twenty nine

I woke with a headache; I looked around, blinking quickly. E was standing on the steps in front of the bed; I looked around. There was no way out; it must have been a basement. I started to panic. "Didn't your mother teach you not to play with your food?" I snapped.

"I'm scared, Vivian," E mumbled.

"You scared?" I laughed. "Ok." I pushed myself up.

"Vivian, what did you say you dreamt of?"

"Fine, I'll hummer you. What time?" I asked.

"That night, I was in your apartment, but I promised I wasn't."

"You said there was another vampire."

"Put down your guard; it'll make this so much easier."

"I don't have it up." I rolled my eyes.

"You..." E went pale- paler than usual. "Goddammit." She went up the steps, and I followed behind her. She left the house with no shoes or jacket, and within a blink, she was gone into the woods. I looked around the house, but there were no knives, not a single one. I sat on the couch, and after a second, E busted into the room with a pile of leaves.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Here." She took a leaf, rolling it between her fingers and holding it out to me.

"You can't just stab me?" I took the leaf and chewed it, screwing up my face. I instantly got a headache. "You're going to kill me with peppermint? Why not just give me your toothpaste?"

"I don't use peppermint toothpaste; I can't stand it. I only use spearmint."

"No- you used it the other... night..." she shook her head.

"Fuck." She mumbled, going to her kitchen. She came back with a bottle of cinnamon.

"Is now really the time for the cinnamon challenge? What's next, tide pods?" She grabbed a glass of water and stirred the cinnamon in.

"You expect me to drink that?" I questioned.

"Vivian, please." I slowly drank it, and the headache got worst.

"E- I don't... feel... ri-" everything went black.

●●●

I woke to sun in my eyes. I looked around and felt like the room was moving. After a few minutes, I realized it was; I looked out a window and saw nothing but water. "Vivian." I looked towards the door, and E ran in, wrapping her arms around me. I hugged her back, confused.

"Are we in the middle of the ocean?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're about fourteen hours outside of Danmark."

"Den- why are we going to Denmark?"

"To go to Prague."

"That's not till next week."

"Ya... I need to tell you something..."

"What?" I mumbled.

"Joy... uh..."

"Joy, what?"

"Wanted you to kill yourself."

"W-" I just stared at her for a long second.

"She's a witch. Like, a full-bred witch. She didn't want you with me because she knew I'd overthrow the queen with you, and she wants my kind killed."

"Overthrow the queen? I thought you had to defend her?"

"I might have left some details out... I need to kill the queen."

"Ya, I think you left out a few chapters."

"I'll make coffee, ok? And I'll explain it." I nodded, and she helped me out of bed.

We sat in the tiny galley, and I held the mug in my hands as she cleared her throat. "I'm not even sure where to start. What do you remember?" She asked.

"Uh.... well, I got needles from Jade... we collected blood, went to Cece's party... took more blood... that's all I remember."

"Ok, so... you were having nightmares... Joy put a spell on you- a curse. To make you believe I was lying to you, that I wanted to be with Joy. That I wanted to kill you. And you believe it. Yesterday you tried to kill yourself, so I couldn't."

"I..." I slowly let it process. What the fuck.

"Exactly. And I couldn't read your mind anymore, so I thought you were blocking me out."

"What did you say about killing your queen?" I asked.

"Well, I told you that I had to defend her, but the truth is I need to kill her."

"Explanation, please?" I laid the mug down and rubbed my head.

"Do you remember how I told you what the king did when we started to die out?"

"Went all holocaust-style on humans?" She laughed lightly and nodded.

"That's one way to put it... that's what the queen wants to do. Apparently, there are only about four hundred of us left... she wants to do that to the world again."

"So... you have to kill her? Why you?"

"Because I'm... the strongest and oldest vampire of my breed left. I'm older than the queen. She's only like- 130 something.

"Oh... so is it just you going to fight her?" I asked.

"Me and an old friend. She's from England; she's going to meet us in Denmark." She pushed herself up and kissed my head, going up to the deck.