"The scariest thing about distance is...

You don't know whether they'll miss you,

Or forget about you."

-The notebook.

_________________________________________

Same place,

Stronger feelings.

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Alexis' POV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was having a hard time believing the fact that Damien let Katrina stay at the castle even after what she did to him. What he was thinking is beyond my understandings, I guess love does that to people. Is this what Maria meant when she told me love is blind? What's the purpose of holding onto such emotion when it's just going to prevent you from seeing the end of the cliff on the path you're taking?

I realized a similar emotion was affecting me in a way. It was hard to let go of the fact that this man was the cause of my miserable life. He took everything I had ever loved away from me. Then why is it that when he was telling me his past, I couldn't be more glad that he got everything he ever desired back. He locked me up for ten years, but there I was worrying about him when I saw him in my dream, spending a day at those dungeons.

He abused me on my eighteenth birthday, but here I was on the verge of crying when images of him being tortured flashed through my mind.

This was wrong. I shouldn't be feeling any affection, any sympathy towards him.

But nonetheless, what he went through was something I would never wish upon my worst enemies.

"That's it. That was my last meeting with her, after that, she packed her bags and dissappeared before I could even confront her. And now she's back. Now that I think about it, I shouldn't have even let her stay under my roof. I don't know what came over me... It became impossible for me to say no."

Yeah, because no matter how big of a Monster she is, she will always have you wrapped around her finger. I bit my lips to hold back the words.

"I guess because she's still your wife. You feel a sort of responsibility towards her?"

He laughed but there was no humor in his eyes, "that witch doesn't deserve to be called my wife. Us Vampire's don't believe in divorce. We think if there's really no trust, no devotion in the relationship, it has already been torn apart. We don't need a piece of paper to represent that. She is not my wife anymore."

He emphasized the last sentence, to make sure I understood that. But no matter what he said, I will always see him as her- her husband.

For some reason, the words sounded very strange in my head, but if I keep reminding myself that, maybe it wouldn't hurt as much.

"Stop lying to yourself," Damien took a step towards me, standing a few feet away from me. I got worried when he continued to decrease the distance, while at the same time, making my heartbeat increase. This fact had often gone unnoticed by me, but now it was as clear as those crystals decorating this castle, his presence made my heart run faster, as strange as that sounded.

What he said finally drawn on me. What did he meant by that? It seemed to be responding to what I was thinking about. There was no way had I said that out loud. Unless... My eyes widened.

"You can still read my thoughts?"

"No I can't, " he sighed sadly, but his eyes told a whole different story. His eyes were looking straight into mine, without blinking. He did that when he was lying.

"Really? What am I thinking about right now?"

I knew he would lie, but my mind had quickly made up a plan. A plan I didn't know would succeed, but it was worth a shot if I wanted him to confess.

I cleared my mind, pushed away any thoughts that might give him a hint. Then I thought about darkness. Pitch black. The darkness that was always surrounding the dungeons, sunlight being blocked by the windowless walls. The horrible smell.

"Laying down in an open field, surrounded with exotic scents of flowers. Sunshine hitting your tan skin. That's what you're thinking about? It's not is it? I told you. I could only read your mind when I gave you my blood and it was fresh in your system. Not anymore," he smirked, looking sure of himself.

Things he listed were basically the exact opposite of what I was thinking, so I wasn't sure anymore if he could really read my mind.

I shifted the images in my mind into desolation. Now only focusing on him. My eyes met his, holding the intense gaze. The smirk was knocked off his face as he gulped. If I wasn't mistaken, he looked rather nervous. But why?

I tried to focus on my plan.

My eyes averted from his, slowly moving down to trace his perfect nose, his lips, that parted a little as my gaze fell upon them. I looked up again to see his reaction. His eyes held a look I couldn't identify, it almost looked like a warning.

But I couldn't back down now.

I quickly returned my gaze on his lips, thinking about how they felt against mine not too long ago.

I needed to stop but I also needed to know if he could read my mind.

"What am I thinking about now?"

Focusing so that my thoughts were clear, my gaze stayed on his lips for a little over two seconds, thinking back to the day they were against mine. I finally let myself imagine how they felt against mine. So wrong, yet so right.

My eyes moved lower, wondering how it would feel to trace his freshly shaved, strong jaw with my lips. Before another thought like the previous could hit me, I was snatched back to reality as I felt the weight of the cold wall against my back.

The distance between us long forgotten, now there was barely any room between us as Damien had a strong hold on my arms.

"Continue with those thoughts and I just might turn them into reality, and believe me, it won't be limited to just kissing," he whispered in my ear as he kept one of his hands on the wall next to my head to keep himself from putting all of his weight on me, but still trapping me.

"So you can read my mind," I said, this time with confidence.

He straighted up and looked at me, almost adorably. As if he just got caught stealing cookies from the jar he wasn't supposed to touch.

"What's that phrase you humans use?... Gotta blast?"

I was confused because I've never heard that before. But before I could question him about it, he winked and disappeared.

Just like that.

"Damien!" I couldn't help but call out.

To my right, the curtains were pulled apart, by an invisible force, inviting the sunshine in. Then I remembered he could turn invisible.

Has he done this before? Been in the same room as me without me even knowing? Has he been watching me while I cleaned his room, washed his clothes, ironed them...?

But then again he has far more important stuff to take care of instead of watching over me. Like run this Vampire world..

"Damien!" I called out again, "show yourself!"

Suddenly, music started to blare through the speakers placed on the shelves. It was a slow and dramatic tune, which I'm sure would have scared the hell out of me if I was standing in the darkness of the night.

Out of nowhere, a pillow came flying at me. If I didn't catch it on time, it would have collided with my body, not that it would have hurt much. I was attempted to run around, punching every empty space that filled this room. I would eventually hit him, right?

I felt him grab a hold of my waist, spinning me around, and there he was. He stood only a couple inches away and whispered, "boo."

I stepped forward to ask him since when he can read my mind. I thought it would be temporary, that's what Emma said when he gave me his blood. But before I could question him, he dissappeared again.

"Damien!" I practically screamed, looking around.

"Lower down the volume, sweetheart, we wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea when you're screaming my name like that," he replied from God knows where. What did he mean by that?

"But yes, I can read your mind. I wasn't able to before, but after I gave you my blood, I felt a stronger con-- It was supposed to be temporary, but ever since then, I was able to read your mind."

So he could read my mind all along... He could read my mind when I was crying over him kis--

I stopped myself from thinking any further on that subject. He can't know.

"That's not fair," was all I could say, frustrated.

"You can block me though," It was as if the air was talking back to me, I'm sure if anyone walked in right now, they would think I'm crazily talking to myself.

"How?" I needed to know.

He let out a laugh, "Why would I tell you that, sweetheart? So you can shield your thoughts from me? I don't think so, I actually enjoy it when you keep reminding yourself how much you hate me when it's quite the lie."

I could almost see the smirk on his face, which made me frown. This time, I knew his voice was coming from my left, not too far away. So I turned to walk in that direction, but I ended up hitting my toe on the table's leg. It made me cry out, rather loudly.

I bent down to check if my toe nail was broken, because it sure felt like it. I hissed in pain as I took a hold of my feet, though there was no blood in sight. Suddenly, Damien appeared next to me, "you okay?"

"Just fantastic," I looked up and glared angrily at him.

He reached down to my level, and picked me up bridal style, making my eyes widen, "What are you doing?"

"Must you always be so clumsy?"

He made me sit on the edge of the bed, while he was on the floor as he took a hold of my feet, examining it. If my eyes could see correctly, he looked worried.

Just a couple weeks ago, he would have done anything to cause me pain. But now here he was, where it seemed like he couldn't even stand the thought of me getting hurt. Here he was, massaging my feet even though the pain was long gone. His eyes were looking down at my feet, while I watched this caring side of him.

Why must you always be so bipolar?

His dark eyes snapped up, meeting mine. A cute frown took place between his eyebrows, but I could tell a smile was hidden behind his bitten lips.

"What did you just call me?" He narrowed his eyes.

I chose to ignore his question, "you shouldn't try to hide your smile. It makes you look younger."

And more lively...

He raised his eyebrows, "so you're saying I look old when I'm mad?"

I didn't mean it like that but I decided to go along with it, "mhm, more like one hundred and twenty five years old."

No words could describe how surprised he looked. I realized it wouldn't take long before that surprised expression turns into a furious one, so I opened my mouth to apologize. But the words transformed into laughter as he stood up on his feet and started tickling me.

"How old do I look?" I could barely comprehend what he was saying.

I continued to laugh between every word I forced myself to speak, " one... Hundred... And... Twenty... Five!"

At this point, I was laying flat on the bed, trying to get as far away from him as possible. But he continued to tickle me while his body hovered over mine.

"Mind saying that again?!" he laughed with me. His laugh made me smile on the inside, making me forget the pain in my sides.

He was dangerously closer now, and I think that's what made him stop tickling me all together. Finally noticing the small distance between us, he continued to look into my eyes. The arm he was supporting his weight on, was slowly bending, magnetically bringing him closer and closer to me. The nervousness made me stop breathing at once.

"Damien! Wh-- Oh."

Emma.

I turned my head to find Emma standing in the doorway, frozen on the spot.

It took less than a second for Damien to push himself off the bed, completely away from me. Just then, Emma turned around, placing a hand on her closed eyes while yelling, "I didn't see anything! Continue with the make out session, I'll just come back later!"

"We weren't making out!" Both Damien and I said quickly at the same time, which just made it worse, so I snapped my mouth shut.

She turned around, now smirking," but you guys were getting pretty close to it, weren't you, my sweet brother?"

Damien avoided looking at either one of us, and started to walk out of the room and said, "I gotta go. Duty calls," while pointing a thumb towards the door.

"Wait," Emma stopped him, "I almost forgot what I came here for!"

She took a hold of his arm, making him face her. "What's that bitchrina doing in our house?! What were you even thinking when you let her inside?" She asked, her eyes burning with anger I've never seen in them before.

Damien sighed, "It's not what you think, Em. I would rather stab myself numerous times than accept her back in my life. It's only because... Ugh, I don't like repeating myself, so why don't you ask Alexis?"

I could tell Katrina being mentioned has put him in a bad mood. His eyes were back to being gloomy as they looked aimlessly at the wall. Then he started to walk towards the doorway again, but stopped as he reached it. Turning around, he looked straight at me.

"Be ready at 6, We're going out."

"Out? Like out of this castle?" I couldn't hide the excitement in my voice, even though everytime I've stepped out of this castle, it made me want to rather stay inside. Although, I couldn't help but think this time it would be better.

"Yes. Out of this hell as you like to call it."

That made me drop my gaze to the floor. But can you blame me for thinking that way? A place where you've been locked up and abused wouldn't exactly be a heaven to you.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Damien flinch a little. Or maybe I was imagining it.

Emma broke the silence, "If I'm not mistaken, you" she pointed a finger towards Damien, "are asking her out on a date."

A what?

She crossed her arms while looking back and forth between her brother and me, smiling. While Damien just narrowed his eyes at her.

"What's that?" Why must you always hide these things from me, Maria?

"It's --"

"Don't you have more important stuff to do, Em, than play a little cupid? Don't even think I don't know what's going through your head. You're not slick, lil sister," he messed up her hair, making her slap his hand away.

"And don't you have more important stuff to do than almost kiss my best friend? Oh right, I forgot, nothing's more important than her, huh?" She winked at him.

Best friends? Since when are we best friends? But then again, she is the only friend I have. And I couldn't be more glad to have her by my side, always.

Damien looked deep in thoughts for a few seconds, he did that when he was communicating with someone. If I wasn't mistaken, it seemed like Damien didn't know what to say to that, so he simply replied with, "I gotta go, but this isn't over," pointing a finger at her, he playfully glared and left without another word.

"Girl, you have a lot to tell me." She turned towards me.

And so I did.

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A few hours later...

Tears ran down my cheeks as I blew my nose once again. Tossing the tissue in the small garbage by the bed, I turned back to the screen.

"Jaa Simran, Jaa. Jeele apni zindagi."

Emma, sitting beside me, let out a cry of joy. She wasn't the only one, I couldn't hold in my excitement either as I literally jumped up, yelling yes.

"Hey! Careful with my babies!" I looked down to see her pick up the big bowl of popcorn, shielding it away from my cheerful self. I muttered a sorry, while sitting down and grabbing a handful of popcorn. I returned to the bollywood romantic movie we were watching, called Dil wale dhulaniya le jaenge.

As I sat there, with a tear stained face, my best friend by my side, and surrounded with junk food, I knew this was something I had missed out on during all these years. This was an experience that I will never forget.

"Oh my God, this is the tenth time I'm watching this movie and it makes me cry everytime. I think next we should watch another bollywood movie, Bajirao Mastani, what do you--"

She noticed my teary eyes as I tried to blink the tears away.

"Hey, why are you crying? Now they're together!" Emma said,placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It's not that," I shook my head.

"Then?"

"It's just... This just seems too good to be true. I never thought I would be able to escape those dungeons, let alone laugh and cry over a movie. I never thought I would get to experience this. Get to experience this amazing friendship we have..."

I didn't have words to describe how I was feeling at the moment. Just very greatful.

Emma didn't say anything, she just wrapped her arms around me, hugging me. I returned the comforting gesture.

"Forget about the past, Alexis. Wait. Actually don't. I know you went through hell and back. And that is what's going to make you even stronger in future. Not just physically strong, but also emotionally. You feel that hatred inside you? Hatred towards everyone who did you wrong, including my brother? Hold onto that hatred. Never let that fire inside you die out. You're gonna need it. You have to make everyone who caused you pain pay."

Her words slowly sinked in, and I realized how true they were. I did held a burning hatred towards those who made me a prisoner. It's just that strange bond that makes me forget it so easily. The bond is so smart that it makes me feel like any other negative emotion is wrong.

"One more thing," Emma continued, "No matter what happens, never mistrust my brother."

What did she mean by that?

"I have these visions, even though I don't remember much after I snap back to reality. But even if I did, I'm not allowed to tell anyone. I think this just might be my gift. It's common for a royal to have a gift of seeing some images from the future. Since I'm not eighteen yet, I'm not fully sure what they mean or symbolize. But please, promise me. Even when you feel like everything you've experienced in these past couple weeks is a lie, you will listen to that heart of yours. I promise it'll point you in the right direction. Just never lose faith in Damien. Promise me you will never stop believing in him."

I knew I had every reason not to trust him, but something in me made me nod my head and say "I promise."

Even though I didn't completely understand what I was promisimg at the time. But if Emma can really see the future, I had a feeling I'll find out sooner or later.

"Good. Oh look, it's 5 o' clock already. You need to get ready! Your clothes must be in Damien's room, right? Let's go."

"Wait," She suddenly stopped, "I need to make sure the path is clear, let me just make sure that witch isn't in his room. I don't want her anywhere near you."

She got off the bed and walked out into the dimly lit hallway, leaving me alone.

That's when the pain hit me.

It felt like someone suddenly stabbed a knife in my stomach, if not multiple,because I'm sure this pain was ten times worse. But when I looked down, there was nothing there, no knife, or any sharp object that might be the cause of the pain. As I lifted up my shirt, there wasn't any visible wound. I didn't know what was hurting me.