I can do that. He was in agony. I can't just wait and do nothing. I have to do something."

"What can you do, miss?" Mr. Castlevane asked me calmly.

I thought hard, but all I could say was "I don't know."

"Then, let me take care of him. Go back and get some rest now."

On my way back to my room, I thought I should tell teachers about what had happened first. I knocked on the door three times, but there was no answer. After I reached my room, I quickly took a shower, got dressed, and wished the night would end in a flash. As I sat on my bed; yet, thoughts ran through my head. A lot of strange things had happened since we got here. A terrible scream, creepy weird Seth, people disappeared, and now Gabriel. I could not sleep well, afraid that things might get worst. As soon as I finished getting dressed the next morning, I went down stairs to see if there was any news about Gabriel. Uneasiness hit me hard when I entered the dinning chamber. Gabriel was not there, also teachers. There were less of us than usual, only 8 people including me. Most of them were talking about the scream they heard last night. I guessed they must hear it when I was in the garden with Gabriel. I asked one of the juniors whether she saw teachers or not. Another girl, Jessie, told me her friends saw them walked with the kids toward East zone last night.

Why would they go there? They knew it was the forbidden area.

A guy from drama club joined us. He said his friends and his friend's girlfriend were disappeared two nights ago. All of us were anxious about things that would happen tonight. We all wanted to leave, but our teachers were not here. Nobody wanted to be called chicken when teachers and people who disappeared came back later. They would never come back. My instinct told me. We would never be able to get out of this Mansion if we stayed here another night. Call me brave or insane.

"We need to get out of here," all eyes looked at me. "Seriously, we need to go now. Daytime is the perfect time for us to leave because none of the Castlevanes are around. Actually, they've never really been around during daytime. Very unusual."

"Are you saying that we should ditch our friends and teachers?"

"No, I didn't mean that. Honestly, do you really think you'd see any of them tomorrow morning? We can't guarantee that." I said

"I agree with her," a chocolate skin guy said. "I wouldn't think they die or anything because I don't know. All I know is something bad happened to them."

"I think they are Vampires," someone said.

"What? Do you really believe in that kind of story?" a freshmen girl scorned.

"Maybe Collum's right," a drama club guy said. "I mean it makes sense. None of the Castlevanes have ever come out of their rooms during daytime. They look terribly pale like the bloods of their bodies were long gone. Where did they get the food if they never go outside the house? If they actually go out, I wonder how long does it take? I don't see any markets around here, or even houses. They also barely touch their food for dinner. Why? Because they don't eat the same kind of food like us," several heads moved up and down, "and if you haven't noticed, their pictures on the hall way looked so old like it was taken centuries ago. How long they said they have lived here? They've never really mentioned about that, haven't they?"

People started to talk about the Castlevane. Are they really vampires? I could not think straight; I was worried about Gabriel. We agreed to leave this deathly place by noon. I told them to go without me because I still wanted to look for Gabriel. They told me that I should forget about him and went with them. I could not; something told me he was still alive. Before they left, Collum gave me garlic spay and a knife. Since we could not find anybody the last time we searched, East zone was my first pick to start looking for Gabriel. This part was nothing like the others. It was very dirty and dim; cobwebs were in every corner and all furnishings were covered in dust. I kept walking forward to the light that pecked out from under the door. I slightly pushed the door open; there were stairs for walking down to an underground room. Before I put my foot down on the floor of the room, voices hit my ears. They were the familiar ones.

The Castlevanes were coming out of the underground room!!

I turned around and hid behind the big crimson curtain. I waited and waited 'til I was sure they were gone. I walked down the stairs to the underground room in a hurry and swung the door open. The picture in front of my eyes made my blood run cold. There were dead bodies piled up at the right corner and some faces were familiar to me. This room had huge space and it was malodorous. There were blood strains that covered with fresh blood almost everywhere, except for the ceiling above me and the wall on my left side.  I thought I was going to be sick. I shook the sick feeling off and tried to concentrate with the reason why I was here. I needed to find Gabriel so I walked to the left side. My heart was alive again. There he was!! What happened to him? He lied on the floor unconsciously and was covered in blood. Was he hurt?

"Gabriel! Wake up. It's me," my voiced was shaking. His body was too slippery. It was too much for me. "C'mon. You need to wake up!!" As if I could order him, he opened his eyes immediately. I stopped breathing for two seconds. He looked at me like he did not know who I was. His eyes were like last night, blood-liked color eyes. I shivered.

"If I were you, I wouldn't sit that close to him," someone said.

I turned around and my spine was tingling. The Castlevanes were standing in the middle of the room. They looked pale and scary to me more than ever.

"Who are you people? Or should I ask WHAT are you?" I asked bravely as I stood up. The smell of the blood in the room and the feeling of it on my hands made me a little wobbly.   "You shouldn't be here my dear, this place is forbidden. I would suggest you to leave, but the one who breaks the rule must be punished."

"Can I have her mom?" Seth asked Mrs. Castlevane. I blinked.

"The Prince needs more blood, give her to him," Mr. Castlevane commanded.

"Don't worry sweetie. We'll find someone else for you."

Right now I was confused. What were they talking about? Who was the Prince? However, there was one thing I knew for sure, they were really vampires. Before I could think of a plan to escape or anything, Seth moved too fast that you would not be able to see and he wrapped me up with his one hand. He kissed me on my cheek; I was dead.

"Let her go, I don't want her," a sound from heaven said.

"But....Master," Mr. Castlevane said.

"Do as I say!!" the voice commanded angrily. Seth obeyed as well.

Should I say thank you to that person or their Prince and ran away? Or I should not say anything and ran away. I turned around to look at the one who, sort of, saved my life. Everything should be over, but my heart was torn into million pieces just to know who the Prince was.

"Gabriel?" my voice shook more than ever. Tears flooded my eyes. He was standing there, covered in blood, and staring at me with his blood-liked color eyes. I could see his fangs now.

"This is not real, isn't it? Tell me it's not." I almost yelled.

"I'm sorry but this is who I really am. I am a vampire or a monster you can say. I've never known that I am the heir of the King. I was adopted by human you see. The Castlevane knew who I was when we first got here. They told me my inner-self will awake on my 20^th birthday and I will turn into a vampire. I didn't believe them so I didn't stay inside the house like they told me to. I wanted to be with you, Silvia. Unfortunately, I did change and I killed people. It's what vampires do, we kill to survive. I was hungry for human blood and I needed it badly. I couldn't control myself; even right now, it's still hard for me to do. I know it's complicated and confusing. I've never wanted to hurt you and I don't wanna see you hurt. That's why I tend to stay here until I can control my instinct." Gabriel said it all.

There was a silence. He looked at me as if he wanted me to say something.

Ran away!!

That was all I want to do. This was too much for me. He was not a vampire and none of this was true. No vampires!! No dead bodies and no blood!! I'd never come to this Mansion. This was all a nightmare. Without saying anything, I ran out of that room. I did not stop; I kept running. It was dark outside when I ran out of the Mansion and it was still full moon. Strange that it was still full moon, but I did not care about it. I just wanted to run away from this terrifying, disturbing, nerve-racking, and bloodcurdling place. I was running on the path in the middle of huge dark trees lines, when I heard a howl. What was it this time? Werewolves? I would not be surprised if they existed. Why not werewolves? We had vampires!!!

"Oh, no," well,...I took that thought back.

In front of me was a huge wolf and it was blocking my way. It showed its sharp teeth as it growled. Its big scary yellow eyes looked at nothing but me. I needed to escape, but running was not a good idea. It could jump within my five running steps, and buried its teeth in my skin. I stepped back and it jumped forward. I almost looked at my right when there was a sound behind the trees. Apparently, the more werewolves, the more it got scary. There were three more walked out from the huge trees. Forgot it!! I turned and put up the speed. I thought running was a bad idea, but if I stayed where I was you could call me fresh meat. I ran back to the Mansion again. I did not know which way to go; back to the start was not a bad idea. The werewolves were not so far away from me now; I needed something for protection.

The knife from Collum!!

I searched for it in my bag and then...Ouch!!! What an idiot. I fell down to the ground. I tossed and turned. My eyes wide opened with fear; the monster was in the middle of the air and about to land its huge feet on me. My arms flew over my face.

                  ................................Nothing happened.................................


I slowly brought my arms down. I heard the sounds of roars and growls. They were fighting on the ground, not so far away from me. Four against one. A tall person with light brown hair who used to be covered in blood was fighting with the monsters to save my life. He was bit by the monsters twice. He was loosing blood. Where were the others? Why they were not here to help him? Three werewolves were down.

"Gabriel! Look out!!" I shouted.

He was almost attacked by the last biggest werewolves. Gabriel was not strong enough as it showed in his face that he needed more energy or power. I had to help him. There was a log on the ground. I made an effective action as I thought. The monster cried out loud as I hit on its head. Gabriel took this opportunity and killed it.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" he asked me.

 "No, I'm ok. But you hurt."

"Don't worry about me. These wounds will heal. You shouldn't be outside. It's full moon. There will be more of them coming soon. You need to get out of here."

He looked at me with his vampire eyes. I nodded, walked away, and then stopped because something took me by surprise. I was not afraid of his eyes anymore. There was caring in his blood-liked color eyes when he looked at me. The tears ran down my face as I thought of leaving; I would never see him again. I knew this for sure because he had to be with his kind. The pain inside was killing me and the fragile thing was screaming as it beating. I could not do it; I stuck on the ground where I stood. I turned to face him as he did the same, amazement was on his face.

"Why are you still here? Go!! Get out from here!!" Gabriel commanded.

"Where would I go? I can't. I don't want to."

He walked to me as I said. I could not look at him anymore. I did not want him to see me cry. I quickly wiped my tears before he was close enough to notice them.

"What do you mean? You know you can't stay. It's too dangerous for you. Please go. I can't bare the thought of seeing you hurt. I care too much about you."    

"But I...," his finger touched on my lips; told me to speak no more.

"Stop torturing me because my heart can't take it anymore. You don't know how much I need you here with me. I love you, Silvia," he paused, "but we can't be together. Please go before I change my mind," he said and turned his back on me.

"You only say what you want. You've never asked what I want for me. If you really love me like you say then,...please don't make me leave. I would be desperate without you by my side."

Gabriel turned around, looked into my eyes, and pulled me closer to him. His soft red lips pressed on mine. It was a deep passionate kiss, perfect first kiss.

"Are you sure this is what you really want? You know that if you choose to be with me, there is no turning back." Gabriel said.

"Yes, I know that there is no turning back and I know I won't be sorry later. It is you I have loved all along. Gabriel, you are my every thing."

"I promise I will take care of you for eternity."

I smiled. We hugged and kissed again.

"Make me your Princess, I love you." I whisper to him softly.

He buried his fangs on my neck. My night life began.