Black Blood
Chapter 22

Celeste

My head is pounding, my muscles feel like concrete and my whole body feels like a horse ran over it. Everything about my body hurts. My eyelids are so heavy that I can barely open them, I try without success. My memories seem to float around me like smoke, not entirely clear, but present. I don’t know where I am, how I got here and what happened the last time I had my eyes open.

I try to open my eyes again, but I can’t manage it this time either. The fatigue seems to have taken hold of me, to the point that I don’t know if I will ever wake up again. I can hardly bear the pain in my head, let alone in the rest of my body. It feels like I have been attacked by a wolf, torn to pieces and sewn back together. Maybe it is better if my eyes never open again, maybe it is better if I die here.

A tingling sensation slithers through my body like a snake, sliding down to my toes. I seem to gasp for breath, finally getting air. I want to shoot upwards, but my body won’t let me. The only thing I manage is to open my eyes slowly. My eyes feel as dry as cardboard, as heavy as concrete. My first sight is anything but clear, I see nothing but a white haze. For a moment I really think I am dead.

My vision begins to become clearer, clearer and more colourful. I begin to regain consciousness and I don’t know if I like it. It only makes the pain clearer and less bearable. My head spins as if I have been hit on the head. I can’t remember what happened before I lost consciousness, I guess I don’t want to.

The image in front of me becomes sharper until I look into two blue eyes. I am startled by the unexpected person and try to move backwards. That is when I realise that I am lying on a bed, under blankets. My body hurts so much that at that small movement a moan of pain leaves my mouth.

‘Please stay down, you are seriously injured’. With fear all over my body, I look into the two blue eyes in front of me. They are as deep blue as the night.

It takes a few seconds before I pull my eyes away from the blue eyes and observe the person sitting in front of me. A boy, slightly older than me, is kneeling in front of the bed. His blond hair hangs loosely around his face. His pale skin makes him look almost like porcelain. The only bit of colour in his face comes from his soft pink lips, something I really shouldn’t be looking at.

I am so busy observing him that I don’t realise he lays a hand on my arm. The unexpected touch makes me shudder and I quickly pull my arm away. The boy seems surprised by my frightened and quick reaction. I don’t know him, I don’t know where I am, what has happened to me and the last thing I want is to be touched.

He places his hand slowly in front of me on the bed. He seems to be having a hard time giving himself a place in the situation, something I share with him.

I let my eyes slide over the room where I have ended up. I am surprised to see that I am lying in an actual bedroom. The entire room is covered in black and white. The room is cold and cosy at the same time, cold because of the colour but cosy because of the decoration. Against the wall, opposite the bed, a fireplace is burning. The floor is covered with a dark brown wooden floor. The bed on which I lie is covered with a black and white blanket.

I panic as soon as I realise that I am alone, with this boy, in a bedroom. The fear that he wants something from me, something sexual, hits me like a bolt from the blue. Christian is something I have become accustomed to, a reality I have learned to accept. I don’t think I could stand it if someone else came on to me, treated me like that. I push myself up with my arms on the mattress, as far as I can.

My arms feel like concrete and at the same time like cotton wool. They hurt badly and I can hardly move them. I bite through the stabbing pain in my whole body and push myself away from the boy. I sit up as straight as I can at the moment. I feel defenceless, totally worthless. If he wants to do something to me, I don’t have the strength to stop him, to fight him at all. I am a wreck and weak as a fowl.

‘You don’t have to be afraid of me, I won’t hurt you.’ His soft, clear voice, at first, does not make me feel at ease. Christiaan once said exactly the same thing and I have never forgotten it. The boy has no evil look in his eyes, yet there is something about him that I do not trust. Maybe it’s more that I don’t trust any man anymore.

My head goes back to the fact that I am in a room of which I have no idea where it is. Am I being held here? My memories are vague. I doubt whether I should ask the boy or not. If I am being held here, it would become immediately clear and I don’t want to face that. On the other hand, it wouldn’t change the situation so I have nothing to lose.

My eyes go to the boy, who stares at me with his blue eyes. His gaze seems almost concerned.

‘Where am I?’ It is the first thing I say. My voice creaks and squeaks, is soft and almost sounds like a whisper. My lungs ache with every letter I utter. I put my hand on my chest, hoping to ease the pain. Of course, my hand doesn’t ease the pain for a second, it’s more the idea.

The boy gets up from the floor and stands straight. He is taller than I had seen at first glance. He is dressed in black trousers with pockets on the legs and a black short-sleeved shirt. A few silver necklaces hang from his trousers, silver rings from his fingers. It is a simple outfit, but not too boring. I am not going to say that I think the boy looks good, but the outfit suits his body well. He runs a hand through his blonde hair, stares at me with his blue eyes.

‘The main building of the Black Forest Clan.’ My head is spinning overtime trying to work out where and what the black forest clan is. My head does not seem to be functioning at its normal speed. I have seen many maps of the world, knew the camps of every creature by heart, but it seems to have completely sank in now. I stare at the boy without seeing him. My head creaks until it hurts. What is he? What kind of clan is this? As if the boy sees my raging thought he answers the question.

‘Vampires.’