“Where are we going?” Anna asked, her body trembling, her eyes wide with fear as Ian and I led her out of The Catacombs.

“It’s alright, Anna,” I tried to soothe her. “You’re just going to spend a little time with Corrine so that she can figure out if we can still get you back to who you were.”

Clearly, from the blank stare she was shooting my way, she didn’t quite understand anything that I said.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Anna,” Ian began rubbing his hand over her back. “We can go to the gardens after. Maybe you can go get some roses.”

A smile lit up Anna’s face. “Roses!” She nodded with enthusiasm. “I like roses!”

I swallowed back the jealousy. I knew that Anna and Ian had some sort of connection between them, one I was afraid to find more about, but it was there and I couldn’t deny it no matter how much it bothered me. And whatever that connection was, it had something to do with roses.

We eventually made our way to The Sanctuary, where Corrine was already waiting. Before she was brought to The Shade to become its powerful witch, Corrine was actually in college as a psychology major. Sometimes, when around her, I found myself antsy because I always felt like she was evaluating me. I had no idea if anyone else felt the same way I did when around her.

“Hello, Anna,” Corrine greeted in a rather formal manner. “How are you?”

“I’m well.” Anna nodded, looking like a deer in headlights. “We’re going to get roses later. Ian promised.”

I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination, but I could swear I saw Ian smirk. My gut clenched. Is this forever my story? Will I forever be the man in love with a woman who will never love me back?

I tried to push the thoughts away as I watched Corrine lead the beautiful young woman to a room, leaving Ian and me instructions to do as we pleased while we waited, but to make sure we were around when they were done.

Any time I was alone with Ian, I found myself feeling tense and unsure what to do or how to even spark a conversation with him. It seemed the only thing we had in common was Anna. I was pleased to find out that Ian wasn’t up for much conversation.

I found myself taking a trip down memory lane… to the day I first saw Anna in The Shade…

Sam and I were instructed to guard the southeast area of the Crimson Fortress. As with any guard duty in The Shade, the whole thing was routine – something we did at the kingdom, because there really wasn’t much else left to do. Sam and I were mostly just fooling around and trying to figure out how to wile the time away until the end of our guard duty.

We’d been at it for a couple of hours when we heard rustling along a nearby bush.

“I’ll check it out,” I told Sam and approached the area where the sound came from.

Behind the bushes, we knew that there was an opening that led to a large lake. I peered past the bushes and onto the lake and found myself drawing a breath when I saw her. I didn’t know her name, but her beauty took my breath away. Long, silky, jet black hair, big moss green eyes… A lovely feminine form, immersed in the shimmering water…

I was dumbfounded. The last time I remember feeling that way was with Brigitte. I stared as she bathed in the lake water humming a tune as she did. I was so stunned by the sight of her, I lost balance and stumbled forward.

She spun around at the sound of me falling on the ground beneath, breaking a couple of twigs and rustling a bunch of leaves as I did. Her eyes grew wide with horror at the sight of me.

“I’m so sorry…” she gasped. “I had no idea someone was here… I just… the water… I wanted to get clean…”

I shook my head and lifted my hand mid-air to let her know that everything was alright. “It’s fine. I was just surprised that a lovely young woman like you would be out here bathing…”

She blushed. “I like going for swims. It relaxes me. Besides, compared to the showers we have at The Catacombs, a bath at the lake seemed luxurious…”

There was a certain ease about her that most of the Naturals in The Shade didn’t seem to possess. Whenever I interacted with any of the humans, they often didn’t look me in the eye. They cowered as if they were fearful that I would suddenly just bite into their necks – something that was known to have already happened to some citizens of The Shade.

She was different, however. She seemed wary of me seeing her bare, but that was more because I was a man and she was a woman, not because I was a vampire she was afraid of.

She stared at the spot on the ground where she left her dress, signaling to me that she wanted to get out of the water.

I nodded and turned around to give her the privacy she needed.

“Thank you,” she said and my heart leapt at her gratefulness.

“What’s your name?” I asked, my back still turned to her.

“Anna.”

“Anna,” I repeated, as I listened to the gentle ripple of the water as she got out of the lake. “You live at The Catacombs?”

“Yes.”

“All your life?”

A chuckle could be heard in her reply. “Yes.”

“Do you have family left?”

“No. My parents were killed a couple of years back.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She paused, and I wondered if I said something wrong. “Thank you.”

I creased my brows, wondering what she was thanking me for. “Thank me? For what?”

“For being sorry… Most of us have lost someone you know… Most of us Naturals,” she said softly. I could hear the sadness in her voice. “Most of the vampires think that it’s normal. It’s the first time I heard a vampire sympathize.”

I had no idea what to say to that, so I just remained silent, finding myself moved by the sweetness of her voice.

“It’s okay to turn around now…”

I turned to face her and found her tying the knot of her haltered dress behind her neck. When she finished, she dropped her arms to her side and smiled at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Why are you not afraid of me?” I couldn’t help but ask.

She seemed taken aback by the question for a couple of seconds. I felt as if she were scrutinizing me, checking if she could really trust me. At some point, I was sure she wasn’t going to respond, but to my relief, she eventually gave me a shrug.

“My parents were always afraid. They would’ve gotten a heart attack if they found out that I’d been bathing at the lake and that a vampire,” she pointed at me, “found me doing it. When they died, I decided that I wasn’t going to be afraid anymore.” She looked around, a bitter smile on her face, tears moistening her eyes. “This is my life. My parents hoped that we would someday escape The Shade, but I don’t want to wait until I’m free of The Shade to start living my life. I could tremble in fear of you, sir, but I’m thinking that if you wanted to take advantage of me or drink my blood then you would’ve already done so. And if you did, I would be powerless to stop you, but you are doing nothing of that sort, so…” She tilted her head to the side, her eyes set on me. “Should I be afraid of you?”

I shook my head. “No, Anna. You’ll never have anything to fear when it comes to me. You’re safe with me.”

From then on, I began to cherish those moments when Sam and I would be assigned to guard the part of the wall near the lake, because I knew that I would see Anna. I looked forward to the conversations I had with her. She was smart, funny and eager to learn. She often asked me about what the world was like outside The Shade and she hung on to my every word. I wanted to tell her how I felt about her, how much I adored her and one night, I decided that I would, but then she didn’t show up.

My heart broke the next time I saw her again. I was at The Vale when I caught a glimpse of her. She was in the arms of Felix, a huge smile on her face, her green eyes twinkling with adoration as she stared up at the Elite vampire. He obviously thought the world of her as he brushed his finger over her dark hair and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

They seemed to be a couple in love. When news broke out that Felix was going to turn Anna into a vampire so they could be together, I lost all hope of ever being with her, then all of a sudden, he got tired of her. He left her at The Catacombs and she lost her mind.

The next time I tried to approach Anna, gone was the fearless young woman who felt safe around me at the lake. She took one look at me and screamed in terror before backing up into a corner, whimpering like a scared child. I never found the guts to approach her again after that… until time came when I just had to.

It felt like Corrine had been talking to Anna for hours. When the door to the room they were locked in finally opened, a radiant Anna stepped out. Ian and I stood up at the sight of her. She raised her eyes and gave Ian a quick glance – almost as if she didn’t even recognize him – before shifting her gaze toward me. Her face lit up in a huge smile and to my surprise, she ran to me and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I was frozen for a while, not sure what was happening. I looked at Ian then at Corrine, who smiled and nodded my way.

“Should I be afraid of you?” Anna whispered in my ear.

The familiar question tugged at my heart, reminding me of the first time I saw her at the lake. “No, Anna,” I responded, my voice choked. “You’ll never have anything to fear when it comes to me. You’re safe with me.”

She nodded into my shoulder. “I always did feel safe with you, Kyle.”

Later that day, I asked Corrine what happened and the witch told me that some of Anna’s memories came back – one of which was the time she spent with me at the lake.

“She says that she only feels safe with you out of all the vampires here in The Shade.”

Chapter 14: Derek

Her laughter echoed in my head. Sofia was standing in the middle of what looked like a school playground, sitting on one of the swings rocking gently as she began blowing bubbles. I hungrily took the sight of her in, finding myself enamored by her like I usually was. She looked my way and flashed me that amazing smile of hers.