Page 6 of Forever Bound

The villagers called him a god.

But legends have a different name for him.

"Vampire," I say out loud. "You're a vampire, aren't you?"

He cocks his head, examining me quizzically, then speaks. But it's all in Russian.

I'm about to tell him I can't understand him, that's he's talking too fast and my language skills are limited, but something shifts inside me.

Something unexpected.

I can almost sense what he's trying to say.

A few words stand out. Words I didn't know before.

"Rest."

"Stay."

"Outside is dangerous."

My eyes widen, fear flooding my veins. But not fear of him, which is completely absurd. Or is it? Since I've been here, it's the humans who have tied me up, beat me, and left me for dead. He saved me, healed me, and gave me a safe place to sleep.

I learned a long time ago, don't believe what others think you should, believe what you know is right.

He might be a god, or a monster, or a vampire…but he's also my rescuer.

And then a thought occurs to me that I wish I could un-think.

The words slip out of my mouth before I have a chance to censor them. One of my many fatal flaws.

"Was I your dinner?" I ask in alarm.

He glances down, then walks away.

It's only now that there's distance between us that I have the attention to examine the rest of my surroundings. I'm in the strangest kind of room. It's large and made of stone, like the inside of a cave, but it's exquisite. The stone is carved into beautiful designs. Nature mostly, but also scenes of domestic life, of farming, of lovers under a cherry tree.

There's a fire in the center, a large pit with warm flames that dance across the walls and ceiling. It wasn't candlelight earlier, I realize, but firelight.

I'm in a four-poster bed that looks hand carved from a beautiful dark wood. I run my hand over the design, marveling at the detail.

The man is standing at the door, watching me take it all in.

"Did you do all this?" I ask. I don't know how I know, but I know.

He nods.

"It's… " I don't have words for it. "It's the most marvelous thing I've ever seen."

I don't know how well he understands me, but his face softens at my words, and a small smile begins to tug at the corner of his mouth.

"Sleep," he says in English, then walks through the door and closes it behind him.

As if his voice has the power to control my body, exhaustion overtakes me quite suddenly. I can no longer keep my eyes open, and I drift into a nightmare-less sleep for the first time in six years.

* * *

When I wake,I feel more refreshed than I ever have in my life. My nightly terrors didn't haunt me for once, but the memory that inspires them still weighs heavy on my mind no matter how hard I try to push them away.

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