At the sound of his name I blinked. That name. It was one I knew well but I should not. When I was little, I used to talk to my adoptive parents about my friend Eli, a man who ruled this faraway land. They always told me he was just an imaginary friend and that I needed to forget about him and live in the real world. He was someone that would often visit her in her dreams, promising to love her unconditionally and to find a way to bring her home

“Eli?” I gasped out as tears started to creep through the corners of my eyes. I was beginning to feel this was less of a dream and more of a waking nightmare. I needed to know why after all this time, after all those years of suppressing who I was, I was here. Gently I let my hand reach out and touch his face once more. He looked the same as in my dreams. If this man truly was a vampire, that would explain the appearance.

I felt a hand gently wipe away my tears. “Don’t cry beautiful. I’ve given you a lot of information. Why don’t you take a bath and relax more? When you’re ready to know more just look for Levi and he’ll bring you to me.”

I could not speak now. All I could do was nod and try to fight the tightening of my throat as more tears threatened to fall. Watching both men leave the room allowed me a moment to let the tears fall and for my brain to shut down if it was going to.

I could not speak now. All I could do was nod and try to fight the tightening of my throat as more tears threatened to fall. Watching both men leave the room allowed me a moment to let the tears fall and for my brain to shut down if it was going to.

One thing was extremely clear, my brain was not allowing me to process anything at this given moment. I wanted nothing more than to understand all the information that had been told to me and to understand the people.

They had not yet attacked me, nor had they made any threats to me. Levi had not yet spoken directly to me, but he seemed to understand the importance of the situation. It was Eli that I was trying to understand.

Slowly I allowed myself to crawl out of the bed that I was resting in and explore the rest of the room. I quickly found the door that leads to my private en-suite and set about trying to find a way to relax. It was not that I wanted to follow his every request, I did need the time to relax and think about what was going on. My brain was a jumble of images and feelings and I wanted to take the time to sort them out. I could if given enough time.

Upon entering the bathing area, I gasped for a moment at the sheer size. It was much larger than it should be and not at all like I expected. Given that I was in the home of a vampire king, I expected accents of blacks and blood red colors, not the soft muted blue and ivory that greeted me. The colors were gentle on my eyes and helped make the room look even more spacious. I did not need to find the light switch because the amount of light coming in through the windows encased the entire area in sunshine and allowed me to see clearly.

Curiosity had always been a downfall of mine. Something that got me into more trouble than I wanted and one thing my adoptive parents always tried to punish out of me. They felt that by asking questions and exploring I was being willful and disobedient. If only they would understand that I was curious simply to learn and grow. Yet, here in this room, I could explore and no one would say anything. So that is exactly what I did.

I should have been confused about why the room looked like it was ready for me and why many of my favorite types of items were there but I was not. Something about discovering this place and knowing that the dreams I had as a child were more memories than anything else was calming.

Preparing the bath and sinking into the hot water, I allowed my mind to take me back to the earliest memory I had. Well, I can only assume it was a memory. I used to think it was a dream because that is what my adoptive parents would tell me. That it was just a bad dream, nothing like that actually happened. I always felt like part of me was missing. Where were my real parents? Why was I here when nothing seemed to feel normal to me?

As these thoughts invaded my mind I felt myself drifting into a sea of memories. The heat of the water relaxed me and allowed my mind to channel the memories of my past.

It was a quiet night. Not that the quiet was unusual but on this night, there were not even the normal sounds of nature that would be expected. No owls hooting in the trees, no cicadas willing to sing us their song. Even the fireflies were dark on this night. It was the eerie calm that came before something bad. For a girl the age of four, it was scary but she would not say anything. The people tugging on her arms had already told her that if she cried out she would be punished.

To someone like her, punishment was not foreign. She understands what happened to her when she disappointed her parents or did something they told her not to do. No, this was the threat of watching them die and she did not wish that. She loved her mother and father.

Bright blue eyes were filled with fear and tears as she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. The group of people that surrounded her she didn’t know but they had come into her room in the castle and told her that there was danger. They supposedly had been sent by her parents to bring her to them. At four, she should have questioned things more but she was too afraid.

At first the trip seemed relatively easy, there had been no fighting where she was. Then she spotted the familiar sight of onyx fur running her way. Leviathan. He would get her and he would take her to safety. Leviathan, or Levi as everyone called him, was the Werewolf Pack Alpha and her personal guard. If she needed anything or was in danger he was supposed to come for her. If he was unable to, he would send someone with a special word.

The group that had come for her knew the password so Adelaide had not felt they were a danger. As she watched Levi draw closer, she began to wonder what was going on. Why was he running as if his life depended upon it? Wanting to ask the three men and one woman to slow down so that Levi could catch up, Adelaide almost made a noise. Before she could, however, she saw the arrows hit Levi and stop him cold. Afraid the wolf was dead, the tears started flowing. Why would these people want to hurt Levi?

It had been an hour since they had left the castle and still, she had not seen her parents. Nor had she heard their voices or that of Elias. She wanted either her mom and dad or Elias with her. They always made her feel comfortable. Instead, she was being dragged onto a boat.

Adelaide started kicking and screaming and causing a scene. She wanted to know what was going on but who was going to answer to a young child?She might be a princess but they were treating her like a common slave.

Without any answers, Adelaide was shoved below the deck of the ship. She could not see anything going on now and that worried her more. Throughout their travels, she had heard voices and fighting. The danger of her situation was real to her, she knew that and yet she wanted to see what was going on herself.

Fearing that Levi was dead and knowing that she was too young to fight her way to her parents, Adelaide simply watched the boat as it left and tried to find any space she could to see from. There were none.

The tiny child did not remember how many hours passed on that boat because she must have fallen asleep. What she did remember was waking up on a shore, hoping she was back home and having two people staring at her like she was an alien. They would become the parents she would remember and the events of the night she was kidnapped would be forced into the darkest recesses of her mind.

In truth, I should not even remember that. Why now? Was it this place that drew the memories from the deepest parts of her mind? Returning back to the location where everything felt real and familiar. I had seen the giant black wolf and rather than been afraid, I had followed it like I knew it was the right thing to do. The mention of the name Levi and Elias had struck chords in my brain even before now.