I woke up in a cave with a gaping hole in the center of the ceiling. It didn’t feel familiar nor did I know where I was either. Staring at the edges, the grass waved to me as the wind blew gently in the dark abyss above me. I saw each blade sway, the little bits of flower and dirt float by undisturbed. Further up there was the moon, full in all her glory and dusted with red. My heart ached and longed for home, to be back in the stars and be with those that have left me behind.

Well, it was more of the Goddess of the Moon that longed for it. It was more of a sharp pain in my heart, longing for my mother’s arms to take the nightmare away. Blinking back tears, I recalled that night… Had it been a few hours since the ritual? Wasn’t it supposed to be the Lady Moon waking up not me? I felt around me without moving, without taking my eyes off the starry night sky. There was only one old soul, though many others stood or sat outside, waiting for me.

I started feeling warm and wet as my senses started to come back to me. Moving my arm once I regained control of it and moving it around me quietly, I confirmed I was in water… Or something wet. I closed my eyes and breathed in to smell around me. Something wonderful padded the air… Something amazingly familiar to my memories… Chad. Flowers surrounded me too; carnations, lavender and lilies.

Blood.

I opened my eyes and lifted my torso out of the moon-soaked lake in the cave. My hair was heavy, my body oh so much heavier. Welcoming the feeling and ignoring Chad, I looked around me; there was lavender, lilies and carnations. They sat in the pool with me with traces of blood that seeped to me as if inviting me to taste it, however when the liquid touched my body it glowed and disappeared. My hair was still white I noted as I pulled it closer to me, wrapping it around my chest and felt it warm my body. It was longer though, soft but it had been wet for so long. I also noted I didn’t feel cold, just warm.

“You know,” as I touch a purple lily from under the water, “it isn’t polite to stare from the darkness.”

My voice sounded like mine, but it had this underlying echo of a much more seductive edge. A little deeper and much more adult. If I remembered correctly, I only turned 18 earlier tonight but I felt so much older.

“My Lady,” I felt his footsteps as well as heard another’s come to me, “You should be resting- “

I lifted my hand up to silence Chad and looked back up to the gaping hole above me. I heard his laughter before I saw him. I felt this presence before, but without seeing him I couldn’t put the pieces together. He peeped over the hole as if he was judging his next prey like an ill-trained cat. Once he spotted me, he showed me more of himself, smiling darkly to me as if there was a joke I missed.

“Oh good,” He chuckled deeply, “You’re awake. The Lady has finally woken up from her nap! I love this!” It was the man from the park. “Oh, and you’re so weak, I can feel you shivering from here… How about I make you a deal, highness?”

I glared at him showing him openly how displeased I was. Displeased, what a royal emotion. I wanted nothing to do with him, except maybe throw his heart into the oven and have it for dessert.

“Oh good, you remember me.” He lifted himself off the dirt and sat on the edge of the hole. Dirt and grass slipped down into the pool, interrupting the flow of blood coming to me.

“Don’t come down,” I shot him a deadly glare, “I may not be at full power but I still am a Goddess.”

He chuckled to himself again, which was getting annoying, “My Queen,” He mockingly said, “Marry me and I shall spare you the war. We’ll create so much together, rule the world. You know,” He glanced in the dark towards Chad, “Create what we want.”

Lies, Lady Moon snapped to me, Refuse! The Guardian will never touch me so intimately! The defiance!

“And if I refuse?” I showed him my teeth. Nearly growling out my words.

“Then I shall kill you,” He said, “Free you from this world and I will go about how I please without being stopped.”

“You are very forward,” Chad… Savros appeared out of the shadows. “I have not kept the ladies safe from you to have it thrown away!” He turned to me, his wonderful face twisted, Savros’s eyes lit up ready for a fight, “He killed your priestess, crowned himself a god and deemed himself Dominic Shepard! He has created a following, Mother Moon!”

Rage fueled my body and the man started to get up from the hole and slipped and tumbled down into the water. The water cleansed the illusion and showed a weaker vampire. Pity filled me, the emotions from my other side going around inside me like a rollercoaster was driving me insane. The man looked up at us and hastily kneeled and grabbed my shoulder. His blood matted his mousy brown hair. Looking over him he seemed like he was just a homeless guy who was plucked from the streets, rose to power and fell again. His clothes weren’t bad but they seemed haggard.

What do you wish to do? I felt the Lady’s presence again as if she was right next to my body.

You’re giving me the choice? I froze, I have no idea…

We will discuss this later, she warned. Decide now and it should show me everything I need to know, which would be the amount I will tell you.

Cha… Savros stared at us for a but while I fought internally on what to do.

“Sa… Savros,” I called him, “Give me a good reason not to end this poor creature’s existence?”

I felt the man froze.

“You will be in more danger than you are now if you do not.” He answered.

“Is he safe?”

He moved as if to get more comfortable, “I have had my fill of these creatures, they neither do harm or help to consume them if that is what you mean, my Lady.”

I put my arm around the man’s neck and pulled him closer, “Child,” I started, and he seemed to relax, “I will release you from your bindings and commitment to your master, I wish you well on your next journey.” And as I pressed my mouth to his neck, I let instinct do the rest. I tasted his last human, his last real solid meal. His life before and after. The man was nearly a century old and was pretty much bait his whole vampire existence.

After Savros pulled the husk from the pool, I motioned him to me.

“My Lady..?” He started and looked me over and then away. I realized I was still naked.

“You realize I’m still Sanity right?” I touched his face to have him look at me.

Surprise riddled his face. “How? What?” He started moving quickly, so much so if I was human I wouldn’t have seen him move. But now it’s like he was just gliding then stop, then gliding again. I stopped him again except this time with a kiss. I was met with so much flare from him I almost ignited from the inside. He gripped my head from the top and I pulled him to the water with me. So much emotion and stress had hit me I needed a way to get it out, and I had always wanted to touch him.

His clothes clung to him, I never noticed how Savros… Or was it Chad? Gosh I was so confused…

I parted us with a heavy breath, “Chad!” I begged and he froze. There was such yearning in his eyes that they looked almost cloudy. “Wait, I have an important question!”

When he shook his head, his red hair flipped water everywhere, “What is it?”

“What do I call you?” I huffed, wanted to finish this huge urge full of hormones. “Are you still Chad? I want… I want to know how you feel about me still being me and not…”

The cloud had gone, I felt the yearning for that rollercoaster drain away as quickly as it came. “Call me Savros, and you being Sanity or Lady Moon makes no difference of your stance and our relationship. Now I must find your maidens. We have to move you to somewhere safer.”

I felt like I had a huge bucket of ice-cold water dumped on me as I watched him walk away. My mother and grandmother gone, now my crush gone and rejected me. The ritual went wrong somehow and now I’m in danger. I splashed water around me, flung my arms out as if to throw water with magic, and to my surprise, did. Petals floated back into the pool around me. I was soaking wet but I wasn’t cold. But I wasn’t the goddess and that’s the problem.

“I’m supposed to be with my family – dead!” I shrieked. Energy, so much bad, raw energy that I couldn’t hold but wanted to do something about.

The ladies that came into the crater of the cave screamed when I tossed a flower stem into the wall like a throwing needle, flower sticking out then turning inside out with petals going out. Once I realized they were there I gave them a sheepish grin and waved. Each slowly peeked from under the grey silk they all clung to like it could shield them.

“Ready, My Grace?” One of them whimpered after they could hold themselves still long enough to aske the question.