Cassian Legacy: The Vampire Prince

My eyes nearly widened when he told me his true title. A vampire prince. A living and breathing vampire that was a prince. One minute ago I had learned there were vampires that were alive and not dead like the ones I ran across weekly. Now I had discovered that he was royalty like Krista had suggested when I first met her. But what did that entail? I knew nothing about the vampire monarchy and I got the feeling that he thought I did.

“You’re an actual prince?” This question was the first to leave my mouth, not the more obvious, which I would save for a later time and date. I didn’t want to discuss the why’s and how’s here.

He smiled perfectly. “Yes, so when I told you it’s my job to know who’s on my territory you’ll understand why now. In the better interests of my safety I need to know every single vampire living in the city and surrounding suburbs. Most know I exist and are not allowed to come within a thousand yards of my home. Born vampires are allowed near me, but most of the created ones are not. That’s only because they usually let go of their consciousness and give in to their desires, unless they’re created by one of us, the born, and raised upon our guidelines. Those created by us develop a sense of self awareness and actually blend into society adeptly.

“But you were created and weren’t raised by one of our kind. You could pose a serious threat to me.”

I shook my head, nearly laughing with the thought. “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”

He raised an eyebrow, not from awe but playfully like he didn’t believe me. “We’re just as strong as created vampires. And I saw the look on your face when I used my compulsion. Yours isn’t as strong right?”

I shook my head, unable to lie about that. He would know.

“But my compulsion works on created vampires, while yours doesn’t.”

I blinked. I did not know that… More interesting thoughts sprang to mind, but I had to quiet them so I could hear the rest of what he said.

“I suppose I could use it on you, and make you forget about me. I could make you leave here and never come back. But you’re already invested here, something I could not have foreseen. Your absence would be missed by Krista, Mallory, Seth and Nate.”

I couldn’t believe he knew their names. He never acknowledged their presence whenever they passed him.

“And to a certain degree, I would miss your wonderful scent. It’s been refreshing to smell something that doesn’t taste like vinegar in my mouth.” He pulled out a bottle of grape soda and opened the lid. “Want some?” he offered.

I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”

“When did you last feed?” he asked after he took a swig of the dark liquid.

I didn’t see how it was any of his business what my eating habits were like. But I didn’t see any alternative in how I should answer his question so I went with the truth. “A day or so ago.”

He swallowed some more of the nectar. “And what exactly did you do with the body?”

I shook my head thinking his question rude and impertinent. “I don’t leave messes.”

He smiled and set his drink down. “I’m liking you more and more.” He glanced back at the set of doors that led to the rest of the school. From one of the windows I spotted his friends’ faces as they awaited him in the hall. He caught my attention once more and leaned forward. “Just between us, we need to keep your creation a secret from them. They’re my body guards and if they knew what you were you’d be dead, and I’m not ready to let go of you yet.”

I crossed my arms against my chest. So he thought that he had power over me here. Boy was he in for a shock. “It’s nice to know that you’re not threatening my life at the moment, but it wouldn’t matter much even if you did.”

His body rippled somewhat. He must’ve held back a laugh. “You have spunk.”

“It comes with the territory.”

We sat in peace for a few minutes. But eventually he broke the silence once again.

“Where are you staying?”

I raised an eyebrow. That was a personal question. “Why do you wish to know?” I questioned him.

He shrugged. “Do you have any family or friends here?”

He must’ve thought me as a threat just from the way he phrased that question. Either that or he thought I haunted my beloved ones. Unfortunately for him, they were all dead and buried. “I travel alone.”

He eyed me. “So you’re probably in a motel.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course he’d draw that conclusion. And up until a few days ago, I practically lived in one. If I had my way, he’d never know.

The dark blue in his eyes twinkled, like a falling star. “I’ll figure it out eventually, you know. I have my ways, and I know people.”

This time he was caught by his own words. I smiled, unable to hide how amused I was by the conversation. “You can use that magic of yours on them all you want, but I’m not sharing the location of my only hide-a-way that easily.”

He studied my face for a few seconds. His blue eyes shone like a lamp lighting the path. I wondered how he could pull off an effect like that. “I could use it on you,” he drooled out.

It took me a moment to figure out what he was doing. He actually turned it on. He used his compulsion on me like I was a common mule that belonged to him. The sad truth was his ability didn’t have the same effect it had on Mrs. Hawkins. Instead of bending to his wishes, my mind rejected the power and instead I caught a glimpse of how it felt to be on the receiving end. His entire body shone like the constellations. The light was not only in his eyes, but surrounding his head like a halo, and glowing from underneath his skin. From this perspective, he looked… inhuman. It was no wonder that people couldn’t look away from him when his appearance changed so dramatically. Even though the effect didn’t work on me, I had a hard time looking away myself, but mostly because he was so handsome in this form.

“You can’t,” I blurted out, breaking his spell.

His smile disappeared and the glow receded instantly. He turned back into his normal everyday appearance while his facial expression morphed into confusion. “How can you thwart that? Or do you have some unique growth on your brain that blocks the communication?”

I shrugged. I didn’t know the why’s or how’s of why it was that I was able to block compulsion. Maybe it was because of what I was. But he needn’t know those details yet. “Possibly the latter.”

The bell rang again. Another hour and a half had gone by. I arose from my chair and snatched up my bag. “Look, as much as I want to keep having this lovely discussion I have homework to catch up on.”

He stood up as well. “I could help you out?” he offered.

That was an unusual request. From the look of things I got the impression he didn’t do homework, but compulsed his teachers into giving him no work at all. I shook my head. “Unlike you, I actually want to learn something here.”

I didn’t wait for his reply, figuring that he would only offer his compulsory skills on my teacher’s memories and modify them to his liking. I made a break for the doors. He caught up to me in the hall once more, still holding his bottle of grape soda.

“We still need to talk,” he prodded. “I’m not done with you yet.” He blocked my progress, extending his arm out to the wall and blocking my path while he really turned on his compulsion. If I thought that his glowing body was the extent of his powers, I was dead wrong. His eyes glistened like two stars in the night sky, turning a shade of indigo and holding a silver flame against the pupil. For the first time, I didn’t just think that he was only handsome I thought he was probably the most beautiful person I had ever seen, especially his pair of eyes. They were so rich and colorful and lovely to gaze upon, I knew I hadn’t ever seen anything like them before. In fact, they were the first set that I was attracted to in my long life.

But however he made his body more beautiful towards me, more appealing, the effect didn’t work like he wanted it to. I was immune to his charms, whether inherent or not.

I sighed softly, giving him the impression that I might cave and spill my guts, but really I was upset that what I was about to say would ruin the moment and take away the galaxies I stared into. I pursed my lips, unable to tear my eyes away from such a pretty sight. “It doesn’t work, Finn.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the magic stopped and his eyes returned to the dark blue I was accustomed to. I truly met his attention rather than stare at the color in his eyes, and threw him a smirk.

“You were unable to look away…” he whispered, partially awed yet frightened.

I don’t know why my staring scared him so. “Maybe… but you can’t control me that way.” I ducked under his arm and continued on to my teacher’s classrooms so I could retrieve my homework. “Like I said, I’m not your dog,” I stated under my breath. I knew he heard the comment, but he didn’t catch up to me again. He let me go.

I had work to do. My teachers eagerly handed me the stack of homework and didn’t bother by asking where I was all day which was a bit of a relief even though I knew their memories had been modified. I nearly gulped from the extra paper packets that were given - it was a lot. I would be up all night with this stack, which was why I hated missing classes. There was only one class I could skip and not be counted absent or missing, and that was my free period. Instead of studying in the library or outside in the courtyard for my sixth class, I headed for home. But on the way, I stopped at a grocery store and bought a few snacks, like a box of hot cocoa. It was going to be a long night and I wanted something familiar and delicious for a snack.