Whispers of Change

AYA

^NAPLES^

I attempted to distance myself from my feelings and everyone around me, but I was unsuccessful. Alexander didn’t make any more attempts to converse with me. It was as if an immediate barrier had been erected, and he would dodge my gaze.

The pain was more intense than I could have ever anticipated. It felt as if the oxygen was sucked out of the room each time he turned his back on me. It was as if a knife was being thrust into my heart every time his impassive face briefly met mine.

I only caught glimpses of him from afar, either with his grandfather or his sisters. His voice only reached my ears when he was barking out commands. His scent only filled my nostrils when I was tidying up his room.

He had been the most significant person in my life, and that kind of bond doesn’t just vanish. It would never disappear. That much was clear to me.

The sorrow I felt for my family dulled over the years, but the torment of watching Alexander move on from me—effortlessly—never subsided. We led lives that ran parallel to each other.

I heard tales of his actions—slaughtering turned vampires because they hadn’t cleaned his sheets to his satisfaction, killing humans and leaving their corpses to decay in his bed after he was done with them, tormenting others, misusing his power. He was no different from his grandfather, and he seemed entirely unaffected by it all.

I was compelled to observe, from a distance, as he deteriorated. He had one girlfriend after another—all purebloods who looked down on us with disdain. The worst aspects of him had surfaced, and he was devoid of compassion.

I quickly learned that purebloods were fundamentally different from us. They had no sense of shame, no regard for any life but their own. Everything and everyone was a mere insect to be crushed underfoot.

They held nothing back. They did as they pleased, whenever they pleased. They inflicted pain on everything and everyone.

Several decades into my servitude, the first one arrived. She was petite, delicate, and attractive. The moment she entered the dungeon, tears of blood streaming down her face, I knew we had something in common.

We shared the same creator. She had barely survived her transformation. She had no clue where she was or why she was there.

I cradled her in my arms as she wept all day, trying to comprehend why someone would massacre her entire family in front of her—only to keep her as a keepsake.

After her, many more followed. He never took the time to instruct them, guide them, or train them. They were merely additional bodies to serve him.

I couldn’t help but take them under my wing and try to assist them. But Alexander seemed to have a preference—the fragile little birds who couldn’t escape him.

I knew I was one of them.

The one occasion Alexander entered the hall while I was aiding one of his many damaged creations, our eyes met over her head. His icy blue eyes pierced mine for the first time in decades.

I quickly concealed my emotions—I had learned how. I had been practicing. But not before he sensed my pain.

His mouth twisted into a sneer, and he strolled past me as if I were nothing more than dirt beneath his shoes. It was glaringly obvious to me that he no longer had any feelings for me.

His expression was always sour or utterly vacant when he glanced in my direction, never truly seeing me. As if I were an empty space in the room.

He didn’t love me anymore.

The past haunted me. The faces of my sisters materialized on every human female I encountered until I could no longer feed from a woman.

Anthony didn’t hesitate to mock me, but he also made an effort to direct male humans my way when it was time to feed. And for that, I could only be grateful.

Anthony held me responsible for Alexander’s behavior. Although I didn’t see him often, as he spent most of his time protecting the royal family, he was a good friend when he was present—and a good mentor.

Anthony was hesitant to acknowledge that Alexander had taught me many things quite well, but I still had progress to make—to learn how to curb my ripper tendencies, to manage my emotions around purebloods.

He explained to me that they couldn’t control them per se, but they could manipulate them through their own emotions. If they were angry, they could project their anger onto turned vampires.

If they were thirsty, they could bring a turned vampire to their knees with thirst. It was a skill all the slaves in the castle had long since learned to resist.

It was the first thing I insisted Anthony teach me. It made me immune to the purebloods, capable of navigating their world almost unnoticed. Almost.

Even though I was always cautious, it was clear to everyone why I was still here—to keep the prince, Alexander, in line. He didn’t seem to care about me anymore.

He’d had numerous girlfriends since we were together. Years had passed, but I could still feel the gaze of his mother on me whenever I was near.

His grandfather would have me tidy his room once a week, just to ensure I was still in the mansion. Alexander might not have cared for me, but his family was definitely keeping an eye on me.

Despite the heartache, despite the pain, he was always on my mind. My dreams were filled with the happy times we had, and waking up felt like being stabbed with dull knives.

When I heard him shouting orders, mocking others, I could still hear the echo of his voice in my head—when he used to whisper sweet words to me.

I could still feel him next to me, holding me softly, teaching me to hunt, showing me how to read the stars, smiling at me during a game of chess.

My memories felt like weapons that only he could use against me. It was as if he knew how I felt—as if he took pleasure in my pain.

Flashes of his love would come back to me in a haze. I couldn’t tell if they were real anymore. I couldn’t let him go, no matter how hard I tried.

No matter how many girls I saw him with. No matter how many lives he took and left me to clean up the mess. I belonged to him.

Years later, I should have been fine. I had learned to live a half-life. But still, years later, I would still listen for him, look for him, think of him constantly.

I would argue with him in my dreams. I would cry with him. Years of unconsciously searching for him, of tearing myself apart trying to stop.

He was the only one I wanted to reach out to. My heart felt heavy and painful in my chest, poisoned by my own feelings and his toxic behavior.

He was nothing like the man I had met. He wasn’t even trying. I couldn’t tell if this was his true self—that I was finally seeing the real him—or if he had only ever been genuine with me.

Had I been the only one to see his gentle, playful side? His caring side? Had I been the only one who truly knew him?

It broke my heart even more to see him so reckless. I tried to pick up the pieces, but the wound wouldn’t heal. Scars formed instead—slowly healing me but never fully.

They say it happens only once in a lifetime. Even in my lifetime—no matter how long. Only once.

So I knew I was done. For life.

***

It was early evening when the rumors started. The king was dead, and William wasn’t going to take the crown. Another pureblood family was taking over—the Mcnoxnoctis family.

I didn’t know much about them, except that they had been causing a stir in recent years, adopting a human child of all things. I couldn’t fathom bringing such an innocent child into the violent world of vampires, yet they seemed prepared to protect her at all costs.

The king and his inner circle, including Alexander and his new girlfriend—a Mcnoxnoctis—had all gone to France to attend either a wedding or a revolution. The details were unclear among us slaves. Anthony was gone with them, so I had nothing but rumors to go on.

By midnight, while we were cleaning the stables, the first messengers had returned to the manor, warning that the king was dead and a queen had taken his place. I could hardly believe it. The king, dead? He was a pureblood. Purebloods didn’t just die.

He was the most powerful pureblood in the world. Chaos broke out quickly. Turned vampires were everywhere—destroying things, tearing them off the walls, and throwing themselves out of the doors in a bid for freedom.

Fights erupted all over. Within minutes, frustrations that had been building for centuries exploded throughout the manor. Screams echoed through the marble hallways. I could smell blood—a lot of blood.

The place was in total chaos. The purebloods in the manor were in a panic, calling their families and sending out messengers to confirm the news. I found myself rushing toward the queen’s bedroom, skillfully avoiding the bodies pushing past me.

I had cleaned her room many times over the years, and I vividly remembered the first time I had seen them in her jewelry box—my earrings. The earrings Alexander had given me. I grabbed them, snatching them from another turned vampire.

She hissed at me and prepared to attack, but I struck first, slashing her cheek open. “Mine,” I growled.

She let out a hiss, her fangs on full display, but she backed off, choosing to gather the queen’s sashes instead. I held my earrings close to my heart, sprinting toward the dungeon, which was also being pillaged.

I quickly stashed the earrings in my bag—the one I had bartered for a few years back to store my books. A soft voice echoed next to me, “Aya.”

I glanced down at Cornelia, the young woman Alexander had turned just a month ago. Her body was shaking with fear, her eyes a bright, alarming crimson. She asked, “What’s happening?”

“A revolution,” I replied. “Retribution for centuries of bondage.”

An hour later, we discovered that the new queen was actually the human child—now grown and turned. This revelation only added to the shock. By the break of dawn, it was confirmed.

The Night family was exiled, King Lucius was no more, and we were liberated. Truly free. The pandemonium of the revolution persisted throughout the day and into the following night.

The manor was completely ransacked. Turned vampires were having sex in the royal chambers, fighting each other, and looting the liquor stores. Priceless artifacts, tapestries, and paintings were destroyed that night.

The manor reverberated with screams of agony and ecstasy. I moved swiftly through the corridors. I had nothing left to collect, nothing to claim as my own.

There was nothing I desired from the manor. I refused to carry the burdensome memories of the past century with me. Yet, I lingered. I stayed.

The Night family returned to their manor in the evening, escorted by guards I had never seen before. I watched as the princesses and Alexander’s parents were roughly guided inside. They were still smeared with dirt and blood.

I had never seen them so enraged. They darted from one room to another, attempting to regain control. But the turned vampires were no longer obedient.

Anthony showed up a few hours later, having followed them from France. I rushed to him as soon as he entered. “Is it true?” I asked urgently.

He looked disheveled, his hair matted, his eyes tracking the line of turned vampires fleeing from the manor, their arms laden with ancient treasures. He nodded, wrinkling his nose. “How disrespectful,” he grumbled.

“They believe they’re entitled to it,” I responded, as a turned vampire dashed past us clutching a handful of the princess’s necklaces.

“Thievery,” he scoffed. “Ungrateful wretches. Weren’t they provided for and protected all this while?”

“Anthony,” I gently touched his wrist. “We weren’t all treated like you were. The king is gone. His reign is crumbling.”

He pursed his lips, looking down at me. “Then why are you still here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

He shook his head. “You were searching for him.”

I frowned. “He didn’t return with his family.”

“No, they’re keeping him there. They might execute him,” he confessed.

The single thump of my heart was unmistakable. The thought of him being dead hit me like a cold wave. I couldn’t picture him dead. Was he even capable of dying?

“Will they?” I asked in a small voice.

Anthony gripped my shoulders. “Probably not. They’re not heartless murderers. The new queen was once human. She still has a heart. Are you injured?”

I shook my head. “No, but I’m starting to get thirsty. The human stock was depleted in the first hour.”

Anthony snorted. “Not surprising. This is going to get worse, Aya. I’ll do what I can to ensure the royal family’s safety.”

“You don’t owe them that,” I reminded him.

Anthony gave a small smile and lightly touched my earring. “I do. But you don’t.”

I blinked at him. He was raising his eyebrows at me, a cunning smile on his face. “No,” I shook my head. “I’ll stay with you.”

He laughed. “As much as I’d enjoy the company, Aya. You deserve more than me. You deserve your freedom.”

“Where can I go?”

“Anywhere!”

I looked at the manor doors behind him. “I don’t know how to survive on my own.”

“You’ll learn.” He frowned, watching as a vampire hurled furniture through the ancient stained-glass windows.

I gazed into the night. The hill was teeming with turned vampires. Naples was in for a tough night. The new queen would have her hands full cleaning up after tonight—and possibly for the next few decades.

I pressed my lips together, contemplating. The world was my oyster. My mind instinctively drifted to Alexander, to the countless nights we spent adventuring.

But the pain in my heart felt strangely numb. I could do this without him. I could feel my determination solidifying.

I looked up at Anthony, his face etched with a scowl, and nodded. “You’re right.”

“I always am,” he replied with a smirk.

“Will I see you again?”

“Absolutely! I’ll be around,” he assured, nodding.

I offered him a small, appreciative smile. “I’ll let you know when I return, then,” I promised.

His face lit up with a grin. I gave him a quick, friendly hug, which he awkwardly shrugged off.

Then, I spun on my heel and dashed out the doors into the crisp night air. I sprinted away from the manor, from the purebloods, and most importantly, from Alexander.

I was finally ready to let him go. He didn’t need me, and I didn’t need him. I was finally free from his grasp.

A sense of relief washed over me, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from my shoulders. A wave of joy surged through me, and I raced down the hill.

I was ready to see every corner of the world—just never home.