22 Blind Love

The world has gone dead still on its axis, at least for Zachariah, it did. Sitting on a small bench down a deserted walkway, now getting drenched by the rain, his worst fear has definitely come true. Not but a few moments ago, he confessed his love to me, for me only to show him that I am the very same thing he was trying to save me from. The heartbreak in those soft blue eyes does bring my own heart pain. Never ever could I have thought that I shall hurt a friend in this way. Would he now despise me as much as he does Sebastian? Shall he even go as far as to drive a dagger through my heart? Then again, would this have made a difference if he had told me before? Would it be his arms that I would seek the comfort of?

Yet, he remains still; he has not moved a slight bit in the past few minutes that he has known. I guess I can safely say that he shall not be killing me, well, at least not tonight. His dagger is only but an arm's reach; what stops him from driving it straight through my chest? In this dark, deserted place, no one would even know that something unfortunate had happened to me.

But what I do know he is doing is trying to stop his trembling hands from shaking. What I also do know is that he is scared, for I can smell the fear radiate from his skin. Is he scared that I am the one that shall hurt him when I am afraid of him?

He fumbles at his words for a while, but with a short deep breath, his words finally become clearer.

"How long?"

"Going onto my third day now."

"My god Anastasia, why did you not come to me instead?"

"What would you have done, Zachariah? Drive a dagger through my heart?"

He once again goes silent; I can hear every crazy thought that runs through his mind. I know it is wrong of me to listen, but his face does not tell the story that his mind so eagerly does.

There is a question that begs me, how has he hidden this part of his life for so many years from me. Eva and I are the closest friends he has around, and not once have we suspected anything.

"Zachariah, how did I not know this?"

"The same way you did not know about vampires.

"So, does this mean we shall always be fighting each other?"

He hesitates for a moment; he does not even have to answer, for I know a world where a Vampire and a Hunter live in peace does not exist.

"There has to be a cure, Anastasia."

"Zachariah, as much as this will pain you, this is a life that I chose."

"But why? Why would you want to be a..."

I need not even have to read his mind to know which seven letters he stopped from escaping his lips.

"Monster," I continue for him. "You think I am a monster, and so do you think of Sebastian. Do I look like a monster to you, Zachariah?"

"Anastasia, that is not what I meant."

"No, but it is what you thought."

He reaches his big strong hands to lay gently over mine. I should pull away, but I shall give him these final moments he will ever have with me. I fear the next time our paths will meet again; it will for certain be on the wrong side of his dagger.

Then with a new resolve, he speaks as if, for the first time tonight, he has a clear mind. There is even a glimmer of hope in his teary eyes. I have always known Zachariah to be a strong man that does not easily fall apart, but here he is crumbling right in front of me. He must come from a generation of Vampire Hunters that know nothing but hatred for our kind. But here he is crying over the very same thing he should protect the world from.

"Anastasia, I am not giving up on you."

"Zachariah, I am with Sebastian."

"Yes, because you are bound by his blood. I shall find a way to...fix you, even if it does mean I need to kill Sebastian."

Just then, I hear a shuffle behind the bench.

...Sebastian POV...

For far too long have I listened to his babble, and now he has his filthy paws on my beloved. Well, if he thinks he can kill me, I am ready for the next round.

"Take your hands off my Anastasia."

My voice echoes over the heavy downpour of rain.

"Sebastian."

"My dear Anastasia, I think we have heard enough of this man's pointless ramblings. I beg, let us go home."

My words are not yet cold, and this Vampire Hunter is set to annoy me as he has got Anastasia by the arm and dragged her down the street.

"Do you truly wish to start this again Zachariah," I set after him again, not making must of an effort as my beloved is trying to use her power to break away from him.

"Go home Sebastian, she is staying with me," he yells as he tries furiously to remain his grip on her.

"That is where you are wrong, my dear friend, Anastasia belongs with me."

"She does not belong to you."

"In fact, she does."

He continues with Anastasia down the street, but something does puzzle me. Why can she not break away? That is when I see the chain he has wrapped around her hands.

"Let her go, you mongrel, or I shall kill you."

"The only mongrel around here, Sebastian, is you."

This pesky little Vampire Hunter is now getting on my nerves. I think the time for playing this game is now over.

Before a single wink of his eyes, I launch through the air and land in loud thud squarely in his path. My eyes have gone a bloodshot red, and there is a fire building underneath them. A consuming rage has overcome my body. My skin is burning hot, not from passion but from the rage within. This filthy scoundrel has silver wrapped around my beloved's fragile body. He shall pay for his foolish mistake.

"Let her go; Zachariah and I are only asking you once."

My voice vibrates like a thunderous roar down the dark, deserted alley, echoing through every window in every building. Clear raw fear fills the air as I throw my head back and bare my fangs.

"Let her go; this will be the last time you shall touch anything."

The Vampire Hunter lets go of his grip on the delicate wrists of my beloved only to reach for his dagger behind his back. I grabbed for his throat even before he had time to reach for it and firmly squeezed my long slender fingers around his neck, with but one lift of my arm, the tiny little human in kicking his feet frantically in the air.

"Let me go, you monster."

This seems to anger my beloved only further as she steps forward to face this man. She snaps at him as she exposes every inch of her razor-sharp teeth.

"Sebastian, what happens if I bite him?"

"My beloved, I do not think such a thing shall be wise."

She takes Zachariah's hand and bears the tender skin of his wrist. His veins are throbbing as the adrenalin in his blood pumps through it. I watch as she teasingly scrapes her teeth against it. A deep moan escapes through her lips as the very sight of it tingles her taste buds.

"Just once, Sebastian."

I see the hunger in her eyes as she begs for it.

"My beloved, we shall only start a war with these pesky Vampire Hunters."

But knowing my little Vampire, she does not listen to me at all. She pierces his skin with the tip of her fangs and lets the tiniest drops of blood trickled from it. She looks back at me with that mischievous smile and takes the tip of her tongue, and licks every glorious drop of blood before it drops to the ground.

But she is not done yet. She slowly sinks her white fangs into his soft, warm flesh. The little scared Vampire Hunter goes completely stiff, but the minute she releases her venom, he falls back into her soft touch. She elegantly wiggles and nestles her strong teeth firmly while she holds his limp arm still. I listen to her as she slowly sucks every heavenly blood cell from his pulsating veins. She draws drop after drop of his sweet nectar and moans at the ecstasy it brings. Then she looks up at me, and I nod; with one lick, she closes his wound and drops his arm by his side.

"Sebastian, let him go. I want to go home and make love to my Master."

She need not ask me twice, and I drop Zachariah to the ground. But before we can take our leave, the Vampire Hunter speaks again.

"I will be back for you, Anastasia."

Well, this man must be foolish or just plain dumb, or even both; it seems that today was not enough for him to learn a lesson from this.

"We will be waiting for you, Zachariah Hunter."

I wrap my arms around my beloved, and we make our way home in the cold of the night, not caring much for the rain as we have each other, and that is the only thing that matters.

By the time we get home, there is a very worried Edward standing and waiting in the doorway.

"Sebastian, brother, I was worried sick about you guys. Did those mutts come back?

"Only a little pesky Vampire Hunter, but fortunately, we shall see him very soon again."

Edward remains quiet for only a moment when he raises a very valid question.

"Is he going to come for Eva?"

I have never even once thought about the human that is now living amongst us. The Vampire Hunter's love must have been so blind that he did not feel concerned with Eva that also left and came home with us.

"I am afraid he shall once his head has cleared. Have you marked her yet?"

"No, I have not Sebastian, I am afraid she will not allow me to do it."

"For what reason?"

I demand to hear his explanation as the arrangement was made quite clear.

"Brother, she only wants one person to do it, and that person is not me."

"Fare well, bring her here so I can finish it."

"I am afraid it is not you but Anastasia that she wants."

...Anastasia POV...

Did I just hear Edward right? Does Eva want me to mark her instead? I have no idea what this entails and how you even do it. Shall it mean that I shall have the same bond with her like Sebastian and I have?

"Why does she want me, Edward? I am not her partner."

"She only trusts you, Anastasia."

"But..."

I turn to Sebastian, that is feeling just as confused about it.

"Sebastian, can I even do it?"

"My beloved, you are but a young vampire. I cannot express enough how dangerous this is. You have yet to learn how to control your hunger."

"Are you saying that you are scared that I might kill her?"

I can hear his head is spinning in a million directions. I know exactly what his thoughts are saying, but Edward may not know of these powers I possess yet.

"Yes, Anastasia, I am scared you might kill Eva."

"And if I turn her."

"Then we have a bigger mess to explain, for I fear what the rest of our kind shall say."

"But you are the Master Sebastian; surely they cannot judge you."

His head is not making any sense now; he has gone and blocked me. Guess I am not the one that has a bit of explaining to do here. But let us forget about his sneaky move and figure out what our next step is.

"Sebastian, what must I do?"